I'm about to purchase a 2006 HCH with less than 30000 original one-owner miles. Less than 3000 miles per year! Carfax history (not a printout but one I actually obtained by verifying VIN on multiple points in the car) shows yearly oil change at the dealership with mileage increasing 2000~3000 at each visit, so it looks like real 30000 miles. The driver door armrest is dirty, but rest of the car is spotless so it's almost like a farmer drove it between barns or something weird like that. Honestly I cannot imagine a valid usage case for this car, but it is right in front of my eyes so its real.

Is there a risk to purchasing a car with such unusually low mileage? Is low mileage good or bad for the main traction battery or IMA system?

It's got all the right maintenance history, brake fliud flush, oil change, etc done according to the month interval instead of the mileage interval. No CVT fluid change on record but I can do that as soon as I buy it.

This is my first hybrid and I really don't know much about CIVIC hybrids other than a few articles I read about the Honda-Toyota differences. I am handy and fairly knowledgeable about cars having done all car maintenance myself for the last 5 years including timing belt, brakes, trans flush so please feel free to respond with technical details.

My primary reason for buying this car is to get lower operating costs and less required maintenance. I currently drive a high performance sport wagon and I'm sick of the high operating cost of fuel, 3000 mile oil change interval, etc.

I am doing an overnight test drive along with a pre-purchase inspection at a local independent Honda specialty mechanic (who services honda and toyota hybrids) tomorrow. The test drive so far is great, absolutely no issues and battery charge/assist seems to work perfectly.

 

If it looks clean and price is right, I would go for it. You may want to get the latest PCM software for the battery (from dealer). Batteries are hit/miss, but a top off to balance cells and full discharge/charge cycle would probably revive it to last for a long time.
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Civic Hybrid's are highway cruisers that get 50+ MPG in the summer. You will have very little maintenance if its anything like my 2006 with 164K Miles. I have done pretty much just the standard maintenance + Wiper motor and a couple temp sensors that went bad.

If the tires are noisy, there was a TSB (technical bulletin) where the rear control arms were replaced with a different style. If you rotate every 6K or so, you may never even notice it.

I would do a good throttle body / fuel system cleaning. Verify the air filter / intake looks good.

Good luck

 

Change your oil when the maintenance minder says - about every 5-7K miles.

Change the CVT fluid and continue to change it every other oil change.

Don't be surprised if your battery goes **** up soon. Low mileage = lots of sitting and short trips, not to mention 9 years of age on the pack. When it does, look into grid charging as first step before replacement. You might have a very small warranty left on the battery. If not, you might try to negotiate a 90 day warranty.

Don't pay too much of a premium for this car. You will likely need a new battery in the next 2-3 years for $2100 or so (aftermarket, not dealer).

 

According to the vehicle sold date from the Carfax, the 9year-96k mile battery warranty just lapsed.

Also I noticed at the service booklet has a 4-digit "NAVI CODE" on this but the "RADIO CODE" is blank. Does this model not have a radio code? This car has the NAVI system and I don't see any separate radio.

 

I assume a CVT drain and fill is fine or is a full flush recommended?

The comment about the battery is fairly depressing. I am getting a good deal but if I pay an additional $2100 on top of it it would not be a good deal at all! I've heard that people can get 150k+ miles out of the batteries more often then not, but I guess that's about 12 years of normal driving. So the low mileage benefit is really about suspension and ICE. It could be worse for battery?

 

I have one of each. It's an "or" situation. Radio code for the car without Navi is 5 digits. Nav code for car with nav is 4 digits.

"can get 150k" is not the norm. Both my cars are on their 3rd batteries at 140K and 220K, respectively. Sitting and short strips are the worst case for these batteries. Self-discharge is a major contributor to pack imbalance. The only exception is for multi-year sitting where the pack completely discharges. If the pack is grid charged prior to returning to service, the pack can be very healthy.

At a minimum, factor another $500 into the price. That's the cost of a good Hybrid Automotive grid charger/discharger, which will be your first option instead of replacement. Given the low mileage, I would expect that the pack is the original, which is a positive thing. The as-installed-when-new Honda packs are better than the replacements, so I would expect that you can initiate grid charging as soon as the pack starts to recalibrate on a regular basis and get good results. Grid charging can extend battery life by 2+ years.

 

Thanks for the clarification on NAVI code.

As for the battery, is there any way to assess the health using a scanner or diagnostic tool without any disassembly?

Or a way to see if the battery was replaced. Carfax says "battery replaced" last year but that's probably the 12volt.

 

When asked, my dealer said it wasn't possible to assess the health of the battery with the diagnostic tool. I have the Honda service manual and find no evidence of that possibility either.

The dealer should be able to tell you if the pack was replaced by a Honda dealer based solely on the VIN as it would have been a warranty item.

 

Thanks for all this great information! I'm sure I could have pieced it together through lots of searching but it's nice to just get answers.

Assuming there is no response-bias in this 2013 survey, seems like 20% have replaced batteries which is really bad failure rate.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...orse/index.htm

So I have to wonder, where are the 80% of folks that never replaced their batteries? Do they just never come to this forum?

 

As of 2013, for the '06 model year (7 years old), the replacement rate was 14%. Note also that for 6 and 5 year old models, the replacement rate was 12% and 8%, respectively - the replacement rate accelerates.

Two more years have elapsed. Those numbers are only higher.

I believe it's a relatively safe assumption that the ~80% of folks that never replaced their batteries don't come to this or any other forum. They have no reason to pursue it. This is not a high-traffic forum. They just drive their car like any other enjoying it working normally, but they will eventually replace their packs if they keep the car on the road long enough.

What is known is that Panasonic doesn't make those cells anymore, and the quality from the new supplier is dramatically reduced, hence the very high replacement rates of the newer models. All the more reason to avoid Honda replacement packs and go with Bumblebee or Hybrid ReVolt. While they both use Chinese cells, they test them extensively before use and offer up to 3 year warranties on their packs for about $2,100.

The battery is a wear item. Period. It will have to be replaced at some point to keep the car running at specification. It's a matter of time/miles/conditions.

Working in your favor is that you likely have a pack full of the original Panasonic cells. Working against you is the low mileage and its adverse impact on pack balance.