I don't trust my 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid. I'm not sure what to do.
July 25, 2016 5:58 AM Subscribe
2010 Honda Civic Hybrid, low miles. I'm pretty sure the IMA (hybrid battery system) is going to be an ongoing problem. Should I stick with it or trade it in? Specifically interested in answers from people who are familiar with the Honda hybrids with nickel-metal hydride batteries.
My dad died in April and I inherited his car, a 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid with 25,000 miles. Before he died, the car sat for a few months (maybe 4-6?) and we had to replace the (normal starter) battery because it was dead.
A couple weeks after I started driving the car, the IMA and check engine lights came on and I took it in, after doing some research online and discovering that the Civic Hybrids have a LOT of problems with the hybrid battery systems. They replaced the fan which cools the hybrid battery pack and it was fine for about two months.
Last Sunday, I started it and the battery (normal starter battery), IMA, and check engine lights ALL came on. I hooked up the OBD to it and it was throwing a code that the battery voltage was irregular. At this point ONLY the check engine light was on, the IMA and battery lights were not. The car behaved normally, and the check engine light went off the next morning, before I could call to get a service appointment. It remained off all week, and the car seened fine. Yesterday, same thing happened: battery, IMA, and check engine lights came on. I turned the car off, waited a minute, restarted, and only the check engine light remained on. It stayed on all day. This morning, all 3 lights were on again, I turned the car off, back on, only the check engine light was on. After driving around a bit this morning, the check engine light went off. So I don't know whether to take it in or not. (Can they pull up a history of codes that the OBD throws or do I need to wait until it's on to take it in?)
My father purchased an extended warranty when he bought the car new in 2010, which I didn't know since I can't find any paperwork about that, I found out about it when they replaced the fan -- it only cost me a $100 deductible. Since I don't know anything about what it covers or when it expires I don't know how that should factor into my decision on whether or not to keep the car.
So, I have this car, which is completely paid for, and gets great mileage (40-45mpg) and it has really low miles so allegedly still has a lot of life, BUT I have a feeling that it's always going to be fussy and end up with lots of repair visits over its lifetime. I don't know if the warranty covers replacing the hybrid battery pack (which is what I suspect is failing) and I'm afraid if I ask they'll notice that I own it now, and not my dad, and that the warranty may not be transferable (again, no paperwork, and I can't ask my dad, so the extended warranty is a big question mark).
My instinct is to trade it in for a simple non-fussy car like a new Ford Fiesta or a Kia Soul to just avoid having to deal with an unreliable car and get a good warranty but even a low-end car like that would probably cost me $3000-4000 because it looks like the trade-in value of the Civic is $9000 -- so maybe I should just stick with the Civic and not worry about it? After all, it would take a lot of $100 deductibles to get to $4K, and that's before even considering the cost of gas would go up if I traded it in for a regular gas engine vehicle. But if the battery pack ISN'T covered, that's $2000-4000 to replace at which point I would be mad at myself for not trading it in.
What would you do?
Note: I am aware that regular Honda Civics with gas engines are extremely reliable. The Hybrids, however, seem to be much less so -- so please, no "it's a Honda, that means it'll last forever!" generic advice.
My dad died in April and I inherited his car, a 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid with 25,000 miles. Before he died, the car sat for a few months (maybe 4-6?) and we had to replace the (normal starter) battery because it was dead.
A couple weeks after I started driving the car, the IMA and check engine lights came on and I took it in, after doing some research online and discovering that the Civic Hybrids have a LOT of problems with the hybrid battery systems. They replaced the fan which cools the hybrid battery pack and it was fine for about two months.
Last Sunday, I started it and the battery (normal starter battery), IMA, and check engine lights ALL came on. I hooked up the OBD to it and it was throwing a code that the battery voltage was irregular. At this point ONLY the check engine light was on, the IMA and battery lights were not. The car behaved normally, and the check engine light went off the next morning, before I could call to get a service appointment. It remained off all week, and the car seened fine. Yesterday, same thing happened: battery, IMA, and check engine lights came on. I turned the car off, waited a minute, restarted, and only the check engine light remained on. It stayed on all day. This morning, all 3 lights were on again, I turned the car off, back on, only the check engine light was on. After driving around a bit this morning, the check engine light went off. So I don't know whether to take it in or not. (Can they pull up a history of codes that the OBD throws or do I need to wait until it's on to take it in?)
