I am currently at 96,000 miles and am so worried. How long can this car last? Finances are tight as I had to take a leave of abscence to to attend to a family member's illness. I tend to be the go to gal to drive family members in need around. Short version of a long story chronically ill sister who is a widow with 4 kids ages 16-22yrs (none of whom drive and they live in a town w/o public transportation) died yesterday. No other adult other than me there to help. She died yesterday. Advise me hybird car buffs what can i do to make this car last with the least expense possible. Sorry for spewing but i am kind of freaking out that if the car dies the kids are left even without transportation-and believe me they need to get to their therapy appointments.

 

Your car should have plenty of life left. Even if your battery degrades soon, you should still be able to drive it...just not as good of gas mileage. The engine itself is probably not even halfway thorough its life...Honda makes quality stuff.

That's not guarantee though, of course...

 

Just get the normal maintenance done and you should be fine. The only big expenses you will have to worry about would be the IMA battery once it goes bad.

 

Good question. Mine just turned over 100k IMA battery light came on. Told need new battery pack....for $3K+/-. No worthwhile assistance from American Honda. I'm sure, just as the gentleman stated Hondas will go for a long time...but as far as I'm concerned I should have stuck with another accord....or a regular civic. Much better track record. NOT Happy with HONDA!!!!

 

For what it's worth mine has 180K

 

Still on same battery pack? Do you live in the south or north? I had expected to get at least 150k miles on mine. I did some research and found that Honda extended the warranties on the Insight back in 2006, to 10 years 150k miles. I'd like to know what was the issue then. Anyone reading this that is upset with Honda regarding the IMA battery maybe we all need to talk. Thank you for your reply. Glad to hear someone is doing good with their hch.

 

I'm at 175,000 miles on the second battery. The first one died at 120,000. Warranty here in CA covered it and we're still running strong today. I don't believe the CVT is very strong so I change the oil very very often. Still getting approx. 50 mpg driving daily.

Trying to predict how many miles a vehicle will last is almost impossible. It really depends on the driver. With the proper care and babying she should last for a long time.

 

I have an 03 HCH I bought new from Honda. It currently has about 256K miles on it. The problems I have had are as follows:
1) In first 6 months of owning, the car died completely and nothing would work. Towed to Honda and they reprogrammed the computer, added a patch to the software. Problem has not happened again.
2) Shortly after 1) I took the car to Germany, thanks to job transfer. First tank of fuel in Germany, I got the check engine light. Took to Honda in Bitburg (Auto Rinnen). They did not have the software to immediately connect to computer. They downloaded from Honda. Told me my Catalytic converters and O2 sensors had malfunctioned/failed. Told me NOT to replace, as it was probably European fuel blend that killed them. 4 years later and back in the US, I asked the dealership, where I purchased the car, if they'd replace for me, especially since there had been a recall from Honda for this issue in the US. They looked at me as if I was nuts and said it would be about $2000 to replace the emissions system. I still have not done this.
3) CVT tranny began to slip at about 120K miles. I changed the tranny fluid to the reformulated Honda CVT fluid and slip has improved remarkably, but still there. These trannys were also under a recall for defective clutches, but Honda also would not cover this on mine due to mileage.
These are significant issues for my car, and all of the earlier HCH's, but the car is still operational. Re-sell value is nill for these cars, especially if they are high-milage.

 

It is true that the civic hybrid will run without the battery. The fuel mileage will suffer however. I am always amazed at how someone can purcahses a new vehicle and not consider the future consequences of parts failing and the cost of those parts. Warranties don't last forever!

Anyway for those owners who have emission inspections requirments, the check engine lignt will go on if you IMA battery fails, meaning you can't pass inspection untill you replace the battery.

 

My 2004 is +200,000 miles and still drives just fine. The belt slips a bit on acceleration but it isn't too bad and I back off the gas when it begins to slip.

I had the transmission start clutch replaced @ 130,000 and that's about it. I still have the original brakes. No battery recalibrations and no IMA issues.

Our other vehicle, a 2001 Grand Caravan has around 117,000 miles and has had a new cylinder head, new rack and pinion, new AC compressor, two new heater cores with a number of less important things wrong with it. My HCH has been a dream car vs this nightmare.