Buying a used Honda Civic IMA Hybrid? What’s the point?

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

I have a civic hybrid identical to this. Same colour scheme. Mine is 2008 much higher milage 122k. I can't recommend it enough. Average 47mpg , on motorways expect 50-60smpg. Great reliability and only £10 a year to tax. Much cheaper to buy than a Prius of equivalent age but with about 95% of the economy of a Prius. The heater warms up very quickly in winter within a mile you're already getting warmish air. The ac is very effective. In fact the ac compressor continues to be powered by the hybrid system when the engine stops when the car comes to a standstill in traffic. Heated seats work quite quickly. Get one of these cars it will most likely pay for itself in a couple of years. My b previous car was a 2004 volvo S40, one of the last of the original shape S40s. Lovely car fully loaded, mpg about 25. Typical range around town and highway about 350 miles before I'd fill up. That was on a 13 gallon tank with probably about a gallon or so left in it. The civic has an 11 gallon tank. When you've covered about 375 miles and the gauge is getting low you fill up and are surprised that you only need about 8 gallons to fill the tank. I literally go to petrol stations 1/2 as much as previously.

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Michael Williams it’s fantastic to hear such a good owners review, I was struck by its fuel economy figures and comfort when driving it, enjoy!

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

👍

[@mohammadalihussainy7086]

@@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv is yours a 1.3 IMA

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

Ergo firstly check obvious things like the tyre pressures are correct. Personally I've found with all cars I've owned that driving too gently doesn't necessarily get you better milage as the car is taking longer to get to it's ideal cruising speed. In my case l do a lot of highway driving. What l do is to get the car up to the cruising speed then ease off the throttle for a few seconds and let the car cost for a hundred yards or so before going back to the accelerator and then repeat. These cars only burn petrol when your foot is on the accelerator. I also take opportunity to let it coast down slopes or hills to recharge the IMA battery so that you always have enough to assist the engine when you accelerate. A little trick you can do is coasting on electric power only. This can only happen between speeds of 15 -30mph. You need a clear stretch of road. You accelerate past 30mph, then gently ease off the gas, wait a couple of seconds then gently touch the gas pedal. You'll then notice the assist bars are illuminated and the rev counter is showing about 1000rpm although the engine isn't actually firing. The vehicle is then able coast and glide in this mode. You have to maintain a steady speed, if you accelerate the engine cuts back in again. TBH it isn't that often you get the chance to do it unless you're on a quiet road as in traffic people will cut in front of you forcing you to brake and breaking the ev cycle. Also one last thing when braking l always brake gently so that the braking force is taken through the electric motor for regen braking rather than the brake pads. My gas milage is a little less in winter say 42mpg as opposed to summer 45-47mpg (motorways 50+mpg). I've never done a long motorway trip but l firmly believe 60mpg is possible.

[@Red-ib9yl]

@@ergo8039 Thanks you put me off buying this car lol.

[@rakeshpopat8188]

The way you do the car review and presentation is excellent.

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Many thanks Rakesh 🔥

[@mikestech1197]

Yur videos are so good, but they seem to not get much views. I will take your advice. Thx, this is the only good review about civic hybrid. Thx

[@she1jee2]

Oh okay. I will check and let you know if I found. Otherwise can you make a video or picture of that?

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Zaishe Akhter car has now sold and with current owner 😭

[@aimusoorii4484]

I own a similar car, it isn’t perfect like this one but I love it, it’s the 2.0 variant with k20 in it, it doesn’t have heated seat though, but it’s pretty good, not the fastest cuz it’s just a civic, but it’s great for a daily.

[@marcocal8620]

Do you think this is a good first car? Can it be fun to drive?

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Get an insurance quote first and foremost Very reliable and good Fuel efficiency Electric batteries make it fun and instant torque!

[@anotherperspective6247]

I've been driving by 2007 for the past 17 years. It's an excellent first car. Fun to drive is subjective--I have fun thinking about all the dollars I'm saving from this car. Its not fast but I live in a crowded metropolitan area with bumper to bumper traffic--there is little opportunity to go fast on the roads where I live.

[@soyhaji123]

I am in limbo now.. Which second hand car to buy? Prius hybrid 2006_07 Or honda civic 2007 hybrid? Help me please

[@MrNuwan2007]

I have prius 2008 but i love the look of Civic is more pleasant ❤️😌

[@ahmed223pin]

Which one you bought?

[@razaqolokoobada-supremo191]

Hi @Michael Williams. Please what is the exterior color code of this car? I want to paint mine to this color

[@moeedurrehman4194]

Would you recommend this in 2024?

