Civic Hybrid owners: 'Fix' ruined my car - lifepo4 battery pack 12v
New york (CNNMoney )--
In the face of complaints about premature death of citizens' hybrid battery pack, Honda Motor Company of the United States
A free software upgrade was offered last summer to solve the problem.
Many owners say it will only make things worse.
"My miles range from 40 miles to 25 miles.
The 28 mpg after the software upgrade last year, "a woman said in a comment posted earlier this month on the car website Edmunds. com.
The software patch was released after years of complaints that the battery pack of Civic hybrids was prematurely invalidated.
Batteries for hybrid cars are expected to last 100,000 miles or more.
Consumer Report magazine recently tested a 2002-kilometer Toyota Prius with a mileage of more than 200,000 miles, after comparing the test results to the same car when the new car was tested,
But many people complained in a discussion version posted online that the Honda Civic hybrid battery had only traveled 30,000 to 50,000 miles, and its performance had declined.
A person on Edmunds wrote: "I have a 2007 Civic hybrid that is starting to show progressively lower battery performance at about 40,000 . ".
Com discussion board.
In some cases, Civic Hybrid owners are able to replace the battery during the warranty period.
When the car is not covered under 8-
A one-year/80,000-mile hybrid component warranty costs about $2,000 for battery replacement plus installation.
A Honda spokesman will not discuss Civic hybrid batteries and software issues as they are the subject of a lawsuit against the automaker.
David Champion said the consumer report survey showed that while only a handful of civilian hybrids had battery problems, compared to the Toyota Prius hybrid or the Ford Escape Hybrid, automatic test title for battery magazine for this car.
Complaints like this can damage the reputation of car manufacturers, especially when they are so consistently focused on specific models.
"You just don't see the discussion surrounding Prius or escape," said Bob McDonald, who runs the hybrid car message board on Edmunds. com.
Honda's software update has changed the way cars use hybrid systems and should reduce the wear of battery packs without reducing fuel economy.
Users claim that the new software will only make things worse.
Tim Lake, owner of Honda Civic Hybrid, wrote in an email: "In some cases, it seems that the car does not want to accelerate from the stop positionmail.
"It put me in danger more than once when trying to cross the intersection.
Shaw says the fuel economy of his hybrid has fallen from mid-term40-
Miles drop to 30 miles per gallon, or about the same as 30 mileshybrid Civic.
"I didn't get a reasonable incentive, I didn't get a hybrid boost, and I didn't get fuel economy," Shaw said in a telephone interview . ".
The champion of the consumer report warned against overbelieving the driver's own fuel economy statements because they are not based on carefully run tests. On-
In general, line message boards can also amplify the occurrence of problems that may be relatively rare, Champion said.
People with problems with cars tend to look for forums and post messages, while people without problems remain silent.
Not all car owners end up unhappy with Honda's repairs.
Danny nails, owner of citizen hybrid in Florida, wrote in an email that the software patch did not help, but when his battery was also replaced, the situation ended up being resolved.
"The car is running normally now and the mileage is good," he wrote . ".
Honda will launch a new Civic Hybrid this spring.
The new Civic hybrid will have more powerful lithium
The ion battery is completely different from the previous version.