2004 Honda Civic Hybrid with 93K miles & manual 5-speed?

The 5 speed is a point of weakness. The input shaft bearing tends to go out. Repair means pulling the transmission and opening the case -- 10 hours of labor to fix a $25 part. Of course, you will do the clutch while you are in there, another $500. When you go to test drive it, watch for noise in first and second gear.

 

Anything less than a 2006 civic hybrid, forget it. This is coming from an owner of a 2001 Honda Civic EX Coupe and a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid 4DR. There is a reason why it is not selling. Buy yourself a real car and get a Prius.

 

The 2004 (auto) has transmission problems. When you press the go pedal, it makes horrible gurgling sounds before it starts moving.

It has no power and cannot climb I-70 into ski country at highway speeds (80mph, it slows to 50-55 by the top and if you let off the gas, you can never get back again).

It has no trunk space, nothing fits back there. The 2001 civic coupe has great trunk space, the hybrid sucks.

It cannot "creep" forwards without the engine. If you move, the engine comes on. This makes it is a useless hybrid.

The AC stops blowing cold when you are stopped because it is belt driven.

The drivetrain is very traditional. Standard transmission, standard torque converter, everything. This makes it have lots of normal car problems that superior cars like the Prius don't.

The list goes on. Buy a Prius, be happy.

 

The HV battery is the other point of weakness. A replacement in 2009 implies a 5 year lifespan in that climate, which isn't at all surprising. If you buy this car, consider getting a grid charger from someone in the Honda Insight community, as an occasional charge/balance will help extend the life of the pack. When you test drive it and take it up a hill, watch for a negative recal, where the battery meter suddenly drops to zero. That's a sign of a weakening pack.

 

It sounds like you are set on it, so I doubt anyone will sway you. 1st hand experience says DO NOT BUY IT. If you are going to buy a car, get a good one. And if this is your first hybrid, then why get a crappy one? Again, there is a reason why the Prius retains its value and sells for top dollar.

I would think living on the island having the AC die when the car stops would be a killer too... Not to mention the lacking battery which is already overstressed and now it is going to be hot which is early death to batteries. Note that Honda's current "fix" for failing battery packs is to reprogram the ECU so that less battery is used, which makes it less of a hybrid, and less fuel economy.

 

Climate swings are bad for batteries, but heat is worse than cold. When cold, just dont charge it. When hot, don't use it.

If you want facts, both cars are approved by the DOT and NHTSA for sale in the US. Therefore they meet the minimum requirements to be safe and tolerable on US roads.

Everything else, is opinion.

 

Battery repair cost is around $1200, but you have to ship it to NY. DIY battery repair is cheaper but requires expertise. New batteries installed are generally $3,000 or less. $5,000 would be an outrage. It can be driven with a non-functioning HV battery, of course, but it would be best to install a high capacity deep cycle 12V battery that gets charged every night, as without the IMA system, the 12V runs all electronics and there is no alternator.

But the actual vehicle will be the make or break. You may find that 2K1 is absolutely correct, that the car will be endless problems, because they do not tolerate abuse well. If it just doesn't feel right, flee.

 

The civic is louder than the Prius, but not by much. But everything else you mention is fluff, like buying a car because of the colour. I would rather buy a car that lasts forever and works better daily but takes an extra couple minutes to unscrew the oil filter every few months.

 

Honda civic 2004 is a nice family car smooth car

 

I'd mostly agree with this.

I had a 2004 manual Civic Hybrid a couple of years back. Owned for a couple of years, bought with 45K on the clock, sold it with 75K. 30K of faultless miles. The only thing I replaced was the 12v battery after a -13C winter beat the stuffing out of it. I never had any issues with battery re-calibrations, or anything else nasty. I have a pretty decent commute (1 hour each way) across some quite demanding road, with lots of elevation changes, and the battery always performed well.

Plus points:

1. Really nice, solid, interior with heated leather seats.
2. Good handling, with good steering feel.
3. Slick gear change.
4. Fuel economy, although not up to Prius standards was excellent (I averaged 54mpg (UK Imp gallons).
5. Smooth driving - auto stop silently spools the engine back up.

Negative:

1. Rear seats don't fold down, which is the only reason I sold it.
2. Regen braking takes some getting used to - not entirely consistant.
3. It is not a sports car - slower than a Prius even. The low torque nature of the Honda VTEC doesn't help here - if you want to overtake anything, you have to rev the nuts off it, which is what Honda engines love I suppose.

I would have gone for it, if it worked out cheaper than an equivalent aged/miled Prius. Its a nice drive.

 

Just to respond to some of this...

I had the manual (as per the car the OP is talking about) and had no gearbox drive issues at all across 30K miles.

Trunk space I found to be decent - about the same as my 2001 Accord. We fit a buggy in there and luggage for 3 people with no problem. More of an issue is that the seats don't fold down.

Just because the engine spools back up when the car moves doesn't make it useless. It is a different thing to the Prius system. Granted, not as efficient as Toyota's, but not useless. It is an effective autostop system. It does have the ability to coast TO a stop and turn the engine off as you slow down. It regens pretty well under braking. It is an assist system, not a 'full' hybrid. You need to come to it with proper expectations. You will get better mileage than a standard Civic, for sure.

The AC does stop, when you are stopped, yes. I seem to remember it has an ECO mode though, where it can still blow uncooled air. This was never an issue for me, because in the UK, 'summer' is foreign concept .

Last comment - we are talking manual here, so no torque convertor. It being a 'normal' car could be to its advantage as it ages - in terms of servicing away from franchised dealers etc.

No doubt, the Prius HSD is a superior system, but the Honda system has it's place, and I'd argue that the manual Civic Hybrid is much more of a 'drivers' car than any Prius...

It is what it is.

 

Glad I ran into this thread.. I was thinking of buying an extra car, an 04-05 Civic Hybrid but after hearing all these things I think i'll pass.

 

It is still a good car. Internet forum posts can over represent a problem. I had many miles of fault free driving in mine....