I purchased my Civic Hybrid on 9/1/06, because of my long commute (150 miles/day). While it is not my first choice in vehicles, it serves its purpose, and I have been happy with it for the short time it has been in my possession.

Yesterday, I tried to start my car to go home from work, the engine turned over, but would not catch. I did notice that the IMA light remained lit once the key was turned to the accessory position. I also noticed that my battery gauge was showing zero bars. A phone call to Honda Roadside Assistance eventually got me a tow to the nearest dealership. At this time, nobody was in the service department. I had to deal with one of the sales managers. When asked how I could get home, the attitude was "here is a phone and a phone book". This attitude appears to be only that of this particular dealership, however I found it completely unacceptable. I receive better service at the BMW dealership, or even at the Mercedes-Benz dealership when I bring in a 20 year old car than I did at this Honda dealership and a 12 day old car with 800 miles.

After making a number of phone calls, I realized that there were no rental cars available anywhere near me. I was eventually able to get a cab ride ($50) to the SFO Bart station, get on a train, and make it home shortly before 10pm.

Honda N/A has not yet agreed to pay for a rental car, the customer service rep. at the 1800 number stated that Honda's policy is that the rental is on my dime!

My local dealership in Walnut Creek is willing to help as much as they can, however there is not much they can do. My car is in Palo Alto. Without my car, the local dealership has their hands tied.

I guess I just needed to vent a little bit. Does anybody know anything about a failure to start in the HCHII?

 

Very odd. Especially odd since even if your battery pack is faulty, and it died completely, the 12V battery should have operated the standard starter to turn over the gas engine.

 

I can give you no technical advice. However, I can say that I've heard several times on this site of people having much greater success with customer service when they call the national Honda customer service line and keep requesting higher levels of managment. Maybe give that a try(?).

 

Take a look through all the various papers, adders, and whatnot you got from your dealership at the time of purchase. For example, even though the warranty document itself doesn't mention it, your dealer may have an agreement with a local car club to provide added services (Immke NW, Dublin OH, threw in a one year service agreement with Road America on top of my existing AAA membership). If you've purchased a HondaCare contract through one of the dealerships often mentioned here (Saccucci and Bernardi are usually given top marks), you get rental coverage through that as well. I think you've got a case of the local dealer knowing they've got a captive customer, and not feeling the least bit obligated to be nice about it.

 

I just received a call from the dealership in Palo Alto, the car started up fine this morning. The good news is that there are no problems with the car, the bad news is that I am out a tow, a cab ride, and a train ride...as well as a day of work.

 

Are you sure you didn't leave the lights on or something like that - that might've killed the battery? Did you try to jump-start it before it was towed? (Often, the towing service will try to before they tow it).
This sounds very odd for a brand new car.
It's VERY possible that the dealership just charged the 12V battery, and viola - it started. Therefore, they see "no problem". Ask them if they charged the 12V battery or jumped it to get it started. After you get that answer, ask them IF they did any diagnostic tests, and if anything was discovered. If you get no anwsers from them, I'd take it soon into your local, more cooperative dealer, and ask THEM to check it out.
I'd be skeptical of "no problem," unless you find out that they DID charge (or replaced) the 12V battery. Then, I'd feel better. Afer all, this "no problem" 12-day old car left you stranded!
Save your receipts for the out-of-pocket expenses. If this does turn out to be a Honda issue, then you may be able to get at least some of the $$$ reimbursed.

Let us know how it goes. We love offering our 2 cents worth, and we are all the better for learning of each others' experiences.
Hang in there - from all appearances, this IS a GREAT car. Everyone that checks out mine is thoroughly impressed. I may even convert a few gas-guzzler-lovers into buying one!

 

I did not leave the lights, or any other accessory on. The car had no problem turning over, the engine just would not catch. The battery pack was fully charged when I arrived at work, and the 12V battery had a full charge the entire time.

The Palo Alto dealer claims that the car started up first try in the morning. They pulled the codes, and found none.

I have an appointment on Saturday to get my XM installed, and will have my local dealer take a good look at the car to see if they can find any issues.

 

This is completely obvious, but it's the only thing I can think of, as it's the only time the car fails to start under normal operation: Was the car in Park or Neutral? I'm sure it was, but sometimes the simplest explanation isn't explored, so just throwing it out there.

Otherwise, very, very strange.

 

He said it cranked, so it must have been in park or neutral. Maybe faulty gauge and had very low or out of usable fuel?

Sounds like an ignition or fuel problem.

 

Could it be the key? Maybe the chip didn't register? What happens if you try to start the car with the wrong chip?