I'm New and Might Buy an Insight

[al_]

Hello All!

A friend of mine offered to sell me his 2001 Insight the other day. I thought it would be best for me to post the specs here and take your feedback. I also have a few questions about the capacities of the car.

2001
215,000 miles
manual trans
New brakes
new tires
good winterforce tires mounted on new steel wheels
new standard (non-ima) battery
grounding cables replaced

Grinds a little going into second gear
front sway bar links could use replacement, would quiet the car on loud roads.
A piece of interior trim has broken off
There are a couple knicks/dings on the AL body.

Battery is of unknown life.

Price: 2500

I'm also curious about the towing capacity of the car. The most I would tow is a small motorcycle (nighthawk or ninja 250) or a few long boards of lumber.

[delsol7]

I bought my 2002 Insight yesterday with 125k miles.
Through my searching of Insight for last 2 months, $2500 for 2001 Insight is very good deal if it's running fine without any problem. It's out of battery warranty but I heard that you can replace them or recondition them for $1000 or so.

I initially thought I was making mistake on purchasing. I felt like I was asleep when I was making my final decision.... but once I started to drive and saw the mpg, it just confirmed myself that I made a good decision.

Good luck with your purchase. I really wanted manual but I couldn't find anything in right price range so had to go with auto...

[Leeper]

2001
215,000 miles - high but not a killer. Do know that things will likely start going bad in all parts of the car so you better have a good cash-stash to keep it running

manual trans = higher mileage

New brakes - brakes are VERY cheap and very simple to replace. They usually last a long time if driven gently.
new tires
good winterforce tires mounted on new steel wheels - If gas mileage is your desire (usually is if you are buying this car, then this combination is definitely not desirable - search this and inform yourself.
new standard (non-ima) battery - only should run about $60-80 so not a bug deal
grounding cables replaced

Grinds a little going into second gear - likely the ISB - do a search and read up on that one.
front sway bar links could use replacement, would quiet the car on loud roads. - could be bushings or simply just need to be lubed
A piece of interior trim has broken off - cosmetic,
There are a couple knicks/dings on the AL body - cosmetic

Battery is of unknown life. - you can read up on that, you could also go to a Honda dealership to get any records but with those miles it won't make a lot of difference

[al_]

Originally Posted by Leeper

good winterforce tires mounted on new steel wheels - If gas mileage is your desire (usually is if you are buying this car, then this combination is definitely not desirable - search this and inform yourself.

Grinds a little going into second gear - likely the ISB - do a search and read up on that one.

The snow tires are on a second set of wheels.

What is the ISB?