[Thelittlelemon]

Hello all,
I am strongly considering selling my 2000 Citrus Yellow Insight. I love it so much but I am getting to the point where I just can't afford the maintenance and insurance anymore. I know it's a collector's item at this point so I'm hoping someone on here might offer some advice on pricing. She is certainly not in perfect shape and has high milage so I'm not sure what I could sell for, but I would much prefer any kind of sale than towing such a rare beast to the junkyard.

Current issues:
-Transmission is out. If I do sell, this will be replaced with a 2005 Civic Hybrid transmission, which others on the forum told me works (and better than replacing with a 1st gen transmission, which is near impossible to come by in NY)
-auto stop has not worked for some time
-missing passenger window frame piece (would probably replace this as well if I could find one easily?)
-IMA battery is showing its age (last replaced with brand new IMA battery in 2018, but living/driving in Brooklyn has likely caused it to deteriorate faster)
-driver seat ripped
-trip buttons broken
-occasional issues with AC working properly
-general wear and tear on paint, some scuffing on the trunk

Car is currently in the shop so unfortunately I can't post pictures. Any thoughts much appreciated!

 

[*sean*]

The HCH tranny swap might not increase value; it may make hypermiling harder for a hard core hypermiler. Perhaps leave that decision up to the purchaser? JUE Motors can rebuild the 5-speed; or the new owner can. Probably can find a tranny at car-part.com.

The IMA battery in the correct hands, if from Honda, might be OK; if from a third party rebuilder, probably not.

Are you in CA or Brooklyn?

Definitely do not send it to the wrecker. One of us east coast nuts will save it if you cannot find a buyer (it seems likely that you will).

 

[Thelittlelemon]

The HCH tranny swap might not increase value; it may make hypermiling harder for a hard core hypermiler. Perhaps leave that decision up to the purchaser? JUE Motors can rebuild the 5-speed; or the new owner can. Probably can find a tranny at car-part.com.

The IMA battery in the correct hands, if from Honda, might be OK; if from a third party rebuilder, probably not.

Are you in CA or Brooklyn?

Definitely do not send it to the wrecker. One of us east coast nuts will save it if you cannot find a buyer (it seems likely that you will).

Thank you!! Yes my instinct is not to junk it. I’m in Brooklyn—if I were in CA I would probably keep it because the west coast has much better resources for insight repair. I have no budget for specialty fixes/out of state repairs transmission-wise, I already found the 2005 civic hybrid transmission on car-part.com and thankfully it is in Brooklyn so I could easily use it if i decide to repair. The IMA is not from honda, it was installed in Denver by Mile Hybrid, i think it’s a bumblebee but can’t remember off the top of my head.

 

[Gasoline Fumes]

I'm somewhat interested, depending on price. I don't need a 4th Insight, but it's a Citrus!

 

[Thelittlelemon]

Right?! It sure is hard to let go of a Citrus. Price depends on transmission fix, feel free to message me for more details!

I'm somewhat interested, depending on price. I don't need a 4th Insight, but it's a Citrus!

 

[Balto]

If you put a hch trans in it, id say the value is no more than 500$. If you fix it properly, it's probably a 5,000+ car, people go insane over citrus cars these days.

 

[Bull Dog]

The HCH transmission is not a straight bolt-in affair. Some amount of serious customization is required to make it work.

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology While I was down in Southern California this winter, I purchased a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid 5-speed manual transmission from a nearby wrecking yard. Scott (KLR3CYL) and I rebuilt it with all new bearings and seals and afterward, we installed it into...

www.insightcentral.net

 

[jeffmon3]

The HCH transmission is not a straight bolt-in affair. Some amount of serious customization is required to make it work.

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology While I was down in Southern California this winter, I purchased a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid 5-speed manual transmission from a nearby wrecking yard. Scott (KLR3CYL) and I rebuilt it with all new bearings and seals and afterward, we installed it into...

www.insightcentral.net

 

[jeffmon3]

I might be interested depending on price

 

[Thelittlelemon]

I might be interested depending on price

feel free to message me! I need to decide what to do with it quickly as it is in a shop and is not driveable.

 

[Thelittlelemon]

The HCH transmission is not a straight bolt-in affair. Some amount of serious customization is required to make it work.

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology

Bull Dog’s HCH Transmission Swap Anthology While I was down in Southern California this winter, I purchased a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid 5-speed manual transmission from a nearby wrecking yard. Scott (KLR3CYL) and I rebuilt it with all new bearings and seals and afterward, we installed it into...

www.insightcentral.net

oof thank you––so the auto shop (who doesn't specialize in insights or hybrids) probably wouldn't be able to easily install it. Darn, keeps coming back to square 1 with this one. Parts are so hard to find!

 

[Thelittlelemon]

If you put a hch trans in it, id say the value is no more than 500$. If you fix it properly, it's probably a 5,000+ car, people go insane over citrus cars these days.

