How low can you go???

[BrianZ54]

I'd been thinking about picking up an Insight on and off since 2002. My 10 year old Hyundai was approaching 150,000 miles and was starting to require some attention. After reading through posts here and elsewhere, I decided to take the plunge and bid on a Red 2002 CVT listed on ebay.

It had 46,500 miles on it. Body and interior are quite good for the age of the car. It was at a Lexus dealership near Chicago, 300 miles from home. A three month, 3,000 mile drive train warranty was included, so I got it in to the local Honda dealer to check it out. He's currently servicing two other I1's. Other than rusted brakes with uneven wear due to a sticky caliper, a squeaky exhaust bracket and a sticky power window it checked out well. I do believe it may have sat idle for a few weeks or months, although the salesman said he took it home once in a while to keep it charged.

I got 54.2 mpg driving it home. Mostly flat to slightly rolling hills, mild weather and a decent tailwind. I've gotten 54-57 mpg in good weather and 47-50.5 mpg once the cold weather and ethanol tainted fuel came to town. Everything seemed pretty smooth, but here comes those goofy new owner questions:

The lmpg was at 37.8. I've put 4,000 miles on the car and I've dragged it up to 38.7 mpg, so it's movin' in the right direction. What manner of driving gets that kind of mileage?? The "S" gear was on, when I asked the salesman, he said it was always that way. The original owner was in his 70's when he traded it in.

My Auto-Stop works down to about 10 degrees F. Should I try to correct it or consider it a bonus? Lately I've been killing the fan about 100 ft before a red light, then restarting it during my stop. Seems like it might save a little more gas than it was designed for.

If this car did sit for weeks or months, should I expect battery or IMA problems to surface within the next few months?

Last one, sorry, long winded: Are all these car equipped with remote door locks? There were no fobs with the car.

I know I stretched it a bit, these aren't all mpg issues.
Thanks very much for any response or advice.
Brian

[IamIan]

Any car can get abnormal mileage one way or another.

Short term exceptions high or low happen for everyone for any number of reasons... for short distances and time periods I've had as low as ~25 MPG ... and as high as ~250 MPG... the over all trend compared to alternatives I find tends to be more useful... the short distance and short term results are next to meaningless overall.

Extended term over larger distances and over longer time periods shows you more about the driving methods and proficiency of the person , and the over all abilities of the vehicle itself.

Because of what we know the potential of the I1 CVT has the potential for ... to get ~38 MPG, tell me a great deal about the low quality driving proficiency of the people who were driving it.

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Being parked long term does not do permanent damage to the IMA battery , but it can lead to IMA error lights and reduced performance if the battery pack is not serviced.

I would recommend some healthy IMA exercise ... if it shows signs of issues ... you can look into the posts here at IC about doing the servicing yourself... or contact Ron at Hybrid-Battery-Repair.

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As far as I know keyless entry is a standard feature that was included with All I1's STD or CVT.


Welcome and enjoy.

[BrianZ54]

Ian -

Thanks for the info. Just wondering if you had to beat up on one of these cars to hold that low mileage. Poor driving conditions and bad weather have pushed me down as low as 46 mpg. A lifetime number of 37.8 mpg over 46K still seems extreme.

I will contact Ron in the near future. Might as well stay ahead of the game on the battery and IMA issues.

I'll post another thread in problems and troubleshooting on the low temp auto stop.

Brian

[mtgeekman]

My bet is that the previous owner had an extremely short commute, 2-3 miles.

The Insight hates short drives, it does best once the engine and what not are at full temp.

[IamIan]

Originally Posted by BrianZ54

Ian -

Thanks for the info. Just wondering if you had to beat up on one of these cars to hold that low mileage. Poor driving conditions and bad weather have pushed me down as low as 46 mpg. A lifetime number of 37.8 mpg over 46K still seems extreme.

I agree... bad previous driver.

Maybe they liked to start the car and let it idle to warm up the inside in the winter ... I know allot of people that do that... and it burns a good bit of gas to not move ...

Maybe he was also a lead foot driver ...

Maybe in the summer loved the AC cranking almost everyday... I've seen people in parking lots in the summer sitting in SUVs with the windows up AC on and the engine just idling to keep the AC running while they sit in the parked car... Sometimes they still haven't moved by the time I have come back out of the store .. ~20 to ~30 minutes later.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

I agree. No accounting for how some people drive and what they get from vehicles by doing who knows what. I bought my 5spd Insight with 68K on the clock two years ago... with a lifetime average of 55.9mpg. I reset it when I purchased, and through 2.5 MN winters my lifetime average is currently 90.9mpg. I don't know what the previous owner did (though I believe he drove quite a bit on the highway judging by the rock chips all over the hood), but it obviously was considerably different than the way I drive.

[BrianZ54]

I'm understanding a bit more now, thanks guys. Probably a pretty good bet the original owner did a lot of short trips. 46K in eight years is only about 15 miles a day. The Glenview area north of Chicago looks like it would sport some pretty congested traffic on a weekday. Took me almost a half hour to cover the first 8 miles before I could pick up an Interstate highway, that was on a Saturday at about noon.

I reset a trip odometer when I left my house for work this morning. A mile from the house I was at 36.7 mpg, took almost 5 miles to hit 45 but by the end of my 22 mile commute it was up to 52.7mpg (I caught a big box truck doing 62 mph and drafted the last 10 miles or so).

Certainly looking forward to seeing what I can do once the weather starts to improve. Think I'm going to try the cardboard trick for a few extra mpg. Tires are set at 38 and 40 for now - I'll boost them up once the snow and pothole season eases off.

Thanks again - Brian

[BrianZ54]

I reset the lmpg on my 52.5K service a few weeks ago. It's at about 54 mpg now. Just last week I had to take a trip to the Buffalo area. Went through Southern Ontario and got 59.77 mpg actual for the tank. Most of the drive was at night so I was able to draft and keep speeds below 65 mph for most of the trip. Did some drafting when possible. I'm happy with that number for a CVT, should get better as it gets warmer.

Here's the laugh of the day: I was resetting my clock and found out I have a CD player. The car was listed on ebay as cassette only and I believed it. But when I was trying to reset the clock the stereo was referencing the CD player. So...I looked around in back and found it next to the storage well. It was well hidden, for almost 5 months!!

Brian