Which Hybrid is better: Toyota Prius or Honda Civic hybrid?

My take: Honda's reputation has taken a nosedive, both with shortcomings in the IMA design, and their reactions when customers come to them with problems. Right now they're merely "circling the wagons", which might be the first thing they've done right in a while.

 

My wife purchased a Acura ILX Hybrid 2 months ago. It is based on the Civic Hybrid with a few luxury add ons in the car. She already has a Door latch recall and the 12v battery is malfunctioning and the warranty will replace. My Prius is 3 months old no issues.

If the traction battery goes the Prius cannot be driven but the Honda can.

 

2 completely different beast. 1)Honda is a gas engine first battery assist. Advantage is will not leave you on side of highway when IMA light comes on and battery has failed. Disadvantage battery more likely to fail prior to Prius and Honda is not helping out much on old system. Honda has improved their design to the new earth dreams version. 2)Prius is a battery first with gas engine assist. Advantages are better battery life and better mileage. Disadvantage red triangle of death comes on call AAA. Winner is your decision. Hope this helps. "Mac"

 

I've owned both cars. I had a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid and I now own a 2005 Toyota Prius. I had my civic for a few years, but I've only had my prius for about 2 months. In winter, I made extremely short trips to school and back, but highway gas mileage was around 40-42 mpg. In summer, I got several 50 mpg tanks. With my prius, I haven't had a chance to drive it in warm weather, but I'm constantly getting 46-48 mpg tanks. This is with winter tires. I never had winter tires on my civic. Fuel economy is definitely better with the prius.

 

I've recently had an opportunity to jump back-and-forth between our previous '06 Civic Hybrid (still in the family) and our current '10 Prius. The latter feels more refined, no contest.

The Civic's got around 137000 km's now, and I sense it's CVT is starting to get a little cranky: shudder more pronounced at idle, and kind of jumpy off the mark.

One "recalibration" event per drive is pretty much guaranteed. This locks out AutoStop, keeps revs a little high, reduces assist, forces regen at idle. Makes the car sluggish, though not as bad as prior to Honda's latest software patch.

The other thing that patch seems to do is make it damn near impossible for the IMA warning light to go on. And without that light, Honda doesn't think there's a problem.

 

Mendel,
You may need to relarn the start clutch if 12 volt has gone dead or recenlty replaced. You can try this,
Change the CVT fluid with Honda CVT Fluid and perform a CVT relearn by doing the following carefully:
Step 1-Fully warm up engine to normal operating temperature i.e. cooling fan comes on.
Step 2-Drive vehicle in the D position until you reach 37 mph (60km/h), then release acclerator pedal and decelerate (coast down) without touching the brake (if possible for no more than 5 seconds) until the vehicle comes to rest. Start clutch will have relearned at this point.
Option #2 -Or use factor software to perform this function.
Hope this helps."Mac"

 

Thanks for that Mac. It sounds familiar, but that's about all: had forgotten that, and the specifics; I've cut-and-pasted.

Reading it through a second time, regarding:

Does that mean coast as long as possible, touch the brakes only if unavoidable, and if you must apply them, for no more than 5 seconds? Or be sure to coast for minimun of 5 seconds without brakes? Or?

 

Coast down to a stop. If it is unavoidable i.e. (someone stops ahead of you or pulls out in front of you) and you must hit the brake do not apply brakes for more than 5 seconds. Reminder to change transmission fluid before you perform the clutch relearn. Hope this makes it a little more clear. My apologies. I am multitasking and prone to a few slip ups in typing and or details. Thanks "Mac"

 

My old Accord appears to have moved back into my neighborhood. DW saw something similar nearby a couple weeks ago, but we saw it again during today's evening walk. Four customizations (3 intentional improvements, one piece of rash) very clearly mark it as my old one. In the nearly four years since selling it, it has rolled up another 45,000 miles and collected considerably more rash, but is very obviously still running.

Last week I spotted a very nice maroon copy of it in cream puff condition. But today also provided a sighting of a same-age copy of my previous Ford Lemon POS too. No way would my Ford have lasted this long, but somebody else got a good one.

 

We spotted one our trade-ins once, happened to be an Accord as well. Could tell from the ameteurish pinstripe job I'd foisted on it, LOL.

It's a strange feeling, maybe strongest when you've just taken delivery of a new car and left your trade on the lot. It looks so folorn...