Just had the IMA battery replaced on my 2006 Civic Hybrid, which has 63 K miles on it. While it was covered under the warranty, I'm a little discouraged that we didn't get a longer life. Any ideas about what would cause what (to me) seems a premature failure?

BTW, the dealer quoted us approximately $5K (in FL) to replace the battery. If it were my $, I'd definitely have shopped around!

Other than that, and having to replace the electrical assist on the power steering last fall (also an expensive repair, not under warranty)--we love the car. Mileage has averaged around 45-46 mpg (up to 52-54 on long trips)--but quite a bit worse lately with new tires.

Carol

 

Carol, I was curious as to what tires you were using verses the ones you have now. I bought my hybrid (civic 2006) a year ago based on the fact of it giving me 45mpg, since I travel from FL to GA a lot. It gives me 30 - 35mpg. I've done everything I can on my side to increase it to the 40's but have not succeeded. The only thing different is that I do not have low resist tires, which I know that makes a big difference (or so I have been told). But I can’t imagine it being a 20mpg difference, or can it?

 

Paul, have you checked the 12v battery? That can cause a serious hit on the mpg (from what I'm told). The 12v doesn't typically last too long in these cars. After 3yrs, some are already having to replace it.
Tires can have a 5-10% decrease on your FE.

I don't what else could possibly be placing such a hit on the efficiency.

Jess

 

Jess-

12v?? No, never thought of checking it. I even took it to the honda dealer and spoke to a 'hybrid' specialist, and he said that for sure its the tires, I told him I doubted it would make THAT much of a difference.

What exactly you mean by checking it? Wouldnt I have a warning that the 12v is going bad?

 

Paul,

No you wouldn't. You can look in the "view finder" on the battery itself to see if it's "good". You can even take it to the dealer or a parts store, like Advanced Auto Parts, and have it checked too.

I know it's also getting cooler out. We've had mornings in the high 30's to mid 40's. That also can have a very big affect on the mileage. For example, I picked my kids up at school one afternoon w/ temps in the 60's or 70's. It was 11 miles and I got 66mpg. The next morning w/ temps in the 40's, the same route yielded 56mpg. I even have 50% grill block on.

Jess

 

Now that I remember, last oil change at the dealer, I had the check the battery, they gave me a print out of the report, everything checked out fine.

I can see your point on the temp, but this is something that has been going on since I bought the car. I wanted them to check out the IMA, but to run a test on it would be $250, so I didnt do it.

 

Any other behaviors other than the drop in mpg?

 

not at all, the car runs great!

The only 'red flag' that I have gotten was when I bought the car, 1st week, IMA light came on, so I took it back to the dealership and they said "everything is fine, not sure why the light came on, but if it comes back on again, bring it back", of course, light never came on again, this was 1 year ago. I bought the car with 60k miles on it.

Other then that, no problems.

 

I'm at a lost then. Just watch your iFCD (instant fuel consumption display) and try to keep it at 50mpg or above as much you can.

Check your tire pressure too. Never hurts to keep them at the max sidewall of 44psi or higher.

Good luck!

Jess

 

Paul,

The new tires are Toyo Extensa. When I pulled up consumption details, it looks like there is about a 2-3 mpg drop, but I can't say that it's been with every tank. I do a lot of highway driving to work, and the road is terrible and getting worse--so I imagine that doesn't help. I get much better highway mileage on longer trips, but I do try to keep it below 70 or 75 mph.

My last tank (right before the IMA failed) was probably my lowest mileage, which could just be a coincidence (very hot weather and lots of in-town driving)--

Carol