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The Honda Civic IMA was first seen in 2003.  Now under the new name of the Honda Civic Hybrid it is even more efficient and more powerful.  The 1.3 engine has the performance of a 1.8 petrol engine yet the efficiency of a 1.0 litre engine.  It uses the small petrol engine to accelerate with an electric motor-generator to power the car while cruising on level roads.

Prices start from a reasonable £16,300 and for this you get a comfortable four door saloon with the performance you would expect from a car of this size.  Economy figures of 61.4mpg are quoted from Honda on a combined cycle although in real life driving, especially out of town driving and on motorway driving this figure will be far off.  A range of 720miles is achievable from one tank of fuel, however petrol is not the only saving. The Honda Civic Hybrid also benefits from a low insurance group, low tax due to its 109g/km CO2 emissions and like all hybrids is except from the London Congestion Charge.

The batteries never need to be plugged in, they are charged by the regenerative braking system.  Other clever bits are the 7 speed CVT Auto gearbox and the fact the cars switched it self off when the car is stationary and idling saving you more fuel and not emitting any emissions.  The hybrid system is covered by Honda for 8 year warranty.

Notes
March 2006 facelift including new more powerful engine, lower emissions and re-styling.

Reviews:

Write a Review about the Honda Civic Hybrid

Review by Iain Wilson from Warwickshire on 16 November 2011

Had my Civic Hybrid for just over 2 years and 45k miles - average around 46 mpg, mainly up and down M40 from Warwickshire to Reading. Yes the ride is a bit harsh, yes it gasps a bit on hills but it's quiet, comfortable, reliable, economic, well equipped. Is the BMW 520d it replaced ? no! but, as a company car, it's £500 a month cheaper - will be interesting to see what is around when I replace in June 2013!!

Review by Riyad from North London on 09 August 2011

Civic Hybrid 07 Model: After doing many hours of homework on this car & other hybrids, we bought an 07 Reg with 20K miles yesterday. I was blown away by the luxury on offer on the inside with leather seats etc and the quick acceleration for a Hybrid Car. I taxed it yesterday for a whopping £10 for the entire year compared to over £200 I was paying for a non hybrid civic. The insurance was the same too and best of all it's a Honda with serious green credentials and looks a lot better than the Prius at every corner.

Review by Nick Roach on 30 November 2009

A really super car - I had to compromise on two of my choices (no rooflight possible and no hatchback version) but perhaps next time?
Very quiet and tractable, acceleration very responsive, which I frankly didn't expect.
Lease comes to an end in 2011, and will happily go for another, perhaps smaller hybrid this time.

Review by Trey from London on 26 August 2008

We've had this car for over a year and unlike other reviews - we EASILY get 54MPG.  NEVER under 48MPG and that's in stop and go traffic.  I don't know, maybe it's the way some people drive?
My only complaint is that it has no get-up-and-go.  The acceleration is horrible, especially on an incline.  We had a bicyclist pass us up the other day on an incline.
It looks great in comparison to other Hybrids, saves our bank account, is good for the environment, and serves it's purpose taking us from point A to point B.

Review by Mike Smith from Huntingdon, Kent on 11 July 2008

I have owned a Honda Civic IMA 2003 now for over 6months, having had a Mercedes CLK270 Diesel and a Hyundai Santa Fe 1.9CDX just before 'going green'.  The honda is very well equipped with full tan and black leather, obviously the Mercedes was very luxurious though.  With my car tax only being £15, very cheap insurance and on average town/a-road driving I am achieving approx 52-55MPG (best ever was 67.2MPG for a 180mile journey), this is a very healthy saving compared to both the Mercedes and Hyundai.  Especially when diesel is a good 15-20p more per litre + car tax is a lot more. I am saving on average in fuel costs £75 per month alone, since I have owned the Honda Civic IMA.
Recently I have fitted 4x Brand New Michelin Energy Saver tyres, these are ideal for this car.
My wife owns a 2007 Toyota Auris 1.6 petrol and she only gets approx 34-36MPG from it, tax will be going up to £250 in 2009 whilst the IMA will only be going up to £25.
I would recommend this car to anyone, especially people who live near big hills!

