2009 Honda Civic battery problem

I feel your pain, just yesterday my IMA and engine light came on--I also have a 2009. Unfortunately, I found this website after I purchased the car new a year and a half ago. When I turned my car in yesterday for repair I expressed my concerns about the updates and to my surprise they agreed with most everything the ima/battery blogs mention.

Like a lot of people, I'm faced with a decision to replace the car while it still has a little value or drive it until the battery dies and continue to replace the battery as I live in one of the hottest place in the US: Phoenix, AZ.

I have a 2009 civic hybird, all was good,until 17000 miles, I was getting 47 hwy, 38 in town,, Ima update at 17K, mileage drops by 10 per gal,, they reset the Ima. same thing mileage stays the same. I now have 25 K and no help from the dealer or Honda. We need class action,, or $70000 refund or they can put car where sun dont shine. I went to Honda to see about a buy back, guess what? Honda dealer Tucson we are not buying any Hybirds at this time.. Wonderful.. anybody else interrested?

The software update specifically tells the IMA to use the battery less. This means worse MPG. I went from 44mpg down to 33mpg. American Honda says this is normal operations to use the battery less so we won't see battery issues. Only problem is I bought the car for the 44mpg. If you have an IMA light, that is covered under warranty. What about us that didn't have a light and they upgraded the software. American Honda says they stand behind their warranties however there is nothing wrong with my car.

The only way to fix the problem is to NOT buy Honda. Buying a CRV only helps Honda again. Look at Toyota (or other brands) and after you purchase, bring it buy the Honda dealership and show them what they lost out on. The dealers will them begin to speak to American Honda corporate to let them know. Buying another Honda only puts more money in their pocket and they win both ways.

About three months ago I bought my 2009 Honda Civic Hybird and one month ago ima and engine light came on they worked on it up dating the computer they said that's all it needed. Wrong last week took back lights on again another missed work day. Was told needed battery replaced was on order would call and would take one half day to replace. I checked and it is in now still waiting for that call and only getting 23 miles per gal. My first Honda may be my last What a deal !

I also have IMA problems. Each time the ima light came on Honda did the software update, now they say that is it....
The fuel consumption is now 20 % higher than when it was new, and I bought the car for its low gas use. I asked if the updates can be cancelled and go back to original settings but this is not possible.
The idea of a class action sounds good.
Any more feed back will be appreciated.

Keith

I have written letters that have fallen of deaf ears-I also live in Arizona and when I come to a stop the A/C stops blowing cool air and hot air comes out-I've taken my 2009 Civic Hybrid into the dealer several times all they do is mess with the system and I get worse gas mile (36 MPG) Hondo knew that the Civic would not work in the hot desert yet sold the cars anyway- I would ne happy to join a class action-All I want is a replacement vehicle, I spent close to $30,000 because I upgraded to leather and NAV all I get is a hot interior in the summer and worse gas MPG now

HELP!

I join the numerous frustrated 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid owners. I bought the car intentionally for the gas mileage (supposedly 40-43 mpg) because of high mileage driven. Bought car new and had trouble almost immediately. Gas mileage dropped (and is now at 26 mpg!), power dropped (even got stuck and couldn't back up the small incline of a friend's driveway), and have put my life on the line too many times to count when attempting to pull out into traffic or enter highway (0-70 in 45-50 seconds on bad days). Began complaining to Honda dealer and they contacted American Honda and have test drove, taken "snap shots", upgrades, and replaced the IMA battery in my car 3 times so far, but they report that everything is operating within normal ranges and cannot determine a problem. What next? HELP!!!

I had three lights come on last week on my 2009. The battery charging, engine malfunction, and ima warning lights came on. Of course when I brought it in, they looked at it and told me to bring back Monday when they could call a specialist in California. By Monday the lights had disappeared, but I took it in anyway to have them run the tests. The ima passed all the tests they threw at it, however the next day the warning lights came back. On Wednesday they called and said they were having a new module shipped to see if that corrected the problem. It didn't so they called me and told me they were going to have to replace the hybrid battery too. Luckily this was all covered by my warranty. The guy that waited on me at the dealership said that Honda has been having these issues, and have made updates to the batteries themselves, and the computer modules, so what they put in my car is not the exact same as what they took out. I am hoping that solves the problem, and if it does I hope it signals that Honda is changing their tune about their hybrid issues.

