Honda Civic hybrid ima battery depletes every time I start the car and there is no charge for electric motor with 2 minutes of starting to drive. So there is no electric assist when entering freeway. The internal combustion engine is undersized for the weight of the car and thus getting on the freeway can be quite dangerous. Also Honda issued a recall to "fix" ima battery issues. This has resulted in significantly lower gas mileage than was advertised. Prior to the ima recall the car returned 42-46 mpg after the recall it now returns 33-35 mpg.

- Irvine, CA, USA

Honda Civic ima system not functioning properly while driving, leading to loss of power when critically needed, possibly causing an accident. The car completely stalled in traffic, ima light, check engine light, brake system light were all on, car would restart, but would not let take out of park to get out of traffic! very very dangerous. I have complained about this hybrid battery giving me problems before-- not holding a charge, almost every time I start the car, the ima battery shows depleted, even though it was charged when I left the car the night before, and often it will go from fully charged to dead in a matter of 1 mile of driving on flat roadway, causing the engine to be very sluggish and not have power when needed. Honda would not do anything, they just kept making excuses. There are many many people complaining about the same thing. I'm taking it in tomorrow morning to have it looked at, but I am not confident they will properly address the issue, because they have dismissed me in the past.

- Tempe, AZ, USA

Had a software upgrade in 2009 on my 2006 Honda Civic hybrid, designed to increase battery life. My gas mileage dropped by 12 mpg, and the performance of the car, accelerating into traffic, going up a hill, etc, has degraded significantly.

- Omaha, NE, USA