Originally Posted by Hot_Georgia_2004

Bought new Civic hybrid in Jan 2004.
95% of my commute is freeway.
Hot and humid Georgia summers.
Hypermiled it for a few years and achieved almost 75MPG. Hardly any AC.
Got tired of hypermiling and began more normal driving. Averaged around 60MPG. Began using AC as needed.

Got impatient after a few years and averaged 74-79MPG AC on constantly. Averaged 40-45MPG. No engine power issues.

Then the Hybrid battery went dead, disabling the IMA at about 230,000 miles. This cause the regular lead-acid battery charging to go funky, but car is still very drivable. Seems like the car gained 1,000 lbs without the assist. MPG dropped to low 30's after IMA quit. Still no engine power issues @ almost 80MPH.

I drove it just past 300,000 miles before buying a new CR-V.
I gave my Civic hybrid to my son. Now it's his daily commute car.

I am not sure why the diesel people still stick to their old hybrid stereotypes after all these years.
I was part of a popular TDI forum back around 2006, mainly to compete in their mileage competitions. I was always within the top 1 to 3 positions until someone got mad at my competitiveness, complained to the admin and closed their mileage competition to include only diesels.

I was also told by the TDI community my hybrid won't last past 100,000 miles. It's 300,000 and still going.

I was recently in the market for an automobile but diesel was not a consideration because of fuel cost. I think TDI and diesel in general is a great alternative except for fuel. Yes it's true you can make your own, except I don't want to go through the hassle. It's not worth my time versus the cost of petrol. Maybe worth my time if I had to buy the expensive diesel though.

Just my two cents.