[charidot]

Hi, I have just acquired a 2000 Citrus MT with 89,000 mileage. If the previous owner (Dunmow, Essex) is still reading InsCent posts – be assured that your beloved car has gone to a good home with an appreciative owner.

Having not driven an Insight before, I would interested in meeting up with another owner so they can help assess whether it is performing to spec or not (I am used to driving diesels and it is different! – we run a 2001 Citroen Xsara Picasso; 1300 Kg, with 2.0 litre diesel engine with 142,000 on the clock and a lifetime average of 56.5 mpg). I would also like to hear of any recommendations for garages that can service Insights competently. I live between Henley and Marlow – on Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire/Berkshire borders.

I looked very carefully at buying an Insight new in 2001. In the end, it did not make sense economically because the savings on fuel that I would have made would not have justified paying the premium price (also, having a two-seater would not have been a good choice at the time). I also looked at importing a VW Lupo 3L (not available in the UK) but ended up with a Lupo 1.2 TDi Sport – which was fairly frugal and great fun to drive.

 

[oz42]

Glad to hear that you got a nice low mileage citrus! And that you have not bought a Lupo 3L, they need a lot of maintenance and parts.

I am sorry to say that me and my Insight are in German. But at least it's Europe.

If you have a Facebook account, this is the proper group for you:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1644633919112993

And we have Peter Perkins here and on http://www.solarvan.co.uk. I guess that he would like to answer a few or your dozen questions that you have now or will have in the future. I just don't remember his nickname here at IC.

 

[freezin4]

Hi Charidot,
Welcome to InsightCentral and the exclusive community of Insight.
There are several active forum members from the UK, and there is an annual gathering as well. Here is the link from the Social section of the Forum: http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86378 , but you are more than welcome at our US InsightFest as well
Best wishes for your ownership!

 

[bluesunbeam]

Welcome charidot,
Congratulations on finally getting an Insight- 15 years is a long time to wait. You do have a few G1's nearby . Other than myself there is ewan and Y47 in the Reading area. I am by no means an expert on the Insight but would be happy to visit and try and assess how your Citrus is performing . I work shifts, including some weekends, but if you PM me I am sure we could find an opportunity to meet up.

 

[charidot]

Thank you for the replies people. I knew that this was going to be a friendly place.

Time for Confessions of an Insight Virgin: driving the car home (Sussex to Buckinghamshire) after picking it up, I thought “Ah, the IMA Light is illuminated; that shows that the IMA is working”. Having gained some knowledge (after reading some IC posts), I shall be taking the car to my local garage on Monday to get some OBDII codes and then I shall take it from there.

I was attracted to this particular vehicle because it had had a replacement battery fitted by a Honda dealer in February 2013 (at a cost of £2079) and the car has done less than 5,000 miles since then.

When I collected the car it had about 4 bars on the SOC and these fairly quickly rose to nearly full once the car was underway. I was getting assist (usually 4-5 bars, sometimes more) when accelerating or hill-climbing and regen when braking or going downhill. Idle-stop was working fine. However, the assist seemed to have a mind of its own and sometimes was not appearing when most needed. Going uphill I would get 5 bars for a short while and then nothing, so that I was left to drop to 2nd (or sometimes 1st) to maintain momentum. Because this was my first drive I was not sure what to expect but was underwhelmed by the overall performance. The segment meter was showing 48.2 over 738 miles (I had not, at that point, learned how to set the trip meter); lifetime mileage shows 73.1 over 88,542 miles.

 

[Rainsux]

Welcome! It sounds like this battery is badly out of balance. Hopefully you can keep it alive by grid charging. You need to hook up with Peter (retepsnikrep) and get this off to the right start.

Sam

 

[charidot]

Welcome! It sounds like this battery is badly out of balance. Hopefully you can keep it alive by grid charging. You need to hook up with Peter (retepsnikrep) and get this off to the right start.

Sam

Yes, Peter will be getting an e-mail from me as soon as I have some fault codes to hand.

 

[Y47]

Thames Valley Insights

Welcome! Bluesunbeam is right, I'm in Reading. In fact, I used to take the A road from Henley to Marlow on my way to do some, er, insight meditation. So maybe we could meet if you want to compare notes. But I should declare that my technical ability is about zero.

Enjoy the car.

 

[charidot]

Welcome! Bluesunbeam is right, I'm in Reading. In fact, I used to take the A road from Henley to Marlow on my way to do some, er, insight meditation. So maybe we could meet if you want to compare notes. But I should declare that my technical ability is about zero.

Enjoy the car.

Would be fun to get the Reading area Insights together (although a full UK 2016 Insight Meet would be even more fun - I am stalking the thread about that!).

I am taking my Insight up to meet Mr Perkins on Thursday and will either return with a charger, or battery, or both. So I may PM you after that.

 

[[email protected]]

Welcome Charidot, you're pretty close to me as well. I'm a gen1 owner from Ascot, work in Slough. Hope you get the IMA issue sorted soon.

 

[bluesunbeam]

Servicing Gen1's

charidot,
PM sent