Robert, I appreciate the insight into the Honda issues. Can you point me toward the charger and also any info you might have on what it might take on rebuilding/replacing the batteries on your own and on the cheap?
If I'm going to do this, I want to do it with my eyes wide open. I'm willing to tinker, but reliability is critical and I'm no super-genius mechanic. I'm going to head down and try to get in a test drive today. The one I'm looking at is a 5 speed, but they seem to be the rarer of the two breeds. That said, I figured out in Consumer Reports how to separate off the Hybrid Civics and it's clear the two big problem areas for the 2003-2005 were the transmissions and electrical system (not very specific, but I suspect that's likely the battery issue). I've read a number of on line reviews by owners and it's definitely a love/hate car. Some folks had some very bad experiences, some struggled with firmware glitches, and some are moving to another state where it's legal to marry them.