I had three lights come on last week on my 2009. The battery charging, engine malfunction, and ima warning lights came on. Of course when I brought it in, they looked at it and told me to bring back Monday when they could call a specialist in California. By Monday the lights had disappeared, but I took it in anyway to have them run the tests. The ima passed all the tests they threw at it, however the next day the warning lights came back. On Wednesday they called and said they were having a new module shipped to see if that corrected the problem. It didn't so they called me and told me they were going to have to replace the hybrid battery too. Luckily this was all covered by my warranty. The guy that waited on me at the dealership said that Honda has been having these issues, and have made updates to the batteries themselves, and the computer modules, so what they put in my car is not the exact same as what they took out. I am hoping that solves the problem, and if it does I hope it signals that Honda is changing their tune about their hybrid issues.

my 2009 hybrid has been a good car. however, the mechanic didn't know their is a special oil in the tranny. they put regular tranny oil in it. BIG MISTAKE!! it immediately caused teh belts to slip and Honda put a brand knew tranny in it. I am happy with Honda since it had 71,000 miles on it when tey did it. it was beyond warrantee but they were cool. the mpg sucks! 34 mpg around town. this is NOT what i paid for. i am thinking of selling it.

I have a 2009 civic hybrid purchased new in 2010. I now have 4000 miles and the IMA and malfunction lights are on. I had a scan and was told to take it to the dealer. No lights were on this summer but I had no AC and paid $150 to charge the battery not knowing this was part of the problem. If there is a class action I am in. I will post when I get the car back on Thursday.

I stumbled upon this page looking for clues about the insane electrical issues I am having in my 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid. I have around 74,000 miles on it and it feels like it is falling apart! My car will just die at red lights sometimes because the meter reads that the battery is dead, when it was just 3/4 charged five minutes before. The air conditioning blows out 90 degree air in the Texas heat I drive around in daily, and having to accelerate on a hill almost certainly requires turning off the AC. Now if I leave my keys in the ignition at ACC without actually turning the engine over, my navi system flashes wildly and the car behaves as if the battery is dead. When I start it, the engine turns over with no difficulty and yet my power steering goes out and all the lights flicker menacingly. This car is not efficient or comfortable to drive. I feel like I've been duped.

If Honda makes an adjustment, such as in the software, that intentionally lowers the mileage, then the U.S. EPA should be notified. The average fleet mileage is an officially sanctioned EPA figure. Otherwise, car dealers could give one mileage rating to the EPA and then sell a different car.

My wife and I also want to document the same problems in our 2009 Civiv Hybrid. We bought the car used with 56,000 miles on it less than a month ago. The dealer played up the great mileage (43-45mpg) and we are sitting around 30-32 combined city/hwy driving. When we called to ask about the problem with the mileage we were told that these cars are so technologically advanced that we would get a check engine light if there was something wrong with the car. Since there is no check engine light....the 31 mpg is what the car should be getting.

Sheesh. They haven't heard the last from us. Thanks for the great info on this site.

I'm also having troubles with my 2009 Civic Hybrid especially after the "update". Bought the car new ~7/2009 (37 miles) and had nothing but great things to say until receiving a software update in February 2011. I saw solid MPG all over the local Tucson area averaging 47-52 all year, on long drives to Phoenix (about 100 miles of flat 75 mph interstate) I saw 55-60 MPG consistently even on days in the 100's with a full car. Nice quiet ride too once up to speed ~75 or so the CVT transmission moved the gear ratio just right and the RPM would rest ~1800-2000 RPM just like any good car in overdrive.

After getting this update, identical trips and even trips with just me driving to Phoenix, completely different story. City driving is about the same if only slightly lower at 42 - 47. At speeds past 60 however, very poor MPG. Now on rides to Phoenix the car burns much more gas and feels like a 3 or 4 speed.

For example: at 75 MPH the car remains at 2800-3300 RPM to maintain speed, its almost as if someone took away the overdrive. The ride is louder too. Then the Gas milage drops to 30-38 (from 55-60). I used to be able to drive to and from Phoenix with more than half a tank close to 3/4, now I come back with 1/4 of a tank.

