pretty fricking complicated aint it?

[gerald_blizzard]

hi guys..hopefully I am in the right spot..(it kept telling me to use the introductory page but didnt identify it..oh well)..this is it...right?...in any case...I drive..I buy my own gas..therefore Iwant better gas mileage.....I have just bought a 2004 honda civic and my first tank was driving back and forth to work...thirty mile one way three mile city and the rest country driving....both ways...I got thirty seven point o nine mpg...I was a happy camper....my gf now wants this car...and wants me to find another...being a reasonable person..Im looking...I found a 2008 honda civic hybrid online...93000 miles...first asking price 11200....I thought Id offer ten five...if Idecide to buy it...heres where you enter the picture....do I want this car?...as an aside I bought the car I am driving for five thousand...but I knew Id have to change the timing belt and stuff and it had 141k on it..still a nice car but not new...booyaa....so what about the hybrid?..do I want to go see it and offer ten five?...

[all_about_the_glide]

Have a 2007-- I love it, but it is the right tool for my job (lots of highway miles) and I am fully aware that the battery pack will have to be replaced either by warranty (92k miles in Minnesota) or at my expense not all that long after. If you face mainly city or suburban stop and go miles, it may not be your best choice; the Prius in that case is worth the price premium or a fuel efficient non-hybrid with a stick could cost less and give as good if not better mpg performance. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions while providing more detail about your situation.

[msirach]

If I wanted to settle on 10,500, I would offer $9k and play the miles on the car and lack of warranty on the hybrid system. KBB price ranges from $9300 on the low end to $11,600 on the top end in excellent condition.

[ALS]

With your route a hybrid is the best option but not the only one. You have already figured out with the Civic that good mileage isn't magic. There are many other vehicles that would fit your lifestyle. The Prius was already suggested and is a great option. The Honda Civic Hybrid has had some issues with battery packs and real world mileage claims. Personally I think it is still a great car. You have Hyundai Elantra's, Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus's, Toyota Yaris, to name a few. Toyota Camry, Chevy Malibu four cylinder with the "six speed auto box" are a little bigger but still will pull some nice numbers. With gas still above $3.50 a gallon unfortunately there still is a premium on fuel efficient cars.

The best thing is to widdle it down to two or three cars and figure out which one is the best fit for you. BTW Welcome to the board.

[gerald_blizzard]

thanks guys, I feel welcome already...

[herm]

A related question.. how do you check the battery on a used Honda hybrid?

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Herm, about the best you can do is take it on an extended test drive, make sure everything is up to operating temperature, then do assist and regen cycles at low as well as high rates to see how it behaves. If you can trigger a recalibration event you probably want to stay away -- especially if you find you can trigger more than one with heavy assist or regen episodes that last long enough.

[herm]

Could you describe how to "do assist and regen cycles at low as well as high rates to see how it behaves"

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Sure. For gentle assist get the car into an EV glide on a mostly flat, empty road and use 1-2 bars of assist until the engine kicks on to replenish the low battery. The gauge should fall linearly with use of assist without any sudden drops or skipping of bars on the SoC meter. Gentle regen can be done with just letting off the pedal and letting the car regenerate slowly without touching the brake pedal. You can do this with little micro pulse/regen cycles where the pulses don't use any assist and you slowly fill up the pack with the regen. As with the assist phase, you should see the SoC meter climb linearly without any jumps as you do this.

If you do see jumps/skips of bars or the rate is not linear, you've seen a recalibration event of some sort. This is normally most obvious with a negative recalibration while using assist. The gauge will drop to the bottom either in one jump or rapidly while the car goes into an aggressive forced charge.

To do the cycles at a higher current rate accelerate briskly using as many bars of assist as you can (you can slow down between accelerations without using regen if you put the car into neutral) and for regen find a deserted, highway speed road with a good sized hill so you can get some sustained, maxed out regen bars decelerating from speed. Typically a marginal pack will recalibrate with vigorous and sustained use.

If the battery performs evenly from top to bottom (and bottom to top) of range, you're probably dealing with a healthy pack.

[herm]

Thanks Sean.. it would be nice to have a full article on this process, and sticky it in the articles section.. perhaps titled "Buying a used Honda Hybrid : How to test the battery".. covering all the issues, recalls and different warranty replacement options.