[Alexander Hales]

Buying an Insight and buying it used is a very smart move.

I've created a spreadsheet that compares NEW hybrids to other vehicles in the same class, showing from the top down, which vehicles cost less over 200,000 miles. My car is listed on the very last table and highlighted in orange. I got my Insight for $8,500.00 with 37,000 miles on it, but the body and interior was in very bad condition.

You can see the list here:
http://www.halestechnologygroup.com/MyI ... ership.htm

If you were to buy that Insight at the KBB price, this is what you would be saving:

Assuming that gas prices stay at $3 a gallon and that you keep an average 51 mpg and that you keep the car until 200,000 miles. You would be saving $4,812.83 in gas when compared to a 2005 Civic HX Manual Transmission.

You would spend a total of $8,823.52 in gas after driving 141,000 miles.

The total cost of ownership for your used Insight would be $21,243.53
The total cost of ownership for a new Civic HX MT would be $27,596.36

Your savings would be $6,352.83 when compared to the most efficient gasoline car on the market.

I’ve found that buying an Insight is the only hybrid worth buying if you want to save money in the long run. What IamIan said is absolutely right.

 

[Alexander Hales]

No you don't get the tax credit if you buy used , that's why I listed myself under the "***Hybrid owners who deducted nothing***" table, because I bought my Insight used.

I left the battery pack out of the table because I considered it to be a maintenance issue that may or may not occur. Within any group of similar vehicles, some may need to have parts replaced were as others would not.

For example; One out of every ten Civic HX's may need a new transmission before they reach 200,000 miles. Similarly, one out of every ten Hybrid's may need a new battery pack before 200,000 miles.

Unless we know for sure that the battery packs in all Insight’s will fail at a definite period of time, we can’t say for sure that it will occur in every hybrid. Just like we can’t say that a new transmission will be needed in every Civic HX.

 

[Alexander Hales]

I'm going to meet up with an experienced Insight mechanic tomorrow to discuss making molds for my speaker pods. I will ask him what the life expectancy of the battery pack is.

He told me once that the 2000 model year was the worst when it came to defective battery packs and that he was replacing them all the time with the new, more reliable ones.