In response to August, 2010 recall notice from Honda for 2006 Civic hybrid, I had the integrated motor assist (ima) software updated at the dealership on 8/4/2010. Since then, the software has been executing the ima battery recalibration routine with increasing frequency, to the point now where the recalibration is occurring 1-2 times per day at unpredictable times during my commute to and from work. During the recalibration period of about 5-7 minutes, the ima is not available to assist acceleration. The acceleration is suddenly sluggish when recalibration begins, and does not resume its normal characteristic until the recalibration finishes. The car is severely underpowered and can be dangerous when the expected acceleration for entering a freeway or making a turn across traffic, does not occur. Honda does not define this behavior as a failure, so no corrective action taken.

- San Jose, CA, USA

The car loses power upon acceleration and going up a hill from a complete standstill. The car at times can not climb up a hill. This causes a safety issue. I have discussed this Honda and I was told that "given that there was not a computer record in the memory there was not a problem. On the freeway the engine revs upon acceleration without any increase in speed. I think the battery electrical assist system is defective and needs to be replaced, Honda added a computer patch to the car that slowed down the electric engine assist and comprimised the power and acceleration.

- Piedmont, CA, USA

My car is a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. I purchased it used two years ago. In the first year, I was gratified to see that it was regularly getting between 40 and 45 mpg (up to 50 mph if it was all hwy. Miles!). this summer, I got a letter from Honda telling me that I needed to have a faulty ima updated. I complied. Now my car gets 29-33 mpg'and I am driving so carefully that I sometimes irritate the people behind me. In talking with the dealership, I've been getting answers like: -it's the ethanol in Oregon's gas -it's probably the new tires I purchased -it's the way I'm driving the car finally one brave soul at the dealership admitted that many of their hybrid owners are coming in with the same concern. Ever since the ima update, they've been getting considerably lower gas mileage. He said the dealership has voiced its concern to Honda usa, but there is no action being taken on Honda's part. I called Honda usa. The answer I got was this: We acknowledge your concern, but there is nothing we are planning to do about it.

- Beaverton, OR, USA

Since I have gotten the ima battery upgrade the car battery completely discharges randomly several times a day. When the battery discharges the car looses a significant amount of its acceleration. I have had three incidents since this upgrade where I have nearly had accidents due to this problem. Once while turning onto a busy street on a hill the battery discharged and I lost the acceleration and the oncoming car almost hit me. I had a similar experience on the highway when I pulled into the fast lane to pass a car and I lost pick up and the car far behind quickly caught up and had to slam on their breaks. The third episode is when I came to a complete stop on a very steep hill. When I went to drive forward again the battery discharged and despite being in the drive gear and despite pushing the gas pedal to the floor I kept rolling backwards. I ended up rolling backwards downhill and turned into someone's driveway and turned around. I drove around until the battery recharged and then was eventually able to drive up the hill. When I brought these concerns up with my local Honda dealership they agreed this did not sound normal. After they test drove it and ran tests they did not find a problem so they called Honda central. They were told that it is normal for the battery to discharge randomly through out the day since the upgrade. When I asked how do I drive safely they said I should be careful about the battery discharging and subsequent loss of acceleration.

- San Mateo, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. The contact stated that when driving at least 35 mph uphill, the vehicle would drive sluggish and with limited power. The vehicle was inspected by the dealer who informed the contact that he would need to replace the battery to correct the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. Updated 2/23/11 the consumer stated the auto stop feature and main battery began acting erratic and the vehicle began losing power. Updated 05/20/11

- La Jolla, CA, USA

The integrated motor assist system fails for no apparent reason. This has happened multiple times. The first time I had parked the car overnight and the battery charge indicator was near the top. When I drove to town in the morning and stopped at a stop light on a hill, when I accelerated there was no motor assist and the car was very underpowered. The battery charge indicator showed no charge. It does charge again to normal, but you never know when this may happen. I believe this could be very dangerous in on a freeway on ramp or two lane road passing situation.

- Woodburn, NE, USA

2006 Honda Civic LX overly acidic battery that caused a small fire and damage to the positive cable resulting in a $500 replacement.. I think that Honda should have to pay for the replacement cable due to an inferior design.

- Issaquah, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. The contact noticed that the battery was rapidly discharging and failed to charge fully, causing the gas motor to run longer. The dealer was notified who advised the contact to have a software upgrade performed. The contact did not inform the manufacturer of the failure nor was the vehicle was repaired. The current mileage was 77,300 and the failure mileage was approximately 77,000. Updated 02/10/11 the consumer stated he did inform the manufacturer of the failure and a warranty claim was made to the dealer and the manufacturer. The vehicle was given the Honda software upgrade by the local dealer. Since the software upgrade, the mpg continues in the 30 mpg range, down from the pre-failure mpg of 42 mpg. Current, post-upgrade is measured over the last 200 miles by the vehicles the on-board mpg device. The battery continues to discharge rapidly, the RPM idle increases from about 750 to 1500. The vehicle uses the starter motor instead of the ima battery. Updated 04/21/11

- St Petersburg, FL, USA

Our 2006 Honda Civic ex automatic had the battery die on us while the key was still in the ignition and apparently this combo is a sure fire way of destroying the ABS modulator which Honda charges $900 to repair. This is a wide spread Honda problem which was revealed once I started searching for what the lights on our dash meant. More people with the same problem can be found here. www.8thcivic.com/forums/Canada-East/83944-ABS-light-E-brake.html www.answerbag.com/Q_view/1057973 www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-problems-technical-chat/231978-ABS-brake-lights-after-hub-bearing-replacement.html.

