2004 - 2008 Honda Civic Hybrids

[clamum]

I am looking at getting a new vehicle and previously had a 1999 Civic which I liked quite a bit, so I am looking at 2004 - 2008 Civic Hybrids. The reason for this range of years is because of my budget (I'd say under $11 would be ideal), and the reason for hybrid is because I do a lot of stop-and-go driving since I moved to my current area.

Anyone know anything about this range of years for Civic Hybrids? I did a search and found Car Complaints - Civic Hybrid and that doesn't look too good IMO, because the most complaints fall into my year range. My biggest worry is buying a car and then having the battery go shits up and having to drop $3k or $4k to replace the bastard. Typical of what I'm seeing on AutoTrader is a 2006 Civic Hybrid, ~60k miles, $9k.

Any thoughts/experiences/etc? Thanks.

 

[desy]

Prius is better

 

[tweakmonkey]

You could get a full replacement battery (aftermarket cells) for these cars for about $2000 a couple years ago. I know because I had to replace the one in my '01 Insight, but it had 160k miles. I removed and shipped it myself though, which probably saved a couple hundred dollars.

I wouldn't say it's a major worry on a used hybrid but if you put enough cycles and time through any of the NiMH batteries found in a used Prius, Civic etc you will have to replace the battery some day. Rebuilding cost my friend $500 and it still got a second check engine light a year later from a dying battery.

Factor in that if the car approaches 150k miles and 10 years old, it will need a new battery. That's the replacement interval on most of the Insights I've followed. At least now I have a dozen 15v NiMH battery sticks for whenever I need to jump a car or take some juice on a trip.

Other than the battery, figure it's a Honda (or a Toyota as mentioned), it's going to be a solid/reliable car. Test drive both. They are pretty different experiences.