Not only that, since I'm already at 3k RPM if I need to pass the engine goes to Red Line! It never did that before the update quite scary. Speed limits in TX the speed limits go up to 85 running over 4000+ RPM just to maintain speed. Near the Grand Canyon on a road with a 65 speed limit and slight incline the car stayed near 6000 RPM for about 15 miles which resulted in a reading of 17 MPG (wish I took a picture) for at ~50 mile odometer trip reset. Going uphill in this car now is scary the car red lines all the time and at times it just will not go any faster. Did not have these troubles in previous trips on these same roads.

Honda dealer can't undo the update and Honda customer service stated they cannot do anything to help me and 2 complaints fell on deaf ears. This is my 2nd Honda and with incompetence like this coming from them possibly my last. Apparently correcting a CVT gear ratio is rocket science.

Has anyone else noticed this significant change in how the CVT operates at freeway speeds on the Civic Hybrid? Or know of a solution to this problem?

I have 2009 HCH. Same problem, the battery light came on at 67K and dealer is in the process of obtaining it. I bought it used and was getting about 39MPG in PA for the past 12000 miles. See how it goes with the new battery once it is installed. But hope I do not need to do this every 65K miles....

I too have a 2009 HCH...started having problems with battery charge and poor mileage in summer 2011. The IMA battery was replaced under warranty in Oct 2011 (~42,000 miles). I was hopeful that my mileage would get better, but it is still in the low 30s. After reading the posts here, I realize how lucky I am that I have not had the battery stall or leave me in a dangerous situation.
I will try going back to the dealer to see if there is anything they can do.
Of course, low 30s is not bad mileage for a regular car, but for a hybrid? I now realize that I should have bought a Prius if I really wanted better mileage.

Just another question- has anyone noticed their car "lurching" sometimes when braking? I am not sure how to describe it, but it is not right; it feels like something is slipping?

Got the deaded IMA fault at about 43k on my 2009 HCH. Having the same issues decreased fuel mileage, poor a/c operation and very sluggish (almost unsafe) acceleration. Never have come close to the EPA mileage numbers before or after repairs. I average about 32mpg. This is all after Honda replaced the IMA battery, controller and software update. Bummed I didnt buy a regular civic and saved the money. What can we do as angry customers?

Reading this site causes me great distress.

I live in Melbourne Australia and all the problems with low fuel milage, change of software, hi reving with low power, battery going down and recharging, lack of action from Honda with them saying there is an update to fix the problems (which only made it worse) and this morning the IMA light coming on, I am at a loss of where to go. Australia unlike the USA doesn't have as many Hybrids and a class action there would help but! I think it would be to late for me.

I bought a brand new 2004 HCH and I have had nothing but good luck with the car. I don't do the schedule maintenance change of oil or any other maintenance. In fact my first change of oil was at 75K miles.
at 105k miles, I replaced the AC compressor and change transmission oil and flush the coolant from the radiator. I have replaced the tires 2 times. I never wash the car nor clean the inside. It is my beater car for local uses. I got a tax break and financed it for 60 months with 0 percent down payment and 0 percent interest. This beautiful car goes and goes and goes. I have unlimited power for up hills and get a nice 44 miles per gallon efficiency. From reading the blog It seems all the problems arise from the software updates and the car been built mostly on 2009.
I almost bought a 2012 civic hybrid again, but instead I bought the v6 EXL 4 door sedan without the navigation system. I just happened to find this website that sells the IMA battery pack for only $2000. I hope this helps for those of you that need new IMA battery replacement. Here is the Link http://www.hybrid-battery.com/hch2/new.html
Good luck people!!

Well, after 3hrs at the dealership, emailing all the information I found here, plus more internet information, I now have a 'regular LX 2010 Honda Civic' . I couldn't believe how 'easy' it was, I'd only driven 50mi in the hybrid, but had a great fear of entering the highway...dud exceleration. Car battery never did charge fully, despite very conservative driving. I think they duped me price wise, but quite frankly, I'm just glad to not worry about the hybrid! So wish I'd seen this website before I purhased the hybrid...good luck to you all and I hope somehow your hybrids will have recalls like Toyota stepped up with all their problems.

I bought mine like 3 weeks ago with 33k on it. Bought extended waaranty and now after reading these posts I understand that I have been ripped off. The car getting 32-33 mpg in the city with moderate driving and 39-40 mpg on freeway going with speeds 65-80 mph. Also I was able to get better freeway milage driving aroung 55-65mph getting the max of 45mpg on plain road with no hills elevations. I am dssapointed with purchase overall and not sure what to do at this point.