NHTSA Complaint #10362921 — 2007 HONDA CIVIC

THIS IS REGARDING A 2007 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. THE IMA SYSTEM/ELECTRIC BATTERY IS NOT WORKING AS IT USED TO. RECENTLY THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED BY HONDA TO HAVE THE IMA SOFTWARE UPDATED AT ANY HONDA DEALERSHIP. THE SERVICE BULLETIN DEALT WITH THE ISSUE OF THE ELECTRIC BATTERY NOT CHARGING PROPERLY AND NO/MINIMAL ASSIST FROM THE IMA SYSTEM WHEN ACCELERATING. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN HOW THE CAR IS PERFORMING AFTER THE SOFTWARE UPDATE AND THE MPG HAS GONE DOWN FROM 42 TO 32 MPG. THE ELECTRIC BATTERY IS NOT CHARGING AS IT USED TO INITIALLY AND THERE IS HARDLY ANY ASSIST WHEN ACCELERATING. MY WIFE AND I HAVE ALMOST GOTTEN INTO REALLY BAD ACCIDENTS WHEN TRYING TO MERGE ON THE FREEWAY. WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE FROM THE ELECTRIC BATTERY, THE CAR HAS LITERALLY NO ACCELERATION. ON A FEW OCCASIONS WE WERE ALMOST RUN OVER BY SEMI'S BECAUSE WE COULDN'T MERGE WITH THE TRAFFIC FAST ENOUGH. I'VE REPORTED THIS ISSUE TO MULTIPLE DEALERSHIPS IN BAY AREA CA BUT THEY INSISTED THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE HYBRID BATTERIES. THEY STATE THAT IF THERE IS A PROBLEM THEN A WARNING LIGHT SHOULD COME UP ON THE DASHBOARD INDICATING THE PROBLEM. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE LIGHT IS NOT COMING ON BUT I PROVED TO MULTIPLE DEALERS THAT THE BATTERY CHARGE DOES NOT HOLD. THEY SAW HOW THE CAR WAS BEHAVING BUT SAID THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DO ANYTHING TILL THE VEHICLE'S ONBOARD COMPUTER INDICATED THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE IMA SYSTEM. I THEN CONTACTED HONDA USA AND REPORTED THE ISSUE. THEY WERE POLITE BUT DECLINED ANY HELP. THEY ALSO SAID THAT THE CAR HAS AN ONBOARD COMPUTER THAT DISPLAYS AN ERROR IF THERE IS AN ISSUE. I TOLD THEM THAT THIS PROBLEM CAN CAUSE FATAL ACCIDENTS ON THE HIGHWAY BECAUSE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE ANY POWER AND IT IS NOT FIT TO BE DRIVEN ON THE HIGHWAY BUT HONDA USA SAID THAT THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY SUCH ISSUE. I STRONGLY FEEL THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND EVEN TRIED TO CORRECT IT VIA THE LATEST SOFTWARE UPDATE BUT IT DIDN'T WORK AND THEY'RE NOT WILLING TO REPLACE THE BATTERY. *TR