[RollingStone]

Hi there. I've been a somewhat longtime lurker of these forums off and on. I finally decided to more seriously look into buying an Insight. Before, I was a young guy that didn't even have the money for a cheap one. I still don't have money, but I need an Insight!!

Long story short, I purchased one off of an eBay auction here: Honda Insight Hybrid 61MPG | eBay

Now, I know I should have been more diligent but I did not see that it was going to cost me 300 extra dollars to buy the vehicle, on top of what I already bought the auction for. 300 is by no means chump change to me and frankly I believe it to be against eBay TOS, but I digress. The seller is giving me the option to cancel the transaction. As far as IMA condition goes, the seller says "he's seen it go about half way up the charge scale". My question is, is roughly 4 grand a good deal for this Insight? That's what it's going to cost me 'out the door' to get this back to Ohio. I came here because you guys seem to be the most knowledgeable base when it comes to Insights online. I'd very much appreciate any and all insight(badum CHH!).

 

[freezin4]

Nice car! Look how clean it is under the hood. Before Ohio winter arrives, treat the outside of the brake lines, and fuel lines to prevent corrosion. Only need a driver's side seat cover for it to be near perfect.

If battery is in good shape, then it was well-bought at that price. And most dealers charge a fee to pad profit. $299 is not too bad, especially since this will include your temp tags so you can drive it back up north.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[82/ABN-INF]

If it was me, I would not buy a vehicle without being able to inspect and drive it first. The condition of the IMA battery is very important and if it is in bad shape it could cost a lot more $$$ to get everything up to snuff . Then again, it might only need to be grid charged ??? Good luck !

 

[RollingStone]

Nice car! If battery is in good shape, then it was well-bought at that price.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks a lot, appreciate it.

If the hybrid battery only recharges about half way, but no IMA lights, EPS, anything like that comes on... it is still more or less still a bad battery, correct? He's saying it will only go about half way. I've never actually been behind the wheel of one to know exactly how they behave, so I apologize in advance if I sound ignorant. I just definitely would not have any money left over to get a new battery.

 

[freezin4]

I edited my earlier reply.

Also @ 82nd ABN: The listing states that he can back out if the car doesn't meet his expectation. They also offer a money back guarantee for 7 days.

I'd feel good about it.

 

[RollingStone]

If it was me, I would not buy a vehicle without being able to inspect and drive it first. The condition of the IMA battery is very important and if it is in bad shape it could cost a lot more $$$ to get everything up to snuff . Then again, it might only need to be grid charged ??? Good luck !

It was more or less either this or find one on craigslist very far from me and get it. Hardly any of them become available where I live and when they do they are gone seemingly immediately unless they are at a crazy price. At least with purchasing on eBay I have some sort of recourse if the car is not up to snuff.

 

[freezin4]

Thanks a lot, appreciate it.

If the hybrid battery only recharges about half way, but no IMA lights, EPS, anything like that comes on... it is still more or less still a bad battery, correct? He's saying it will only go about half way. I've never actually been behind the wheel of one to know exactly how they behave, so I apologize in advance if I sound ignorant. I just definitely would not have any money left over to get a new battery.

I'd check for any OBD2 codes when test driving.

Then, while parked, keep engine revved at 4000 RPMs and watch the Status of Charge (SOC) gage. It should rise. If you reset the ECU by disconnecting Ground (neg) terminal, SOC should reset (stabilize) after a little while.

I don't think that it is necessarily a "bad battery" based on your description.
I am thinking it has not been driven much lately, and system is recalibrating.

All the best!

 

[RollingStone]

I edited my earlier reply.

Also @ 82nd ABN: The listing states that he can back out if the car doesn't meet his expectation. They also offer a money back guarantee for 7 days.

I'd feel good about it.

What makes me feel not so good is him saying it only goes half way. Second, the carfax is showing every time they brought it in for maintenance recently, the charging system was checked, which means I doubt it has ever been replaced at all. On top of that, it's only seen a couple thousand miles of action over the last year or so. Here is the carfax: 2000 Honda Insight

 

[freezin4]

The car is clean! Relatively low miles too. And I noticed at least two transmission fluid changes. Transmission should be good too.

You could also sweet talk Love Honda into looking up the details of the 15 August 2013 service visit. Which battery was replaced? If it was the High Voltage battery, you scored an even better deal. My car's "electrical system check" was actually an HV battery replacement to the tune of $3900. The CarFax was showing "electrical system check", but when dealer clicked on details, the actual service order showed all the details.

Love Honda Homosassa, FL 352-628-4600

 

[freezin4]

What makes me feel not so good is him saying it only goes half way. Second, the carfax is showing every time they brought it in for maintenance recently, the charging system was checked, which means I doubt it has ever been replaced at all. On top of that, it's only seen a couple thousand miles of action over the last year or so. Here is the carfax: 2000 Honda Insight

I doubt that anyone at this (your seller) dealership knows how the Gen 1 should be acting.

