Oy vey. Wow, the companies that can do the replacement of my 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid battery [rebuilt] have all quoted me a price around, plus or mines a few hundred bucks, $3600.0!
What less costly alternatives do I have? Iāve been scared off of doing the work myself considering that I could electrocute myself, but Iām handy with a wrench so I would consider that option. The car has +/- 128K miles on it. I donāt want to sell it.
A cursory look around the web suggests that a refurbed battery pack will run around $2500ish. So $3600 or thereabouts is probably in the ballpark when you include the labor. Iād be curious to hear what the actual savings were (if any) over a conventional Civic of the same vintage one the initial purchase price, fuel savings, and battery replacement costs are figured in.
Batteries are batteriesā¦āReconditioningā them is an exercise in futilityā¦The car in question is 10 years old and has 130K miles on itā¦One or more of the cells have failedā¦Locating and replacing those failed cells WILL restore proper operation for a while but itās liable to be a SHORT while. ALL of the cells are 10 years old and well-used. They are ALL nearing the end of their design lifeā¦Replacing them one or two at a time is an exercise in futilityā¦
If you read through the link @texases posted and donāt understand what they are talking about donāt mess with the battery pack yourself. There are a couple of things going on in that post; 1) Finding any bad cells in the chain of batteries that make up the pack and 2) Equalizing the charge by discharging each cell and recharging each cell so that all the cells in the pack are fully charged to the same level - and not reverse charged!!
A multi-cell battery is a bit like drinking from 6, 10, 20 glasses all at the same time. Re-fill with a sprayer that covers the whole group of glasses and hoping each glass re-fills to the same level, 5000 times. Once you take a few thousand drinks, the level of liquid in each glass will no longer be the same. Some may be broken and hold no liquid at all. You job is to find and replace the broken ones and re-fill each glass so it is exactly the same to start all over. And a few of those glasses are weak and ready to break soooo youāll have to do it all over again in 1000 drinks.
Did I paint a picture that scares you? If so, pay the $3600. If not, have at it!
They way I see it is that you have to recognize that your car as it sits is worth basically nothing but its scrap value, or you could part it out. Itās just like a standard 2007 Civic with 130,000 miles and an engine that threw a rod. What you paid for it years ago is absolutely meaningless, because thatās all used up. So, you have to survey the rest of the car carefully to decide whether, if you spent $3,600, it would be worth $3,600 to you. Either you or a good mechanic has to look it over for rust, and the condition of everything else. If you offered to give me the car for free, thatās what I would do, and you are in the exact same spot.
All cars are a crapshoot, theyāre all machines that wear out and break. Check around for a local shop that does hybrids and have the car fixed. Itās certainly worth fixing, especially if you like the car.
Having to replace a battery pack is just like having to replace a $3000 transmission in a 10 year old car. Some cars last their whole lives on a transmission, some donāt.
