I just rolled over 30,000 miles on my 2005 Civic Hybrid, and here is my report on repairs:
I changed the oil, and then I changed the oil, and then I changed the oil.
Oh, they updated the firmware, but that was free.
When I first purchased the car, I endured battery horror speculation by friends,
“And how much is that battery pack?�... (of course I know) “uh huh�...�you just wait!�
It seems that this big box behind the back seat is the most visible and scariest part of a hybrid car for most people, never mind the other 6,000 parts that can fly apart.
Most people have dealt with Norelco cordless shavers from 1975 and their cousins -- other evil small appliances that had rechargeable batteries built into them. They often died prematurely and became useless chunks of drawer rubble because it was hard to throw away a perfectly good thing, even if it would never work again. As a result, most people think they are experts on the evils of appliances with built-in batteries.
However, something magical started happening to batteries about five years ago. My cell phone holds its charge a couple of days and it has had the same battery in it for a couple of years. Once I was swapping out camera batteries three times a day; I can go a week on one charge now. And it tells me how much overall life is left in the battery!
The nickel-cadmium battery with its memory problem and early failure when not used frequently has given way to several new battery types designed for specific applications. Smart electronic circuitry extends life.
The Idaho National Laboratory has been testing a fleet of Prius, Insights and Civics dating back to 2000 over a long term test, logging data from new. It’s interesting to note that in spite of the occasional electrical harness problem, and exploding transmission (things that happen to conventional cars with high mileage), there are no reports of widespread battery failure.
The Idaho report goes on to say that after 160,000 miles, the batteries performed in regard to fuel mileage pretty much as they had when the cars were new. http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/hev/end_of_life_test_1.pdf
So enough with the battery horror stories!
I am curious to hear about people’s experience with long-term maintenance.
-- What is the actual interval for an oil change and what are the dealers charging?
-- What is the actual cost of more major maintenance intervals?
-- Any issues covered by warranty or out?
Link here to see my videos and the still images that go with them.
Link here to see my current still photo archive.
Link to my other blog entries in Photoblog
Pretty much routine maintenance (oil and tire rotations) on my 22k mile '04 Prius (telecommuter). Had two recalls: one for reprogramming an electronic control unit and one to replace a steering shaft assembly (no cost), but that's it. Oh, the fabric on the center storage compartment was coming loose so they replaced the lid (under warranty). I'm very happy with the car.
I'm excited to hear about the next generation hybrids with improved batteries (my rechargeable lithium-ion battery in my camera is amazing) and plug-in charging (how neat would it be to hook it up to a solar panel for clean, free juice). Not to get political, but it's a crying shame to blow over 300 billion in Iraq when we could have pumped that money into research and development of improved battery, solar, wind, alternate fuel, etc., technology here at home.