"Battery/Charging system check" is probably just a standard menu entry such as "oil change" on their service entry menus.

 

[RollingStone]

The car is clean! Relatively low miles too. And I noticed at least two transmission fluid changes. Transmission should be good too.

You could also sweet talk Love Honda into looking up the details of the 15 August 2013 service visit. Which battery was replaced? If it was the High Voltage battery, you scored an even better deal. My car's "electrical system check" was actually an HV battery replacement to the tune of $3900. The CarFax was showing "electrical system check", but when dealer clicked on details, the actual service order showed all the details.

Love Honda Homosassa, FL 352-628-4600

I did think about calling Love Honda and I've been on the fence about it. I think I am going to give them a ring tomorrow morning. If they can't tell me anything, I think I will walk away from the deal and wait for someone that has documentation of a new hybrid battery. I think nearly $4000 is too much if the battery is no good. Thanks for helping out, I appreciate it.

 

[Foos]

Nice interior except the drivers seat, nice cargo area, good tread and the proper bridgestone tires, nice rims.
I think you got a nice deal, $3400 total is not a bad price for a very nice insight.

 

[JeremyW]

It looks like that car does not have Air Conditioning! The ring around the climate for cars with AC is normally yellow lines with a blue/red dots at the 7/5 o'clock positions, like this:

I searched a lot when I got my 2000 insight because I wanted to make sure I got one with AC! AC is standard 2001+

Probably a VERY hard sell in Florida!

Edit: I noticed in the auction it says "it is equipped with ice cold air conditioning" but I bet it actually doesn't. My 2000 climate control looks like the image in my post, not like the one in the auction.

 

[cowmeat]

I just bought the same year Insight last weekend with a fully functioning IMA battery, auto stop, AC, new paint, new interior carpeting, new leather seats, aftermarket navi/dvd, good tires, clear headlights, etc . . . for 3,000 bucks in Florida
It does have 200,000 miles, but I assume the battery has been replaced, and there's no smoke, leaks, rattles, anything from the motor, and no grinding from the gear box.
I would keep looking, and there's no way I would buy it off eBay. I drove 70 miles to look at mine, but the return trip was awesome since I averaged 61.5 mpg, and there weren't any bad surprises waiting for me!

 

[samwichse]

It looks like that car does not have Air Conditioning! The ring around the climate for cars with AC is normally yellow lines with a blue/red dots at the 7/5 o'clock positions, like this:

The car definitely has AC, although I'm not sure what's up with the weird trim ring on the temp knob?

The button layout is different on the no-AC cars.

 

[geocougar]

seat cover

Rollingstone, at the recent 2014 New England meet, I saw that Russelc had just changed his original seat cover. IIRC it was the driver's side he replaced.

His old seat cover was just worn, I don't think it had any tears on it. If you ask him nicely (and if he still has it) he may just give it to you for the price of postage. Just a suggestion.

 

[Fuelish]

Nice car! Look how clean it is under the hood.

Never use this to judge the condition of a car at a stealership IMHO. Used car dealers pressure-wash the engine bay and then spray tire dressing or wax all over it to lure buyers into believing it's "clean".

 

[RollingStone]

It looks like that car does not have Air Conditioning! The ring around the climate for cars with AC is normally yellow lines with a blue/red dots at the 7/5 o'clock positions, like this:

I searched a lot when I got my 2000 insight because I wanted to make sure I got one with AC! AC is standard 2001+

Probably a VERY hard sell in Florida!

Edit: I noticed in the auction it says "it is equipped with ice cold air conditioning" but I bet it actually doesn't. My 2000 climate control looks like the image in my post, not like the one in the auction.

It does have A/C, the reason it may look like it doesn't is I think they had some work done on it, including but not limited to having the knobs replaced. I got that info from the carfax.

 

[RollingStone]

Rollingstone, at the recent 2014 New England meet, I saw that Russelc had just changed his original seat cover. IIRC it was the driver's side he replaced.

His old seat cover was just worn, I don't think it had any tears on it. If you ask him nicely (and if he still has it) he may just give it to you for the price of postage. Just a suggestion.

Thanks so much for that suggestion. Unfortunately, after calling the dealership where all of this car's work was done, they have never replaced the IMA battery. Nearly $4000 for a car that has never had a new battery and is 14-years-old is way too steep for my taste... especially for an auction price. I will have to pass. It's a real bummer because I was extremely excited to finally own an Insight, but I have to think in a frugal manner.

 

[Insight for life]

It does have A/C, the reason it may look like it doesn't is I think they had some work done on it, including but not limited to having the knobs replaced. I got that info from the carfax.

My guess is that it didnt come with ac but it was later added...