Have an 03 hybrid and love it. 2 weeks ago we had it in for a 60,000mi go over at upwards of $500!!! everything OK. 2 days ago wife was at work ready to leave and DEAD. She got nothing. Car towed to dealer, they replaced the “regulay” battery and of course charged us $270! Can a battery go dead with NO warning? There is a dummy light for “battery not charging” and it did not light up. Not sure how this system works, with big battery and car in general. Did we get scammed? Thanks to everyone! Dean
Yes. Batteries can and do die suddenly. It happened to me!
Drove home from work with no problem or warning lights. Shut the engine off, went into the house to get something, came back out to start the car and nothing, nada, zilch. Connected my battery tester to the battery, and not even one milivolt of power.
Once a battery is three years old or older, anything can happen to it.
Tester
Yes, this is usually how batteries die these days. It starts in the morning, and perhaps you don’t notice that the battery cranked the engine just a little more slowly than usual, then in the afternoon it won’t crank at all.
The car is four years old. It’s perfectly acceptable for the battery to be gone. The alternator was doing its job, trying to charge the battery (which is why there was no warning light), but the battery just wouldn’t take a charge any more.
Why did you pay the dealer so much for a new battery? Is there something special about the battery in a Civic Hybrid? I thought it was just a regular battery. The big battery is not what starts the engine. The little battery starts the engine and runs the 12v system.