Why would I buy a Honda Insight?

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JHZR2

JHZR2

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Since it is a rainy saturday and gas prices are becoming so ridiculous, I just went and looked at hybrid cars. Not in the market, just for fun.

Ive always kind of liked the insight - a prius type hatch versatility but supposedly cheaper version that gets you hybrid benefits.

But Im just not grasping it. The prius can be had for around $23k well-equipped and provides 51 MPG city. The Insight, while claimed to be 18200, really has nothing. The LX after destination is >20k MSRP, and is only a 40 MPG car.

I like that it has small wheels, is a small car with likely low lifecycle cost, but Im just not seeing the value proposition of the insight.

What am I missing? Is it just outdated? Noted that the civic is 44 mpg, but that is also a $24K econobox.
 
If you got a screaming deal on it? I wouldn't get one except for it being on a massive sale.

I don't see the point of the Insight. A Fit can beat the cargo room while being much cheaper to buy, and doing 32-33 mpg driving the snot out of it. 40 mpg in a Fit doing 65 mph is easily doable on the highway. Plus there's no buggy Honda hybrid junk to go out after 4-5 years. That savings in purchase price will buy a lot of gas, even at $5/gallon.
 
I too question the economics of this vehicle; The assumption is that the majority buyers are getting them for the mileage; maybe they are bad at math.

My parents have two Priuses. The original one they purchased in 2004 was not for the mileage; my father like it because it was a vehicle fundamentally different than the last 90 years.

I guess what I am saying is some people might buy it for a variety of reasons. If company X built a car that handled better than a VW and was cheaper, does that making buying a VW fundamentally a bad purchase; I would say no.
 
Agreed, it's like the Ridgeline. Fuel economy of a full size body on frame V8 truck, but can't haul or tow.
 
I sat and tested an Insight before: It has all the inconvenients of an hybrid and no advantage: Basically, it is a flaw design.

The Insight is based on the chassis of the fit, but don't have the commodity of the Fit.
I think next year, we will get a hybrid Fit: This one will be interesting.

Next problem is the Honda hybrid drivetrain: Pretty basic (that is the good part), but it is not really a hybrid system, more of an assistance of a small engine to give it more peps.
It is the worst hybrid system out there, it needs the engine on everytime you need to move (in theory no, in real life, all the time, check the forums).
 
Honda makes a utility oriented, fun to drive and very economical small car, and it ain't the Insight.
If I wanted a fuel sipping commuter, the Fit would be it.
 
None of the hybrids make any true economic sense right now. Take a good look at lifecycle cost between the Corolla and Prius, the Corolla is a bit larger and better handling, but close enough...to save enough on gas to offset the purchase price difference (about $6K), without ever replacing the battery (which would add another $4-6K to the cost of the Prius) - gasoline has to be about $10/gallon to cover the increased purchase price over a 10 year/150K ownership. I own a Corolla and have rented a Prius several times, the Corolla is a better driving car...

But with a Hybrid, you do get to look down your nose at other drivers...and brag about how great the gas mileage is...

Now, if I lived in DC, where hybrid cars are allowed in HOV lanes with single drivers, I would buy one in a heartbeat - not because I am saving money on gas, but because of all the time savings by going HOV...
 
My mom has an Insight and she likes it. She got what I would consider a pretty smoking deal on it, and it's the EX model with navigation. Plus my parents are big Honda people.

The Toyota dealers around here have many cars with "Gulf States Toyota Distributors" junk adds on the sticker and are generally a PITA to deal with, so the Prius was not considered for that reason. There is also a problem with the mounting location of the Prius' dashboard shifter. It's too close to the driver's right knee, if you're extremely tall like my Dad and I. (I'm 6'7", Dad is 6'6")

I drove the car to and from Lubbock, TX last fall, about a 700 mile round trip. On the way there I got 44.2 MPG with the cruise set on 75 and the AC on. It's also uphill most of the way there as Austin is 470 feet and Lubbock is 3700 or so.

On the way back I decided to try to get 50MPG, I kept the little aura above the speedometer in the green color as much as I possibly cold, had the AC off, and didn't use the cruise. I was at 50.3 at Brownwood, TX, the halfway point, but there's a lot of hills between Brownwood and Austin so I ended up with 49.7. Took me about an hour longer to get back but if the main point is to save gas, then it was worth it.

