the clutch went out in less than a year and 6 months after an expensive replacement it went out again - stopped in the middle of the city street. After the dealer looked at he claims it was a batter problem that has now been solved - how can a car stop while in motion because of a battery problem? We're afraid it's a coveraup for another clutch problem soon

It's a Honda Civic and there are a couple of million of them out there so if I break the windshield or cream a door I can get one from the junkyard. I can also use independent mechanics for everything but the electric motor and battery pack. Great gas mileage. Quiet. Sure to be reliable. Comfortable. Engaging. Loaded with everything but a sunroof. Encourages me to travel at the speed limit. Auto climate control.

No sunroof. You must drive carefully to get top mileage. Traveling above the speed limit costs in mpg. Expensive for a Civic. Rear seatback does not fold down so you are limited in the length of things you can carry.

An excellent car. I've read the owners manual and joined a Civic Hybrid group on Yahoogroups.com in order to learn how to get the most out of it and I'm averaging 50.16mpg measured at the gas pump. Starts, runs quietly, holds my family comfortably, and is a lot of fun to drive. I'm constantly looking for ways to eek a bit more out of a tank of gas. You can drive it like a regular car and get really good mileage or you can pay attention to the gas mileage display and get great mileage. It comes fully loaded including automatic air conditioning and heat which you can't get on any other Civic. We chose the manual transmission because we enjoy shifting. It's a honey. The clutch is light and the shifter engages easily. I moved from a BMW M5 to the Civic Hybrid and find the Hybrid engaging in a completely different way. I'm driving for mileage and driving at the speed limit for the first time in my life. The Auto-Stop feature is great. When you are slowing down to stop, if you take the car out of gear, have the Econ button on the dash lit up, and release the clutch, the gas engine shuts off and you coast to a stop. All the time you are sitting at a red light the engine is off and the car is silent. When the light turns green you push in the clutch, put the car into first gear, and the motor starts back up all by itself. After a few days you wonder why all the cars around you have their motors running at long lights. The Civic Hybrid has electric power steering so when the gas motor Auto-Stops you can still steer. We're more into the technology than the green aspects of the Hybrid but we don't shirk the latter. What is really nice is that I've cut my time spent at gas stations in half. I generally travel 600 miles before refilling the gas tank and I'm not running it dry. Buy it if you want a hybrid with a manual transmission - it's the only one. Buy it if you like Hondas. Buy it if you like technology that makes sense and is easy to use. Buy it if you are green and want a ULEV/SULEV PZEM vehicle. If you are unwilling to learn how to drive it for its strengths you are better off with a Civic EX which is still a great car that gets good mileage. If you don't keep cars for a long time you may be better off leasing the Hybrid because the technology is going to keep advancing and you never know how the resale value is going to be.

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MPG, MPG, MPG. Plus, it was not too unreasonably priced, it is a Honda so resale and quality should be high, it looks and drives NORMAL!

It's a Civic, so it's a bit small, but that comes with the territory. Honda has done some stupid things like the tape deck (if you get one) doesn't come with proper faceplate. And another post mentioned the emergency procedures, although firefighters have since told me that they personally aren't concerned about it even after seeing the proedures, and they would know better than I would.

