NHTSA Complaint #10558020 — 2005 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID

A FRIEND WAS DRIVING US BACK HOME ON THE HIGHWAY AT SPEEDS OF 55-65 MILES PER HOUR, GETTING ON AN OFF RAMPS. SHE IS AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SHE HAD DRIVEN MY CAR. SHE TOLD ME THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WAS VERY WOBBLY, THE CAR WAS SHAKING AND SHE FELT SHE HAD NO CONTROL OVER THE VEHICLE; SHE HAD TROUBLE STEERING. I HAD SEVERAL INCIDENTS AFTER THAT WHEN I HAD START-UP/JUDDER VIBRATION AND EXTREME GRINDING WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP. IT FELT LIKE THE CAR WAS SLIPPING OUT OF GEAR. HONDA DETERMINED THE CVT TRANSMISSION WAS BAD; IT WAS CLASSIFIED AS SLIP/JUDDER IN HONDA'S SERVICE BULLETINS 07-049 AND 07-050 BUT I NEVER RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE. HONDA PAID 50% OF THE COST OF REPLACING THE CLUTCH IN SEPTEMBER 2013 BUT THE SEVERE ACCELERATION/SLIPPING PROBLEMS CONTINUED AND WITHIN A WEEK OF HAVING THE CLUTCH REPLACED I SOLD THE CAR. I HAD BOUGHT IT USED WITH 28K MILES ON IT; I SOLD IT WHEN IT HAD 41K MILES (I HAD DRIVEN IT ONLY 12K MILES IN SIX YEARS AND TOOK A BIG LOSS ON THE SALE). I WAS AFRAID I WOULD HAVE A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT IN IT AS IT WAS ABSOLUTELY UNSAFE. WHEN I TOLD HONDA I WAS STILL HAVING THESE PROBLEMS AFTER THE CLUTCH REPLACEMENT THEY TOLD ME TO TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER AGAIN; THIS HAD BEEN FOUR MONTHS OF DEALING WITH CVT TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS AND I HAD SPENT ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF TIME ON TRYING TO FIX A KNOWN CIVIC HYBRID DEFECT SO I TRADED IN THE CAR. *TR