Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||||
| SB-09-029 | 07/19/2011 | 10039531 | Ready | 08/02/2011 | |
| SB-09-029 | 07/19/2011 | 10039531 | Honda: malfunction light is on with trouble codes stored due to a software problem. 2006-2008 civic hybrid. *rm | 08/02/2011 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| SB-09-009 | 07/15/2011 | 10039365 | Honda: excessive pressure in the transmission due to a software problem. *rm | 07/29/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 09/04/2012 | 86000 | 1 | |
| I was stopped with my foot on the brake, about to make a left turn. the engine shut off as the hybrids do. i was rear-ended by a chevy suburban going 30 mph. the vehicle's back crumpled accordingly, and that structure did well. however the driver's seat broke so where the back could not be set upright without it falling over after the crash. i wonder if my back would have been as hurt if it would not have broken. *tr | |||
| 10/03/2011 | 50000 | ||
| The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when i need to especially as i am merging onto the freeway. there have been numerous dangerous occasions where i may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. there has also been incidents when i am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. i pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. there has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in th morning. i have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on on the dashboard. my car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | |||
| Ever since honda upgraded my battery system i have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. i must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. there are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when i am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so i must begin my approach from a stopped position. i thought it was my imagination that i have lost power until i heard about the lawsuit against honda motor corporation. i went into the local honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true.) i also asked what honda is going to do about it and he said nothing. i find this unacceptable. | |||
| 10/03/2011 | 50000 | ||
| The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when i need to especially as i am merging onto the freeway. there have been numerous dangerous occasions where i may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. there has also been incidents when i am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. i pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. there has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in th morning. i have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on on the dashboard. my car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | |||
| Ever since honda upgraded my battery system i have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. i must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. there are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when i am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so i must begin my approach from a stopped position. i thought it was my imagination that i have lost power until i heard about the lawsuit against honda motor corporation. i went into the local honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true.) i also asked what honda is going to do about it and he said nothing. i find this unacceptable. | |||
| 10/03/2011 | 50000 | ||
| The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when i need to especially as i am merging onto the freeway. there have been numerous dangerous occasions where i may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. there has also been incidents when i am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. i pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. there has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in th morning. i have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on on the dashboard. my car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | |||
| Ever since honda upgraded my battery system i have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. i must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. there are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when i am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so i must begin my approach from a stopped position. i thought it was my imagination that i have lost power until i heard about the lawsuit against honda motor corporation. i went into the local honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true.) i also asked what honda is going to do about it and he said nothing. i find this unacceptable. | |||
| 10/03/2011 | 50000 | ||
| The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when i need to especially as i am merging onto the freeway. there have been numerous dangerous occasions where i may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. there has also been incidents when i am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. i pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. there has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in th morning. i have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on on the dashboard. my car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | |||
| Ever since honda upgraded my battery system i have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. i must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. there are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when i am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so i must begin my approach from a stopped position. i thought it was my imagination that i have lost power until i heard about the lawsuit against honda motor corporation. i went into the local honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true.) i also asked what honda is going to do about it and he said nothing. i find this unacceptable. | |||
| 10/03/2011 | 50000 | ||
