How much for this junk 2001 CVT Insight ?

[Cd]

What do you think this 2001 Insight CVT is worth ?

I pass by the car often and always wonder about it, so by chance i happened to find some neighbors that knew the guy.

The car was last registered and inspected 08/09 and 10/09.

The car is an automatic. It's batteries supposedly were replaced under warranty 5 yrs ago, but are of course dead now.

Supposedly, the car runs ok with quote " a little lifter tapping" " But that's normal for this car until it warms up. " Uh huh .

i'm thinking the car is a huge money pit. even the gas in the tank would have to be drained since the car has sat so long.
The rear bumper is smashed ( replace with a boattail !!! ) , the front bumper is falling off with the underpanels hanging off, both doors are kicked in the exact same area, and the hood has dents as well. The interior is in good shape, but has several cigarette burns .

The tires are worn or flat.

The man claims he has a guy that doesn't like him and wants to destroy the car, so he tries to dent every useable part on the car.

The good news ? Uh .... not really any, but the car is low miles ( "42,000" miles ) from sitting so long, all the glass is good, the hatch fits good, the body seals are great, and the body of course has no rust.

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So from what i have read here, it's not even possible to really hypermile an automatic Insight right ?
You can't even shift into neutral and coast without destroying the transmission.

MetroMPG has gotten some phenomenal mileage with his Insight minus the battery pack, but I'm assuming that is through lots of coasting.
With a dead battery pack and no ability to coast in this car, what kind of mileage can be expected ?

[Cd]

Oh one other BIG thing : lost title .

The guy is the original owner.

[Sularus]

no matter what, I would make him get a new title before you give him a dime. The thing is the 1st gen insight is almost all aluminum and magnesium. You could get decent mileage even with a dead pack. As for the CVT, I can't help there. I know next to nothing about Honda CVT's. Hope it works out. I would grab it if the price is right. I would say 2k at the absolute tops, and that is if he gets the title replaced before transaction. It has low miles, but the amount of body damage really brings it down. Battery pack too, though it is possible to revive it.

Jason

[Cd]

I didn't get a good look at the car, but I gave the guy a note and he called me later that evening. He owns the parking spot and is in no hurry to sell.
He said if I brought a good battery I could hear it run.
I have to wonder if it would even start with old gas still in the tank.

[Ryland]

I would pay $1,000 even if it didn't have an engine in it, just for the body, of course the dents don't help, but worst case it's worth $1,000 in scrap aluminum or parting it out, but I would buy it to convert to electric if the IMA battery pack truely was toast.
Lost titles are not an issue, here they charge you $35 to have the current owner go in and have a new title printed out, you can also get a form from the DMV to have that done by mail.
Even with the CVT automatic it will get 50mpg??? so compared to a civic VX or any other car that is out there that gets that kind of mileage figure it's worth $3,000 or more if you can get the body work done cheap then resell it if you don't want to keep it, blue book value on that car is $7,300 to $8,500

[Sven7]

Swap in a kei car engine!

[Cd]

Ive worked with body filler ( Bondo ) and pulled dents before, but a lot of this car is aluminum and I'm not sure it adheres well.
Honestly, as far as the body goes I could care less since I would aeromod the hell out of it.

What I'm concerned about is the transmission and engine, as well as electrical problems and the battery.

If the car has set this long, something is dead wrong with the car.

[Cd]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Even with the CVT automatic it will get 50mpg??? so compared to a civic VX or any other car that is out there that gets that kind of mileage figure it's worth $3,000 or more if you can get the body work done cheap then resell it if you don't want to keep it, blue book value on that car is $7,300 to $8,500

I was in Winnipeg last week and passed up a great deal that MetroMPG posted - a 2000 insight for sale just 70 miles from where I live in Austin . It sold for just over $ 3,200 and was in great shape. The body was in perfect shape.
There is currently another one at a used car dealership for $ 4,500. It even has a cd player and aftermarket alloy wheels ( not my thing but just sayin' ) Both cars were non CVT as well.
So if I can get a running, driving, clean dent free manual car for around $ 4000, it just seems like this car would be a huge headache.

As far as 50 mpg goes, the car was EPA rated 49 highway brand new with the battery pack working ( this is not a manual car remember )

[euromodder]

Looks like a spare-parts car.

[MetroMPG]

I think the title says it all: "junk"!

I wouldn't put that much work into a CVT Insight.

As for the old gas, it will probably start up just fine (notwithstanding any other problems). My Firefly fired up on 7 year old gas when I bought it.