Your thoughts on the Insight, please

[alam99]

Hello All,

I'd like to hear about your experiences with the 2nd generation Insight.

My situation is that I originally wanted a 3rd generation Prius to be my next car. Hatchback design, great fuel economy, and roomy interior is what I liked about it. But I crunched the numbers and it's priced somewhat out of my comfort range and the more I considered it, the less I liked it's dashboard layout.

After doing some research, I've decided upon either a 2012 Fit or Insight. I like the Fit because it's very roomy on the inside, has received high marks from most reviewers, comes with many features even on the base model, and appears to be very reliable. Having a standard ICE means less unknowns.

I like the Insight for it's fuel economy and looks (exterior as well as the dashboard). With the backseats redesigned in the 2012 model, I'm willing to check it out and see if it is roomy enough. When I looked at the 2011 model, I felt it was a little claustrophobic. My concerns with the Insight include:

How reliable is it?
1) I previously read on this forum about problems with the weather stripping coming off. Has this been redesigned?
2) Also from this forum, some users replaced their 12 volt batteries to improve MPG. Is this a needed fix or were the users trying to modify their cars to get the highest fuel economy they can.
3) And that brings us to the question of how reliable is the Honda hybrid system?

I don't mind a 98 HP car. my current car is only 100 HP. I drive 99% in the city mostly to and from work during the week. It's usually just me or just one other passenger. I anticipate the car carrying 4 people on a few occasions, and very, very rarely 5.

I'd love to hear from everyone, even if it is just to say "I've had the car for 2 years, 10,000 miles, no problems so far, etc". And if you repeat something that someone else already said, that's ok, I'd like to hear how many people like, dislike, or had trouble with the same thing. If you want to write an in-depth review, I'd surely appreciate that as well.

My thanks to everyone for reading this post.

[cycledrum]

I would have like to get a 3rd gen Prius also while hating the driving experience in my 2009 Prius (jumped the gun buying that one!) I'm tall 6'2" with long legs and I insist on good thigh support and seating down there.

I rented the 3rd gen Prius time and again. I could never get comfortable in that car. Sure, they put a telescopic steering wheel in the new Prius, but from my measurements, it only telescopes 0.5" closer to the driver than the 2nd gen Prius which realllly needed telescope.
If you are under 6' tall or buy pants shorter than 35" inseam like me, the above won't be an issue to you. I dunno, some 6'6" people claim to love driving 3rd Prius, go figure.

Just because Toyota put the telescope wheel in does not mean they positioned it optimally and in my opinion, they didn't.
The Prius driver's seat actually does not lower down all that much and the steering doesn't pull all that close to a tall driver.

The result - I get to scoot extra close to the dash, my knees come up and get crowded by both the steering wheel and that nauseating flying buttress center console.
I didn't buy a 3rd Gen Prius. I bought a 2011 Accord Coupe.

---------
back to the Insight. The Insight is worth sitting in to me. It sits me correctly. Honda does an amazing job with their driver 'ergonomics/seating' and I like their sense of style. Look at the 2012 Insight. It's a looker! I test drove the 2011 Insight and it felt torquey off the line.

Obviously people like the overall experience of Prius better and it rocks on fuel economy (I always got about 55 MPG), but it's a moot point to me. I cannot drive a car I feel awkward in and I feel awkward piloting the 3rd gen Prius.

[Cobb]

Id do it over again. The prius 3 isnt for me, however I would consider a used or abused prius 2 as a project car if the price was right. Ive rented nad driven both.

I hear even with 300k miles on the prius 2 if you can get a good price you will have a decent car.

The prius 3 has too many blnid spots, the center bridge rubs my leg, the dash is too busy as well as the ac/radio controls and the so called ev mode is a laugh.

[CraigCA]

According to the people who record their mileage on Fuelly.com, the Prius 3 only gets 3 mpg's better than the Insight 2. That means the I2 gets better than the EPA rating and the P3 doesn't reach their estimate.

Plus it's fun to double-click my downshift paddle into a turn and accelerate out of it

[maximrick]

I'll admit any day the top of the line Prius is a much better developed car engineering wise.

But with that being said i still prefer my insight.

main reason is due to style and comfort. The car on the outside looks much more fun and aggressive.

And on the inside it has a very easy to use and functional interior. The lighting alone with the blue's and greens and the separate speed gauge is a huge win in my book style wise.

