Hi everyone,

I'm new here and so far, very confused about whether or not a 06 HCH is a good car! However, I am getting a good deal on an 06 HCH here (Rochester, NY) and thinking about going in for it. It has almost 80K miles, and the old owner will replace all four brakes on it and provide me the rest of his anti-rust warranty. I am replacing all the tires, since the front ones will not make it through the inspection.

Overall, it seemed like a decent car and the local mechanic did an inspection and said that everything seems to be in place and the car is in very good shape. The old owner claims to get 43 MPG, but I am obviously not going to take his word for it. Do you think this is a good car to go in for?

 

I have had one since Dec 2006. Have about 40,000 miles on it and it has been a great car. Make sure you go with Low Roll Resistant Tires. [Very Important] Brakes should be OK as these cars are very easy on them because of the regen effects too braking. Enjoy your car, H

 

Generally pleased with my 06 at 88K. I just put new tires on it and mine suddenly drives like new- huge difference-maker.

If you think the price is a "good deal" (not sure how you arrived at that), you've already had it inspected, and don't have an obvious reason to distrust the 43 mpg claimed, go for it.

Yes the IMA battery could go out someday, and it could eat tires (google TSB 08-001) unless you rotate them religiously and even then replace them anyway with some regularity. These problems are real and if you think you should be immune from such problems in a $20,000 car, fine, avoid this one.

But there's no smoking gun in any of the details you provided that screams out "avoid this car". Give it a shot.

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

The owner is selling it for $8500, which is around 400 below book value for a fair condition car. The car is good in every other way, except for the battery, the condition of which I am not aware of. I think I am just being paranoid about the battery for no reason. Anyways, it looks like I will mostly be going in for it. Will keep you posted on what I decide.

 

I wouldn't worry about the pack as they are less than a motor or transmission to replace and your not worried about them. There are company's out there doing pack reconditioning for under $10,000. $8500 is worth the gamble and I don't think it is a gamble as the HCH2 is a very good auto, H

 

Dont do it. I have a 2006 HCH, well taken care off, with constant recalls. Not worth the trouble. And dangerous. I wich I could dump it but still owe more than it's worth. My wife had a recall the other day making a left turn and almost got hit. Then the car had another one with both on the car, 2h later... if you get one of the bad batteries ones, you will regret it several times a day. Pay for a new pack? Why bother... Doing less than 35MPG city...

Go for a used Prius. I whish I had. I also have a 2006 4wd Ford Escape Hybrid, doing 32MPG on the same route the HCH does 35! and I'm in love with it. No start/stop crap while on stop and go traffic (the engine does stop, but you dont get the jerk)

 

I have a 06 HCH2 and a 06 Prius. Prius has some problems as well! I have never had a re-call on my 06 HCH, touch wood! H

 

I would recommend asking if the battery pack has ever been replaced and also how often the small car battery has been replaced. If the answer to part one is " never" then you will be paying for a new battery pack. Also, test drive the car if you can and check for re-cals ( They aren't actually recalls, those are from the feds :-) ). I have an 06 and don't have any ( 65K on my car). But I had the hybrid battery pack changed under warranty and didn't take the last major software update either.

My car is running fine. Good luck.

 

Just to fill that out:

"re-cal" is short for recalibration. It's a process that occurs when the car's computer decides it's perception of the hybrid battery's state of charge is not accurate. This occurs because the computer does not typically see the battery's state of charge:
It starts with an initial, directly verified value (from a recalibration), then interacts with the battery vicariously, ie: it puts energy into the battery, takes energy out, and assumes the state of charge based on those transactions.

It's very similar to a bank account: you make deposits and withdrawals, and expect that there will be a certain balance remaining, but sometimes out-of-the-blue you're overdrawn, due to some oversight.

Anyway, when the computer suspects it's gotten off track, it initiates a recalibration. Now, why it's gotten off track is a subject of much debate. It seems to a lot of guinea pigs (er, owners) that increasingly frequent recalibrations are symptoms of a failing battery.

Symptoms of a recalibration:

1. Sudden, precipitous drop in state of charge (white bars) displayed. There has been a recent software update offered. Pre-update, the drop tended to be total. Post-update, the drop tends to be to 2 bars remaining.

I would not read anything into, ie: your state of charge did not just change. It's just the computer saying "I'm confused, and until I sort this out I'm going to dub the state of charge zero (or two) bars. (FWIW, you can get the same behaviour to happen by disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a few seconds, effectively rebooting the computer.)

2. Abnormal regeneration behaviour. Regeneration is indicated by transient green bars. Typically, you will see a pulse of green bars every time you lift off the gas, and more as you step on the brake. But during a recal the regen seems to ignore coasting and braking, settles on 1~2 regen bars constantly under cruising conditions, and goes up to 3~4 bars regen when you're stopped, accompanied by no Auto-Stop (engine shut off at stops), and moderately elevated idle speed.

3. Abnormal assist behaviour. Assist is indicated by transient white bars. Typically, you will see a pulse of white bars every time you accelerate, more if you accelerate aggresively. But during a recal the assist is partially, or totally, suppressed.

This can lead to some "dragging the car out of molasses" moments, which are particularly exciting when you're doing something like trying to left turn in a limitted window of opportunity.

4. Sudden jump in state of charge, at the culmination of a recal. The car will exhibit recal behaviours, gradually raise the state of charge to 4~5 bars, hang there for a while, then suddenly go up-up-up to full charge bars showing (maybe 10 bars).

Now, what this means is suspect too. Personally, I doubt that "full" is what it was when we first picked up our car...

 

Hi Guys,

Thank you all for your valuable opinions. After extensive checking and a green signal from the neighborhood mechanic, I decided to finally buy the car.

Being a Civic lover, I found it really hard to think logically and control myself from throwing cash right away and driving away with the car! However, I performed all of the checks I could possibly think of and confirmed that it is a good choice from a lot of people, including you guys

Anyways, I am quite happy with the car. Two days after I got it, I went on a 700 mile road trip!

The car was just fabulous on the road, highway and city. I installed new tires all around and got an overall MPG of approximately 41, despite driving like a maniac at times! This includes Friday night traffic in downtown Washington DC, where the MPG would barely go up to 4 bars on the display! The daily commute to my work this week has been really good as well, with an MPG of 39 thanks to a little restrained driving as well.

Thank you Mendel Leisk, for explaining in detail as to what a Re-cal is. I was really not able to figure out what that was and I am glad you explained that one before I could post a noob question on the forum...

I hope it will continue working well for many more miles, as I am loving all aspects of the car so far! Right from the Aux-in port to the climate controlled temperature settings, this seems like a truly sensible car...

Again, thanks a lot to everyone that posted here... hope to be an active member of this forum!