NHTSA Complaint #10244168 — 2007 HONDA CIVIC

HONDA CIVIC HYBRID, CAR WAS WORKING FINE AT PURCHASE, ONCE THIS PROBLEM OCCURRED IT HAS BEEN OCCURRING FREQUENTLY EVER SINCE. THE MALFUNCTION MOSTLY OCCURS AFTER THE CAR HAS BEEN PARKED IS THE HOT SUN, ONCE ENGINE IS STARTED WITHIN 3-10 MINUTES ENGINE WILL RUN ROUGH, THE IMA SYSTEM (INTEGRATED MOTOR ASSIST) WILL START CHARGING THE IMA BATTERY (158 VOLT NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE BATTERY) THEN SUDDENLY EMPTY THE COMPLETE CHARGE OF THE IMA BATTERY WITHIN 10 SECONDS. WHILE THE IMA SYSTEM IS MALFUNCTIONING WHICH IS USUALLY 5-20 MINUTES THE BRAKING IS SEVERELY AFFECTED; WHEN LETTING OFF THE ACCELERATOR THE CAR DOES NOT WANT TO SLOW DOWN, IT FEELS LIKE THE CRUISE CONTROL IS ON AND BRAKING FORCE IS GREATLY REDUCED. ALSO, WHILE THE IMA SYSTEM IS MALFUNCTIONING, THE IMA ASSIST ELECTRIC MOTOR STOPS WORKING AND THE ACCELERATION IS SEVERELY REDUCED TO THE POINT THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO ACCELERATE WITH THE TRAFFIC, IF YOU HAD TO ACCELERATE IN A HURRY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT, IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WHILE MALFUNCTIONING. THIS PROBLEM OCCURS SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK DURING THE WARMER MONTHS, SOMETIMES SEVERAL TIMES PER DAY. ALSO, SINCE THIS MALFUNCTION HAS STARTED THE GAS MILEAGE HAS SEVERELY DROPPED. CAR HAS BEEN IN FOR SERVICE SEVERAL TIMES AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY HONDA THAT THEY CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT MANY CIVIC HYBRIDS ARE EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM AND HONDA IS NOT CURRENTLY ADDRESSING THIS. THIS MALFUNCTION MAKES THIS CAR AN UNSAFE HAZARD TO DRIVE.*TR