NHTSA Complaint #10241683 — 2006 HONDA CIVIC

AFTER ABOUT 16 MONTHS OF OWNING THE CAR, BEGINNING IN OCTOBER 2007, THE IMA (INTEGRATED MOTOR ASSIST) ELECTRIC ASSIST MOTOR IN MY 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID HAS BEEN ACTING ERRATICALLY. AN WARNING LIGHT CAME ON DUE TO IMA PROBLEMS, AND SOME COMPONENTS OF THE IMA COMPUTER AND CONTROL SYSTEM WERE REPLACED (I AM NOT SURE IF ANY OF THE OLD PARTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE). SINCE THAT TIME, THE IMA BATTERY THAT POWERS THE ASSIST MOTOR HAS BEEN UNPREDICTABLE. IT SOMETIMES WOULD FULLY DISCHARGE, AND THE CAR WOULD RUN ONLY ON THE UNDERPOWERED 1.3 L GAS ENGINE. THE CAR IS VERY SLUGGISH, CAUSING SAFETY ISSUES WHEN ACCELERATION IS NEEDED IN CITY OR INTERSTATE DRIVING. THE PROBLEM IS WORSE IN WARMER WEATHER, 85 DEGREES OR HIGHER. SINCE THE PROBLEM FIRST WAS OBSERVED IN EARLY OCTOBER 2007, SOME PARTS AND COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY THE DEALERSHIP. ON OCTOBER 29, 2007 THEY REPLACED THE MCM RELAY AND THE BATTERY CONTROL UNIT. AROUND JULY 9, 2008 THE ORIGINAL IMA BATTERY WAS REPLACED WITH A NEW EXPERIMENTAL IMA BATTERY. ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 THE OXYGEN SENSOR WAS REPLACED AT THE SUGGESTION OF ANOTHER CIVIC HYBRID OWNER WHO THOUGHT THAT REPLACING THE SENSOR ON HIS CIVIC HAD HELPED SOME OF THE ERRATIC BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER THE SERVICE MANAGER OF THE DEALERSHIP ADMITTED TO ME THAT AMERICAN HONDA CANNOT FIX THE PROBLEMS THAT MY CAR HAS. HE TELLS ME THAT THE PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO A CHANGE IN PROGRAMMING OF THE SOFTWARE THAT CONTROLS THE IMA, A PROBLEM THAT STARTED WITH THE SOFTWARE UPDATES INSTALLED ON MY CAR IN OCTOBER, 2007. HE SAYS THAT HONDA IS WORKING ON A NEW SOFTWARE UPDATE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS, BUT NO ONE HAS AN IDEA OF WHEN IT WILL BE AVAILABLE. THE ONLY SUGGESTION THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME WAS "WHEN YOU RUN THE AIR CONDITIONING, DIRECT THE VENTS UPWARDS TOWARD THE CEILING TO SEND THE COLD AIR BACK TOWARD THE IMA BATTERY". I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THE PROBLEM WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT WHEN ACCELERATION IS NEEDED AND THE IMA WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY. *TR