Hi all-

I am considering buying a 2000 Insight w/ about 35K miles on it. I was considering getting a prius until our recent chain of catastrophes made that financially unfeasible. I have a few quesitons regarding the insight:

1. What's your odometer reading? i.e. what's the life expectancy of this car (150K?)

2. Have there been any substantial changes since the 2000 edition which would cause you to buy another year over this year?

3. What's up with the all this battery dying talk (does this happen a lot - was their a recall?) - you're making me nervous

Thanks all - great site.

1. 53,700 miles, just had an oil change and minor service on my Citrus Yellow Metallic. About 56,000 on my father's New Formula Red Insight. Both are 2000 5 speed models. The car is supposed to last as long as any Honda product. Just as reliable so far.

2. The only minor changes have been interior seat color, standard Air conditioning, and the addition of a CD player. (I just purchased a CD player and speakers for my car, will have them installed tomorrow morning)

3. No recalls on the battery, but one on the ECM. My car had it performed, my dad's has not that I know of. We have no battery problems except infrequent recals on my car. Our Red Insight has never had one in the 30 months we have owned it.

Overall, the Insight is a great car to own, especially if you get a good price on yours. We payed $12,500 for the Red Insight in April 2003, with 36,000 miles. $9900 for the Citrus Yellow August 2005, with 52,000 miles. If an Insight is practical for you, then it is hard to beat. A 2000 Insight with only 35,000 miles sounds like a great buy. What is it selling for, and where are you buying it from? We bought one of ours from a dealer and one from a private seller. Obviously the lower priced one was the private seller. If you do decide to get the Insight, you will have a wealth of information and support from this site to help you.

-Justin Fons
www.MilwaukeeHybridGroup.com

Welcome-

1. right around 56,000 miles on my 2000 Citrus Yellow - I expect it to last a very long time. IMO a car lasts a long time according to how the owner takes care of it. Since I picked it in May with 52,000 miles ($10k) I don't know how it was maintained by the previous owner. I suspect my HCH to last close to forever since I've owned it from Day 1 and maintained it meticulously. The Insight is being babied so I expect it to last a VERY long time too.

2. I made changes to make the car suit me. CD player, speaker upgrade, center arm rest (A MUST HAVE), seat covers (well padded & different color), dead pedal to keep holes from getting in the carpet and a few other items. I was looking for Citrus Yellow so that played a huge factor in the purchase of my particular car.

3. Yes, I've had RECALS. I'm not too worried about it. We'll see if the IMA dies before I hit 80,000. ???? The RECAL is for the most part is limited to 2000's. Their is some recalls you should check and see if the work has been done. Neither had been fixed on mine

Recalls:
Headlight switch - mine burnt up when I loaned it to my dad, that recall has been fixed
ECM- I'll get around to taking it in for that soon

A 35,000 mile car sounds GREAT! Tell us about it, price, color, little old lady car, etc.

'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 recently purchased a 2000 Insight from my friend, 32,750 Miles original owner and I paid $9,100 for it. Oh, and it has carpool lane stickers on it!

So far I love it. It’s silver with a manual transmission and very fun to drive. I thought I would have a awful time missing all the speed and torque my 1994 vtec prelude had, but after purchasing the Insight, I’ve realized that it’s also a fun car to drive. It’s zippy and handles like my 94 prelude.

I need to do some research with other owners on what a typical battery meter reads. Mine is usually ¾ full or ½ full. I did research prior to buying and Honda of America told me that if and when they have been having customers with bad batteries, they have been “taking care of the customer” which they implied they have been replacing them free because they originally put such a short 3 year warranty on them when they were a new technology.

Thanks for the replies. I actually ended up buying a 03 HCH, which I really like. THe guy I bought it from had just taken it for 60K service, and the Honda dealer replaced the battery fro free.

Wow that's great. I hope they do that for me when I go in for the 60k service!

OK, now I'm intrigued. Is it a CVT or Manual? I have never heard of a battery swap yet in an HCH, but still could understand it being possible (with a stick).

Good move move though by not being scared off by the battery "having" to be replaced. Great car and I know you'll enjoy it with the trunk, extra doors and room. Insight is a great car too. I love them both.

'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."