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As long as the car does not have a salvage title the battery warranty is 10 years and over 150k miles. I think it went to 165k when there was a mileage discrepancy suit settled in California. No other warranties will be in effect after 8 years and or 80k miles.
My 01 CVT Insight needed 7k in warranty repairs from 35k to 62 k miles. The guts of the primary cat came loose, the 02 sensor went bad, and the hybrid battery and BCM were replaced. Everything except the 02 sensor was replaced under warranty.
With everything working properly I averaged 68 MPG for over 25k miles, and on one road trip averaging 55 MPH on the old US routes in Virginia I averaged 70.2 MPG. I lost $2500 in depreciation over 30k miles. I liked the car but the amount of money in warranty repairs was almost what the car was worth when I sold it.
From what I understand and have read here, if you are good at wrenching, patient, and resourceful then the car might be a good deal for you, especially if you run the serial number with a Honda dealership and they tell you the battery is still under warranty, but they will do nothing for you now if there is a bad cat or 02 sensor, those warranties have expired.
The only time mine got 52 MPG was in a torrential rainstorm coming back to my home on I64 west of Richmond. My wife drove it when her Rogue was being repaired (collision) and got 56 MPG.
For what I paid for that Insight with 35k miles, I bought my 2011 Fiesta with 3770 miles. So far I am averaging 45 MPG in the Fiesta versus 68 in the Insight, but I ride a bike that gets close to 90 average in the summer and cost less than the depreciation on the Insight.
Should you buy an 04 CVT for $2500. I would consider it if the battery warranty was still good. I would also get any other codes that were engine related and try to figure out what it would cost to get them corrected. If you want trouble free operation, all of the older vehicles suggested as alternatives are reaching the point where if you are wrench friendly they may work for you but if not then they have reached the point in life expectancy where things all start to fall apart and the cumulative cost can get greater than the benefit.
regards
Mech
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