Hi, I am new here, considering trading in my Prius for a Civic. I don't do too much driving, but fuel economy is still some what of a big deal to me. I am not a fan of my Prius because of some of its visibility problems and also I really miss having a manual transmission. My previous car was a 1996 Honda Accord, which I dearly loved until it was smashed between two Jeeps in a pile up

I have been researching 2003-2005 Honda civics knowing that those are they only model hybrids with an option for a manual transmission. I have found that the price of those are pretty much right on par with the regular sedans in that generation. However, I keep reading horror stories about the IMA batteries dying and costing up to $4000. Which is almost half of the value of the car. If it's likely that will happen I would think I'd be better off with the regular civic, which still gets respectable gas mileage. Unless there is some way I can work in an extended warranty on the battery. But I can't decide which would be worth it more. Does anyone have expertise in this area? I know most of what I read online will be negative because those are the people that take time to review, so I want to know how likely it is that I will have to replace the battery in a hybrid model.

 

Only hybrid you should consider is 5speed. never buy auto as the trans is a big POS and expensive even used.