The IMA and 12v battery warning signals have been on for a week on my 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. My mechanic says the IMA battery is failing or failed. What is the risk of driving the car in this condition? The 12 v battery seems fine.
RESPONSE
It would seem this is a common issue with the Honda and the dealers are able to take care of the problem under warranty even if the car is out of warranty.Usually warrantied until 160,000 miles. You risk poor acceleration or worse if you continue to drive it.
Apparently Honda has become much more lenient when it comes to the IMA battery replacements. My service advisor said that they are doing about 2-3 Civic Hybrid battery pack replacements per day. He told me that Honda has been approving almost all of the repair requests, even if the car is out of warranty, as long as the IMA light is on. But remember, the latest software update does a great job of keeping that light off well past the point where the battery should have been replaced. My service advisor said me only car that wasn’t approved for a warranty repair had 200,000 miles on it, was on its third owner, and had a salvage title. Sounds reasonable.