I have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid 5-speed and have driven 90,000 miles. It has been perfect.

At about 80,000 miles the auto-shut-off became irregular and my mileage dropped about 10% (from 48 mpg to 44 mpg).

I asked about these symptoms at the Honda dealer service department each time I took the car in for an oil change (every 3,000 miles) but the answer was always "everything checks out." This service department is VERY good, fair prices and I trust them. They just couldn't find the problem.

Last week the IMA light came on and I took the car to Honda. The batteries have failed and probably the computer. At least $4,000.

Be sure and buy the extended warrenty for 100,000 miles. I didn't buy it and now feel somewhat sick.

Larry

That really sucks, I am sorry to hear it.

I had bought an extended warranty from the dealer on my '04 and come to find out 2 years later, it did not even cover the IMA.

This time I am getting the Honda Care Warranty for my '06.

Dang. First one I've heard of. Any other signs it was coming, larry?
I've got over 90,000 miles on mine...

Also, depending on what state you live in, I believe the battery is covered to 100K.

How much?

Talk to the regonal honda rep. I have never heard anyone paying more than a few hundred to replace the ima. Honda has a reputation and wants the ima to last the life of the car. If it gets out that people are paying $4000+ then people will stop buying ima hybrids.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Larry - Is your HCH PZEV rated (I'm not sure if PZEV rated HCHs were even made in 2003)? If so, you should be covered under this warranty:

http://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/Documen...t/apl27540.pdf

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

On my car, there was an IMA issue once. The IMA light came on, the autostop was disabled, and the car lost about a thirt of its "get up and go". Fortunately, it turned out to be just a software glitch that was resolved in just 30 minutes at the dealer.