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Absolutely, such an affordable low road tax car

[@moeedurrehman4194]

@@SmallCarsDirect any idea roughly how much the insurance will be for a new 21 years old driver?

[@ahxedltd]

@@moeedurrehman4194 Any idea how much it will be for a 17 year old driver?

[@ahxedltd]

@@SmallCarsDirect Any idea how much insurance be for a 17 year old driver?

[@MohammadAli-fz4dw]

Does this car have Bluetooth , if so how do you connect bluetooth.

[@razaqolokoobada-supremo191]

Hi Please what is the exterior body color code of this car?

[@kjones7544]

What is the cost of this car ?

[@dhanipianist]

Hows the power of climbing?

[@she1jee2]

I bought this car today. I cant find aux port cable input.can you please tell me where is it?

[@SmallCarsDirect]

Zaishe Akhter under centre armrest?

[@zohaibraja4646]

How is this car? Now almost two years you been having this car. Please advise

[@esio7847]

I cannot seem to find any info about the rear folding seats, does the hybrid have it?

[@simonmaird6857]

No, it's where the battery is located so they don't fold. I have one

[@alfredo209ful]

@@simonmaird6857what is your reviewing on it? Thinking about buying an 08 one with 160k miles for $6k here in California

[@simonmaird6857]

@@alfredo209ful I love mine, I've had it for 6 years. I bought it with 120k miles and it now has over 150k. Nothing has gone wrong apart from a broken drive shaft which was a very cheap fix. The battery is wearing out, but I bought a grid charger from Maxx Volts and use it every few months to balance the cells and get it driving nice again. I am in Ireland btw so I have the slightly different Japanese built model.

[@she1jee2]

Oh okay. Because your video is 2 months old and in video you told you bought today ( 2 months ago may be) and you already sold it? It make me doubtful as I bought today

[@shehryaryasin6684]

How's your experience going with it?

[@nerosapien]

these so called hybrids that only give 47mpg ??...wheres the benefit of the hybrid status ?

[@SmallCarsDirect]

… when you’re stuck in traffic doing 0-25 mph when you can get infinite MPG

[@XyLoTec]

No offense but my crappy petrol non turbo 1.4 16v 95hp fiat 500l with 1.5 tons make 56 mpg 17 inc alloy with 225 tires

[@WxM3008WxM]

Yeah but what about reliability and tax

[@XyLoTec]

@@WxM3008WxM ive got the Car new since 2014 till now Just regular maintance 322.000km still got the original Clutch and doesnt burn oil and 128€ tax a Year. Ive buyed my son 2013 Punto with the Same engine No Problems 110€ tax My wife Drives the 500L with 7 seats with the 1.4 turbo No Problems 155€ tax My mother got Fiat Idea 2006 1.3 diesel 429.000 km No Problems My father got the new Fiat tipo hybrid 20.000km.and running 71mpg 66€ tax

[@rakeshpopat8188]

NO AD OF YESTERDAY THE ROAD TAX IS £100 A YEAR.??

[@TONE11111]

£10 a year

[@lijo055]

Is it still available?

[@axelosito]

I don't see what is Hybrid in this car.

[@3.14name]

Is this car reliable?

[@mohammadismail4584]

This is by far the worst car ever made by any car manufacturer. I own one of these pieces of shit so speaking from experience here. I can go on details but to cut the story short don't ever think of buying one of these, you will regret that every day. I am trying to get rid of mine but in vain cuz no one is interested.

[@ofaoilleachain]

@@mohammadismail4584 Surely it can’t be that bad, it’s a Honda

[@mohammadismail4584]

@Ashraful good!

[@absbse]

@@mohammadismail4584 why what's the reasons please ?

[@mohammadismail4584]

@@absbse the car runs a 1.3 liter engine which is relatively weak for a car of this size. To compensate for this they added an IMA system which is supposed to provide the power of roughly a 300 cc engine. For the car to generate enough power the motor and the IMA have to work in parallel which means that the electric motor will have to run all the time except when it is receiving energy through the regenerative braking system. This puts so much load on the hybrid battery since it reaches to critically low energy levels that causes damage to its cells. As soon as the battery becomes less efficient the motor will have to run at its maximum capacity to compensate for the missing power from the IMA which in turn wears out the gearbox. The car would have been ok if they kept the 1.8 liter engine and added the IMA to assist and make some fuel savings but they went too extreme when they installed a 1.3 liter engine. The car will work fine in flat roads and will do ok on slightly sloped roads as long as the battery is fully charged. But if the battery is empty the engine will suffer to climb up a hill. But again the battery will be worn out quickly and other problems will arise. The car is discontinued by the way.