Toyota Prius Forum banner

Former Insight owner

5K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  BJ_EVfan 
#1 · (Edited)
Interesting to see an Insight section on the forum! I owned a 2nd gen Honda Insight from 2010-2012. I never had any problems with the car, and I traded it in for a Chrysler 200 (ended up being a lemon) mostly because the Insight had some major features missing and I thought I could get decent fuel economy with its advertised 30mpg highway driving.

A year after buying the 200, the massive mistake that was, I just traded in and got a Prius C this past week. I owned the 200 for one year and it has been among the worst car experiences I've had (never got above 25mpg for the most part, engine had issues and almost cut out after starting it up, reverse sometimes didn't work and the transmission had problems, every time I took it to the dealer the problems wouldn't present themselves so they could fix it). So I'm glad to have the Prius C!

My experience with the 2nd gen Insight was mixed, but mostly positive. I drove the car off the lot when I bought it 3 years ago not realizing it didn't have cruise control and some other basic features (the LX model didn't have traction control or stability control or any features). That isn't a problem with build quality, it was just my lack of putting enough time into researching it as I bought the trim level.

Anyway, the Insight delivers tremendous fuel economy for it to be a mild hybrid that essentially always needs the gasoline engine to run. I averaged 45mpg in both highway and city traffic, and if I was extremely light on my foot I could frequently get it up to 50mpg or more.

The largest downside I saw with the Insight was its components weren't electrified, for example when the engine shuts off as you stop, the heat and the A/C stop functioning. The Prius C that I've had for a few days now is clearly far more advanced.

To Insight owners out there, you certainly don't have a bad vehicle, I hope that Honda improves though. The IMA engine in the Insight is too mild of an electric assistance. You can't really run on electric only at all, and that's something I love with the Prius C. Using EV mode to drive short bursts at 25mph and below is something the Insight cannot do.

Just my thoughts on being a former Insight owner. Its a great vehicle, but the Prius C is considerably better.
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top