2008 Honda Civic

MY 2008 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID HAS HAD TWO BASIC PROBLEMS. ONE, IT SIMPLY DOESN'T DELIVER THE MILEAGE PROMISED ON THE CAR STICKER AND THAT MILEAGE KEEPS DROPPING. THE SECOND ITEM WHICH I HAD NOT THOUGHT WAS RELATED AND WHICH IS A SAFETY ISSUE, SEVERAL TIMES AFTER LONG TRIPS ON THE HIGHWAY, WHEN I APPROACHED A HILL OR WAS GOING UP ONE, THE CAR WOULD STALL OUT OR REFUSE TO MOVE, DESPITE PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR WHILE THE ENGINE WAS ON AND IN DRIVE GEAR. SEVERAL TIMES IT WOULD START ROLLING BACK DOWN THE HILL OR WOULD IMPEDE TRAFFIC BEHIND ME. ONCE THE CAR SAT FOR A WHILE, IT WOULD RESUME WORKING PROPERLY, SO I NEVER REPORTED THE PROBLEM TO THE DEALER AS I COULD NOT REPLICATE IT. IN THIS MORNING'S LA TIMES COVER STORY ABOUT HONDA BEING UNDER STATE SCRUTINY FOR THE GAS MILEAGE PROBLEM, SEVERAL PEOPLE INTERVIEWED RELATED A SIMILAR PROBLEM TO MINE. THAT'S WHEN THE "AHA" TOOK PLACE THAT MAYBE MY CAR'S PROBLEMS WERE RELATED. LUCKILY I DID NOT SUFFER ANY INJURIES OR CRASHES DUE TO THIS ISSUE, BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR GREAT DAMAGE IS THERE. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE AND LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO FORWARD THE INVESTIGATION. THANKS. *TR

2008 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID,(PROBLEM), IMA BATTERY DISCHARGE, WHILE DRIVING THE BATTERY WILL DISCHARGE TO 0 OR 1 BAR AND MOTOR ASSIST WILL NOT WORK UNTIL BATTERY CHARGES UP, WHICH CAN TAKE AWHILE, WITH NO ASSIST THE CAR IS SLOW AND DANGEROUS. ALSO WITH LOW OR NO BATTERY POWER THE GAS MILEAGE DROPS ABOUT 20%. THE REASON YOU BUY A HYBRID. AFTER RESEARCH ON THE WEB THIS SEEMS TO BE A LARGE PROBLEM MANY OTHER HAVE IT APPEARS THAT HONDA DOESN'T HAVE A FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM. THE DEALER WILL REPROGRAM YOUR IMA SYSTEM WHICH DOESN'T ALLOW FOR AS MUCH BATTERY BACKUP,WHICH ALSO DECREASES GAS MILEAGE. THIS GIVES THE MPG OF MANY OTHER CHEAPER NON HYBRID CARS. IF AFTER MANY BATTERY DISCHARGES AND IF THE DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER SHOWS THAT THE BATTERY IS BAD THEN A NEW BATTERY CAN BE INSTALLED, THE PROBLEM STILL IS THERE, THE REPROGRAMMED IMA SYSTEM STILL DOESN'T ALLOW FOR FULL BATTERY BACKUP AND THE MPG WILL NOT INCREASE TO NEW CARE STATUS. AGAIN, NOT WHAT YOU PAID FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE. I THINK HONDA NEEDS TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM. MANY HYBRID OWNERS SIMPLY WANT WHAT THEY BOUGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE. I THINK WITH YOUR HELP,MAYBE HONDA WILL STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM AND NOT TRY TO COVER UP OR PROLONG THE BATTERY WITH UPDATES TO THE IMA SYSTEM WHICH APPEARS NOT TO HELP, THIS SEEMS TO PROLONG BATTERY LIFE, BUT DOESN'T ALLOW FOR THE FULL BENEFIT OF THE HYBRID CONCEPT. *TR