| The battery on my honda civic hybrid has been failing to charge which means my car has no power to move quickly up hills or accelerate when i need to especially as i am merging onto the freeway. there have been numerous dangerous occasions where i may have been the first car at a traffic light, the light will turn green but my car has no power to make it up the hill. there has also been incidents when i am merging onto the freeway but can't get my car to accelerate to an appropriate speed as to not be a danger to the cars already on the freeway. i pray to god that there is not an 18 wheeler approaching behind me in the right lane or the driver would not be able to slow down in time to allow me to merge onto the freeway. there has also been times where my car will not start up immediately in th morning. i have already replaced the starter battery from the honda dealership that cost me over $200.00 after their mandatory adjustment on the ima battery. honda will not replace my ima battery until the light comes on on the dashboard. my car is not yet 4 years old but the battery is already a danger to my safety. something needs to be done before somebody gets killed in their honda hybrid for failing to accelerate at the appropriate times. | |||
| 04/01/2011 | 30000 | ||
| Honda released an update to improve battery performance of the hybrid car. this update degraded the acceleration performance. it is unpredictable to know whether the car will accelerate when necessary. many times the car has not accelerated when necessary and almost caused accidents. i implore you investigate this update. in my opinion, this update only hides the fact that honda produced an inferior and unsafe product. | |||
| 10/15/2010 | |||
| Purchased vehicle new in march of 2008. in october of 2010 an ima battery update was required by manufacturer. since the update i have taken the vehicle back to the dealer on a monthly basis for almost a year with the following problems, they of course can not get the vehicle to do everything that it does to me and the dealer always tells me it is operating within manufacturers standards. i have given up taking it in every month and now just take it in for its routine maintenance, i give them a printout of my concerns and the tech attaches it to the workorder. a) low fuel mileage, averages 25 to 28 mpg. before ima update, was averaging 35 to 45 mpg. b) slow acceleration from stops, this is very dangerous because we never know if the vehicle is going to move or not. we must leave ourselves alot of space when trying to merge with traffic because of this. c) idles rough, off & on, while stopped or parked, this is using up gas because the ima battery does not come on as much as it used to. d) assist is not coming on as much as it used to, if at all. e) ima battery reading goes from 1-2 bars upto 8 or so in minutes and then back down to 1-2 bars within a minute or less. usually reads about 1-2 bars most of time. ima is charging itself on flat ground, up hills, down hills and when braking. i would trade the vehicle in for another, but am afraid that some other sucker would end up with something that is not operating correctly. i did purchase the extended warranty on this vehicle. | |||
| 04/30/2011 | 39073 | ||
| Took car in for oil change 4/30/2011 at honda dealer. service department performed reflash campaign 10-034 without asking. previously had declined this service and is noted in service records not to perform this service ever. car performance has been significantly diminished since this service has been performed. car will not reliably accelerate smoothly from standstill (red light) or when merging into highway traffic at 40-50 mph. when accelerating from a stop, vehicle may or may not move at acceptable speed causing the potential to enter traffic with inadequate power to get up to speed of oncoming traffic creating a hazardous situation. this is an accident waiting to happen, especially since the performance is now inconsistent and you do not know when it may not accelerate as needed. the engine will rev very high but the car will only go 5-10 mph with pedal all the way to the floor. honda dealer has been unresponsive. i am limiting driving this car as much as possible as this car is unsafe in traffic situations. also, the auto-stop feature does not work as prior to the reflash, engine idles much higher at stops and does not cut off. this has decreased gas mileage significantly. | |||
| 10/11/2010 | 89000 | ||
| Have a 08 civic hybrid with 89k miles. got the recent battery software upgrade several weeks ago. have had a sudden drop in battery charge down to one or two bars, both before and after the upgrade. recovery usually fairly quick, driving on the interstate, 72 mph, all of a sudden dash went dark and engine stopped. no warnings or lights beforehand. coasted to the side of the road. able to restart immediately. happened twice more over the next 30 minutes. these times put the car in neutral and restarted as i coasted. tank about 1/3 full with shell gas. filled the tank with off brand gas and drove the rest of the way ok. took it to honda dealer. they checked engine (no codes) and electrical system. nothing found. have to drive this car every weekend for 400 mile round trip. concerned about upcoming weekend | |||
| 08/10/2010 | 13500 | ||
| In august 2010 i took my 2008 honda civic hybrid to the dealer for routine maintenance. the dealer performed a purported software update on the battery system without notifying me until afterwards. immmediately upon leaving the dealer, i noticed a profond reduction in power and acceleration. on the freeway portion of the drive home, i was almost rear-ended twice as i drove in the slow lane up a minor grade where the vehicle could not accelerate over 40 miles per hour (with the pedal fully depressed in the passing gear)-- prior to this date i had driven my vehicle for its prior 20 months of ownership up that same grade at 70mph. additonally, prior to this date i had never even utilized the s gear on my transmission. ever since honda's software update my car has become a severely underpowered accident waiting to happen. i am reduced to driving in the slow lane on the freeway with vehicles flashing me as they approach a 40-45 mph vehicle at 60-70 mph from behind. i have called the honda service departments at