My '09 recently dropped 10mpg and the IMA light came on. Since I have an '08 that did the same thing last year, I figured it was another bad battery. Nope.

According to the Honda Dealer, it's the cooling fan for the battery in the trunk area. Which, of course, is not covered under the lame-o Honda warranty.

Has anyone had any experience in replacing this ? The dealer wants over $700, which I find ridiculous. I told them "no thanks", but only after I already spent $140 for them to diagnose that.

Any measurable saving in fuel economy by buying this car, has just completely evaporated, if I have to drop $900 on one repair.

The rest of this post, is just venting, so if that bothers you, then stop reading here.

We had an '02 CRV we bought new. Total crap car - build quality poor, bad ride, NOISY ride. It had a clunk that no dealer could fix. But they could hear it.

Have an '08 Hybrid. 70K miles. Bad big battery. Luckily warranty covered.

Now this '09 with 69k miles and a dud cooling fan. WTF Honda ?

I am old enough to remember Hondas from the early to mid 70's, that were a joke - complete rust bucket garbage haulers on wheels. Wife owned an early 80's Accord. Engine blew up. Then their quality improved, or at least their popularity did, and pretty soon, everyone was driving a Honda in the 90's.

But I am now 3 Hondas deep into hating them. I am firmly of the belief, that I will never buy one again.

End or rant, and I do feel mildly better.