A year ago I got the tires replaced on my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. A couple of days ago I was driving on the highway and the car stopped accelerating all of the sudden.
I could push the gas and hear the electric motor trying, but the car just lost speed until it drifted to a stop.
The dealership is telling me that it’s because of my new tires - that they have a different rolling diameter as the original tires and it’s confusing the system.
My question is if it’s really probable that this would cause the problem that I had? Particularly because I’ve already put about 10k miles on these new tires without a problem.
Thanks! any help much appreciated.
Meghan
Were all four tires replaced? Were the new tires the same size as the original tires (195/65R15)? Is the car still under warranty?
I’m not an expert on hybrids, but the dealer’s story sounds a little fishy.
Ed B.
It was all four tires. They said that the computer would get confused at the different rolling diameter, it just seems fishy that it would happen a year later and cause such a big problem.
So, no, they weren’t the same as the originals, but they are on the list as ‘acceptable’ replacements for that car.
What was the original size and what was the new size?
Who’s list?
I don’t know off the top of my head, but there are only two types of tires that are approved for this car. What’s confusing is that it should happen a year later and catastrophically.
“approved” by whom?
Honda
What failed? According to the dealer what needs to be repaired or replaced, engine, transmission, electric motor, etc?
Ed B.
If your current size tire is on a Honda list of approved sizes, then how can they say it caused a problem? How do they respond when you tell them it was a Honda-approved size? And where exactly is this list? Sorry to keep asking, but this is the key - if your tire size is on some official Honda list, they can’t claim it’s the tires (which I doubt, anyway).
are you sure he said rolling diameter and not rolling resistance?
even still, my suggestion would be to find another shop to go to
okay, thanks.
Your tires aren’t new anymore. They were new a year and 10K miles ago. The dealer is full of it. If the computer was going to be confused it would have happened right away.
Is the car running correctly now?
I’m going to go pick it up in an hour or so. My guess is that it will break down again, but they won’t do anything else. They’ve done two test drives and haven’t had the problem happen again, so they are done with it. I’m going to hope for the best but have it towed to my regular dealer if it happens again.
And he used both terms - rolling diameter and rolling resistance.