This will be my first hybrid, and I'm not quite sure how to tell what I'm getting myself into. Are there any general things I should be concerned about before buying a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid?

Is it pretty much a given that I'll have to replace the IMA batttery?
How can I check the IMA battery strength/longevity before I buy?
If the IMA battery is shot, can I still drive it, and what kind of mileage can I expect?

 

While im not 100% on the 2005 Hybrids, I have a 2007 but i will try to give you sone guidance.

Is it pretty much a given that I'll have to replace the IMA batttery?
Im honestly not sure on the 2005's from what i have seen they perform better and last nonger than the 06 to 08 hybrids,

How can I check the IMA battery strength/longevity before I buy?
Unfortunately not, honda can check the capacity of it but that is all

If the IMA battery is shot, can I still drive it, and what kind of mileage can I expect?

If the battery goes out or is bad, it will probably be the worst driving experience you will ever have, while you can drive it, it will be seriously under powered especially on take off, Now im coming from my exp with my hchII so the 2005 could be alot different.

Hope it helps

 

Thanks for those answers. My situation is that I'm getting a great deal on this car from a relative who is a car dealer, but the catch is that the car is out of state, so I have to buy it sight-unseen.

Some more questions:

What are some sure-fire indicators that the IMA battery is healthy or about to fail? # of bars? Any other indicators?

Since it's a 2005, will I also have to go through a software update?

 

Another thing you should be look out for is CVT judder. This feel like your driving over rumble strips from a standstill. How many miles does the car have and what state is the car in? and what state is it going to? In California i believe the IMA battery is warranty until 150k and CVT judder is extended to 100k but im not sure how it is handle if it was a out of state purchase.

 

I believe the car has about 180,000+ miles, it's in PA and I'm in GA. The asking price is about half of what I see for comparable Civics on craigslist sale-by-owner.

 

The IMA Warranty on ALL hybrids from honda (maybe other manufacturers as well) is based on the state the car is Registered In, not where its purchased

 

The only way to tell if its bad is to drive it, or have honda test it, however they tend to say , its good and operating normally, even when its blatently obvious that its bad.At least for the HCH2's

and if its only half price of compareable ones, then I personally would be weary of it. there is usually a reason its half price, although it could be a perfectly running one. just a risk you will have to decide if you want to take it

 

Regarding the software update, the update for the IMA system that you are likely referring to does not apply to the first-generation HCH. The first-gen may have had other updates, but nothing that I remember being controversial like the HCH2 IMA update.

Probably the reason the asking price is low is because of the car's high mileage at 180,000 miles. Do they provide any service records, so you'd know if it has already had a battery replacement? Is it a CVT (automatic) or manual transmission? Any CarFax info? Maybe there's a way to have any stored error codes read so you'd know if there have been any problems recently?

Mine has been pretty good, but doesn't have anywhere near that many miles on it, although some of the other owners here do have a lot of miles on theirs.

As far as how do you tell how good the IMA battery is, other than having Honda test it, it's a matter of watching the charge/assist gauges as it is driven. Since the car is so far from you, is there any way your relative can have someone take video of the gauges as the car is being driven so you could get some idea of its behavior? My battery usually doesn't show any extreme drops or quick rises in the charge level. When the car needs assist, the IMA indicator shows a few bars of assist, and the charge indicator may drop a bar or 2, maybe more if I'm going up a long, steep hill. Once the charge indicator gets down to about a third, it shows a few bars of regen, and the charge indicator slowly rises up again. If it's level highway driving, it usually charges up to about 3/4 full, sometimes all the way up if I have a downhill run. Basically it doesn't show any extreme changes unless there's a reason such as a big uphill climb, long traffic jam, or many short trips one after another, something of that sort.

 

Hi Plinkonium,

So, you are going to be soon part of our family. It is one of the affordable hybrid you can rely upon. But you have think whether you are going to buy a used car or a new car. I bought a used car from a dealer through the website www.unocardealers.com While buying a used car you must consider the following things:
1. Go for a certified car.
2. Make sure that you know the owner's name and address.
3. Also note that you are provided with car fax report, in which the vehicle identification number must match the vin number on the used car.
4. The car's mileage must be within 12000kms within a year


coming to ima battery, you can check it up with the honda service center. It gives more than a mileage of 18000 miles without ima after making some moderations in connections.