2000 Honda Insight Questions

[wyatt]

I found an Insight locally that is quite appealing to me. I am going to go check it out tomorrow, but in the meantime, I am trying to gather information on things I should be looking for.

One big concern for me is that it has 150,000 miles, not from the engine or body standpoint, but from the battery standpoint. I am assured that the battery is holding a full charge, but I am just worried about replacing them. What kind of life do they have? If it does go on me, are there other places (than dealerships) to get the packs for a more reasonable price? Can I rebuild the packs (some sort of manual on how to)? It seems that everything on the car is in good enough condition, there is just no record (ever) of the battery being replaced.

Is it possible to get a good Insight repair manual? I would prefer to do the majority of the work myself if possible.

Are there other things I should be looking for when we go check it out?

Thanks in advance.

[Daox]

There are places that will rebuild your pack for you for under $1k I've been told. I assume it depends on how many bad cells there are to replace.

Hybrid-Battery-Repair

I believe they were at hybridfest this year. They go through the pack and identify bad cells and replace them. Give them a call or email them to get some more info.

[jacrider]

The cars have a 10 year / 150K miles warranty on the batteries, so if there is anything wrong now, they should be under warranty still, but likely not for long.

Daox is right, that vendor seems to have a solid reputation for rebuilding the batteries.

[discovery]

Ok here we go:
Check out first the site insightcentral.net they have alot of info for insight gen1 and gen2. Engine is quite durable with no major problems. Sensors are some kinda weak. EGR Valve tend to give up on you and the new costs as much as $168, The lean burn Oxygen senosor might need to be replaced at some time, they have something like 500 hours of operation. If your car is five speed, clutch set is about $300+. Tires are about $100 a wheel. BATT pack in the back of the car 144volts is covered by Honda for 10 years or 150K miles which ever comes first. Or this guy in north east
Hybrid-Battery-Repair is good what he does. The car leaks in side alot when it rains. Other than that it is pretty good FE car. Part are available though majestic honda over the net. Use only 2.6q of oil W0-20 available in Wall Mart for $6.27q. The car has 6 computers, the one for the motor called MCM tend to burn, i have seen two gone bad.

[RobertSmalls]

Tires are $77 each, but I got them for $70/ea because the ghetto Firestone gives 10% off all tires.

EGR valves can be disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. Cleaning the valve and EGR passages usually resolves the issue.

The car has six computers, and that's a good thing. The IMA, electric power steering, ABS, airbag, and power door lock computers all act 100% independently. If one of them fails, the rest still work.

Oil change interval is 1yr / 10000mi. Combined with the small oil pan, this car is inexpensive to keep oiled.

My impression overall is that the conventional parts of the car are very reliable, which makes the car cheap to run. But having lean burn requires an EGR system that needs to be cleaned now and then, a $200 O2 sensor, and a $1000 catalytic converter. Some of these parts do not outlast the car. The high-voltage battery will also require service during the vehicle's lifetime. This is the price you pay for lean burn and IMA, and it's worth it IMHO.

And Wyatt, you want the Honda Factory Service Manual, available from Helm, Inc. It's ~$80, iirc, and it's over 1000 pages. Service procedures are spelled out step by step and parts are illustrated.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by discovery

The lean burn Oxygen senosor might need to be replaced at some time, they have something like 500 hours of operation.
The car leaks in side alot when it rains.

I can deal with with pulling apart the O2 sensor every now and again (500 hours at ~40mph is every 2 years), every year or two would be easy, take care of it while doing an oil change.
Does the car really leak when it rains? Where at? The floorboards? The hatch? One of the reasons I am looking at replacing the car I have now is the windows don't roll up well, and every day I have to go through a security checkpoint which means rolling my window down. If it's raining, I have to drive a couple miles with the window down an inch or two before I can fix it. It's not the only reason, but one...

[rgathright]

You do realize that getting any 2000 Honda Insight in decent condition for less than $10000 is a steal, right?

Check Ebay, people are sellig these cars for very high prices.

What does the owner want for it?

[wyatt]

It was sold out from under me... well, it was sold before I could get there. The guy wanted $4000 for it, with 153,000 miles. The battery was holding a good charge (according to a guy that didn't know much about the car) and it was supposed to be running very well. $4000 seems about right for an Insight with about 150,000 miles, check ebay again, the ones going for more have loads less miles (the battery is covered to 150,000 miles or 10 years) and newer. I guess it wasn't meant to be for me... not on this one.

[rgathright]

So sorry! They are good cars.

Keep looking!