"If battery life is a problem, then how come the Prius is so successful?"

I ask myself that everytime I drive my car.
Honestly, I have given up caring or getting upset of my poor gas mileage, but I am really concerned about the loss of power trying to merge onto the freeway and move over to the car pool lane when other cars have all of their stated horsepower and I have much less than what's on the sticker (which I have).
<on soapbox>
I still don't see how it's acceptable to do this our cars. This reducing the power of the car's acceleration. If you did this on a non-hybrid, it would be illegal. It would be fraud, or bait and switch.
<off soapbox>

 

Just another data point here. 2007 HCH 55k miles. Was a 50+ almost every tank. Even had a 60. I've had some tire issues so had to replace in a hurry with generic tires so that is what I attributed my mileage drop too. But - I am getting tons of recals now and most tanks are 42-43 mpg. I would say I went from 50 to 42 - so a 15% decrease. But the recals are what has become dangerous. I had a scare a couple of weeks ago and it is nice to see I am not alone.

I filed with the NHTSA. I have not been to the dealer because I don't really want the update. I figure that without the update, my battery won't last until 80k so then I can get a warranty battery and also get the update at that time. So then I should have the best of both worlds with a new battery and software that doesn't use it much.

I drive highway primarily so I think the update won't be bad for me. I've often wanted less assist in normal acceleration as it helps with MPG. And if it helps keep emergency assist, then I think I am all for it.

Anyone tried to sell thier POS? If I thought I could get a decent amount for it - I'd do it today. Really dissappointed in Honda.

 

When your IMA light comes on, just get your hybrid battery pack replaced. Your car will be good as new. Then you can sell or keep and go for another 50K. Not that bad of a deal. You are close to the IMA light coming on.

 

That is what I was wondering. How is the time course from frequent recals to IMA light. If it happens before 80k, I'll be happy. Since I have issues at 56k, I am reasonably confident that I should be dead by 80k but I'd love to hear the average time/distance from recals to IMA light.

 

I went 6 to 7 months of daily battery dumps and recals and my light never came on. There has been speculation that the software update lowers the threshold when the IMA light will come on. In fact, people have posted that there light came on and took it in the dealer. They did not replace the battery pack, just flashed it and let them roll. So i really dont know if it would have ever come on. But if your car is like mine, even a new IMA wont get it back to the original performance the car had when new. I drive to and from work. It takes me 20 miles to get 43 mpg. When coming home i get close to 38 but I have to pick up my daughter before I come home which is 4 miles away. By the time I am home, the car reads 36mpg.

 

I had recal issues for 6 months and actually "got" the IMA failure light, showing a "battery deterioration" code. After the software update, the IMA light went out but the recals remained....

It leads me to believe that with the new software you could go on indefinitely with recals and no IMA failure light...

My step son has a 2007 HCH II. It took 3 years, but now he is having recals every time he gets in the car. He got the recall software update. No change. Still gets a recal every time he gets in...

We're going to have to keep putting public pressure on Honda, I suspect, in order to get them to act.

 

I found this attorney and lawsuit:
http://chimicles.com/case/honda-hybrid

I just signed up and told them my story. I feel my experience fits in with their lawsuit. I want Honda to fix my car or buy it back.

 

I'm getting them every 30 miles or so. I took it in over summer, they said they have a software flash for that symptom. The recals are just as frequent, and as others noted, its as though the Mild Hybrid system has been turned into a Wimp Hybrid system. Much less assist. It certainly appears that the software update leans much less heavily on the hybrid system, in a weak attempt to extend hybrid battery life. I too was debating between a HCH2 and a Prius3.

About to go in for my 30k. We'll see what they do, but based on what others have reported, I guess I know the answer.... Nothing.

 

Exact same issue here.

43K on an 06 HCH and ran like a champ for 4 years. This Summer, the IMA/battery started regens/dumps during the blazing heat in the mid-atlantic. Dealer forced the software update before they would look at it and I went from 46mpg to 32. American Honda and the dealer won't do anything at all. I'll be adding on to lawsuits, calling the state and maybe taking some weekend days to even picket the highway in front of a few dealerships in the area. Something needs to be done to get their attention, maybe decreased sales might help.

I get regens every two to three minutes of driving in my car.

 

My 06 HCH at 25K miles was having frequent recals. The dealer updated the software and things just got worse. There were no error codes but they replaced the IMA battery under warranty. All is good and I am back to 44 MPG. It does drive a little differently and seems to keep the battery well charged. I suspect that if your IMA battery is not marginal to poor in performance the update might be OK. It seem that updating the software when the IMA battery is already marginal to poor, just makes things worse.