Review by Chris from Essex, Kent on 26 June 2008

Honda Hybrid: I dare anyone to get more than 45 mpg from the Honda ....I have had mine for 2 yrs and never got more than 45mpg let alone 50mpg or 61mpg which Honda say it does ....nice car though

Review by Pat Allen from Chatham, Kent on 16 June 2008

Honda Civic IMA: I have owned, from new a Civic Hybrid for 8 months now and have found it to be reasonably economical, 45mpg worst & 53mpg best. I drive to work via motorway & town 28miles per day and have been told that the mpg will increase from 4000 miles onwards. It is different to a normal car to drive. You do tend to drive while watching the Bar graph trying to achieve the maximum 100 mpg especially when coasting down hill. The boot space is only average and as has already been mentioned (because of the battery pack) the back seats do not fold down.
Compared to the Toyota Prius (which I did try) god what an old styled car that is. My wife could not be asked to drive it! Why have i got to move that lever, I thought it was an automatic! she exclaimed. Overall I would recommend the Civic Hybrid for style, comfort, economy, Hondas renowned reliability.

Review by Jonathan from Ipswich on 16 June 2008

Honda Civic Hybrid:  Had a short test drive and wasn't happy with it.
-Road noise at 70mpg too much for my ears
-Seats and ride too hard, no adjustable lumbar support - started off my bad back
-Interior - very well laid out and looks good
-Driving - quite smooth but engine very noisy under full acceleration and not much poke
-Economy - only managed 47mpg from cold on a leisurely ride on dual carriageway, country and town mixed roads. Managed 55mpg in Prius over similar conditions.
-Boot quite small and no folding rear seats due to battery. Impractical for me.
Summary -
All that technology and cost didn't really make much difference!

Review by John from Wolverhampton on 05 June 2008

ES Honda Civic Hybrid: Averages 50mpg on a 16 mile run to work which is part dual carriageway and part normal stop start.  Very quiet, deceptively quick and as fuel prices have risen to silly proportions now (June 08) work mates are jealous of saloon car size and frugal consumption AND cheap, cheap car tax.  Until the hydrogen car arrives, this will do nicely.

Review by Eric Purnell from Cheshire on 23 May 2008

Honda civic hybrid 1.4:  I have had this car for four months now, replaceing a Honda civic V.Tec 1.4, which I had for over 12years from new.  I am 69yrs of age and a disabled driver.  This car is an absolute gem in every aspect, economy - comfort - reliability.  It is a little belter!!

Reviewed by Martin from Surrey on 13 May 2008

Honda Civic IMA: Having had this car now for over one year i have to say im very pleased with it. Its not the fastest car nor the best handling but its very cheap to run and good for the pocket! I didnt buy this car because of environmental issues, I simply bought it to pay less tax to the government!
If you commute along the motorway everyday then this is the car for you. Stop starting any car will severly reduce fuel economy regardless of being efficient or not. The key is to keep the car rolling at all times, in london this is impossible but there are tricks around this!
To date my best figures i have acheived are: 80 mile trip to dover where I slipstreamed a dutch lorry...76mpg. Travelling 40 miles to work and back every day over 691 miles...67.2mpg.
At the moment my car is returning 63.6mpg, it is an 04 plate IMA.
A good trick with this car is when coming to a hill is to get the engine to switch off and basically coast down hills using no power!
If you want good economy then you have to drive very carefully at all times!!
Overall a comfy quiet car which is cheap to run and tax.

Reviewed by Stanley Ooi from London on 25 April 2008

Have had this car for a couple of months now. We used to have a 3 litre Merc but got rid of it because we wanted to be environmentally friendly and, also, because Red Ken threatened to charge us £25 per day even though we live in the congestion charge zone. I love this car. Handles well and consumes much less petrol than our old car. The only gripe I have is that when we are on the motorway, the Merc was much quieter but as we are usually in London, this is not a big issue. Anyway, I feel this is a good car to have in London - very spacious inside and good for the environment and also for your wallet (in terms of petrol). Took a bit of getting used to the "engine cut off" when I was idling at traffic lights etc but now it is fine. Love the car!

