Best car I have ever bought, I have always been interested in Hybrids, ordered a PRIUS last year but cancelled after waiting 6 months and still no car, bought a 2001 Ford Escape, than I moved 60 miles from work and the gas bill was killing me, so I traded my SUV in for the Insight, Got a really good deal, and found the Dealership to be the best I have ever dealt with, Apple Honda of Riverhead, NY.

I am constantly being asked about the car, but I don't mind the attention. Even Steven Webber from MTV & "Wings" stopped me.

I have added floor mats and anchor, rear speaker kit and 6 CD-Changer all from Honda, I reccomend speaker upgrades and CD addition to anyone who likes to listen to music while they drive.

I used to own a 3.2V6 Legend, which was quiet, civilized and having no vices expect low MPG and my wife hated it. I saw a Grey/Black Insight on my local Honda dealer's forecourt and WANTED IT!!!. My wife was agreeable only if the Legend went. Needless to say the ad appeared in the Autotrader the next day. I have had my Insight since 29th of August 2001 and have managed 68 MPG so far. I live in Devon and have a lot of country lanes to cope with, so that MPG average will be interesting to see. I gather from Snowdon Honda ( local dealer ) that my Insight is the only one in the South West of the UK. My kids love it and consider it "Funky". They fight to be the passenger.

I really love my car, the fuel economy and the tax rebate. I hate backing out of a parking spot, just cannot see well enough. I want to be able to change my own oil, or take it somewhere other than the dealer, the owner's manual doesn't identify the filter type. My dealer knew very little about the car, he couldn't even figure out how to adjust the seats. If I had known that the maximum weight capacity was 400 pound, I wouldn't have bought the car, my husband is over 200 pounds

[Editor's notes: The Insight can safely carry more than 400 pounds, see this article in the FAQ/Knowledge base. Oil & filters for Insight can be purchased from your local Honda dealer, or ordered online from hparts.com   -Brian]

Best comment to date: Overheard in my home island tourist community... "look mom... there goes one of those satelite controlled cars."

Best question: "Well if those <board> thingies over the back wheels get your mileage up so much, why don't they put 'em over the front ones too?

Latest experience: I own a Red 2000 which I am now driving from the San Juan Islands to my new home on the Maine Coast. I left with some misconceptions which have been corrected. More reading on this site ...

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At the time I purchased my Insight, I was driving my Saturn SL2 126 miles round-trip to work everyday in South Florida. When the gas prices went over $1.50, I had to do something. I'd checked out the Insight but knew my dealership wouldn't have any for a while, but a week after leaving my name and number, they called me.

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I was at a stoplight and an Insight beat me off the line while I was in my Porsche 356. My Porsche isn't a slow car either... So, I thought to myself, "There has got to be something to that little 'electric' car!" A few weeks later i'm testdriving one then driving it home the same day. I've already customized mine with light silver ghost flames on the sides. They really accentuate the Silver Stone Metallic paint. And, the flames are subtle enough to not attract too much attention. My future plans are to fit 15" Civic seven spoke alloys to it. And possibly a rear fin. That will really confuse the masses... A streetrod that gets 60mpg!

I've had my Insight for 3 months now, and I've put over 7500 miles on it. I love it! My previous car was an Accord LX, with which my gas bill was about $300/month. With my Insight I've reduced that to under $100/month. The little thing practically pays for itself.

Also, I did a teeny bit of research on IRS From 8834 for electic vehicles. The IRS gives a tax credit of $4000 for qualified EV's, which Insights are not. However, it did point me to IRS Pub 535, which says we Insight owners do qualify for a $2000 tax deduction for clean-fuel vehicles. Pretty cool! I am by no means a CPA, so please check with yours for the actual amount deductable!

Bought car on 2/8/2001 so far have put a little over 500 miles on it so far in the last 3 days. So far it is a really great car. No rattles or sounds typical Honda quality. I am now completely SUV (CRV) free and loving it. Bought the car about 10 dollars over invoice. 19,090 with floor mats. The dealer that I bought from were complete idiots, I really can't recommend Honda in Encinitas, I knew more about the car than the specialist, all of which I learned from this site. The car will be very modified by the time I own the thing. I have plans for getting a sub another set of speakers in the back and replacement of the fronts with some pro Bostons backed by a A2160. But man the whole family loves this car, if it's as good as my last 6 Hondas it will last forever. Will give a update in about 6 months we should have about 10,000 miles or so by then.

The Honda Insight (bright green although the Honda guys say its yellow :P) is my first car and I really love it. Actually I prefer driving it than my dad's car (BMW) even though the BMW has better performance.

It is by no means slow, just something you wouldn't want to be racing souped up Civics with. It's basically a very fun car to drive and heck, how cool is it to see the meter read 150 mpg when you coast? Basically my only regret is the fact that there aren't more out there!