CURRENTLY I HAVE 32,277 MILES AND DON'T DRIVE IT, IT'S NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. I TAKE A BUS :) 1# TRANS LOCKED AT 60MPH ON HWY AND CAUSED ALMOST A FATAL CRASH! AT 23,000 MILES. CAR WAS ABLE TO DRIVE UP TO 15MPG HAVING APPX. 6000RPMS. CAR LEFT AT DEALERSHIP AND ONLY PCM SOFTWARE WAS UPD. NO LOCKUPS ARE OCCURRING, BUT TRANS IS WEAVING, HARSH START/STOP OFTEN!/UNEXPECTED SHUTDOWN. DEALERSHIP FOUND SERVICE BULLETIN #08-014 (HARSH ENGAGEMENT), UPD. THE ON BOARD COMPUTER AND SYMPTOMS ARE MUCH WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY. LOWER MPG ( 25-28 ), MUCH WORSE PERFORMANCE, UNEXPECTED BATTERY DISCHARGE, WEAVING, LOW ACCEL. DEALER DUPLICATED PROBLEMS, BUT SAID "IT'S OK" AND PROBLEMS IS UNTOUCHED. SINCE THEY UPDATED THE SYSTEM, THE HYBRID OPTION IS NOT KICKING IN AS BEFORE. PREV. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE SLOWLY ONLY ON HYBRID, NOW I CAN'T. NO ACTIONS ARE TAKEN TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. ONCE THEY CHANGED THE IMA BATT PACK, BUT THIS DID NOT HELP AND I SEE NOT A DIFFERENCE. COMPLAINED AGAIN, AND ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE. BRAKES ARE MALFUNCTIONING. BRAKE FLUID IS MISSING, DEALER SAID "[XXX], IT'S A MYSTERY". DEPENDING ON OUTSIDE TEMP, BATTERY CHARGE LEVEL AND CAR TEMP BREAKS WORK DIFF! OCCASIONALLY WHILE SLOWING DOWN, THE BATTERY LEVEL REACHES FULL AND YOU MUST PRESS THE PEDAL AS HARD AS YOU CAN TO STOP. THIS HAS CAUSED SMALL CRASHES AND ONCE BRAKES DID NOT WORK, OR I PRESSED TOO LIGHTLY ( COLD OUTSIDE WITH FULL BATTERY ) AND UNFORTUNATELY I COULDN'T STOP ON TIME AND RAN OVER A PEDESTRIAN. SHE IS BADLY INJURED AND SUING MY INSURANCE COMPANY! DEALER REC. TO "CHANGE CAR, BETTER TO BUY NOT A HONDA AND DON'T BOTHER THEM IF NOTHING IS BROKEN." POLICE REPORT READY TO PRESENT. THESE ARE ONLY THE MAJOR ISSUES I'M HAVING. I WOULD NEED MUCH MORE SPACE TO WRITE 20 PGS ESSAY. MINOR ISSUES: - SUPER FAST TIRE WEAR ( AFTER 20,000 ) AND NOW AGAIN AT 32,000 - NOT WORKING CLIMATE CTRL SYSTEM - CHECK ENGINE, IMA LIGHT, BRAKE SYSTEM AND AIRBAG LIGHTS ON. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

I HAD AN INCIDENT WITH MY 2008 HONDA CIVIC. I WAS PULLING INTO THE CHURCH PARKING LOT AND TURNED TO PARK IN THE GRASS NEXT TO ANOTHER VEHICLE WHEN I LOST THE STEERING AND THEN SUDDENLY THE CAR JUMPED FORWARD OUT OF CONTROL AND CRASHED INTO A TREE ABOUT 10 FT IN FRONT OF ME. I THOUGHT THE GAS PEDAL HAD STUCK BUT THE ADJUSTOR WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT THIS WAS THE CASE. I NEVER PUT MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL-I WAS BRAKING AND GOING LESS THAN 10 MI/HR AT THE TIME. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND OUT WHAT CAUSED THE CAR TO LEAP FORWARD AND ACCELERATE. I HAVE HAD NO OTHER INCIDENTS WITH THIS VEHICLE. I HAVE PUT AROUND 35,000 MILES ON THE CAR MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING. *TR

ODOMETER - JUST HAD 10,000 MILE SERVICE DONE 2 WEEKS AGO, BUT HAD LESS THAN 9,000 MILES. I TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO WORK SO MY YEARLY MILEAGE IS LOW. WHILE DRIVING MY CARE TO THE BUS STOP THIS MORNING, I NOTICED THAT MY ODOMETER READS OVER 14,400 MILES - -THAT MEANS I HAVE DRIVEN OVER 5,500 MILES IN TWO WEEKS - -ALMOST AS MUCH AS I HAVE DRIVEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR. THE ODOMETER HAS OBVIOUSLY JUMPED 5,000+ MILES. I AM CONVINCED THIS IS NOT A DEALER SERVICE SCAM BECAUSE THE OIL CHANGE REMINDER STICKER THEY PLACED IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF MY WINDSHIELD SHOWS MY NEXT SERVICE IN NOVEMBER 09 WITH AN ANTICIPATED 13,000 MILE USAGE. THIS ISSUE IS HUGE FOR ME BECAUSE I LEASE THIS CAR, AND NOW THIS COULD DRAMATICALLY IMPACT THE WEAR AND TEAR ISSUE ALONG WITH MY MILEAGE ALLOWANCE. THE DEALER WANTS ME TO BRING IN THE CAR WHICH I WILL DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I DID ASK THE SERVICE REP TO MAKE NOTE OF MY NAME AND COMPLAINT SO THAT WHEN I COME IN THEY CANNOT CLAIM I ADDED THAT MUCH MILEAGE. *TR

AFTER HAVING MY CAR FOR LESS THAN 1 YEAR THE AC STOPPED WORKING. THE DEALERSHIP STATED THAT A PEBBLE MUST HAVE HIT THE AC CONDENSER AND WOULD COST $650 TO FIX. I LOOKED AT OUR OTHER CAR AND IT HAS THE SAME DINGS THAT THEY ARE CLAIMING CAUSED THE AC TO STOP WORKING BUT MY OTHER CAR'S AC WORKS PERFECTLY AND THAT CAR IS 7 YEARS OLDER. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE FROM HONDA AND THEY SAY THAT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT. I AM JUST WONDERING HOW MANY MORE TIMES THIS IS GOING TO OCCUR WHILE I OWN THIS CAR. *TR

ON VERY COLD MORNINGS, WHEN I TRY TO START MY CAR IT DOES NOT START. I WILL HAVE TO TURN THE SWITCH A FEW TIMES BEFORE IT WILL START. THERE IS NO CLICKING SOUND OR ANY SOUND AS TO INDICATE THE ENGINE IS TRYING TO START. AFTER A FEW TIMES OF TURNING THE SWITCH THE CAR STARTS. THIS HAS HAPPEN APPROX. 4 TIMES OVER THE PAST 4 MONTHS. *TR