Reviewed by Philip from Worcester on 24 April 2008

This June 07 plated car, purchased in February '08, only returns an average of 44 mpg, since purchase. Diagnostic testing revealed no faults and Honda Swindon confirm receiving customer complaints about poor mpg figures. Their own test car does not exceed 51 mpg, as long as you do not exceed 51 mph!! Honda customer service are not interested in the brochure figures of 61 mpg.
I previously drove the manual gearbox version and achieved an average of 55 mpg.
I am very unhappy about this car and the misleading sales brochure. Has anyone taken Honda to court yet as the car is not as described?

Reviewed by Ngozi Ezi from Sheffield on 21 April 2008

I exchanged a Lexus GS300 SE-L for this car being a good boy and going green. It drives well but obviously a far cry from the Lex. The fittings are also a bit mediocre. The Navigation is good but very difficult to navigate through the buttons. I drive mainly in Sheffield city and no matter how careful and less revvy I go, I cannot only return about 33.5miles per gallon. So I wonder where the 51miles/gallon urban promise has gone. Another annoying bit is the very jerky re-start after the engine stop. It could have been made smoother. The technology in Toyota and Lexus appears more refined despite the fuel consumption and emission figures. Will I keep it? Maybe another year. I have already been looking elsewhere

Reviewed by Walker from London on 09 October 2007

The Honda Hybrid is a nice looking car and very comfortable to drive, even the fact that its now only available as an automatic did not put me off, Honda claim to get 61.4mpg and 720 miles to a Tank. In real terms this is 41mpg and 420 miles to a tank, I have been hugely disappointed with the fuel economy on this car. I have even complained to Honda Customer Care, who to be frank were not interested in slightest, even after the car was tested under Honda Test conditions by the dealer and still could not make more than 41mpg, Honda thought this was acceptable. In my view get a Diesel and play it safe.

Reviewed by David Higginson from Basingstoke on 23 November 2007

To be quite honest - it's disappointing, and is a gimmick. I have driven the vehicle for the past 6 months and covered 9,000 miles, in and out of London. The average MPG is 42.9, which is not as good as the Ford Focus diesel that it replaced. The auto engine restart is at best adequate, and at worst 'lumpy'. The build quality is good, as one would expect from a Honda. The concept however, I believe is fundamentally flawed. The VW bluemotion is a far better bet.

Reviewed by John from Leeds on 08 October 2007

I currently drive both a 2007 Civic IMA Hybrid and a 2007 Civic 2.2 CDTi diesel and the differences for me are quite apparent. For the same money you could have either variant at similar trim level, so the choice is heavily dependent on who you are & where/how you drive. On regular 25 mile trips on A-roads & B-roads the diesel will quite easily achieve 48-50mpg whilst the Hybrid typically gets around 45mpg. This does not include much stop-start driving or stationary traffic & in these situations the Hybrid will probably favour a little better in comparison as it switches off automatically in traffic (note however that the Civic Hybrid won't ever run purely on battery power, and it won't switch of all in certain situations with headlights, air con, etc switched on). In contrast the diesel is a little better at motorway speeds.

So, despite the Hybrid having better CO2 & fuel economy on paper the diesel is arguably the 'greener' of the two, particularly when you consider the recycling of the batteries of the Hybrid.

So what really separates them? If you commute in to London then the congestion charge is the single biggest factor & the Hybrid could save you £3k per year. In addition to this the car tax is only £35 for 1 year vs £115 for the diesel & the lower tax bracket will benefit company car drivers.

However, if you're fortunate enough to be able to drive on roads that aren't congested and you aren't a company car driver, the diesel is leagues better as a drivers car with masses of torque & far superior acceleration. The Hybrid by comparison feels big & lethargic and the CVT gearbox, whilst being a very clever bit of kit, can be infuriatingly unresponsive, particularly when trying to pull out at busy roundabouts. For practicality the Hybrid also loses out as the presence of the batteries means it doesn't get Honda's very useful lifting/folding "magic seats" in the back, which also means that you can't load-through from the boot.

Reviewed by Ian from Surrey on 04 October 2007

Although much better interior design than the Toyota Prius it has a disappointingly low mpg. I have averaged somewhere around 46/47mpg. On small local journeys this drops even lower. Also frustrating that the rear sets don't fold down or split to allow larger goods to be carried.

