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Honda Civic Hybrid

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#1726 of 1765 I own a .... by 1stpik Feb 12, 2008 (4:40 am)
..... 2007 silver HCH. Zero problems, and it performs as advertised.   After 18,000 miles, I'm averaging 47 mpg. I left one of the trip meters untouched since I bought it, so it displays accumulated mpg.   To get that kind of efficiency, I do have to baby the car a little bit, but nothing like the hyper-milers do. I drive normally around town (and coast when I can), and set the highway cruise at 65 mph.   Note that I live in North Texas, which doesn't get very cold in winter. Cold weather kills hybrid mpg, so if you live way north, don't expect miracles.   I've driven the HCH on several 1,000 mile round trips, and one 2,200 mile round trip. For the long hauls, I cruise at 70 mph, and get 43 mpg. And I've never had a problem climbing hills or passing slower cars. The torque from the electric motor helps greatly.   The HCH suffers from mushy handling. Nothing you can do about it. The car weighs 3,000 lbs. and rides on skinny tires. It also has an unusually-long wheel base, which is fine for stability, but makes it tricky to turn into tight parking spaces.   On the good side, the seat comfort (often derided by other owners) has been just fine for me, and I'm 6' 2". Also, the upgraded stereo system is much better than the horrible standard one offered on the LX. The steering wheel controls are very convenient, too.   Maintenance and service procedures are normal, but the recommended 0W-20 oil can be hard to find. Honda dealers sell it, but it's expensive. Wal Mart sells Mobil 1 synthetic for less, but it's often out of stock. So owners may want to buy 4 quarts ahead of time.   The HCH goes 8,000 - 10,000 miles between oil changes, which is nice. The car's computer uses an algorithm to tell the owner when an oil change is due, which is also nice.   Overall, the HCH was a good deal for me, but that's based on several factors:   First, I drive about 2,000 miles per month, so I really benefit from higher mpg.   Second, I got the full $2,100 income tax credit (which I'm about to receive from the IRS). That's just like taking $2,100 off the price of the car. However, that credit is now only $1,050 and will continue to go down. So that's a factor in the purchase decision.   Also, I got 2.9% financing from Honda, but they don't offer that rate anymore. I think it's 5% - 6% these days. That's another factor.   Without the tax credit and cheap financing, hybrids are a tough sell. Either their price has to come down, or the price of gas has to go up to make them worth buying.   The HCH, with the incentives and financing, was the right choice for me. But I think that a lot of people who buy hybrids would do just as well with a standard car, getting less mpg, but with a much smaller payment.   Do the math for yourself before you buy one.   . Replies to this message: 74apollo (Feb 12, 2008 6:49 am)
#1727 of 1765 Re: I own a .... [1stpik] by 74apollo Feb 12, 2008 (6:49 am)
Replying to: 1stpik (Feb 12, 2008 4:40 am) Thanks for all of the worthwhile info! We bought the HCH last night. We live in Iowa so we experience some cold winter weather (this season is colder than most). We don't drive the miles you drive but we are interested in better mpg than most non-hybrids get. We have a Mini too so the HCH should get even better than that. Time will tell.
#1728 of 1765 Re: Two HCH questions [downeaster1959] by aue Feb 22, 2008 (11:44 am)
Replying to: downeaster1959 (Nov 11, 2007 6:44 am) The factory tires on Hondas are terrible in bad weather and the tires on the older models were not only terrible but they wore out prematurely because the rear control arms on 06 & 07 models were defective. Hopefully your control arms are correct. I have had very bad experiences with Dunlop and Bridgestone tires. I would recommend Uniroyal Freedoms or Kumhos. I would also recommend that you buy them from an independent retailer. The Honda dealer quoted $106 for Dunlop & $89 for Bridgestone. The Unis were $70 and came with a higher mileage rating. Honda's green image is a scam. Beneath it they are as sleazy as any other car company.
#1729 of 1765 Hybridology by aue Feb 22, 2008 (5:01 pm)
If you want serious gas mileage and aren't too worried about safety or hauling anything get the lowest mileage Insight you can find. If you want a dependable safe fuel efficient car get a Prius.
#1730 of 1765 real time mpg gauge by gsspike Apr 16, 2008 (3:56 pm)
#1731 of 1765 Fuel tank by gsspike Apr 16, 2008 (4:02 pm)
What size is the Honda Civic Hybrid fuel tank? What type of tank is it? Is a normal tank or a bladder like the Prius?
#1732 of 1765 Real time MPG guage by gsspike Apr 16, 2008 (4:06 pm)
Well I went with my wife to road test our 1st Civic Hybrid. Some thing we both missed was a real time MPG reading. Did we just not see it or did they leave it out. It's kind of disappointing to not have one especially on a Hybrid. I should add that the salesman told us that the car didn't have one which I thought was real odd.   Replies to this message: gsspike (Apr 20, 2008 9:25 am)
#1733 of 1765 Re: Real time MPG guage [gsspike] by gsspike Apr 20, 2008 (9:25 am)
Replying to: gsspike (Apr 16, 2008 4:06 pm) Well we found them. The trip meter gives us average mpg and the temp gauge gives instant mpg.
#1734 of 1765 Help! Possible issue w/battery?? by 2mnycats1 Apr 27, 2008 (1:50 pm)
I have had my 2007 HCH for about 8 months now. Until the last couple of weeks the 158 volt battery would begin to recharge itself if it dropped to 1 or 2 dots -- however, in the last two weeks I have had two incidents where I was sitting at a stoplight and the battery completely drained the charge. I live in NC, and it has not been that warm here -- highest on these two days was about 81 degrees. Air conditioner was on both times.    The first time it happened I took it in to the dealer. I had been unable to get the battery to charge past 7 dots (it should go to 8). They test drove it, said they got it to charge all the way up -- although when I picked it up it was at 7 dots again -- and that the problem was my "driving style." Personally, I think this is a cop-out. I had had no problems with the battery draining completely before.    The second time I got on the phone with the service manager. He had me put it in Park and rev it to 3000 and hold it there. It did eventually get to the 8th dot on the charge indicator, but I notice that whenever I do this it doesn't hold the complete charge, it will almost immediately drop back down to 7. He also wanted to say it was my driving style that was the issue, and maybe I had been driving it differently than before. Absolutely not true.    Now I understand that if you're driving in stop and go traffic the battery is being used and not the gasoline engine, and this could cause the battery to drop its level somewhat -- but the last time I was watching the battery before it drained out and it had 3 or 4 dots on the charge. Then the autostop disengaged, and the battery drained, leaving me with only the gasoline engine, which was not enough to get on the highway with.    Anybody have any idea if I am getting the runaround here? If what he says is true and this is normal for this car, then I wish my had my old car back!
#1735 of 1765 2006 HCH with high miles by patm2007 May 09, 2008 (4:15 pm)
I am in the market and found a 06 HCH with 82K miles on it for a good price. Should I be concerned about the high mileage for the battery/ hybrid system? What is the life expectancy of the hybrid system (battery & elec motor)? Thanks, Patrick

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