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Incidentally, when you get the battery replaced, ask them when the "in service" date occured. That is the day the car was delivered to the original purchaser. Your battery warranty begins on that date, and it should go to 165k miles or thereabouts. My guess would be you probably will still have the warranty probably for close to 1-2 more years. Also check the production date which tells you when the car was built. it should be between 9/03 and 8/04 for a 2004 model year car.
The issue with the CVT is the faces of the pulleys can get polished and create a "shudder" on acceleration. honda had a service they performed where they used an abrasive to create roughness in the pully faces to create more friction on the belt (which is steel segmented). It may have already been done, you never know.
If the transmission has not been serviced, have it done. My local dealer charged me about $100 and it only needs about 2-3 quarts of fluid. I think it has a transmission cooler, so be very careful about blocking air flow where it might make the tranny overheat.
Had you been given the car and had to pay the dealer to replace thee battery it would have cost you close to $1k more. My copy of the warranty claim was right around $3k and they replaced the battery control module as part of the warranty work. You want them to replace that part because it helps to prolong battery life.
You can coast in neutral with the engine running but NEVER coast in neutral with the engine off. My CVT Insight would coast in neutral (engine running) down to 16 MPH and still peg the instant fuel reading at 150 MPG, which meant at idle it was using something like .11 gallons per hour of fuel.
If you decide to cycle the battery down lower then just use the battery to pulse and then coast in neutral avoiding any regeneration. When the gauge gets down to 50% or a little lower then stop coasting in neutral and allow some regeneration to get the battery back to max level. If it stays near max then coast some to use more battery capacity. Eventually you will get it down to a precise technique depending on your traffic situation.
regards
Mech
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