Almost Bought an Insight Today

[rjundi]

$5800 seems pretty steep to move on. The most expensive component of new car ownership is depreciation by a far margin. Better stick with what you got.

My bro in law almost went for a Fit or Insight. However I suggested a used Corolla would best the FIT in MPG and be significantly cheaper and many times more comfortable. It was, he got a 2006 Corolla Sport with 55k miles/5 speed manual and seperate set of winter tires for $9000. He does a 100 commute 3+ days/week. He is achieving in the 40+MPG in his driving mostly country back roads/highways.

 

[BrianWC]

Well, coming off owning a 9-5, I wanted to not have to worry about anything mechanical for a long time. Otherwise, yes, a used car is a much better deal than a new one-from the depreciation standpoint. That's why I was able to own two SAABs for a total investment of about $15k.

 

[alphasparky353]

I thought Ford used Toyota technology in the Hybrid Escape??????

 

[DaveL]

I've owned a 2010 Insight for a couple of months now. I was pretty skeptical about buying it, for many of the reasons discussed in this thread, but it does what I need pretty well and I am now comfortable with the decision. Between the Fit and the Insight, any purely economic decision will favor the Fit, but then a purely economic decision would favor a used Corolla, Yaris, Civic, Echo etc. I went with the Insight over the Fit because it has a better (smoother) highway ride, and my wife and I plan to use it for longer trips. The Fit is clearly a more nimble drive around town.

Between the Insight and Prius, in my view they are very different cars and comparing them is like comparing a Camry to a Civic. I don't know what Honda intended, but I see the Insight as the compact economy car choice in hybrids while the Prius is the mid-sized more luxurious choice. Hard to say which one is better, it depends on what you want/need.

With regard to driving dynamics, I think the Insight is much better than even the new Prius. Where the new Prius wins out is in pure power, the 0-60 times. The Insight has a sweet little ICE, but could use more electrical boost.

 

[mjoekingz28]

What happened to the insight? When it came out in 2000 it was amazing......light and got 70mpg. Now its just another hybrid that cant beat alot of normal cars....Corolla, Yaris, Cobalt. Whats the point of the extra cost, complexity, and weight that it can't outperform econoboxes in any area.

How come the newer cars get the worse mileage they get? How do you go from an amazing 70mpg to a pitiful-for-a-hybrid 40, like I said earlier, regular cars can do that.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28

How come the newer cars get the worse mileage they get? How do you go from an amazing 70mpg to a pitiful-for-a-hybrid 40, like I said earlier, regular cars can do that.


The newest engine tunes run rich to cool combustion to keep NOx emissions down. Marketing hides this, allowing you to assume that since something's a Partial Zero Emissions somethingorother, it's really squeezing every drop of gas.

Pound for pound, mid-90's econoboxes are better than todays.

Oh, and stuff's HEAVY now too. That y2k insight was basically a CRX.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Resale on the Insight would be double the Fit.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: alphasparky353
I thought Ford used Toyota technology in the Hybrid Escape??????


They shared some patents, but Ford developed their Hybrid system on their own and it shares nothing with Toyota. Ford's gen II Hybrid system is actually superior to Toyota's.

 

[DaveL]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
What happened to the insight? When it came out in 2000 it was amazing......light and got 70mpg. Now its just another hybrid that cant beat alot of normal cars....Corolla, Yaris, Cobalt. Whats the point of the extra cost, complexity, and weight that it can't outperform econoboxes in any area.


The data from Fuelly.com shows that typical (most commonly reported) values for real world mpg are about 32 for Corolla, 30 for Cobalt, 37 for Yaris, and 44 for the I2. So questioning whether the extra cost and complexity is worthwhile makes sense, but if the performance you are talking about is mpg, the I2 does outperform the other cars on your list.

 

[johnd]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this but I test drove a Prius and a Honda Civic Hybrid. Despite better mileage, the Prius wasn't a consideration because it really isn't built for a person over about 5' 10" tall and I'm 6' 2". The Civic, amazingly has adequate room for me, more actually, than my 1997 Camaro does.