Considering buying an '05 Civic hybrid w/94K miles...
Hello. I owned an '03 Insight for a few years and never had any problems with it.
My cousin needs to buy a car, and my neighbor is selling a 1-owner 2005 Civic hybrid with an automatic transmission and 94K miles for about $9000 (the book value; he may go a few hundred lower). My cousin isn't particularly interested in owning a hybrid, but is interested in this particular car because I can vouch for its history.
My neighbor's an older man and a stickler for maintaining his vehicles. It's never been wrecked or required anything but regular maintenance and a new 12v starter battery. My neighbor is the type of guy that would disclose every problem when selling any vehicle.
It has 94,000 miles, but they are mostly freeway miles (wide-open, not stop-and-go around-town freeway driving).
My cousin's main concern is the number of miles and the potential expenses of a hybrid versus regular vehicle. He doesn't have a long commute, so the hybrid part doesn't mean a whole lot to him, but would still save him $ on gas.
My cousin is replacing a '95 Corolla that's he's owned for about 5 years that has 118,000 miles. It needs about $3K worth of repairs (mostly oil and tranny seals to stop leaks, and major steering repairs). He's afraid that if he buys this Civic hybrid, it could be in the same shape in 24K miles. He's also concerned about the cost of potential battery replacement. I've explained to him that age has a lot to do with the problems on his Corolla, and that the Civic hybrid is much newer and better-engineered.
I need advice from people with experience with the 2005 Civic hybrid.
How many more trouble-free, maintenance-only miles does it likely have?
At what mileage do the 144v batteries usually need replacing? How much does that cost?
Are there any concerns particular to the 2005 Civic hybrid I should know about? I've read a lot about transmission problems requiring new transmissions.
Thanks for any help!
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Lee (San Diego, CA)
Silverstone Metallic 2003 CVT
Last edited by Insighter; 10-27-2009 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: additional question
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