My father purchased an extended warranty when he bought the car new in 2010, which I didn't know since I can't find any paperwork about that, I found out about it when they replaced the fan -- it only cost me a $100 deductible. Since I don't know anything about what it covers or when it expires I don't know how that should factor into my decision on whether or not to keep the car.
So, I have this car, which is completely paid for, and gets great mileage (40-45mpg) and it has really low miles so allegedly still has a lot of life, BUT I have a feeling that it's always going to be fussy and end up with lots of repair visits over its lifetime. I don't know if the warranty covers replacing the hybrid battery pack (which is what I suspect is failing) and I'm afraid if I ask they'll notice that I own it now, and not my dad, and that the warranty may not be transferable (again, no paperwork, and I can't ask my dad, so the extended warranty is a big question mark).
My instinct is to trade it in for a simple non-fussy car like a new Ford Fiesta or a Kia Soul to just avoid having to deal with an unreliable car and get a good warranty but even a low-end car like that would probably cost me $3000-4000 because it looks like the trade-in value of the Civic is $9000 -- so maybe I should just stick with the Civic and not worry about it? After all, it would take a lot of $100 deductibles to get to $4K, and that's before even considering the cost of gas would go up if I traded it in for a regular gas engine vehicle. But if the battery pack ISN'T covered, that's $2000-4000 to replace at which point I would be mad at myself for not trading it in.
What would you do?
Note: I am aware that regular Honda Civics with gas engines are extremely reliable. The Hybrids, however, seem to be much less so -- so please, no "it's a Honda, that means it'll last forever!" generic advice.
Response by poster: To be extra clear: I do not know if the extended warranty is transferrable, or if they did the last repair under it because they were not aware that my father no longer owns the car. I am afraid if I ask, and bring it to their attention that the car has changed owners, that will kill the extended warranty.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 6:35 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by rabbitrabbit at 6:35 AM on July 25, 2016
An accurate inquiry would be, "We seem to have misplaced the warranty information, could you provide me with another copy for our records?"
You don't have to explain beyond that in order to get a new copy. It's lost, another copy is needed.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:38 AM on July 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
You don't have to explain beyond that in order to get a new copy. It's lost, another copy is needed.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:38 AM on July 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
Not Honda specific, but the hybrid battery failed in my husband's Prius a couple of years back. It was expensive to replace, but for that $3000ish cost, we have a car that is entirely paid for that will last for another many, many years. Take it in to be assessed. Even if the check engine light isn't on, they can find the code for what was causing it to go on in the first place. If it is the battery, ask how much life you're going to get out of it if it's replaced. They should be able to give you a good estimate of the cost and whether that is going to be a relatively permanent fix. You mention the $9000 trade in, but you'll need to calculate the cost of this fix into that price as the next owner will have to deal with it if you do not.
posted by goggie at 7:19 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by goggie at 7:19 AM on July 25, 2016
So, a bit of googling suggests that honda's extended warranties can transfer, but need to be explicitly transferred within 30 days of a private sale. I couldn't find any information about inheritance, which could be different, but perhaps you should ask whoever did the paperwork on his death if that wasn't you; or call the warranty dept of some local dealer and ask a hypothetical. If you are still getting warranty service on the basis of having the same last name they will probably catch on sooner or later, and though I have no factual idea about this I'd also personally concerned that it was of dubious legality.
I've owned a fussy car before (a saab with I think 150k miles on it, so seriously fussy) and my general advice is that you should try to establish facts over anything -- I can sort of sense a bit of the paralyzing uncertainty that I've experienced in somewhat similar situations. So IMO it would be better to know the state of the warranty even if that means potentially losing it, and know the state of the necessary repairs even if they could end up being expensive. The other thing to be aware of is to not indulge in sunk cost fallacy reasoning about how to approach the car. It will be much simpler (and more ethical) to sell if you sort out these mysterious issues now, and spending some money on repairs now doesn't mean you can't turn around and sell it in 6 months or a year anyways.
posted by advil at 7:21 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've owned a fussy car before (a saab with I think 150k miles on it, so seriously fussy) and my general advice is that you should try to establish facts over anything -- I can sort of sense a bit of the paralyzing uncertainty that I've experienced in somewhat similar situations. So IMO it would be better to know the state of the warranty even if that means potentially losing it, and know the state of the necessary repairs even if they could end up being expensive. The other thing to be aware of is to not indulge in sunk cost fallacy reasoning about how to approach the car. It will be much simpler (and more ethical) to sell if you sort out these mysterious issues now, and spending some money on repairs now doesn't mean you can't turn around and sell it in 6 months or a year anyways.
