Really need help buying 2001 Insight from private owner

[randomfire]

Hi, I am looking to buy a used 2001 Insight from a private owner in my area. I saw the car today and noticed that the charge/assist light is out (no light whatsoever), the battery is sitting at 1 bar and never charges, and there's no regen braking when I tap the brakes. The car also doesn't auto-stop at a stop light either. It just idles. Seems like the whole IMA is not working. The car is a 5 spd manual and I asked the owner why the light is not on and why the battery won't charge. He said he doesn't know what I'm asking and that the car runs fine as far as he knows.

Just wondering if anyone knows what the problem is and whether it's just a minor problem I can fix if I buy the car or whether I should avoid it. I'm new to Insights and searched a bit on the forum and noticed a few posts about it, but didn't get any definitive answer.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Leeper]

First and foremost is "search", become knowledgeable

As as most of what you're asking, or hope to know is in there.

The car won't auto stop if the main battery gets too low - as is the case with your Insight. The reasons could be many and there are many things that you could do to diagnose this.

What is the mileage?
How often was it driven?
Has it sat for a prolonged time?

Sounds like the previous owner knew little to nothing about the intricacies of these cars... as was the case when I bought mine. Likely it is nothing but it could also mean that it may need a new battery... which if this is a US car, with mileage under 150K, and not a salvage you should be covered. You cold take it to a Honda dealer and ask what TSB's have been done so far and which need to be done, this should not cost you anything to check.

[02insight]

there was a similar 2001 red insight i my area for sale. When I went to look at it, the IMA wasnt charging/assisting, no auto-stop, and the battery level was empty. The seller also didnt know anything about the car. I think I reset the IMA system by pulling some fuse (dont remember which), and it started charging and everything again, and ran just fine for the test drive with auto-stop and all. But in the end, I didnt buy that car because it was possible some IMA problem existed, and the fix that I did by resetting the IMA was probably only temporary.

[Artric]

I think it's fuse #18 under the dash, or more easily, just pull the negative battery cable and leave it off for a couple of minutes. It should force it to do a background charge. Drive it around for several miles and see if it charges up.