Steven 16yrs

P.S. Have any questions you would like to ask me? Feel free to email me at polloloco  t.nervhq.org

I'd been following the Insight story for awhile but had never seen one in my area and assumed that dealers did not have them. I'm changing jobs which will require a longer commute (60mi/day) and figured driving my current Mercedes E420 would be in bad taste. I was running an errand the other day (1/9/01) and drove past a Honda dealer which was displaying the Insight at the curb. I stopped and asked for a test drive. The Salesperson new what she was talking about and had been driving a company provided Insight for about 6 months. I loved the car immediately. Fine acceleration, quiet and all the right options. I bought it later that day after conferring with my better half. It's a 2001 silver. Just replaced the speakers with Polk EX2560 components. Radio will be JVC LX10.

what a design! what variations can we expect? i miss my citroen ds. with the insight, honda is close, very close to a great car but! how about 4-seats for just a bit more versatility even if it is just to toss a briefcase. would some more sound insulation really destroy the mpg factor? more comfort ? great build quality, though. I miss hitting the suspension button in the cresida and feeling it change from firm-luxury ride to sport. Honda, stay with the daring shape but sell this experiment like an accord to bring the price down a bit but don't go conservative on design except maybe the dash. and where do i put the kids? 

Just got our Insight today, I traded in an Infiniti Q-45; gave up 5 cylinders and over 200 horsepower!!! Gained over 40 MPG and a whole lot of smiles.

We decided it was time to stop talking about doing something about our impact on the environment and time to take action. Plus its a way cool car!

Does anyone else feel like singing the theme song to the Jetsons when they start up their Insight? I sure do!

I'll be adding cruise control, a killer stereo and sound insulation to the doors and floor.

I gave up my BMW 3-series for this, and I have no regrets.

I was attracted to the Insight because it is a technological marvel. But, the best thing about it is that it's a blast to toss around in on a windy road ...

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I really enjoy driving the Insight. Everything from the steering wheel to its light weight, short length and rock-solid suspension make it a blast to drive; I just crave curvy roads. Even in town, the 5 speed manual transmission is a pleasure to use. Everything just responds so well. The only drawback is that maybe a car that is supposed to help save the environment should not make you want to go out and drive it so much!

This is certainly a driver's car in many respects. Beyond it's fun-to-drive factor, the central fuel efficiency display has this almost subliminal effect on your driving, helping you to learn how to get the most efficiency out of the car. I think this is an often ignored part of the overall equation.

If you've driven other cars with manual transmissions, you'll find the Insight's gear ratios take a bit of getting used to. You really have to think of 1st and 2nd gears as accelerating gears, 5 (and at residential speeds 4th) as a cruising gear, and 3rd as highway passing gear. Acceleration is very lively in 1st - enough so that I find myself hesitant to put the pedal to the aluminum in first. Acceleration is also more than adequate in 2nd. These two gears are enough to take you from 0 - 60, which leads to the much talked about Insight 1, 2, 5 gear shifting pattern that some owners adopt for best efficiency (and a little fun along the way).

What would I change? I'd include a CD player with the stock stereo, put better speakers in, and make it quieter inside at high speeds. We've also had a few rattles and squeaks that had to be fixed, but talking to other Insight owners, I get the feeling that for some reason we're the only one. Oh, and if they'd offered that Monte Carlo Blue paint color for the 2000 model year, we would have chosen that over the silver.

Yes, I actually like the two-seat hatchback format. It makes a lot of sense to me. We find the cargo space more the sufficient, be it grocery shopping, camping trips or other day-to-day use.

I must say that when I first saw a picture of the Insight, I wasn't sure what to think. Those enclosed rear wheels took a little getting used to. Over time, the Insight's appearance has really grown on me - I now love what this car looks like. I've never washed a car so much as I wash my Insight!

There is no denying that the car attracts a lot of attention. Everywhere you go, people are interested in knowing about it. In this sense, it's unique appearance helps to get people's attention, and in so doing raises their consciousness about more environmentally sound vehicles.

I've also been impressed at the fuel efficiency we're getting. Before buying the car I questioned whether we'd really see such good efficiency in our real world driving conditions. Our overall lifetime average MPG is very close to the EPA's estimated average, and in fact in the city it isn't uncommon for me to see numbers quite a bit better than that average.

For us, the low-environmental impact was certainly a big factor in choosing this car. There are enough things that we like about the car that we might very well have chosen it even without the low emissions and high efficiency. However, with the clean car technologies, the decision became obvious.

Yes, I love my Insight. And my husband is jealous that since I have the longer commute, I get to drive it most of the time. That said, I think the Insight handles just fine during my 45 mile (one way) 65-75 mph drive to work with one exception ...

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I first saw this car reviewed in Consumer Reports, but it was the PBS Motorweek initial review that really piqued my interest. After eating up all I could in web searches, I became very serious about purchasing an Insight to replace my beloved '89 CRX si.

With much calling around, I found a red Insight that was already sold, but the dealer let me sit in it so I could see if the Insight would be a comfortable car. To my surprise it was roomier and more comfortable than my CRX. I was sold and put the word out at all the dealers within driving distance regarding my desire for a silver Insight with A/C.

The call came in from a well-regarded dealer about an hour away that they just received one and it was still wrapped up, but I could take a look at it that night. They let me put the first ten miles on it even with some of the white body wrap still on. I bought it and drove it home that evening managing 72 MPG without any special efforts. I surely had that Insight-grin going on all the way home. :-)

After 5,000 miles, I'm still loving the car but have come across a few negatives as noted. All are minor and can be mitigated one way or another.

In summary: Anyone who can fit a two-seater car into their lifestyle should go out right now and buy an Insight. It's that good. For once you CAN get more than you pay for.

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