posted by advil at 7:21 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I have an '06 Civic Hybrid and went through a period when it was 8 years old where it needed a bunch of repairs in short order. In our case it needed the hybrid battery replaced (which the dealer ended up partly covering the cost of), but before they could do that they had to step through a list of Honda-required other steps. This included mainly "software upgrades." Then after the battery was replaced, some problems continued, and eventually we had to replace the PCM computer. (Longer description here.) It's been great since the replacements, no problems.
At the time when we bought ours, used, in 2010, we were told it was not even possible to buy an extended warranty that covered replacing the hybrid battery. So I don't know if the story was different if buying new, but I'd temper your hopes re: the extended warranty covering the battery.
One plus about these cars is they don't have a timing belt (because of the CVT I think), so there are some expensive maintenance/repair things a conventional car would require that these cars just don't.
One caution, I think more than a conventional car, environmental conditions can be hard on the hybrid battery, though. So sitting unstarted for a few months is probably hard on it. I also know that some model years of the Civic hybrids seem to have more trouble than others -- you can poke around in online forums for hybrid owners to get a sense of this.
Finally, a general point to consider: the Civic is good safety-wise for a car of its size, but a new car will in general have better safety equipment (you can compare a car's record at Consumer Reports or through IIHS ratings).
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:40 AM on July 25, 2016
At the time when we bought ours, used, in 2010, we were told it was not even possible to buy an extended warranty that covered replacing the hybrid battery. So I don't know if the story was different if buying new, but I'd temper your hopes re: the extended warranty covering the battery.
One plus about these cars is they don't have a timing belt (because of the CVT I think), so there are some expensive maintenance/repair things a conventional car would require that these cars just don't.
One caution, I think more than a conventional car, environmental conditions can be hard on the hybrid battery, though. So sitting unstarted for a few months is probably hard on it. I also know that some model years of the Civic hybrids seem to have more trouble than others -- you can poke around in online forums for hybrid owners to get a sense of this.
Finally, a general point to consider: the Civic is good safety-wise for a car of its size, but a new car will in general have better safety equipment (you can compare a car's record at Consumer Reports or through IIHS ratings).
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:40 AM on July 25, 2016
We have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. It's getting close to time to replace the big battery. We _love_ this car and I hope we keep it forever. It's been quite reliable and gets close to 50 mpg (lots of freeway commuting, some long car trips - we can drive from Durham to Atlanta on one tank of gas).
posted by amtho at 7:59 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by amtho at 7:59 AM on July 25, 2016
Oh and - when we were buying our car, at that time, Honda had extended the manufacturer's warranty on the hybrid battery specifically to 8 or 10 yrs/100,000 miles (depending on what state you bought the car in). If that's true of your dad's car, then you wouldn't need an extended warranty to cover it -- it would be covered under the original warranty. So, definitely worth looking into.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:09 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:09 AM on July 25, 2016
I would trade it in. Not for any technical reason I can point to, but man, life is hard enough. You can't be driving around a car you don't trust. Motoring should be a pleasant thing. A refuge. You didn't pick this car out, it's not your car. Go trade it in and get something you'll love, and it will love you back.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:55 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:55 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I agree with Jeff but first I would get the warranty info and have the car fixed and then trade it in. My thinking is they will give you more for it.
It sounds to me that the car is just not a good fit for you. Get rid of it.
posted by cairnoflore at 10:43 AM on July 25, 2016
It sounds to me that the car is just not a good fit for you. Get rid of it.
posted by cairnoflore at 10:43 AM on July 25, 2016
I believe that the hybrid batteries are required to be guaranteed for 10 years. It may be replaceable for free, regardless of the extended warranty.
posted by SLC Mom at 9:38 PM on July 27, 2016
posted by SLC Mom at 9:38 PM on July 27, 2016
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It sounds like you have one problem to which a lasting solution has yet to be found and you have a warranty still. Take it in and keep on top of them until it's fixed. Getting rid of a car because it needs maintenance under warranty is like selling your house because the water heater needs replacing - a throwing the baby out with the bath water thing.
posted by cecic at 6:32 AM on July 25, 2016 [4 favorites]