I love my 2003 Civic Hybrid. It’s reliable. It gets me from A to B, safely. It’s fuel efficient. It has an 80 HP engine on gasoline and additional 30 HP on battery electric power. Not much requirement for fossil fuel. When I stop at a traffic light, the engine shuts off automatically. This car emits very little carbon monoxide (CO) pollutant. In California, it is considered a “green” car. The State gave me perks like driving on the car pool lane alone and a one-time tax deduction. When it was a couple of years old, it used to give me 56 miles per gallon, and it was a huge cost saving for my daily 150 mile commute. Even though now it’s giving me a mere 45 MPG, it’s still more efficient than most cars out there.
As standard equipment, this car has an O2 sensor and equipped with a catalytic converter to scrub out CO from the exhaust. Just last week, the “Check Engine” light came on, so I promptly took it to the dealer for servicing. They checked the on-board computer to determine what problem it detected. They told me the code indicated a catalytic converter problem and needed a replacement. They quoted $1300 for it! That’s pretty expensive! I considered the fact this is a hybrid, it doesn’t emit much CO and the State of California already declared I do not need to do smog checks on it until January 2010. Replacing the catalytic converter, at this point, doesn’t seem that important. Maybe I’ll go and shop around for a better price on an OEM part.
While I was reading the Civic Hybrid Yahoo Groups mailing list, someone mentioned a product update 07-036 to update the on-board computer’s software that corrects a false reading on the O2 sensor and Catalytic Converter failure. This looked familiar because the service manager at the same Honda dealer had told me about the update last year. He even wrote it down for me. So, once again I called the dealer and told him about it, but he could not confirm such update. I called another dealer in my area and they said the same thing. I’m at a loss. Maybe the internet is wrong? Maybe Honda lied? That won’t be the first time for either of them.
Driving home from work last Friday, the check engine light mysteriously turned itself off. I think this confirms there’s a software glitch or a bad O2 sensor. I’ll continue to find other dealers who can confirm this. Meanwhile, I’m just going to go on my daily commute - not needing another $1300 catalytic converter.
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11 responses so far ↓
1
Periapex
// Apr 7, 2008 at 2:51 am
That’s 150 miles one way?
Periapex’s last blog post..Deconstruction of an Apicoectomy.
2
rudyamid
// Apr 7, 2008 at 4:59 pm
3
fragileheart
// Apr 7, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Yikes, $1,300 is pretty steep! I hope you don’t have to buy one. 50 miles is nice (and a lot nicer than 150 miles)!
fragileheart’s last blog post..A few quick things
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rudyamid
// Apr 8, 2008 at 11:33 am
And yes, 50 miles is better than 150 miles. It’s funny considering I’ve worked for another company for 5 years and I only lived less than a 1 mile away. I used to walk, bike, or roller blade to work! Oh well, those were the good ol’ days!
5
jackie n
// Jun 9, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I have an 03 Honda Civic Hybrid. It has 122,000 on it. My car passed emissions fine in January 08. Had the 120k check in may ( during which they told me everything was find on my HCH, and they only recommended a fuel injection which I said ok to). A month later in June, my check engine light comes on and my catalytic converter needs to be replaced for $1300. 3 years ago, honda updated their software because they said they a software malfunction was making the fuel burn lean and could cause the Catalytic converter to fail. I don’t know if any of this is related.
Today, I go back to the dealer-my check engine light is on again. Now my oxygen sensor failed, and he says that’s probably why my catalytic convertor failed in the first place. Plus, he said that if somebody had told me to have the throttle cleaned each 30,00 miles, this could have been avoided (how was I supposed to know this?). Why didn’t the Oxygen sensor work properly to alert me to problems before I replaced the cat converter? Okay, I am at the end of my rope with a total of $2000 in repairs to my crappy Honda. What do you all make of this. Am I going to expect more failures down the road? Was I taken by the dealer who replaced my cat converter instead of checking the Ox sensor? Did Honda screw up with a faulty Ox sensor?
6
rudyamid
// Jun 9, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I think your Honda dealer was not being thorough. It’s pretty typical though because I’ve seen some service advisors don’t even bother checking their computer for possible service recalls. I usually speak with the service manager of each dealership before a visit. In my case, my favorite place is Hardin Honda in Anaheim, and speak with Jim Marsh. He always shows me the options before any service.
I have my IMA light came on last month, indicating a possible main battery failure. I’m going to call the dealer(s) soon to find out if they know about the warranty extension, as mandated in California.
7
David Bradley
// Jun 18, 2008 at 2:34 am
Hybrid vehicles may be marketed as emeraldine, but they are, according to recent research, very much a pastel green.
“They add that the misinformed craze for hybrid vehicles especially in the USA, and increasingly in Japan and Europe, and potentially in China, could represent a red light for more innovative technologies, such as viable fuel-cell cars that can use sustainably sourced fuels, such as hydrogen. They concur with earlier studies that suggest that hydrogen fuel cells will not be marketable in high volumes before at least 2025. This could, however, be too late for some models of climate change and emissions reduction. They also point out that even fuel cell technology has its drawbacks and much of the marketing surrounding its potential has emerged only from the hydrogen lobby itself.”
http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=526948&ez_search=1
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David Bradley’s last blog post..Vital Signs
8
rudyamid
// Jun 18, 2008 at 9:45 am
I also heard the rumors car/oil companies own the NiMH battery manufacturers. They slowed down the production to prevent increasing production and maintaining a low cost of EV and Hybrid cars.
I need to research it more.
9
David Bradley
// Jun 18, 2008 at 9:51 am
Unless the primary energy source is 100% renewable, i.e. hydrogen and derivatives generated by splitting water with sunlight, and that being used either to drive a fuel cell or produce electricity, no energy use can be considered carbon neutral. Moreover, in balancing the energy books one has to consider the initial energy required to build the replacement cars in the first place. All those precious metals mined from developing world locations too have to be blasted or dug out and then transported to refineries and factories…
David Bradley’s last blog post..Alcohol Causes Cancer
10
rudyamid
// Jun 19, 2008 at 10:40 am
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