I apologize to this community for my first post being about sales.
I spent the majority of my time with the car on a Honda-specific forum, and didn't realize this one was here. I have a 2005 Civic Hybrid with a questionable IMA battery. I weighed my options back and forth on doing a grid charger, buying a battery pack, or trying to recondition/rebuild my back.

I am looking for advice on selling it. Currently the IMA light is off but I'm sure after a short amount of time it will probably come back on. What is the best way to go about selling it while maximizing profit? I would of course disclose that the IMA battery comes on intermittently. But I don't know if a $450 grid charger "investment" would increase the value of the car substantially to the point where I could advertise it differently and get more money out of it.

I see prices ALL OVER the place for these cars. Are any of you in sales and know the actual going prices of what I can/should expect? Any recommended sites or sales strategies?


Thanks for listening!

 

It will come back on.

A grid charger can give a prospective buyer confidence if you can honestly say, "before I used the grid charger, it would come on every two weeks, and it wouldn't perform well. After I used the grid charger, it worked like new, and the light stayed off for X months."

I vigorously recommend the Hybrid Automotive kit that permits discharging as well. Given that your light will stay off for a while, your battery is only somewhat imbalanced. Preventative maintenance with a HA grid charger will likely nurse years out of it with somewhat regular use (once every 2-6 months).

Do not buy MaxxVolts. While their charger is a quality unit, he only has half the equation. Discharge is equally as important.

Steve

 

Thanks for the info Steve. I guess it would be a gamble. I don't think there's much market for these cars anymore, with the high cost of a replacement battery and the drop in gas prices.

 

It's unlikely you have a failed cell, which is a pack killer. Your pack is a good candidate for grid charge/discharge.

How many recalibrations do you get per day?

 

Stupid question -- what is a recalibration?

 

The IMA light on my 2003 is stuck on, the battery is clearly failing, and it is already on its second battery. (I should probably be grateful - another driver of an HCH I who I spoke to recently when he happened to be getting out of his car when I was walking by was on his third battery, and it too had the IMA on.)

In California the killer problem would be not the IMA light, but the CEL that it also lights up. I asked the guy at the smog station the last time I was in there (for a different car) if there was some special rule for hybrids that would let them pass smog inspection for an IMA based CEL, and he said no.

So unless he was wrong, one could not sell the car to a private party, since it must pass smog first. I imagine that it might be possible to sell it to a dealer, but finding a buyer like that would be challenging. I guess junk yards can buy a car that does not pass smog, but they don't pay much.

 

That thing the gauge does... car seems fine... then no more IMA assist and drops to near empty over several seconds. Force charges for a bit. Either it stops on its own at a lower point, or it stops and marches up to full bars over several seconds.

 

This was part of the reason for wanting to sell it. One being that I've driven it daily for 4 years, I'm just bored of it. I drive 140 miles/day and wanted something more fun to drive. But, I am due emissions and decided I did not want to screw around with the battery. I wish it didn't throw a CEL when it had IMA battery issues. Perfect car for someone who doesn't have emissions, wants to buy a grid charger, knows how to rebuild packs, or is willing to replace the pack.

It's disappointing; the car is in such beautiful shape...darn near perfect.

NADA Clean Trade: $2,400
NADA Clean Retail: $4,100
KBB PP Excellent: $3,170
KBB PP Very Good: $2,907

Hard to figure out what exactly I should ask and take for it. I just finally got good pictures of it today, so we'll see what happens on Craigslist. I saw one on eBay (No Reserve) in much worse shape than mine that gained a lot of interest.

 

So I had 12V battery issues a couple weeks ago. Trickle charged it to full. A week later, too dead to start again. Had it tested: "deader than a doornail"; heading home with a replacement. Will a bad 12V battery effect the IMA battery?

 

Yes.

It generally only does with degraded IMA batteries.

What were the codes when you checked and concluded you needed a new battery?

Steve