When I first picked up the car, I must admit to being disappointed that I did not get the EPA 48/47 MPG. However, I was getting over 35 MPG, and that was driving with a very, very agressive driving style. Considering that the average vehicle does not get close to EPA (because the test is from the 1960's), I was happy with that. I have since read the owner's manual (VERY important on this car - many of the other reviews here clearly show someone not looking at the manual or the even the Quick Start guide), and adjusted my driving style a bit, and with about 1,200 miles on it, I got 48.4 MPG on a 105.2 mile trip, in 35 deg. F northeast Ohio driving. It's not even broken in yet, and I'm still learning how to drive it, and I'm getting ABOVE the EPA. Yes, it's a Civic, which means it's a bit small, and it's not the fastest car in the world, although it gets out of its own way nicely. Plus, as others have rightfully pointed out, other than the "HYBRID" on the right-side of the trunk, and the most impressive looking dashboard many will have ever seen, you would never know it was a hybrid. It doesn't have a weird center-mounted dash like the Prius, and it doesn't look like an 8th grade science project like the Insight. It looks normal, drives normal, and gets awesome mileage. I can't wait until the summer, when the whether is warmer, and I can up the tire pressure from the factory 30 PSI to about 35-40 PSI. The tires are low rolling resistence, so they are shipped at 30 PSI (even though they are rated at 51 PSI) to improve road grip. In the winter, that's nice, but in the summer, I'm going to put it up, and I'm expecting 50 MPG+. That matches what other owners get on a regular basis. Please test drive this car before buying it, to see for yourself. I have the CVT, but in the manual, you can easily do over 45 MPG if you know how to drive a manual correctly. If you want to learn about the technology, and not see nonsense, please see the ArsTechnica review at http://arstechnica.com/reviews/02q3/civic-hybrid/2003-civic-hy-1.html It's worth your time. p. s. Several people who have been in the car have commented that it's changed how they think about hybrid vehicles, including the local ASE mechanic.

Cool Honda look, yet so hitech. The CVT and the auto shut-off. That seems to confuse people the first time they see it.

MPG, Jerkiness when cold in acceleration, pulls when battery is charging and my pinstriping is coming off after 3 months!!

Overall, I love my car. Although as more time passes that I've had it more things seem to be going wrong. I have had the car a little over 3 months. In the morning when the engine is cold when put into gear and given gas it jerks into motion. When coasting or braking I can feel a pull from the charge. There is sometimes a whine when accelerating. And the mpg is significantly decreasing. I just got 39 mpg, but have never gotten more than 43. And the pinstriping is peeling away. None of the problems existed when I purchased the car. They have started showing up gradually over the past three months. Despite all these issues, I do love its stylish Honda look and its smooth ride. Once the cold problem in the morning passes, the acceleration is quite nice and the car handles very well.

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Very quiet...fun to drive, MPG, even though overstated in advertising still beats my SUV!

CVT Transmission should not go out at 30k.

I bought this car about a year ago and absolutely loved it, as I drive over 100 miles per day. As others have mentioned, I too feel the gas mileage advertised is overated, I usually get between 40-43 MPG. Note I say that I lovED the car, as the transmission went out yesterday at 30,000 miles. After all the good things I have heard about Honda, I would not expect this to happen, especially at this milage. Thank goodness I am still under warranty. I see several other people who have had the same problem. I don't want to sell the car, but I won't be able to afford another transmission if it happens again...

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NONE EVEN CLOSE...Other vehicles are gas guzzlers, Dodge Ram pick up and Jeep Cherokee

Reliability, maneuverability

Not as good on the gas mileage as advertised

The car rides nicely, I have had no mechanical problems with it. The biggest disappointment has been the mediocre gas mileage. In a moderate climate (Reno, NV) I get between 36 and 38 MPG in city driving, up to 41 MPG on the highway. This seems to me a deviation from advertised performance. And I drive very consciously in a way to minimize consumption of gas -- no A/C, no rapid acceleration etc. The Hoda shop had two pieces of advice: 1. check your tires. 2. try going to the same gas station. Neither tip has made a difference.

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Good mileage in summer.

See above. Dramatically lower mileage in winter, CVT transmission lurches at first start on cold days.

