[Jem]

Does anyone know if the expected mpg for Insights made for the Japanese mkt have the same mpg as those made for the American & Euorpean mkts? My understanding is that the automatic made for the American (European) mkt was designed to have cleaner emissions for that mkt but as a consequence had a lower mpg performance. I am looking at buying an imported japanese Insight & have a choice of manual or automatic. My priority is really good mpg.

Jem

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

If you want the best MPG then it has to be the manual everytime. The manual version apart from being lighter and less complicated, also has 'lean burn' engine capability in certain conditions.

Which Insights are you looking at - Goldseal Garage or Chris Ball? Generally speaking I would advise against buying a Japanese import (trust me, I have bought two in the past) - the risk of IMA failure is too great (not that it actually makes much of a warranty difference for most UK supplied Insights) and you will be treated with disdain by Honda dealers.

Any other questions, please ask!

 

[Jem]

Thanks citrus smoothie. Im looking to but from Goldseal garage. Whats so disdainable (dont think its a real word but I like it) about Japanese imports? I would guess that they have been maintained much better.
Whats an IMA?
:roll:

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Hi again. The Goldseal Garage have been trying to offload their imported Insights for months. If you go to them, you can & should properly haggle with them. You are right, generally speaking the Japanese vehicles are relatively low mileage, looked after and well specced (is that a word?). UK Dealers don't like them because you would have cut them out of the car buying process and are putting downward pressure on their used prices, nevertheless they are still happy (in a sulky way) to charge you top dollar for servicing. There are no manufacturer warranties on imported Insights (or any other imported car) and the expensive replacement item in the Insight is the IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) - the electrical hybrid parts. If the IMA battery fails then you are looking at an approximate £3,000 to £5,000 cost to replace it.

As I hinted at before, UK supplied Insights (rather than Japanese) should be better covered for this and previously it was thought that there was an 8yr/80,000mile IMA warranty (the same as the old USA warranty) but one of our members found this not to be true and the IMA is only covered by the standard 3yr/60,000 mile warranty. However apparently 2003 or younger UK Insights have the extended warranty (reflecting the 2002 amendments to the battery management software) and I suspect that if pushed hard enough Honda UK would contribute something to IMA replacement in UK supplied Insights. Perhaps.

 

[Jem]

Damn - thats an expensive battery!!!
Thats almost as much as the whole car!!!
Can the battery be damaged by lack of use i.e. sitting around for months at the garage waiting to be sold??

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Although lack of use could arguably not do the battery much good, it will not damage the battery as such. However it is very likely to perform a recalibration (reset operation) within two minutes of being started. As long as the IMA light doesn't come on at that point, that is OK.

After re-reading my earlier posts I realised that I might be coming across as a bit negative. I should add that the Insight is a great car and handles particularly well. I am just trying to warn you of the risk you run buying a Japanese or out-of-warranty Insight.

 

[Jem]

ok, thanks.
Would it be easy just to replace the original battery with a Lithium battery or isn't it that simple? :?:

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

It would certainly not be easy to replace the Ni-Mh battery pack with lithium, however anything is possible with plenty of money and time. I have often considered using an Insight as a donor vehicle to build an all electric car. It would be a good vehicle to use due to its light weight and physical layout. Only my complete ineptitude in all things mechanical is stopping me!

 

[jack9994]

one of the UK guys on here got a new battery pack for £600 from Honda and fitted it himself - but you need to know what you are doing as the packs can be lethal if incorrectly handled
Cheers
John

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

John, that is encouraging news. Do you know whether the £600 an 'actual' price or a 'goodwill' price? Presumably the battery was for a UK supplied Insight? Thanks

 

[jack9994]

It was a good will price obtained by Peter Perkins - however its shows what you could get them for if you haggled especially if you have had it serviced at Honda. There is a nice low mileage 2002 silver insight on ebay at the moment (Chris Ball again) on at £7k (was £7.5k). He bought it from a private owner in London about 2 months ago - he was asking £6.5k

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

I thought I recognised the registration plate of that silver Insight - it belonged to a couple that came to the 2006 Insight owners get-together. I believe they switched to a Honda Civic IMA. A bit worrying when you start to recognise individual Insights...

 

[jack9994]

the registration is one digit different to mine LLO instead of LLG - LNN usually parks in the same carpark as me at work. There is also one in Derby LL? We should have a register of all the UK Insights. My next Insight has to be the red 04 plate (owned by the guy who did the most mileage in a UK Insight) or the citrus 05 plate (seen once by me near work).

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

My next Insight has to be the red 04 plate (owned by the guy who did the most mileage in a UK Insight) or the citrus 05 plate (seen once by me near work).

Whoa! Hold your horses, I have first dibs on the red 2004 - It belongs to Matt Partridge (he came along in 2006 as well) and I believe it is a 54 plate. I'll let you have the 05 citrus... ...the trouble is that there are not many other UK Insights from 03, 04 or 05. I remember Honda UK issuing a statement saying that this is the last chance to buy an Insight in 2005 and I half wish I had gone for it but the £17K put me off.

I suspect that if all the 'active' Insight owners put their heads together, we would be able to list the details of at least half of the UK supplied Insights (70 odd).