I'm a Prius owner, but my wife likes smaller cars and is considering an Insight. I see that it's being discontinued.

Does that make buying one a stupid thing to do?

How has Honda's service been on the Insight? I've heard parts are expensive and hard to get.

I'd appreciate your take on this.

David

If you can find one, you better snatch it up.

If gasoline prices continue this upward trend, Insights will command premium prices.

As far as service, parts, and costs: I've had my Insight over a year and have not incurred any abnormal expenses. Gas, oil, filter, and rotate the tires is all that the car has required so far. It does wear out tires rapidly, mainly on the outer edges. It's known for that.

I do my own maintenance, so I can't comment on dealer or service dept. issues.

As far as the hybrid components go, it seems that Honda is extending the warranties of the early models or helping with the costs for battery replacements.

Hi Priusnut; If you are looking for maximum mpg, the 5-speed manual Insight is the way to go. Avoid the CVT (automatic); it gets about 22-23 mpg less. (no lean burn catalyst)

2005 Insight

89.3 mpg lifetime

Video camera replaces outside mirrors

Hi Priusnut,

Is your wife like mine and CAN'T drive a stick and WON'T learn? My Insight is a manual so that keeps her out of the driver's seat.

By all means not a stupid move to get one even though its being discontinued. A LOT of the small parts come from other Hondas and Honda does stock a good amount on parts and for the most part, many of the parts are interchangable for the 00-06 models.

As far as dealer service, I think that varies from dealer to dealer and if you support them. I don't support my dealer as I do ALL my own MX no matter how major the problem. Now that it has come time that I think my battery needs replaced under warranty they aren't too receptive. As far as parts being expensive, its a Honda so your need for parts should come up too often. How often do you hear about people needing parts for Insights?

Good luck whatever you decide. One consideration is there is a huge blind spot for the vertically challenged, check that out too. I'm still all for anyone buying an Insight so I give the purchase a .

'00 Insight "Wazabi" -75,000+ miles
'03 Toyota Matrix - 81,000+ miles
'03 HCH-CVT-OSBM-41,000+ miles (retired 04-10-06)
"I'm very secure with my little Insight, no Prius envy here."

I own a 2005 Insight and love it. I see no reason to not buy one just because it's being discontinued. I too love small cars and have always owned small ones (manual transmissions though). To me the Insight is not a small car though, as the hatch back is huge and 95% of the time it's just me driving so I don't want or need a back seat. My other cars have all been smaller than the Insight. As for maintenance it depends on the dealer and if they service many hybrids. If they service Civics then the Insight is no different. I've put 25K miles in the 1st year and no problems noted. I have replaced the front tires as they wear out fast (and 1/2 my commute is windy mountain roads) but just regular oil changes, tire rotations, nothing else. There are some good used ones I've seen for sale in various online for-sale sites (and eBay if you're that brave).

Deb

Buy one if you can , mine has been great got 180,000 miles from first battery pack and Honda replaced it free. Best car I ever owned gets 70+ mpg. ted

I see no point in getting a CVT based Insight. The Prius and Civic are much better choices IMO. For max MPG you can't beat a MT based Insight but I'd share your worries about parts. The Insight had very low production volume to begin with and the parts situation can only get worse now that it is discontinued. One thing I like about the Civic is that it is a very popular car even in non-hybrid trim so most parts should be easy to find.

I am on my second Insight(CVT) and I think that it is a great small car. We took our 2003 Insight to Missouri 3 times and got great gas mileage and only spent a total $40 for gas. Our 2006 Insight is currently getting 60mpgs and above after 3000 miles. I agree just because they discontinued the Insight is not a reason not to buy one.

Not to get off topic, but tell me the conditions under which Honda replaced the battery pack for free. I think it is a fear we all have, replacing the batteries.

Back to the topic, yes get one soon. Like any other discontinued car, I'm sure Honda will continue to produce parts.

I called American Honda Motors and talked with a customer service rep to get the process for getting a replacement. I told them I had been an owner of many Honda's had just bought a Fit as well, but that my battery pack had failed and the batteries were leaking fluid - which they were. I was told to take it to my dealer where I had purchased several honda's and who had done all the servicing. The dealer contacted the local customer service rep and discussed the situation with them, Honda then agreed to replace the pack and control modules with me paying just the labor. They really come thru - the new pack and the new control algorithms make a huge difference . Ever since I got the car new I have been getting recals about 5 per week. I live on top of a long hill and that drained the battery pretty well then it recharged down the hill in the morning. Perhaps this had something to do with its premature failure ( altho 180,000 miles is pretty good). The new setup keeps the battery from ever going below 2/3 full. A huge difference. Perhaps because my car was # 1679 a 2000 - they considered me an early adopter and wanted to support the vehicle as such. I suspect the systems on later Insights was redesigned and I got the current version with the replacement battery. Ted