I've always thought that an advantage of the HCH II vs, Prius, when buying, is long term reliability/repairbility.

Why? Well, both companies are basically equal in terms of reliability, so we start off equal. Here is my reasoning...

Because the HCH has a simpler/more convetional drivetrain I think (in my very naive opinion) that the HCH would be cheaper to do a major repair on in the future and that there'd be more dealers/shops in the future that could repair it since it has less parts and more conventional parts than the Prius. On the otherhand, 10 years, about two car generations, away I can see it as very difficult and expensive to do a major repair on a Prius because of all the very unconventional layout and few parts.

I understand that it is very unlikely for either to fail. I am picturing 10 years from now with either car and trying to get a repair for it, if it were to occur.

Is this a valid statement, or am I crazy?

 

Hi! I just bought my 07 HCH 4 days ago.
The batteries have a 8 year warranty, and I purchased the 7 year 75,000 mile extended warranty. I know that within 7 years I will trade my HCH for an SUV hybrid.

I went down to the service area at my dealer and questioned them lol. They said they have not seen a hybrid come into their shop with a electrical problem. That made me feel better. Atleast thought if something was to happen I can just take it in to get it fixed and I will only be out my deductible.

I hope this helps...

 

The HCH-II can be more vulnerable than the Prius II in at least a couple ways, which may in the long run make it slightly "less durable" than the Prius, particularly under heavy use.

1- Transmission. The HCH-2 has a vastly improved CVT transmission compared to the HCH-I (2003-2005). However a belt and cone CVT is still more sensitive to improper maintenance and aging than the Power Split device implemented in the Prius II. The PSD system is a much simpler system and less susceptible to the effects of age.
2- Battery pack. The HCH-II battery pack has a greatly improved monitoring and management profile compared to all prior Honda hybrids. However, the Prius has a more thorough design that facilitates a more accurate monitoring & management of the battery pack. This may lead to a Prius II having a slightly longer battery pack service life than most Honda hybrids. This is not to say that the HCH-II will have a short life at all, but to be fair, the technical attributes of the Prius II battery pack and management are hard to ignore.

Of course, I just mentioned the top two items that concern most hybrid owners. There are several areas where the HCH-II may trade even blows with the Prius and maybe even best it, but that is the topic of another thread. In the long run, I expect these two hybrids to continue exhibit better reliability histories than the average "gas only" vehicle.

In the hands of a caring owner either car will certainly have a long service life.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

I expect either car to be free from MAJOR trouble for 15 years.

 

You could always check in with the Insight forums and folks. They have the oldest hybrids on the roads so they might know a thing or to about honda qualitly good/bad.

 

"You could always check in with the Insight forums and folks. They have the oldest hybrids on the roads so they might know a thing or to about honda qualitly good/bad."

The Honda Insight, from all I know about it, has been very reliable and is overall a great car. But...Honda seems to have a pretty bad battery system with the Insight so it seems that they need to change batteries for the Insight, on average, about every 5 years. There shouldn't be nearly as much of a problem though with the much more refined IMA system in the HCH II.

 

I sure hope it's not as much of a problem....