Reviewed by Nigel from Darlington on 31 July 2007

Don't take any notice of Stuart from Edinburghs review. I think he's obviously having problems getting over the loss of his Skoda Octavia !
Stuart, with reference to the cruise control. Please be advised that it's quite normal for it to shut off at the touch of the footbrake.  All cars with cruise control react like this (unless you want to pay at least £10K more for a totally different type of vehicle with "adaptive cruise". This is a safety feature cleverly designed by motor manufacturers to prevent you running into the back of lorries or stationary traffic.
The Honda Hybrid is a little gem and especially kind to the pockets of company car drivers.  So wake up Stuart and smell the coffee !
One day all cars will be like this.  Honda Rules !!!!!

Reviewed by Frank from Leeds on 04 July 2007

I've now had the car for three months and I love it. The auto box is marvelous and gives you big car convenience with a very relaxed, laid back style of motoring. I thought the little 1.4 engine would struggle on the 70 mile round trip on the M62 but it covers it with ease with power to spare. I don't know how Honda have managed it but the car is a cracker It has all the toys you'll ever need with the exception of one, Sat Nav ! Not the end of the world though as I'm going to buy one of those TOM TOM units. I do get fed up with all the questions and jibes from office colleagues who have more expensive cars but soon as I tell them I save over 3K a year on tax in comparison to my Mondeo Titanium they soon shut up. I would recommend to anyone wanting a comfortable, quiet, refined, autobox cruiser. It won't break the land speed record but neither will it break your bank account in terms of company car tax.

Reviewed by Brian from Cambridge on 02 July 2007

I HAVE HAD THIS CAR FOR TWO YEARS FROM NEW WITH A AVERAGE OF 50 MPG OVER 18000 MILES AND NO FAULTS. MANY OF THESE OF JOURNEYS ONLY 6-8 MILES. I CAN ONLY DESCRIBE IT AS BIG CAR MOTORING ON SMALL CAR ECONOMY GIVING COMFORT AND ROOM AS WELL AS A QUIET SMOOTH RIDE.

Reviewed by Stuart from Edinburgh on 20 June 2007

My work have very recently taken on a 3 year lease deal on a fleet of these. They were to replace a fleet of diesel Octavia Estates we had run for around 2 years.
Having now acquainted myself with the Civic I find myself extremely unimpressed.  The claimed efficiency is complete nonsense.  If you drive with a very light right foot, on dual carriageways you can find the revs jumping to 6krpm for the slightest change in speed.  The cruise control is not radar controlled so is constantly cancelled on braking when in traffic so manual speed control is required more often than not.

I have found the fuel economy to be substantially less than I could eek out of the Octavias.  Reckon on averaging 45mpg in the Civic and you might be near the reality.
Added to this, the dynamics of the car are extremely poor. There is very little steering feel and far too much assistance on a very short rack to judge corners accurately.  The brakes also feel over servoed, I assume a side effect of being a regenerative system.  This made it quite intimidating to drive in stop start traffic.
It is well equipped and the drivers seat is a fairly comfortable place to be, but there are better alternatives out there if you want a car for comfort.  The TDi Octavia for example!

Reviewed by Dave from Berks on 29th March 2007

I work within the congestion charging zone in London and it was costing me £8 a day with my old car - i considered this dead money.  I had been looking for an option and was looking at LPG - probably an Astra, but couldn't find what i was after.
My wife stumbled on the Civic Hybrid by chance. It was a 2003 model with only 7K on the clock. It was up for £9K from a  dealer in the New Forest. When we saw it, there was no reason I could find not to buy it  - it looked and drove like a brand new car.
Talk about well equipped - it has leather seats, heated front seats, multi CD player, electric heated mirrors, electric windows all round, etc in short far better than an Astra.
Best of all, i see lots of Prius's, and think they look odd. With the civic, you wouldn't know you were in anything other than a normal car - it looks like a normal saloon. My various passengers cannot believe the benefits - good fuel consumption, no congestion charge and even best of all, the car tax has gone down!
Any bad points?  I've had it 8 months and can't think of any.

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