[saintb]

I've been researching and shopping for an Insight for a couple of months now. I have test driven two, and even made a 700 mile round trip last Saturday to buy one (upon inspection it had been in a severe accident so I declined to buy it). That being said, I have another one that I have set my sights on, and would like y’all to chime in.

The car in question: 2000, 5 speed, 60K miles, 47 lmpg, one owner, with IMA/batteries replaced in 2004 (@ 50K miles).

They have performed all scheduled check-ups, have the receipts from them, and appear to be fairly knowledgeable about their hybrid.

Unfortunately, the SOC is very low in the picture they sent me, but that may be due to the typical short commute (16 miles). Or maybe not?!?! I will see upon my test drive I guess. Any thoughts?

The car looks very clean inside and out (from their pics), but it was in a “minor” fender bender in 2000. Car Fax says the title is clean, and the owners are faxing me the repair receipt. Apparently the rear bumper was the only damage. We’ll see (fingers crossed).

The total miles (60K) and LMPG (47) both are low. That's good and bad. I Inquired w/ the owner. The story goes: Seldom driven. Short trips when driven. 60/40 highway/city. The owner is a self described semi-speeder on highways (I don’t think she races to and from traffic lights though).

So, please place your vote. Is this car worth pursuing? This is a tough scenario for me to decide on...... This Insight was loved, but was in an accident. It has low mileage, but also low LMPG and SOC. Please help.

YEAH or NEAH?!?!

If I move forward, I will have a Honda mechanic inspect it and will take it for a decent test ride and self inspection (using the helpful tips found here). I want to make sure it can still get great MPG. Will a 5-10 mile highway test-drive be enough to test for plausible MPG? Any thoughts?

Thanks, saintb

 

[HafNHaf]

mine was unceremoniously (sp?) rear-ended into/under a pickup truck. 6500 cash and 700 bux for parts and i have been driving it for almost 2 years. new IMA battery and controllers last year (thanx honda!). new yellow-top up front right after i got it. new tires then too. not a moments trouble.

buy it!

YMMV. but it will be great!

ps: as cold as its been lately, i find it tough to keep both the milage and the battery state of charge high at the same time. it should be ok when the weather warms up.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

IMA SoC varies for all kinds of reasons. Little or no indication of its remaining service life can be deduced from that indication alone.

See:
Recal's, Forced charge, IMA Battery and Thermal mgmt - long
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=750

for more that you probably want to know about the IMA system.

From everything you wrote it looks like its worth a test drive. Drive it in the hyper-miler style (see the MPG forum for tips & tricks) and you should be able to achieve 70+MPG. Even better in warm (70+F) weather.

Looks like it could be a "good" one.

HTH!

 

[dice]

when I bought my '01, it had a LTM of 54mpg. I consistently get 66 mpg , once I learned how. You never said how much she wants for it. But looks like worth checking out. The learning curve on driving the insight, for me, was about a month. Have to relearn how to drive, if you've never drove a hybrid before.

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

ya, the LMPG is almost no indication of what mileage you can get

i bought my car at 92k mi, with a LMPG of about 58 mpg...my 1st tank was about 48 mpg, and this tank ive gotten 53 mpg...so alot of things factor into your own mileage...weather, driving style, etc

HTH


ps. yeah! on the car

 

[saintb]

Thanks for the votes of confidence.

FYI, I think she wants $9,250. That's $500 more than kelly blue book says it is worth ("good condition"). She may come down a bit, and she also just had the 60K mile check-up performed last week. We'll see.

I just got the fax of the collision repair from 2000. The total cost was $2200. It looks like the only parts replaced were the bumper assembly and the fuel gauge, but it is tough to tell (many line items and bumper assemblies).

I was hoping for an Insight that would allow me to get more of the Honda IMA warranty(10yrs/150K mileage). But this one may be close enough. I drive 25K miles a year, so I could get 3.5 yrs on mileage. But I may have only 2+ years on the "years"... depending on the exact date this one was bought.

Thanks to all (so far 4 "Yeahs"), and keep the votes coming.

 

[fuzzymutt]

ive been looking for one with the same specs

from the research ive been doing
it sounds like a good buy to me

id jump on it

 

[trunkout]

I say

"yeah"

 

[saintb]

guess what?

The yeahs won out and so did I (hopefully).

I bought the 2000 metalic Lime 5 speed w/ 60,000 miles.

I have put 500 miles on it since last week, and I am getting 61.3 mpg since. Pretty good considering I'm still learning and its cold here in the North East still.

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

Thanks.

Yeah.....[/img]

 

[b1shmu63]

Congradulations! You're officially an Insighter now. This is a good time to buy an Insight. Your mileage will go up with experience and as the weather warms up. Gas prices are showing some upward trend as well and Insight prices tend to follow it.