owlmaster08;
Check out priuschat about the new Prius c. I would not hesitate purchasing one of these babies!!! Have not heard anything bad about them yet, only lots of happy owners, H

 

I can't afford new cars any longer. I must pay cash and buy pre owned. I think I made a mistake buying the Honda, although, I still get pretty good mileage. I've learned to adapt to the recals. Instead of getting 42.5 mpg with a good battery I've been getting around 40 mpg. I just don't like it when things don't work as they should. I didn't know to research battery problems with hybrids before I purchased mine 'used'. Had I known, I probably would have just purchased a non hybrid Civic and lived with the 38 or so mpg.

 

Hi Bud:
I do better than you with my 06 HCH. I never come in under 50 mpg per tank. Normally around the 60mpg mark. In town driving normally it gives 51mpg. I can see you coming in with those #'s as people in your area drive like they are heading to a fire at all times. I don't under-stand why people in your area are always in a big hurry. Even with gas over $4 dollars a gal. it is still the same. I spend time in the DHS area and man I cannot believe what I see at times. I guess it is the amount of traffic?, I am not sure. H

 

Wow Harold! I can't believe it. When my battery was behaving the best I could get driving to Ventura and back to Orange County (200 miles) almost all hiway driving I could get 51mpg if I kept it at 63mph or less.

I just returned the salvaged battery and they gave me a new one. Again they gave me a complete system - that is 'everything' behind the back seat. I'm charging the battery now.

I also took my Civic to the Honda dealership just now. I just walked home - they're close to me. As I thought would happen, the service writer said it's Hondas policy to only replace IMA batteries if the IMA light is 'on'. He started to tell me the same BS about it is normal to do all the recals and he even told me that it was normal for it to use the 12vdc starting system after a day of sitting. I stopped him mid sentance and told him 'I don't believe you'! He got real quiet when I told him that I believe that he's doing what Honda is telling him to do but that I've done a lot of research and plus it's all over the news that these Civics are going through batteries and the Honda has the IMA light programed to only light if something in the system totally fails. I told him that my IMA light did come one once and that I've got a picture of it but after I filled up with gas the IMA light went out but the check engine light stayed on.

That was with the salvaged battery and I didn't want to bring it to Honda because it was obvious that something had been tampered with so I had to put the original battery and system back together before taking it in. In doing so, both of the lights went out because I had to disconnect the 12vdc battery and that reset the codes. I told him that I cleaned the 12 battery terminals and that's why there's not codes. True, I did clean those terminals as well.

He said if the computer retained the code after I disconnected the 12 battery there's a chance that they could do something for me. He also said there might be one more update they can upload. I know that they already did the flash where it charges more and uses less because he showed me that it had been done January 2011 at 90k miles.

I doubt he will do anything for me since I as much as called him a liar to his face. I know that's how it sounded but it wasn't really anything personal. I know that he has to say it or loose his job. I just wish they could tell you off the record how to beat the Honda system or cause a IMA code on purpose. I'm sure some smart guy has figured this out but I don't know how.

 

Hi Bud:
I use a SG and very good LRR tires and 6 years learning how to drive helps. I have had trips in the mid 70's mpg U.S. I just finished a camping trip of 3000 miles with a Yakima racks and a kayak and Yakima space booster tote for hauling some of the camp gear. When I arrived home I was reading 42.3 mpg. I have 93,000 kilometers on my car. I do notice the SOC drops faster than when new. The pack is weaker? I never see less than 4 bars of charge.
I believe your codes will still be retrievable if they really want them? My car has never used the 12v to start the car. Even in -25 c it started via the IMA. You can tell Honda that. H

 

Well, I just picked the car up from the dealer and they said that the positive 12vdc battery lead was loose and it caused a bunch of trouble codes for the AC and brakes but none for the IMA. Right! They cleared the codes, tightened the cables, and drove it 20 miles. After 20 miles, it was only getting 21 mpg LOL. When the vallet pulled the car up to me, the IMA was charging. No SUPRISE! I now know first hand that they will not take care of the problem. Glad I got the new 'salvaged battery'. I really hope it works this time. I'm not going to mess with it until the weather cools down.

I did appoligize to the service writer explaining that it wasn't a personal attack, just frustration at Honda because of all the media coverage of the HCHII's. I know that he has to do his job. I wonder how he'd feel if he owned one that did the same thing!

 

Hey Bud
Let us know how your new pack works out for you and good luck this time. How long does it take you to swap the IMA out? H

 

I will keep you posted. It only takes about an hour to pull the seat, R&R the battery and put the seat back. The hardest part is hooking the seat back into the top notches and starting the 4 seat bolts (of which one broke off so I only have 3) I figured a way to keep the seat belts out of the way with clamps. I have R&Rd the electronics parts next to the battery too. That takes another 1/2 hour or 45 minutes now that I've done it twice. I've R&R'd the battery probably 5 or 6 times.

One thing I found out is that if the battery starts to recycle a lot, I can put a light bulb load on the battery to drain it down to about 70vdc and then use the charger to charge it back up to 180vdc and it improves a little bit. But I hope I don't have to keep charging the new salvaged battery. I'll probably do it Thursday. Too much to do tomorrow.

 

Bud:
Thanks. Practice makes perfect! H

 

Hey all. I just got back from Carmax. It's gone now. It was my first car and I had a lot of memories from the car and a lot of good times but as of late it's been more frustration than good memories. I did get 56 mpg going over there and the battery was behaving so I think my grid trickle charge once again helped so that helped my conscious out as far as selling a potentially bad car. Hey, Honda told me it was fine...Based on what everyone else has said though, it is probably only a matter of time until it would need another grid charge, and another, and another, and it really wasn't worth the hassle. I even cut my finger pretty decently yesterday putting the cover back on over the battery. Anyway, it is a great relief to have it off my hands.

Harold: I will for sure take a look over at the priuschat forums. Thank you! I went yesterday to take a look at one in person since I hadn't seen one yet and they look very nice for such a low priced car! It did look very tiny, but if you fold down the back seats you get more storage space than the HCHII has. The wife and I are going to share her sonata hybrid for a month as we are moving this month and only wanted to move one car and then we will start to consider a new car.

Thank you everyone for all your support as I tried to fix my HCHII.