The Prius front is just plain. not ugly but plain and boring. And the Prius interior is a game killer for me. I don't want to look towards the middle of the dash to see how fast I'm going unless I'm sitting in the middle of the car.

And at the end of the day i'm still able to get near 50 mpg on my insight doing highway so the few extra miles the Prius offers isn't worth sacrificing looks and paying a few extra thousand.

[cycledrum]

I'm with maximrick.

But to clear up any confusion over 3rd gen Prius fuel economy ...

050705 198.jpg

Every time driving solo, unloaded, 2 PSI over on tires, hits about 55 MPG. Picture was after highway drive. Same in city. Sucker's good on gas, but I feel like I'm driving a 'little person's' car in the driver's seat. No way to adjust it out. Prius' interior designers need a clue. Yuck.

[Cobb]

When I try hard I manage 65 mpg in the prius 3 with no eco mods. Driving it like I stole it between 49-50mpg. I recall I use to get above 50 mpg in the insight driving it the same way before any eco modes too. I frequently drove 70mph and would average 54mpg. To break 60mpg took some hard work in the Honda.

[dieselnine]

There are so many variables to consider, but if you can give up speed off of the line you might love the Insight. I'm an old fart (over 50), and while a youngster I wanted speed, I now want something that can get great gas mileage and when pressed can get up and go. It's no speedster for sure, but if you go balls to walls it will get out of it's own way. The whole ergonomics thing is something you'll have to sort out for yourself, but overall I've been very impressed with the car. As far as the MPG ratings go, you need to consider this: the car has an 'econ' button which changes a lot of the parameters the computer(s) use to maximize fuel economy. I live in a very congested area and do mostly stop and go driving. With 'econ' in use, I can still average about 46mpg per tank. Overall, I'd have to say the little car is not advertised well by Honda, and that must be okay with them. Since it's been back in production, I'm guessing that there are only approx. 50,000 of them in the States.

[alam99]

Much thanks for all your comments so far.

My wife and I are both under 6 ft tall, so I don't anticipate having trouble with the front seats. I am a little concerned about the passengers in the back even though it won't be very often.

I try to drive conservatively. I'm not a hyper miler, but I try not to abruptly accelerate or decelerate. Driving at 0-5 miles above the speed limit means many cars pass me but I'm ok with driving at a leisurely pace. There's enough stress without having to compete with aggressive drivers.

I've read that Prius owners look down on the Insight because it uses less "sophisticated" technology and has lower MPGs. I think it's the fuel economy that counts more than which technology is being used, and at 40-ish MPG city it is a great number for an acceptable price.

Thanks! I welcome any other comments, positive or negative.

[pkriv]

Originally Posted by alam99

Hello All,


After doing some research, I've decided upon either a 2012 Fit or Insight. I like the Fit because it's very roomy on the inside, has received high marks from most reviewers, comes with many features even on the base model, and appears to be very reliable. Having a standard ICE means less unknowns.

I like the Insight for it's fuel economy and looks (exterior as well as the dashboard). With the backseats redesigned in the 2012 model, I'm willing to check it out and see if it is roomy enough. When I looked at the 2011 model, I felt it was a little claustrophobic. My concerns with the Insight include:


My thanks to everyone for reading this post.

I just went through very similar experience. I was down to a new 2011 FIT or a used 2010 Insight with 7,600k on the clock. I had a REALLY hard time deciding. I loved the fact that the FIT was new and a simpler system. (I want the car to last a long time.) Both cars are way smaller than anything I've ever owned, but found that the Insight looked a bit bigger (and better IMO) on the outside and was a bit longer inside (helps with ski's, surfboards and hockey equipment)

On the inside I really liked the look of the FIT quite a bit better. All black interior and "cleaner" look. I felt the somewhat funky interior of the Insight would look dated after a few years. FIT has those magic seats which are super functional.

I was also very eager to have good to great fuel economy and so in the end (one week ago tomorrow) i went witht he Insight. I have to say I really do love the car and am getting 45 - 50 mpg after about 300 miles. I'm coming from a 4 door Jeep wrangler so the differnece in MPG is staggering!

I'm still learning the car and it seems to have some more of the creature comforts wich is kinda nice. Yesterday I drove 55 miles to the beach and got over 50 mpg on the way there! I'm planning on doing a more thorough review after I've had the car for a month or so.

I really think you can't go wroong with either car. Have fun with the decision and let us know.