Should I Buy This 2000 Insight? - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

JacobLeSann · 02-24-2021, 08:09 AM

A steal indeed. He rebuilt the engine and replaced the 12 volt battery as well.

I’m quite the tinkerer, so shop time isn’t a huge deal. Expensive replacement parts are. I wonder how long the battery would last me, as I should only be using it for the short run through town on my commute. I mostly drive highway.

Ditching the electric motor would work but it strikes me as sort of devolving the car? A 230 HP swap would still be hilarious, though lol.

Ecky · 02-24-2021, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacobLeSann

A steal indeed. He rebuilt the engine and replaced the 12 volt battery as well.

I’m quite the tinkerer, so shop time isn’t a huge deal. Expensive replacement parts are. I wonder how long the battery would last me, as I should only be using it for the short run through town on my commute. I mostly drive highway.

Ditching the electric motor would work but it strikes me as sort of devolving the car? A 230 HP swap would still be hilarious, though lol.

I'd inquire about the rebuilt engine. The bottom ends of these engines basically never break. There are some rare cases of snapped camshafts, but that's often upwards of 400k miles (some Insights have over 600k on fully original parts) and caused by infrequent oil changes, or the wrong oil being used.

I would say that, even compared with German "economy" car parts, all of the Insight's parts are cheap. Some of them are just expensive compared with what a Civic owner might be accustomed to.

Take the engine mount - RockAuto has mounts for a 2000 Civic starting at literally $3.64 USD. An Insight rear mount will set you back $100 from Honda, but it's also a piece of billet aluminum. A Jetta of the same vintage (just checked) will run you $200+ for an OEM stamped steel mount, and starts around $30 on RockAuto for generic.

I agree about disabling the hybrid system, it's a much more interesting and fun car with everything working, but a point I'd like to make is that, if the battery fails, it won't leave you stranded or without a car (as it would in a Prius). If you get the Insight, I would be prepared to buy a new battery. I can recommend Bumblebee's as some of the better aftermarket, and the owner has great communication:

https://bumblebeebatteries.com/produ...rid-batteries/

There is also a grid charger (cell balancer) you can build which will help extend the life of the battery that's in it, or can even limp along a failing one for many years. Most Insight owners now have one of these. Yet another quirk to these cars. I'd ask the owner about grid chargers.

JacobLeSann · 02-24-2021, 10:20 AM

Will do. I’ll run all this by him and inquire why he did it. In that perspective, I guess it’s not that bad, really. I just hope I don’t need to replace anything constantly. I do like the ability to just turn off the assist on the car, especially the somewhat crude little switch it has.

I’ll get back to this thread when I get his response and more info.

JacobLeSann · 03-04-2021, 12:02 AM

Back again. Checked out the car and spoke with him. It’s got no TOD, which makes it unregisterable in my province. Quite the headscratcher. Everything seems like it’s in surprisingly good condition. By “rebuilt”, he meant that the previous owner replaced the hood, fender, and one of the headlights. Beyond that, I’ve not noticed anything wrong or ugly with it.

The battery, though. I’m sort of worried. He mentioned that the battery was replaced with a brand new one, two years ago. It seems the car has mostly sat still since. Does anybody know whether it will be alright? I’m worried it may have killed itself after such a long period, but in my short little test run around his acreage the electrical seemed to be running well.

Stubby79 · 03-04-2021, 05:23 AM

Why even consider it if you can’t register it in your province?

If the battery is working right now, it will probably be fine. A “reconditioning” might help get it to full health, if it’s lacking capacity. (Deep discharge)

Ecky · 03-04-2021, 08:23 AM

Sitting doesn't seem to do the batteries harm, if they're "woken" properly. A balancing grid charge before doing much driving should be adequate.

I can think of one example of a time capsule Insight, an ~18 year (?) garage find with the original battery. After grid charging and balancing, it behaved like a brand new battery.

JacobLeSann · 03-04-2021, 10:39 AM

Well, no grid charger on me. Hope I can drive it home without damaging anything.

He never revealed to me that he had no TOD. I guess in Alberta it’s not needed. We might be able to find a solution.

JacobLeSann · 03-04-2021, 01:07 PM

Eh, never mind. Checked it’s VIN and it turns out this thing has been flooded twice and salvaged even more. Seems too sketchy for $3000.

Ecky · 03-04-2021, 01:32 PM

I'm amazed it's still on the road.

Stubby79 · 03-04-2021, 11:53 PM

I had to look up what a TOD was. Not sure what Alberta uses either...but we have a full-page "Transfer Form" to fill in instead. Great fun. But I've filled in enough of them over the years that it only takes me a few minutes.

Anyway, good choice, I wouldn't touch it either...good luck continuing your search!