So my 2005 HCH is a lemon? Well let us see, I posted here when I bought the car asking if anyone knew how to get the car to auto stop (wasn't working), no one had any helpful ideas. Then the thing stopped charging itself. I brought it in, got a loaner car, they kept it for a week, said they changed something out and it was fixed. Then it died a week later, another loaner car and a week in the shop, they changed something else out and said it was fixed. Then guess what… It died again. They kept it for two weeks and Honda America had them change out the whole computer for the IMS. Drove it for another week and low and behold today the **** thing crapped out 50 miles from home while driving down the freeway. Check engine light on, IMA light on, the fan and dash lights started going on and off all by themselves as if someone was flipping a master switch for all the power. Engine became sluggish and unresponsive and died going down the highway. Pulled it over and it wouldn’t even turn over when I tried to restart it.

The question… Is it a lemon? The dealership has been nice and given me a loaner each time, they have been apologetic. However no one can fix it. I have owned the car for 7 weeks and have had it in my possession for about 3 of those 7 weeks.

Does anyone have a similar experience with Honda Civic Hybrid?
Does anyone have experience with a brand new car and using the lemon law?

I live in OR and know we have such laws on the books but need to research them. Just wondering what the response will be on Monday when the service dept. opens and I tell them I am fed up, don’t trust the car, and want a replacement.

Please comment, I would love to hear what you all have to say about this quagmire.

 

As my actual experience with cars is pretty limited, I don't know specifically what the lemon laws are. I'm sure someone here will come along in no time and provide an informative link. From what I recall from my reading, however, there's a certain amount of time and/or service that are required before qualifying as a "lemon" owner. After the criteria is met, the manufacturer is required to replace the vehicle. I'm sure you know this, though. Good luck!

 

Here is a link ot the lemon law for the state of Oregon:

http://www.doj.state.or.us/lemonlaw.htm

I hope it helps some. I would think that the Honda dealer you bought the car from would make it right without having to invoke the lemon law. I have never had an experience like that with any Honda I have owned, but the dealers I have bought from always work hard to keep your business.

Billy

 

I've used the Virginia lemon law on a 1999 Dodge Caravan. The criteria for the lemon law varies from state to state. In my case my attorney who was experienced in lemon law said that Chrysler was actually the easiest manufacturer to lemon law. I opted for the manufacturer buy back.

 

Based on spending more than 4 weeks in the shop already, it's probably eligible for manufacturer repurchase under the lemon law. Check with a local law firm and call around until you can get referred to one that has experience with it in your area.

 

I have experienced a possibly similar problem with my 2003 at 25K miles. IMA and check engine came on (but nothing with the fan) and the car stalled out going down the road, then recovered a little, then died in a driveway, wouldn't restart. After towing it in next morning, dealership says they never saw those lights come on and can find no problem. I took it back once and the hybrid battery gauge was staying at only half to one quarter whereas it usually shows either nearly full charge or recovers quickly. Took it back again and they say they drove it 30 miles total and no problem, I have to take back the car unfixed or as they feel, it doesn't need repair. I live in a place (Hawaii) with dangerous roads, no shoulder, lots of narrow bridges, no place to safely pull over if it dies again, and I no longer trust the car.

Anyone have any suggestions on what could be the problem or had a similar problem?
The only warning prior to the breakdown was some difficulty re-starting it after a quick stop, about 3 days earlier, it was like the battery was dead for several tries, then it started and ran for a few days and 3-4 hours of driving. That first time, no warning lights came on with dash, and it started, so it seemed like a fluke.

 

I would take it above your local Honda dealer and request a meeting with the regional service manager and get your car fixed.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I will certainly ask about that, although I have a bad feeling that since I am on an Outer Island that the Regional Manager is over in Honolulu, i.e. a few hundred dollars for me to go meet with him/her. I did speak to American Honda and they completed some sort of 2-day inquiry and worked with the dealer, and they too pronounced the car to have nothing wrong with it that they have been able to observe. My problem with taking it back and waiting for it to happen again is I will never feel safe on the road, you know?

 

Kamaaoma, I can't help but wonder, wouldn't the car be storing error codes in the system computer that the dealer can harvest to diagnose the problem. I'm a little distressed myself at your situation considering that modern cars have done half of the diagnosis onboard when a problem occures before the vehicle even hits gets to the dealer.

So, in addition to what Georga suggested, demand that they give you a printout of the codes stored in the onboard computer, or at least document them on their work order for you. They should also explain what the codes mean. If you get turned away again, at least with the codes, you can go online and use Google or something else to search for those codes and see if they dealer is spoofing you or telling the truth.

 

Thanks, JeromeP. Good advice, I will ask for a copy. I asked the dealer, when they said they couldn't find that anything had been wrong, if the codes didn't show that there was a problem. They said they got "temporary codes" that showed the error lights had come on but when they followed the codes in the diagnostic process they didn't find any problems. I don't know what "temporary" codes means, but I think they said they have now cleared the computer record. But they should have a printout, and I will ask as you suggest.

I agree it is distressing with so much high-powered diagnostics that they can't figure it out. I kind of resent the attitude that just because a problem goes away that it doesn't exist. As with a toothache that goes away when you get to the dentist--it will come back and it will usually be worse when it does.

Also they talked down to me, maybe because I am a woman and they think I'm dumb about cars, asking me if I knew about my auto-stop feature and could have confused an auto-stop with a breakdown. Honestly! 1) the econ button was NOT on, so auto-stop wasn't engaged; 2) the AC was on, so it wouldn't work anyway, and 3) I already told them it cut out while going down the road, not while at an intersection.

The same thing with my battery gauge, they wouldn't believe it usually runs at the top few bars. (Is mine unusual that way?) They asked if I was SURE. Then they asked if maybe I had been taking a new route and that would account for the difference. After driving around the same island for 2 1/2 years and 25000 miles, I think I know my car and have driven it on most every route on the island!

So that was annoying. Also they didn't want to give me a loaner because there is no problem that they can find, and they said the towing wasn't actually covered, for the same reason, but they would cover it out of the goodness of their heart. However, don't let me give the wrong impression with my venting, the service manager is genuinely concerned and the techs have been over the car repeatedly, but I can't help feeling they don't know how to work on this car and that fancy diagnostics don't make up for lack of experience with the model.