Should I buy? 2001 Insight 68K miles

[ibjeff]

I am a total Insight fan, but after all the work done to my Insight by Honda at their expense in the past 6 months, I would not purchase a rebuilt/salvage titled Insight. The amount they covered was more than the current inflated value of my car. I saw the bills and thanked the lord each time Honda took care of the charges. You can take your chances, but for me I would look for another.

[red1dr]

Originally Posted by Dgate

Roger i'm curious when you say 95 to 100mpg (US gallon) is that the instantaneous reading ? and are you considering the US gallon is smaller not larger.
As an average over 140 miles fast driving I have gotten a high of 94 mpg (Imperial) and over 35 miles at normal speeds gotten 104mpg (Imperial) so find it amazing you are getting that kind of figure in US gallons.
DGate

My dash showed 94.9mpgUS this morning driving in to work (35 miles). Last summer I ran two tanks through at 96+ mpg on my daily commutes (hotter weather helps). So yes those mpg's are quite possible and fairly typical barring rain or strong headwinds.

Originally Posted by Roger Crier

you WILL end up driving slower than you did, and you WILL start tailgating trucks

Rog

Yes I've slowed down but no I don't draft trucks. Dangerous, boring, and unnecessary for getting good mpg. Plus I don't want to get stone dings on the front end and windshield.

[flymuck]

Originally Posted by james

There are situations where you can have a salvage title even if there's no damage at all. For instance, the car gets stolen, the insurance company pays the loss, and the car is later recovered intact.

Not all thefts lead to a salvage title, even if the car was not recovered intact... My 2001 Insight was stolen, stripped, and recovered by LAPD a week later. The estimate for damages exceeded the value of the car, so the insurance company wanted to total it. Since most of the "damage" was more cosmetic than functional (wheels and rims, for starters), I managed to convince them to not mark it as "salvage" to the DMV. I wrote them a letter stating that we wanted to keep the car -- this apparently was enough for them, at least here in CA. They paid me off for the car, minus the salvage recovery fee (i.e., I "paid" to get the car back -- about $1200, IIRC), and we used the remaining money to pay for the repairs (didn't get stock rims, too expensive).

Joy!

Back to the topic at hand... In general, I would not trust a car with a rebuilt/salvage title. Did you get the CarFax report? It's really odd that a CVT with such low miles would already need a battery... ours is the same year, same number of miles, and the battery is in spectacular condition (and I know how a bad one behaves, as my 2000 Insight needed a new battery recently).

Good luck!

[james]

"Not all thefts lead to a salvage title, even if the car was not recovered intact..."

I'm not saying that such a theft always does, just that it can happen that way. It did to mine, which I got for quite a bit under the average price at the time. Almost 5 years & 75K miles later, I've just finished my first real repair (if you leave out the problems associated with the 12V battery), having replaced the EGR valve.

The decision to buy such a vehicle really depends as much on the purchaser as anything. If you're the sort who's happy doing your own work, then go for it. If you take your car to the dealer for every little service, then don't.

I'm no stranger to working on cars. In my lifetime, I've owned over 140 cars in various shapes, sizes and conditions. I have no problem doing my own repairs and honestly, hate taking any of my cars to a mechanic, let alone a dealer especially since I have worked for a couple of local dealers and know how they operate.
I just wanted an opinion from you guys/gals who currently own an insight as to whether or not I should consider the car esp with what seems to be a flaky past. I haven't run a carfax on it, but plan to should I get in purchase mode. right now, I'm wavering because I found another one locally for $4K more and 100K miles. Both, I'm sure have no service records since both are being sold at car dealers. The only cars I've ever seen with service history are BMW's and Benz's. I also know, that most Honda owners are good with regularly scheduled maintenance. SO.....
here we are....hahahahhaha
Keep driving my Focus SVT averaging 30mpg and driving 73 miles one way to work (cost for fuel approx $8 each way), then another 73 back home OR pop for an insight and average far better than 50mpg (I hope) (less than $12 total per day for fuel).
Ah, isn't this fun?

[Dgate]

Seems to me you have enough experience with cars to make a decision on this one since you have driven it and looked it over.
Some people would never consider a salvage title car because they lack the experience of assessing whats in front of them or the feel of the car. Like IamIan said the Insight is more economical than your present one even if the pack goes dead.

Lifes a gamble nothing ventured nothing gained.

DGate

Well after driving around town the other day I came across a 2000 Insight, 5-speed with 155K miles. Sad part is, IMA, CEL, and all the warning lights were on. Overall, decent condition, but, for the $4900 asking price, the car needed a clutch and possibly tires. The previous owner was a smoker so there are burn holes in the driver's seat.
Comparing it to the one I originally posted, it's definitely got some wear compared to the 2001 CVT insight I found with 68K miles. I know the 5-speed though will pay off in the long run with higher MPG's and even with the IMA light, the car showed a lifetime MPG of 49...and while I drove it and shifted with the helper light, over 60mpg. UGH...hahahahah
It's a clear-title car though. I'm thinking with the miles, and if I want it, I'll spend the $80 for a PPI at the local Honda dealer and see what they say.
I just read the post about Honda dropping the prices on the batteries though..HMMMMMMMM
How much would a clutch-job cost on an Insight?