I don't know what the real world mileage of the Prius is, but a Prius with navigation and all the other creature comforts my mom's car has surely costs more than $23K. It may get better mileage but I don't know that the cost differential is recoverable, so I'm not sure that the "economics" argument really comes into play.

All that being said if it were my money, I wouldn't buy either car, but that's neither here nor there.
 
A load augmentation/regeneration approach isn't a bad idea, IMO. And, frankly, the fit's mpg is poor and sad. I can get high 30s mpg in my Saab, and with 195 lbft from off idle, it's plenty peppy.

If the insight gave 44+ mpg like the civic hybrid it might be ok. Closer to the Prius without the Prius pricing.

it's not a hybrid economics question or an insight vs fit question. The thing I'm trying to grasp is what is with the insight design that mpg is so poor, even compared to the civic? It drops out of any consideration because of this.
 
The YARIS 3 door base model with 5 speed manual can get over 40 m.p.g. and be bought for $12,000 . That's if you buy one that doesn't develop an oil leak from the H.C.G. of the #1 cylinder . It's a roll of the dice .
 
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Yes but a 3dr yaris is NOT an insight in terms of size. And what's the EPA on the yaris? 36 MPG? 38? My saab is 34 and can nearly get 40 if driven nicely too. No point in exposing myself to such a tiny car if need not...

The insight is bigger, a bit more utility. Cant find its place in the HCH/Prius/Fusion type world given its MPGs. Again, not an argument pro/con hybrid or economics or that. It is where its relevance in the hybrid world lies.
 
JHZR2,

I thought you never really liked Hondas in general ?

The Insight is butt ugly and for the money I would rather have a Civic LX and use the extra money not spent on the Insight for gassing up the Civic. Honda's CVT trans are well known for being a piece of [censored] and being very unreliable. The days of cheap gas are coming to an end. No need for a gimmick type car like the Insight when a plain jane Corolla / Civic will get the job done.
 
The Insight has had issues with the battery life as well . Was reported in a recent C.R.. So , they have some catching up to do with TOYOTA hybrid tech . Otherwise we'd have considered an INSIGHT over the FIT . The Insight can be had for less than $20,000 . Last we new the Insight didn't have vehicle stability control as a standard feature like the PRIUS .
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
If the insight gave 44+ mpg like the civic hybrid it might be ok.


It does, in my experience. See my previous post.

Of course, YMMV
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
JHZR2,

I thought you never really liked Hondas in general ?

The Insight is butt ugly and for the money I would rather have a Civic LX and use the extra money not spent on the Insight for gassing up the Civic. Honda's CVT trans are well known for being a piece of [censored] and being very unreliable. The days of cheap gas are coming to an end. No need for a gimmick type car like the Insight when a plain jane Corolla / Civic will get the job done.



Im not the biggest honda fan, as though our 94 integra made it to 186k miles and ran great, more or less every rubber part needed replacement at least once and the car got rusty. Our 94 toyota had far more miles in that time and still was like new. Our 94 mitsubishi only had 2/3 the miles and had some repairs but was OK. Then of course I have to compare it to my MB diesels, which still were mostly original parts at far more miles and many more years. Ditto for my 91 BMW. So from a drink the honda kool aid and pay the honda prices standpoint, Im not a fan...

From make a nice driving car that can be efficient and set up as you want, they seem to be one of the better ones, especially since you can get MT in more models.

I dont know if Id call the insight ugly to me. It looks like a 3/4 prius with useful hatch back end. Im OK with that. Would prefer MT vs CVT, but that is on ANY car. Honda ATs scare me especially bad.

But one cannot say as far as I know from EPA numbers, that the corolla/civic/fit/yaris will best the insight 40 MPG. The cruze MPG model will do 42 mpg highway EPA. Sure, the price delta will get you more gas than youll save with the hybrid, but for how much longer? Not sure.
 
Originally Posted By: odie
The Insight has had issues with the battery life as well . Was reported in a recent C.R.. So , they have some catching up to do with TOYOTA hybrid tech . Otherwise we'd have considered an INSIGHT over the FIT . The Insight can be had for less than $20,000 . Last we new the Insight didn't have vehicle stability control as a standard feature like the PRIUS .


Ive never had issues with cars that didnt have stability control, and Id certainly not pay a premium for it personally.
 
the previous generation insight got close to 70mpg before it got axed for a few years. Honda should have brought that insight model back!
 
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
the previous generation insight got close to 70mpg before it got axed for a few years. Honda should have brought that insight model back!


+1
 
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