High mileage Insight for sale, n00b questions on what to look for.

[War_Wagon]

I found a 2000 Insight for sale, it has 369,000kms (229k miles). It starts and runs ok, the valve train is a little noisy when it's cold, but other than that the gasoline part of the drive train seems ok. Because of where it is and how it's being sold, I can't take it anywhere to get checked out, and could only take it for a brief drive. The battery gauge showed 2 lines under full, so I assume that means that the electrical part of the system is charging/holding a charge? Is there a button on the dash somewhere that will give me any kind of dash display of how the electrical system is functioning?

There were no warning lights or anything flashing on the dash. There is no way I can get the maintenance records for it, so I literally have to go by what I can see for myself. I got it up to 20 km/h then shifted into 2nd and gave it some throttle - having never driven one before, it sure seemed like it needed a lot of gas to get it accelerating. Like when you are in the wrong gear going up a hill, it just didn't really feel like it was pulling much at all. Is that just the way these cars are?

Is there anything else I should watch out for on these cars? The body and interior are decent, so the biggest question is - what would you think it would be worth?

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

The battery gauge showed 2 lines under full, so I assume that means that the electrical part of the system is charging/holding a charge? Is there a button on the dash somewhere that will give me any kind of dash display of how the electrical system is functioning?

If you can't drive the car on public roads, you really have no idea how much life the battery has left in it. It would be great if you could give the IMA battery a stress test in the form of a 5th gear hill climb while you watch the state of charge gauge.

And yes, compared with most cars, the Insight needs more RPMs or more patience to accelerate.

What's it worth? Lots. It's a great car. However, the right time to buy an Insight is when the public perceives gasoline to be inexpensive and inexhaustible, which they don't right now.

[War_Wagon]

Ok thanks for the input. I can only drive it on a flat surface sadly, so I guess I will be rolling the dice on the battery life. I don't think it will be over $2000 for the whole car so that will leave me some budget for repairs.