[duane w]

I just inquired about a 2000 manual Insight for sale. It has 65k miles or so, and had two owners. A dealer just got it on trade. Dealer told me the lifetime mpg says 46.2 mpg. That sounds really low to me, and makes me wary of pursuing that vehicle.

Any thoughts on how much the lmpg means? Was the car driven really hard, or poorly maintained?

Thanks,

Duane.

 

[originalbadbob]

I bought my 2000 with lmpg of 54.7. It was sold in Alabama, sold again to Macon, Ga and had 33000 miles on it. I had never seen a citrus one before then, but it was absolutely perfect condition, so I bought it. I put a hot air intake on it, pumped the tires (Sumitomos) up and could get 70 on my commute. I did a tire test with Rick Reece, and found by going to the Bridgestones, I improved my mileage about 13mpg. After a couple of months, I learned to drive it, and am still learning little tricks. (I just hit 74.0 lmpg at 85000 miles. Most of it highway.)

If whoever had it drove it like their Chevy truck with the A/C on all the time in town and short trips with low tire pressures, I don't think it is that far out of line. It would also depend on terrain also.

Go over it with a fine tooth comb, paying very close attention to wear patterns on the tires, and general condition of the car, and you can learn alot. See if you can do a 20 or 30 mile test drive and see if you can improve on it. (that might be a little difficult to improve a bunch without some practice).

I am extremely happy with my car and am glad I bought it.

 

[duane w]

thanks.

54.7 doesn't sound terrible, but 46.2??

oh yeah, the car in question is also a Citrus one, and that would be a great color to get.

 

[bfivelover]

Was the car driven really hard, or poorly maintained?

Possibly a combination of both, possibly drivin mainly in stop and go traffic. It's hard to know for sure. Mine had a LMPG of 44 when I bought it, but I get 70+ per tank most of the year. Where are you in Maryland? If we are close enough and you can take a test drive, I would be happy to drive it and see what kind of mileage I can get out of it.

 

[merigayle]

I have a CVT and my lifetime is low, 49.1. I only drive short distances for the most part. I have had it for almost 10 months and put 5000 miles on it- three long trips, the rest was local. I drive it about 2 times a week as i walk as much as i can in the burbs. 8) I try really hard to get the best mpg's for my drives though, and i would assume if someone drove aggresively, that they would have even lower mpg's than I.


oh, and a citrus car-- i'd take it just based on that!!!

 

[trunkout]

well

mine was 43lmpg when i bought it with 16k miles....
now i got 95k on it.....not a real prob except what I caused with accidents.

 

[duane w]

thanks all.

bfivelover: I'm between Frederick and Gaithersburg, Maryalnd. The difficulty is the car in question is in Cincinnati, so I would be flying out to test drive/buy it. For the right car, or a car that sounds right, I'm willing to consider doing that. But this car may not be right, despite the citrus color.

Duane.

 

[sputnik]

It's not easy transacting long-distance via phone calls, faxes and jpgs. There's so much involved in just seeing the vehicle that an element of commitment is almost a default.

I bought my citrus from a dealership 700 miles away. My husband flew up and drove the car back (mother-in-law was scheduled to visit and he was quite happy to be out of town on a helpful errand!). I'm completely glad that we have this car, so for us it worked. But handling a long-distance transaction definitely had nerve-wracking moments. Keep a level head (difficult if Insight Fever hits) and try to get lots of photos (the battery gauge), a car fax and as much history as possible. The idea of having someone check out the car and report back sounds helpful too.

Good luck and hope you find an Insight that you like.

 

[RobMason]

Poor mileage

I bought my '04 CVT with 2500 miles and it had a lmpg of 46. After reading through this forum, resetting the lmpg and pumping up the stock tires , and using the "cardboard trick" I am now getting 57-58 "new" lmpg readings. I have not done a warm intake mod. Someone should put together a kit and sell them. How about it hypermilers?

 

[james]

My 2000 had about 50K miles and a lmpg just under 50 when I bought it. I reset it soon after I got it, and after 3.5 years and 40K more miles, it's at 72.

 

[duane w]

Thanks all.

It sounds like a lot of it might just come down to personal driving style and types of driving.

 

[jsanford]

I just inquired about a 2000 manual Insight for sale. It has 65k miles or so, and had two owners. A dealer just got it on trade. Dealer told me the lifetime mpg says 46.2 mpg. That sounds really low to me, and makes me wary of pursuing that vehicle.

Any thoughts on how much the lmpg means? Was the car driven really hard, or poorly maintained?

My insight was a fleet vehicle in Las Vegas, therefore had a super-low LMPG when I bought it.

No worries; but it was only fourteen months old and came with less than 11,000 miles.

 

[Insight Driver]

I would chime in that it is absolutely true, the statement, "your mileage will vary." I used to live in New Jersey and had a 145 round-trip commute, mostly on freeways. I could average in the mid-60's (sorry high-milagers, I'm still a leadfoot driver). I moved to California and went from commuter to occasional long-trip, but mostly stop and go around-town driving. I have a daily trip of only two miles each way. My mileage is in the high 40's now. When I do get on the highway, depending on whether I go into the foothills or down the valley, I get either mid-50's or mid-60's respectively.

The point I'm making is driving style, topology, tire pressure and such make a huge difference in gas mileage. One thing, though, is the MPG gauge makes it clear that it makes no sense to accelerate going uphill. I see huge SUV's and pickups doing that all the time when I'm heading into the Sierras.

 

[duane w]

Update:
The dealer with the car drove it to and from his house, and got into the 60s mpg. So I decide to check out the car. And drove home with it. On the trip home--480 miles Cincinnati to near Frederick, Maryland--the trip odo says I got 55 mpg. My goal mainly was to make time, so it was 65-75 mph. With a significant part of the drive having very substantial hills/mountains that required 3rd gear. And, when I measured the tire pressure in the 185/60-14 tires (non-OEM), it was only 28 psi (the gas station I stopped at did not have air). It was high 50s mpg in the relatively flatter first section when I was sticking to about 65 mph, and in the low 50s mpg in the hillier sections and when I was sticking to 70-75 mph.

So the car has the potential, I can see that. And I know some things to change already (air pressure first!).

The car may have some issues to sort out, so I may be asking for help on those, but for know I am the proud new owner of 2000 #4612 (citrus).

Duane.