Yea I feel between a rock and a hard place with this one. Problem with fixing properly:
-serious time constraints as I'm in Brooklyn, space is a premium and it's already in a shop, not safely driveable (stuck in 4th gear). Can't take it upstate to any specialists and sadly have never found a specialist here.
-serious money constraints: I don't have a budget to invest in shipping parts or towing the car to a faraway shop. My max budget for dealing with this situation is $1,500
-part rarity constraints: I've already looked around on auto-parts.com....OG insight trannys are next to none in my area, plus all those already have considerable or unknown mileage on them. Don't know of anyone near me who would rebuild a transmission from scratch, also that sounds pricey.

 

[Thelittlelemon]

Yea I feel between a rock and a hard place with this one. Problem with fixing properly:
-serious time constraints as I'm in Brooklyn, space is a premium and it's already in a shop, not safely driveable (stuck in 4th gear). Can't take it upstate to any specialists and sadly have never found a specialist here.
-serious money constraints: I don't have a budget to invest in shipping parts or towing the car to a faraway shop. My max budget for dealing with this situation is $1,500
-part rarity constraints: I've already looked around on auto-parts.com....OG insight trannys are next to none in my area, plus all those already have considerable or unknown mileage on them. Don't know of anyone near me who would rebuild a transmission from scratch, also that sounds pricey.

UPDATE! After some more research, I found a 1st gen transmission in Pittsburgh and and called up a shop in Mahopac NY which was recommended to me as a place that works on Insights. Thanks to AAA membership I can tow it there free of charge, so it looks like the Little Lemon will get a proper fix before hitting the market!

 

[Mother2]

Hello all,
I am strongly considering selling my 2000 Citrus Yellow Insight. I love it so much but I am getting to the point where I just can't afford the maintenance and insurance anymore. I know it's a collector's item at this point so I'm hoping someone on here might offer some advice on pricing. She is certainly not in perfect shape and has high milage so I'm not sure what I could sell for, but I would much prefer any kind of sale than towing such a rare beast to the junkyard.

Current issues:
-Transmission is out. If I do sell, this will be replaced with a 2005 Civic Hybrid transmission, which others on the forum told me works (and better than replacing with a 1st gen transmission, which is near impossible to come by in NY)
-auto stop has not worked for some time
-missing passenger window frame piece (would probably replace this as well if I could find one easily?)
-IMA battery is showing its age (last replaced with brand new IMA battery in 2018, but living/driving in Brooklyn has likely caused it to deteriorate faster)
-driver seat ripped
-trip buttons broken
-occasional issues with AC working properly
-general wear and tear on paint, some scuffing on the trunk

Car is currently in the shop so unfortunately I can't post pictures. Any thoughts much appreciated!

Hello I lost mine but it saved me got good parts need a while body can you tell me more and any idea on price I can pick it up thanks

 

[kickstop.5]

Cool hearing of a fellow insight enthusiast in Brooklyn. I moved here in October, and would love to see the car sometime!

 

[Thelittlelemon]

Cool hearing of a fellow insight enthusiast in Brooklyn. I moved here in October, and would love to see the car sometime!

Oh wow!!! I’ve never met another Insight person in Brooklyn! The car probably won’t be in Brooklyn much longer (currently upstate getting repaired for sale), feel free to message me if you want to see it before it sells.

 

[William]

UPDATE! After some more research, I found a 1st gen transmission in Pittsburgh and and called up a shop in Mahopac NY which was recommended to me as a place that works on Insights. Thanks to AAA membership I can tow it there free of charge, so it looks like the Little Lemon will get a proper fix before hitting the market!

Question: Where in Mahopac is there an Insight specialty shop. I live in Mt Kisco and have had my insight for over 20 years. I am not aware of a shop nearby that specializes in Insights..do tell

Bill

 

[Gasoline Fumes]

Question: Where in Mahopac is there an Insight specialty shop. I live in Mt Kisco and have had my insight for over 20 years. I am not aware of a shop nearby that specializes in Insights..do tell

Bill

It's nice to read about other NY Insights. I'm originally from Somers, but now living close to Lake Ontario.

 

[SSSSSS]

I'm about 1/2 hour away from Mahopac. If you don't know the condition of the transmission it might be a good idea to replace some of the bearings inside and modify the synchros so that you'll know that it's right. Would be a shame to install it only to find out that it has a second-gear grind and a noisy ISB. As mentioned in this post JUE Motors operated by KLR3CYL on this forum is the go-to person for this sort of thing. If I did not already have a citrus I'd be all over this.

 

[Thelittlelemon]

Question: Where in Mahopac is there an Insight specialty shop. I live in Mt Kisco and have had my insight for over 20 years. I am not aware of a shop nearby that specializes in Insights..do tell

Bill

Hi Bill! It's not a shop that specializes in Insights, that would be a dream. However the owner has worked on Insights before and the shop was recommended by Luscious garage in San Francisco so I trusted the recommendation. It's called Auto Clinic.