2002 MT 102K NEW IMA, Tires, etc $7900?

[zindude]

Looking at a 2002 Blue MT with a 102,000 miles. Cars looks as new. New IMA battery installed by Honda last week. New RE92's. Super claen. Is at a Honda dealer. This will be my first Insight!. Too much money? Any opinions would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

[insightbuyer]

6 months ago I would say it was a very good deal, recently the prices have seemed to lower a bit. But honestly, with new RE92 tires, new IMA battery, and considering it is from a dealer, I would say decent deal and you should not pass it up. Especially if you like Blue, as blue insights seem harder to find. Seems like 80% are silver. 02 insights are worth more than the 00 insights also.

I would check the following to see if you can lower the price.
1) any grind when downshifting into 2nd gear.
2) make sure it has all the under body panels.
3) look closely for any accidents, and make sure it has all vin numbers stickers on all body panels.

But again, you are paying a premium from a dealer, maybe it comes with a warranty? But when I was looking some months ago, I would consider this price very reasonable with the miles and condition, and the new IMA battery. In all honesty, if you wait on buying the car it will probably be sold before any day now, especially if they advertise it on the internet.

Try and give them a lower offer and take it if you really want it. You could easily resell this on Ebay and get your money back.

[Balboa]

Seems a bit pricey, but these cars are pretty rare. Just allow more for possible fixes down the road. Hopefully not. With gas prices still going up and the economy the way it is, used hybrids are only going to be more in demand.

[zindude]

Thanks. It does to appear to have been in a minor accident, no air bag deployment and no frame damage. Fender bender. The car is 3 hours away but I am leaning towards making the trip for an inspection. Looks super clean in the 23 photos.

[insightbuyer]

An accident would be a deal breaker with me, but that is just me. The reason why I do not like a car in an accident is that if it is anything major, it will really cause problems that you would never expect. I would check where it was hit and really look at the frame. Maybe it was just a fender bender where all that was damaged was a body panel.

However, accidents can cause many problems you would never expect, like I hit one side of my car one time, to cause trouble with suspension components on the other side of the car. Reparied damage is never done correctly nad you will have body panels that don't line up etc. Plus you never really know if the air bags deployed or not.

How do you know if the accident was minor? Was this a family member or some car dealer? Car dealers will always lie and say the accident was minor and repaired. I am really negative towards accidents from my own experience with them.

Also if this accident is on the car fax report it will hurt your resale value.

[Eli]

I would not be worried about the accident.

It almost has to be a fender bender if the car doesn't have a salvage title. These cars are VERY easily totalled due to the aluminum construction.

It sounds like a great specimen. The new items are a definite perk. I also agree that since it's a dealership, there should be wiggle room on the price. Use the accident as leverage. Ask if they can give you alignment specs for peace of mind.

Again, I really would not worry about the accident. If the airbags had deployed, it most certainly would have been totalled.

[zindude]

Frame dammage! Moving on. Thanks for the help. Now looking at 2000 MT 78K 1 owner New IMa battery w/i last 18 months, $7500. NO accidents! Silver, but thats OK. Much safer deal.

[Eli]

The car had frame damage? How did you find that out?

That's really weird, because like I said even relatively minor accidents will total these cars due to the aluminum construction. Good on you for checking into it though.

[Balboa]

A car with frame damage? You would think it would be totaled. It would of had to of been a pretty big impact to damage the frame.

[TopFuelTim]

I saw a blue one in California on ebay a few weeks ago with low mileage. It was clear about a salvage title. Wonder if it is the same car? It really did look nice.

Tim