Honda Civic FD3

[pradeepan7]

i like to buy a Honda Civic FD3 hybrid model , please advise how often we have to change the hybrid batter and the  self life for a hybrid batter? further replacements batteries are freely available in Sri Lanka and the approximate cost ??

[SLK]

On 5/13/2019 at 8:54 AM, pradeepan7 said:

i like to buy a Honda Civic FD3 hybrid model , please advise how often we have to change the hybrid batter and the  self life for a hybrid batter? further replacements batteries are freely available in Sri Lanka and the approximate cost ??

I own FD3 2007 and cars has run 200,000 Km now. IMA indicate but still didn't change the battery. The battery just helps for climbing high hills and pickup. Otherwise no big fuel difference or acceleration issue. There are recondition batteries from 100,000 LKR to onward but I don't about the durability. Upul (Malabe) said he has it for 1.5 Lak and 2.0 Lak.

[alpha17]

I advice you to stay away from doing the things where SL guys invented such as changing the battery with an Insight’s one.There are alternative ways such as replacing the damaged cells individually for a much lower price.

I also had the idea to go for an FD3 since for the price it really seemed a bargain. But most people adviced me not to go for due to the battery issues. Some cars might not get affected while a considerable amount had to face the replacement just like SLK said. 2 people I know had to go through it. I didn’t want to take a risk, so I stayed away. It depends on your luck, but now it’s been well over 10 years for the cars that are in SL (2007-2009 manufactured) so most of the affected cars might have been replaced with new batteries if the owners had taken care of them.

As a common advice for any plan-to-be hybrid owner, DON’T BUY A HYBRID UNLESS IF YOU DO AT LEAST 30KM PER DAY. Buying a hybrid for keeping it in the garage is the best way to destroy the battery. If that is so, yon can get your hands on the FD4(1.6 variant) or FD1(1.8 variant) or Lancer EX.

hope this helps

[Dee Jay]

I have a 2007 FD3 and when I bought it 3 years back it's battery had been replaced by the previous owner with cells from Insight. It is running fine up to now and after talking to some guys at Stafford it seems that NiMH battery cells are common for IMA equipped models. So battery cells from Insight, GP1, Fit Shuttle  etc.seems to be compatible with the Civic.

Like alpha17 mentioned the car is a bargain for the price with the options and comfort.

 

4 hours ago, alpha17 said:

As a common advice for any plan-to-be hybrid owner, DON’T BUY A HYBRID UNLESS IF YOU DO AT LEAST 30KM PER DAY. Buying a hybrid for keeping it in the garage is the best way to destroy the battery. If that is so, yon can get your hands on the FD4(1.6 variant) or FD1(1.8 variant) or Lancer EX.

hope this helps

Agree with alpha17, if you are not planning to use it for long commutes my advise would be to stay away from the FD3 and go for a FD1, FD4 or the Lancer EX as without long commutes there's pretty much no use in owning any hybrid! (no fuel savings but battery replacement cost after the battery deteriorates)

[alpha17]

57 minutes ago, Dee Jay said:

I have a 2007 FD3 and when I bought it 3 years back it's battery had been replaced by the previous owner with cells from Insight. It is running fine up to now and after talking to some guys at Stafford it seems that NiMH battery cells are common for IMA equipped models. So battery cells from Insight, GP1, Fit Shuttle  etc.seems to be compatible with the Civic.

Like alpha17 mentioned the car is a bargain for the price with the options and comfort.

 

Agree with alpha17, if you are not planning to use it for long commutes my advise would be to stay away from the FD3 and go for a FD1, FD4 or the Lancer EX as without long commutes there's pretty much no use in owning any hybrid! (no fuel savings but battery replacement cost after the battery deteriorates)

Most of the IMA systems have similarities but battery in the FD3 gives a higher voltage than the Insight’s one.So do the motor.That is why FD3 can coast around 40-60kmph from the electric motor alone if the road is flat and the battery is fully charged(Insight is unable to do that).Cells might be same,but battery pack and motor is not.

Also there are 3rd party battery pack manufacturers such as Bumble Bee batteries which are really famous in US.

[Dee Jay]

21 minutes ago, alpha17 said:

Most of the IMA systems have similarities but battery in the FD3 gives a higher voltage than the Insight’s one.So do the motor.That is why FD3 can coast around 40-60kmph from the electric motor alone if the road is flat and the battery is fully charged(Insight is unable to do that).Cells might be same,but battery pack and motor is not.

Yes the IMA systems are not identical to each other. What they do is dismantle battery packs from other models and get the cells to rebuild the battery pack of the civic.

[ramishkad]

I am using a 2011 Civic Hybrid and the battery has lasted well for 100000km (and judging by the current available capacity it would do well for at least 40000km or more). The battery would do just fine if you run the car frequent enough. To get the real benefit of this car you would need to run 1500km per month or more.

I heard a lot of horror stories about this vehicle back when I bought this in 2013. If you do your research well and buy one which has a battery with a reasonable usable capacity and done regular maintenance with correct lubricants, it's a great vehicle to own.

I wrote a detailed post on how to check the battery usable capacity and the factors affecting cell deterioration a while back. You can check this post for more info: 

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by ramishkad

[Gihanh]

I would like to raise this question as I'm planning to buy a FD3 now ,may I know how much was it during 2019 before these import restrictions

[matroska]

1 hour ago, Gihanh said:

I would like to raise this question as I'm planning to buy a FD3 now ,may I know how much was it during 2019 before these import restrictions

well that's something you find out  yourself - using google. Some of the lesser known/now defunct automobile classified sites are not updated and you can find the price. It took me around 2 minutes to find this - take a look at the date. 

Edited September 4, 2021 by matroska