Civic Hybrid owners: 'Fix' ruined my car

[DainBramaged]

Faced with complaints of battery packs in Civic Hybrids dying prematurely, American Honda Motor Co. offered a free software upgrade last summer to fix the problem. Many owners say it only made things worse.

"My mileage went from 40 mpg to 25-28 mpg after a software upgrade last year," one woman said in a comment posted earlier this month on the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

The software patch followed years of complaints that battery packs on the Civic Hybrid were failing prematurely.

Batteries in hybrid cars are generally expected to last for 100,000 miles or more. Consumer Reports magazine recently tested a 2002 Toyota Prius with over 200,000 miles on it and, after comparing test results with those of an identical car tested when it was new, found virtually no change.

But many people posting on Internet discussion boards complained that Honda Civic Hybrid battery performance faded after just 30,000 to 50,000 miles.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/01/autos/honda_civic_hybrid_battery_problems/index.htm

[spanone]

1. fix worked fine for me.....2003 hybrid getting 44 mpg

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. New technology. Had to see this coming. nt

[speltwon]

3. Yea. The whole "early adopter" thing...

It's true in any area of technology. Not saying that these claims are necessarily valid, but it's a common thing to deal with.

[Nye Bevan]

4. After reading this, I'm happy that I am still with internal combustion.

"Software updates" and patches are a big enough pain in the ass when it comes to my computers. I have no desire to have to start doing the same stuff with my cars. I guess anti-virus for your prius will be next.

[snooper2]

5. Hey DainBramaged

You get that new Tacoma X-Runner you were looking at?

Sweet ride :)

[guruoo]

6. 1989 Honda CRX HF: 41 city, 50 highway, no batteries

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/5263.shtml