Honda Insight or Honda HB VX?

[krypticos]

Hello i'm looking for a dd for mpg. i am currently driving a 98 crv and using some hypermiling tips i get about 25mpg city which is great. before i started hypermiling i was getting 18mpg. anyways

i am looking to find a 2000 insight or a 1995 civic VX. i really think both of them are great. the insight is a little better than the vx but a little more scary for me because of the battery pack and being a hybrid but i would love to have the mpg.

i am here today to ask the forums opinion on which is better and why. i know the vx is a little older but still for 43-56 mpg with out doing much is great. then with the insight you can get 65mpg easy but that is if the battery is good and if it isnt then it get about 50 mpg.

thank you i have been doing research and research. i just cant make up my mind on which to have my dealer buddy find me.

Thank you all for your time and your answers.

[Ryland]

I'm on my 2nd Civic VX and they are great cars, I test drove one the other day that has 337,000 miles on it and it still ran great as is often the case because the engine turns much slower then most other cars so it takes longer to wear out, their real problem is rust, mine came from a state that doesn't salt their roads so it has very little rust, I figure it's in good enough shape to last me another 5-10 years and at that point I'm going with 100% electric.

A quick look on Ebay comes up with a $300 insight battery that is "tested as good" or for $400 you can get a grid charger to bring the pack back up to a full balanced charge while still in the car, that is if the pack really isn't working and if that is the case then the IMA light on the dash will be on, either of these should take care of your worries about a $3,000 repair to the hybrid battery pack.
I don't use the back seat of my civic vx very much so an insight is a tempting car to buy, if I drove more I'd work harder at finding one, but either car is going to be hard to find because people tend to like them and keep them.

[cbaber]

There is also a huge price difference. In my area you cannot hardly find any first gen insights. When you do, they are upwards of 9k for a 2000 model with 150,000 miles. A VX in good shape is still going to cost you more than your average 92 Honda but significantly less than the Insight.

To me the choice is clear. The value of the VX is much more than the insight due to the prices. Plus you do not have to worry about the batteries, information on the car is readily available, parts are cheap, and it has backseats and a cargo area.

[Cd]

The only drawback i see to the Insight is the cargo capacity.
I have a Civic DX hunchback and I can fit my bicycle inside the car if I lay it down and twist the handle bars.
O.K ...one other drawback would be the blindspot in the Insight. It's pretty bad compared to the VX.

[Ryland]

Big advantage that I see of course to the insight is that it's 11 to 13 years newer then the civic VX, my first VX is owned now by my neighbor and this year qualifies for collector plates!!! next year my current civic vx turns twenty as well! add to that a steel body that rusts compared to an aluminum body of an insight.