fam member has one. bat is crapped out. dealer is saying 3500.00 any suggestions for cheaper options?
Did Honda not provide something like a 10 yr warranty on that item? guess not, http://www.autoweek.com/car-shopping/articles/2012/11/replacing-a-hybrids-battery-may-not-cost-as-much-as-you-think.html http://www.milehybridauto.com/
Here's a story I just read last week. http://ph.news.yahoo.com/honda-civic-hybrid--battery-unreliable--consumer-reports-says-175349961.html
How much to dispose the old battery properly? something tells me hybrids will be laying around everywhere once all the batterys are dead and the cars arent worth fixing.
A 10 year old Civic is worth like what, $13 or some shit? I would take that $3,500 and buy a whole used (gas powered) car.
Saw this one coming. There is going to be an enormous wave of hybrids (Prius, civic, etc) in this exact predicament if it hasn't already started. Seems there is a huge opportuinty here for a shop that specializes in converting the hybrids back into straight gas powered vehicles (Dehybridization). Probably isn't really that hard to do and would be way cheaper than the cost of the new battery packs. For some vehicles (a hybrid Escalade, for example), the 'hybrid' feature is just a gimmick that involves whimpy electric motors attached to the transmission that would be extremely easy to disable. Who wants to open the first dehybrid shop with me?
I looked at Craigslist and found 2000-2001 non-hybrid Civics in the 3500 dollar range to be plentiful. Saw one clean 4 door auto with 122k miles for that price. Looks like 2004 Civics are around 6 (unless it's a hybrid, those seem to be selling for less for some reason).
It is surprising that some retrofit alternatives aren't available. Maybe there just isn't enough demand yet?
Hybrid cars = stoooopid x20. Great marketing on them though. There was a survey done last year and over 90% of hybrid owners would not repeat their purchase. Pretty easy to see why. Want good gas mileage, get a diesel or even a small displacement gas engine. There are many options out there getting 40 mpg without the hybrid bs to worry about. My Mom moved to Asheville, NC about a year ago and became a new age hippie in short order. Told her I would disown her if she bought a Prius (joking of course). I finally convinced her on a Jetta TDI wagon. She loves it and it rides really nice. Over 40 mpg on a recent trip to Upstate NY.