- Hamden, CT, USA

Battery began performing what is know as a calibration where all motor assist ceases and the battery recharges. Once in a while this is okay however it gradually got more and more frequent to the point it became a daily routine or even occurred multiple times within the day. One cold morning the ima (battery light) came on. After taking the car into Honda, they performed 6 software updates. Since that time calibrations have increased in frequency. The battery will now calibrate after sitting for as little as 1 hour and will often calibrate several times within a single commute. At one point over the course of the day, about 80 miles, there were 5 calibrations. A few days later the car performed 4 calibrations in a 20 mile stretch. The ima light has not came back on at this point but I did take the car to Honda. They were unable to reproduce the condition. At this time nothing has become of the calibrations. While they have been merely annoying I am concerned that they pose a high safety risk as should the calibration come at the beginning or in the middle of a heavy acceleration, the car will loose significant power and can potentially cause a hazardous situation that could easily result in a collision.(when the battery calibrates, getting the car to accelerate is like pushing a freight train).

- Etowah, TN, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. The contact stated that the low charge ima battery caused the vehicle to accelerate at low power. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who could not find a problem or any diagnostic codes. The contact received a letter to have the computer software upgraded. The failure continued after the upgrade. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

- Chico, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the battery began to lose power and the acceleration was sluggish. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the software was updated. The failure continued and was becoming progressively worse. The vehicle was taken to another dealer who stated that there was nothing wrong. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000 and the current mileage was approximately 64,000. Updated 02/08/11 the consume stated the hybrid battery began frequently discharging at least once a day in early June 2010. The frequent discharging of the battery resulted in sudden and unexpected loss of acceleration. The consumer obtained the software upgrade from Honda in late August 2010 and it did not improve the functioning of the ima battery. The ima battery continued to discharge at least once a day and sometimes three times a day. Updated 04/29/11

- Takoma Park, MD, USA

Honda Civic hybrid - 2006 model. Battery assist loses charge and drains of any battery life leaving gas powered engine to supply all power during driving. The batter can drain at any time and at any speed. Happens 2-3 times per day and has happened going uphill where 1.3ltr engine is not capable of maintaining safe speed with rest of traffic. This was very dangerous. This has occurred since 2006 on a once per day frequency and now 2-3 times per day frequency after getting "software upgrade" from factory that was supposed to extend battery life in August 2010. Honda claims that this is "normal operating conditions". if no ima trouble indicator comes on, then it's "normal". I have video of battery drain if desired.

- Alameda, CA, USA

I have a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid. The car no longer is getting assist from the battery.. which causes it to not be able to accelerate when needed. Further, it sometimes surges, without notice when I am putting my foot on the gas. I got the "fix" that we were informed was a software update that would prolong battery life. Instead it got rid of the electric assist, making it unsafe.

- Salinas, CA, USA

2006 Honda Civic hybrid, battery software update. I took car to dealer for this update and it was installed. After the update I've seen an erratic change in the battery assist and this is a driving safety hazard. The battery assist disappears and there is no acceleration. I've taken the car back to the dealer twice after the software update and they insist their computer says all is ok. This vehicle was sold as a hybrid and there was a income tax credit but this software update just about makes it a non hybrid in addition to the safety hazard by losing the battery assist thereby losing acceleration. For instance waiting for a break in traffic to make a left turn, if what they call the ima battery assist is not working then you don't get the acceleration you expect and leave you vulnerable to being in an accident while making the turn.

- Kailua Kona, HI, USA

Honda hybrid recall (summer 2010) to update software to address battery problems has resulted in major degradation in what little power existed in getting up hills. Car 'freezes' and struggles to get up hills. Extremely dangerous driving in street of san francisco. Recently struggled to go up a highway onramp at 25-30mph - no load in car other than me. Not until 15+seconds on the flats could I slowly manage to get to highway speeds. In the few months since the notice, there are many accounts on the web of other owners experiencing same power problems. I know I bought a car with hardly any power but this is dangerous. Honda technician drove it with me and saw the problem. Attempted to diagnose and I got a call back that this is 'normal' as a result of the software recall update.

- Oakland, CA, USA

In response to a recall notice, I took my 2006 Honda Civic hybrid in to "update the software to extend the life of the battery." Unfortunately, my car no longer drives like a hybrid: The motor does not stop, even if I am stopped for several minutes, whereas, before, it stopped every time the car did. The battery does not assist nearly as often, and the gas mileage has decreased significantly. I called the dealer, freeway Honda in tustin, and requested that they reinstall the old software, but they refused. I purchased the car largely because of the excellent mileage: I would never have chosen to basically turn it into a regular, non-hybrid, Civic, which is what the software did. The Honda case # is [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Irvine, CA, USA

2006 Honda Civic had 35,000 checkup on Aug 23,2010 - on Sept 30 the car refused to start after grocery shopping - Oct 1 local dealer told me that the battery need replacing at a cost of $1040, including towing. I was told that no the battery problem should not have been found on 8/23 and that it could happen overnight - that there is no way to determine when your car will die! the battery is not connected to the electrical system so nothing shows up on the dashboard display until the system has failed! the outrageous price for replacing a battery costing $79 - $135 is related to the cost of replacing the necessary harness which is burned through by the battery acid. I think this "design flaw" - so identified, as above information was, by the local service consultant - needs to be corrected and owners warned. If there is no way to identify the potential then how am I to trust the car even when the harness and battery are replaced?

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

2006 Honda Civic hybrid with 49,400 miles. Battery power assist fails suddenly during acceleration to merge onto a freeway. Sudden and unexpected loss of engine power in such a circumstance can result in a rear-end collision.

- Austin, TX, USA

Vehicle's audio/radio not working. 65, 000 miles, one owner. Radio switches to and from different outputs. Only way to stop this from occurring is to shut radio off. Once problem starts, it will happen more and more frequently until screen dims out and radio shuts down.

- Point Pleasant, NJ, USA