I have a 2008 honda civic hybrid. The ima battery was replaced at curry honda in chicopee, ma in 2014. As consumer reports reported in 2014 the ima batteries are very unreliable. My ima battery recently went bad again and now honda is saying it's out of warranty. Full disclosure the car has a salvage title. This did not matter in 2014 when it was first replaced. Upon further invertigation I see the warranty on the battery is now 11 years or 162.000 miles. My car has under 130,000 miles and is less than 11 years old. Also the ima battery is listed under the emission system and should be covered for safety issues.
2008 Honda Civic Hybrid engine problems
13 complaints (20% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 50,000. 1 crash reported.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 20%
- typical mileage
- 50,000
- crashes
- 1
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
Owners did not name a specific part.
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Honda Civic Hybrid engine problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 honda civic hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle failed state inspection because the check engine indicator was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer (dch academy honda, 1101 u.s 9, old bridge, nj, 08857) where the p0a7f code appeared (hybrid battery failed). The vehicle was not repaired due to the price of the part. The contact also had an independent mechanic diagnose the vehicle for a second opinion. Both the failure and part cost were confirmed. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was out of warranty and advised the contact to keep calling the dealer. No further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Honda applied a software patch to extend the ima battery, driving home from the appointment where they updated the software I noticed that at times when I go to accelerate the car will bog down and have no speed. It happens randomly, no set pattern, its a dangerous situation when you are on a 2 lane highway and you pulled out to pass someone and you have no power. Or you are making a left hand turn and all of a sudden you lose power. Then living in minnesota having these issues when you on ice is down right scary! When you car does decide to go you all sudden lose control because its on ice. Honda has updated the software patch again and there is some improvement but still I can't trust it to drive in rush hour situations or have younger drivers drive my car. Now when I complain to honda they tell me it drives the way its designed, well if that's the case all honda's need to be taken off the road before someone is seriously hurt. Please help us honda drivers who are stuck with this car....
When trying to accelerate to access on ramp of freeway, the battery ima hybrid system suddenly was low causing the car to have less acceleration than usual, making merging with faster traffic unsafe. After taking the car in for evaluation, the local honda dealer indicated the hybrid battery system was failing but not to the point that honda of america would replace it. They stated the battery would have to get even lower and a dash light or code would have to appear. The battery/ima/hybrid system is covered up to 92000 miles and cannot be replaced by honda unless the above conditions are met. The system is poorly engineered and the program update allows the battery to function at too low a level to allow adequate acceleration. Thank you.
I was stopped with my foot on the brake, about to make a left turn. The engine shut off as the hybrids do. I was rear-ended by a chevy suburban going 30 MPH. The vehicle's back crumpled accordingly, and that structure did well. However the driver's seat broke so where the back could not be set upright without it falling over after the crash. I wonder if my back would have been as hurt if it would not have broken.
Ever since honda "upgraded" my battery system I have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. I must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. There are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when I am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so I must begin my approach from a stopped position. I thought it was my imagination that I have lost power until I heard about the lawsuit against honda motor corporation. I went into the local honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true.) I also asked what honda is going to do about it and he said "nothing". I find this unacceptable.
I'm concerned with the safety of my family when driving this vehicle due to the poor performance as detailed below. The ima battery drains so frequently and so suddenly(gets worse in the summer) that we've been very close to be involved in a few accidents. When stopped and waiting at an intersection for the green light, the car is either idled or in "auto stop" mode. Once the light turns green and I let go off the break, the car fails to accelerate fast enough to the point that I don't make it across the intersection in time, even though I'm the first car closest to the intersection, thus causing the cars behind me to run the red light. I have also had very close calls when merging and entering the freeway at the speed of traffic since the car fails to accelerate. Another dangerous situation is when driving on the freeway at a steady speed of 65 MPH on flat conditions and coming to an uphill, the car doesn't maintain the same speed. So I need to accelerate more. The RPM reaches 4000, the car is now barely making 45-50 MPH and the traffic behind me is force to slow down or suddenly change lanes in order to avoid hitting me from behind.
The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when I need to especially as I am merging onto the freeway. There have been numerous dangerous occasions where I may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. There has also been incidents when I am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. I pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. There has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in the morning. I have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. Honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on the dashboard. My car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. Something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times.
Situation 1: on this day, I was climbing the hills (not steep) to go to an observatory called lick observatory in my hometown. The battery drained completely and the gasoline engine failed to start, stalling my car and then sliding backwards towards the cars behind me. The cars behind me upon witnessing me slide backwards, started to honk at me very loudly. I instantly applied the brakes and somehow managed to slide backwards towards the shoulder. Sometime later, after turning the keys several time, the gasoline engine started. And with much difficulty and at the expense of lot of gas I was able to continue to crawl towards the observatory. This was an extremely dangerous situation and could possibly be fatal because I could have lost control of my car and fallen off the hill. Updated 03/21/12*lj updated ivoq 03/23/12
Honda released an "update" to improve battery performance of the hybrid car. This update degraded the acceleration performance. It is unpredictable to know whether the car will accelerate when necessary. Many times the car has not accelerated when necessary and almost caused accidents. I implore you investigate this "update". In my opinion, this update only hides the fact that honda produced an inferior and unsafe product.
Questions about the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid engine
Does the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid have engine problems?
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the engine of the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid, 20% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 50,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Honda Civic Hybrid have bad engine?
The Honda Civic Hybrid model years with the most engine complaints are 2007 (22 complaints), 2008 (13 complaints) and 2006 (11 complaints).
Other 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid problems
Electrical 19Fuel system 19Airbags 11Acceleration 6Transmission 3Visibility 3Body 2Brakes 2Driver assistance 2Wheels 2Locks 1Seats 1Steering 1Suspension 1
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