We bought the hybrid because we were extremely impressed by the technology (electric assist, regenerative breaking, lean-burn engine, adsorption-type catalytic converter, electric power steering, shutoff at stops, CVT transmission, etc). The car drives extremely smoothly and has many features, including automatic climate control. We've had it for a year, and I must honestly say we have been miserable with the car since we got it. The problems include a leaking headlight, the IMA system konked out once (not repaired, reset), the check engine light came on, the drivers door window jammed and the mechanism had to be replaced, the trunk lid started rusting after 5 months, there are rattles in and around the dash and loose mouldings as well. OK, looks like we got a lemon, but there's something more important (to us). There are procedures that must be carried out to make sure the main power cable running under the car is fully disconnected before firefighters can safely (without risk of electrocution) rescue people from the car after an accident. These procedures are not in the owners manual, and we weren't told about them before we bought the car. We found the emergency procedures guide on the web. After reading the procedures, we do not personally feel safe with them. We can think of too many situations in which they cannot be carried out. We went to a local fire station, asked the firefighters if they knew the procedures for the Civic Hybrid, and they did not. They didn't even know the car was on the road, and they told us they would halt the rescue operations until someone arrived on the scene that did know what to do. This was in late September, 2003, almost a year after we bought the car. Maybe we are too worried and maybe we are overreacting. My advice for anyone who is considering this car is to make an informed choice. Find the emergency response guide on the web, decide if the procedures are within your personal level of comfort, talk to your local firefighters, and then make your decision.

The mileage is good and an enjoyable car to drive. But I think there are other cars that would do the same. After family cars, this smaller car was fun. Others fit that bill.

Transmissions and the dash lights. Cannot read instrument panel when driving with lights on in the daytime.

I purchased my car in Jan 2003 and it ran well until June 2003. The CVT transmission went out with less than 11,000 miles. It was replaced and that transmission lasted about 3,000 miles and it was replaced again. Now, I have had the car back from the shop for less than two weeks, the mileage just reached 15,000 and the problem is starting again. It begins as an acceleration whine and just gets worse. I enjoy the car and it suits my needs but I have little faith in a car that has had 3 transmissions in less than 15,000 mileage and probably another transmission in the near future.

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Absolutely fantastic gas mileage, coupled with instant feedback on fuel consumption/driving habits. The interior is a little bit nicer than the regular Civics and the display is beautiful (and very cool.) Plenty of low-end torque with the IMA and quiet starting and stopping (with the auto shut-off). Also, the tax deduction is about equal to the diffence in price between the EX and the Hybrid.

Tall gears reduce the punch needed when passing on the highway. Also, the batteries drain rather quickly whith heavy use of the IMA. Oddball quirk: because the batteries are behind the rear seat, it doesn't fold down and this makes the trunk just a little smaller.

This car is just plain cool. Outwardly, it's just a regular Civic but when you start the car .... you're not in Kansas anymore. The car starts silently, and with the electric motor assist accelerates nicely. I traded away a 2002 Civic EX to get this car and entered a whole new world. By the numbers the EX had 114 ft-lbs of torque and the Hybrid gets 116 with IMA, BUT... the Hybrid does this at just 1500 rpm and that makes all the difference. The gas mileage is incredible (I got 56 mpg average on a recent road trip). The auto shut-off feature is kinda cool also but be forewarned - when the engine shuts off the a/c does also. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this car is that you develop a much more initmate sense of what the car is doing. Since I got the car I am much more aware of how my driving habits affect my fuel economy. The idea of using the brakes to recharge the batteries is so sensible it makes you wonder why we weren't doing this years ago. That said, the braking effect of the engine is rather more noticable with this system and you don't want to roll up to a long stop in neutral to save fuel. For the moment the selection of interior/exterior colors is rather limited but I'm sure that will change. Clearly, this system is going to be the wave of the future.

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The Civic Hybrid is Honda quality: environmentally friendly, 600 miles per gallon and between 40-50 mpg, well-designed for a compact car, reliable, not bad looking, and so forth...

None really to speak of after twenty-five thousand miles of driving... I would recommend to the interested car buyer: wait to see what 2004 brings... Honda and Toyota (I am already sure of)are putting out new 4-door hyrid vehicles and the latest technology might be worth your time and money.

Solid car here by Honda. I love it! I've own mine for about a year and already have 25K miles on it. My gas mileage remains at anywhere between 40-50 mpg. It's not a sports car so if you don't drive it like one, you reep the benefits. The technology of the Hybrid actually does teach you how to drive more effeciently, and consequently safer. The Civic Hybrid is very reliable on road trips and certainly for everyday use. It's my first Honda and likely not my last.

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My only other steady car I used was a 2001 Ford Focus... a huge change obviously...