several local dealers regarding this problem, and get a universal response- wait for your system to adjust to the software update or you need to adjust your driving. what the heck does this mean? i drove the vehicle fine for 20 months prior to the software update and now it drives like a 20 year old 4 cylinder engine with 2 bad pistons. the decreased power and acceleration are a dangerous accident in the making. i am fearful of being rear ended. this is an every day problem that was caused by this software update and i suspect that it is happening to every 2006-2008 honda civic hybrid that goes to the dealer for this software update. an additional consequence of this alleged software update is a profound drop in gas mileage from approximately 37 combined mpg prior to update to 29-30 post update. i have never lodged a complaint with any organization before, but like i've previously stated, this update is a danger to the public. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 06/17/2011 | 90000 | ||
| 1. i had all recommended service, including oil changes, performed on my 2008 honda civic hybrid since i purchased it new, with receipts to prove this, and never had a problem with this car prior to this incident. 2. the engine failed catastrophically, with no alert or warning light, on a highway at ~55mph during rush-hour traffic. 3. the failed engine was replaced with a used engine, as recommended by the honda service location where i had the car towed. the service manager never provided an explanation of what did or might have happened, and he reported that everything about the engine seemed appropriate except for the fact that it had siezed. honda provided no financial assistance, because the warranty had expired, offered no explanation or understanding, several times spoke unprofessionally and, therefore, lost a customer. | |||
| 08/23/2010 | 45918 | ||
| 2008 honda civic hybrid was modified according to manufacturer's voluntary recall notice 10-034. this modification involved changes to the engine control computer's software flash memory. subsequently, the vehicle demonstrates insufficient power to accelerate safely into highway traffic. when parked on an incline the vehicle exhibits difficulty initiating forward motion and may roll backwards up to three feet before establishing forward progress. this behavior was not observed prior to the engine modification. | |||
| 09/22/2010 | 36000 | ||
| We purchased a 2008 honda civic hybrid new, and were very satisfied with the performance and the pickup was excellent. the company performed a manditory software upgrade to improve battery life in september 2010. since that update, the car has drastically diminished response time to acceleration, especially when attempting a sudden burst to change lanes or turn through intersections. the engine actually has almost stalled when attempting to start from a dead stop. this response time resulted in a near miss while entering freeway traffic due to the sluggishness of the engine when requesting acceleration that, prior to the software change, would have not been a problem. it is my belief that the software upgrade that honda has forced upon the owners of the honda civic hybrid is a detriment to safe driving, and should be reversed at the soonest opportunity before someone forgets and is actually involved in an incident that involves serious injury if not death. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | 32250 | ||
| Basic complaint is unpredictable loss of power when accelerating. this seems to be due to the ima system operation. not being able to depend on consistent acceleration has drastically changed the way you have to drive vehicle to prevent crash. if you needed the ability to accelerate quickly and safely, you cannot count on this vehicle to provide it. it occurs almost daily when acceleration is needed most, turning across traffic and merging in traffic/highway on-ramps. at the start ownership of vehicle, no problems noted. car operated great! in last 5-10k miles car has gotten worse and worse. it has had all software updates. mpg was always 42-45. now runs around 35 mpg. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||
| 07/06/2009 | 35000 | 1 | |
| 1. after normal 30k mileage service and tire rotation/balancing 5/23/2009, with highway handling car shook extremely and wobbled at speeds 60 and above, pulls to the right going downhill. 2. problem remains with 2008 hybrid past 35k, reproducible at highway speeds (60mph-70 mph, 2000 rpm to 2500 rpm) going on straight stretch and downhill. front of car pulling sideways is reproducible in rain or when breaking going down low/medium grade hill. 8/18, the problem continues to occur, is a safety concern when on highway,especially going downhill or on straight stretch. 3. reported to dealer, went in for check, dealer contacted warranty and replaced transmission fluid. problem still occurs, dealer recommends change front tires now as tires rippled between may 23rd and june 3rd, 2009. paid for 2 new tires to replace old per dealers recommendation friday 6/11. dealer goes through extended warranty to replace transmission 6/11. the problem dissipated 30%,but shaking occurs. return vehicle to dealer to verify if software updates were made 6/24 after transmission was replaced. dealer made software update 7/6 received car back and problem showed up within a day. reported issue. dealer received honda recommendation to disconnect egr valve 7/31. problem reduced by ~20% but still remains at 60mph etc. 8/8 follow-up with concern of driving in rain dealer recommends contacting honda corporate customer service. dealer contacts factory rep, whose recommendation is there is nothing further that can be done. there was no inspection made for any joint/bolt/belt slippage etc. honda customer service contacted dealer and factory representative and stated nothing else can be done 8/18 as f.rep has closed the case, cannot override f.rep, and does not have statistics to confirm either way whether the problem exists in other 2008 hybrids with similar mileage. dealer is unaware of the root of shaking/steering problem (software/d/drivetrain/cooling/exhaust just a worn belt loose bolt etc.). *tr | |||