[Rick]

Ok I thought it would be a good idea to have a post here that would layout many of the known issues with the Insight so here's all that I can think of at the moment.

1. Windows have problems with the auto down and the lining gets bunched up in the door.

2. Air vents refuse to stay pointed when interior temps get high.

3. Rear hatch shocks tend to die in the heat (2000 year model had much smaller shocks, they have been replaced with much beefier ones).

4. I had the lid of the cargo box in the rear start comming unglued from itself last week, they replaced it on warranty. Probably another heat related issue.

5. Grey material on seats frays easily, especially with pants with velcro on them.

Anyway, thats all I can think of for now. I'm curious what others would have to add. And if others have had some of the same problems that I have had.

 

[rschaffrath]

1) The spat fasteners on the 2000 are not coated as they are on the 2001+ so they rust. Someone even filed a complaint about this at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov.

2) On my vehicle, the rear view mirror did not maintain the same view when switching between day and night mode. I fashioned a small shim that allows it to work correctly.

3) Due to the narrow tires, it is very easy to scratch the aluminum wheels when parking next to a curb.

4) Some people reported problems is the O2 sensor and having it replaced multiple times.

5) I just experienced the "wet seatbelt" problem. The dealer did not find a leak yet but they are willing to try again if I have the problem. A search of the Yahoo! groups will turn up several reports.

I still like my car.

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Now let's not be too picky. All the above are minor irritants, not really actual flaws with the Insight. Imagine making a list of flaws of the best selling vehicles in the US / Europe. That list might include seized engines, poor welding etc etc. Let's enjoy the whole greatness of the Insight and look past any small problems which you will inevitably get on such a complex machine.

 

[Robxiii]

I noticed that too with the rear-view mirror. Also ,
1) The passenger side carpet comes unattached from the door frame a lot.

2) Sometimes after accelerating then shifting too fast, when I lightly touch the gas in the new gear, the battery comes on full assist.

Great car tho, I have a 40 mile commute to DC, get good milage *AND* can cheat and use the HoV-3 lane!

2000 Green Insight

 

[Will M]

Good list. Yes, these are minor flaws, but I think it is okay to call them flaws. Honda might eventually figure out how to fix them if they ever change the Insight design, but keep making them.

Add that the passenger side floor mat needs the same anchor that the driver's side floormat has. Why did they recognize this problem enough to fix one side and not fix the other?

I used a duct-tape shim for my rear-view mirror, since the day and night pointed to remarkably different heights. Anybody got an adjustable fix that looks nice?

It would be nice if ANY car had a secure, rainproof, roof vent for parking in summer. I'm amazed that NOBODY does this. Is it really that hard? They index the spark plugs, but they won't vent the solar oven unless you jiggle the window switches (hard on the auto-open switch), leaving your car open to rain and theft. I guess they assume we all have garages. Why not have a "crack the windows for venting for parking" button?

The engineers seem to ignore the fact that cars sit still more hours in a day than they drive. They put a lot of engineering into driving well. When will someone engineer a car to sit parked well? Use convection currents to vent the car.

Wild idea: Put four filler-stems on the wheels, so you can check and fill your air pressure without having to remove the fender skirts or roll the car back and forth. That, or make the filler in the MIDDLE of the hub of the wheel, accessible through a small, flip-open door in the fender skirt.

 

[Resist]

Don't forget the sagging headliner near the rear hatch.

 

[Armin]

it's not a bug, it's a feature!

Sometimes after accelerating then shifting too fast, when I lightly touch the gas in the new gear, the battery comes on full assist.

I think that's meant to be that way. The car thinks you are an aggressive driver and it makes torque available sooner when you hit the gas.

 

[joe4ska]

One tire flaw, I've lost two tires to nocking curbs in a right turn into parking lots where bad judgement on my part ment hitting the curb with the right tire. Well even at a low rate of speed the tires are more likely then average to blow when abused.

I'm getting a car cover to try to lower the ammount of heat on my batteries when parked.

As for the glue of the rear trunk space losing its bond, anyone got ideas on what glue would be safe to replace it with?

 

[opal]

1. Windows have problems with the auto down and the lining gets bunched up in the door.

Could one of you describe the symptoms of the lining getting bunched up in the door? (I took a look around the forum, but couldn't find what I was looking for.)
I suspect I have this problem, but I want to be sure before heading to Honda with a psudo-diagnosis.

 

[Rick]

Slow window operation mainly. I believe it's outlined in the tech service buliten about the windows not auto downing properly. If your windows are going slowly or the auto down function is not working properly just tell them there is a tech service buliten on it and they will fix it. The first thing they will try though is to replace the window regulator, while the modling may be out of whack still. I know someone who had this problem with their 2000 Insight already.

 

[Jim]

window issues

"Could one of you describe the symptoms of the lining getting bunched up in the door?"

Hi Opal,

Look at the channel the window rides in as it goes up and down (it's called a run channel) - it's the piece between the metal part of the door and the window glass. If it's sort of bunched up in the outer top corner (away from the hinge side), you have a deformed run channel. This is apparently a fairly common problem with Honda/Acura. I'm always kind of surprised that Honda, with all of their fantastic engineering, seems to have these quirky little problems (damaged run channels, wet seatbelts, etc.).

The shop foreman at one of the Honda dealers I take the car to tells me that the run channel gets deformed when the regulator isn't adjusted right. Once the run channel is deformed, that can put too much pressure on the window lift mechanism while the window is being raised, eventually damaging the regulator (a somewhat expensive part to replace). The run channel on my car was already damaged when I bought the car - the first owner hadn't bothered to take it in for replacement and to have the regulator adjusted. I have a new run channel (Honda part# 72275-S3Y-003 L (driver's side) $61.94), and the shop foreman already told me he will install it and adjust the regulator himself - apparently it's a little tricky to get it just right.

There's also more info over on the yahoo! board - you should be able to find it by doing a search. There may be more info here, too - I didn't check.