I'm looking to buy a 1st or 2nd Gen Honda Insight but worried about the cost & frequency of replacing the IMA battery.
If anyone has this car, I'm keen to hear your experience with it - good? bad? any issues?
Do you know how often the IMA battery needs to be replaced and how much it costs?
I can't seem to get much info from Honda dealers or mechanics.
Thanks!
Might be Toyota and Tesla camp in OzB.
It is a Tesla camp. We just throw in Toyota to wind them up.
FYI Honda's numbers are down massively from last year, with a reduced model line-up
Tread carefully if you care about resale
(Before 'you-know-who' comes at me since they recently bought a Honda… yes, I work for Toyota, but not in OP's state…. Plus they're looking at used ones anyway)
A reduced lineup would be fine. Tesla has a small model line with the same fixed-priced sale model.
Unfortunately, Honda's product line is uninspiring and overpriced.
Which is a shame. I am a long-time fan of Honda as a brand, having owned 2 previously with great experiences, but couldn't see myself buying one of their current models.
uninspiring and overpriced.
yeeeep, certainly overpriced and most of them are very meh. but… if that civic was a touch cheaper (or if it had a 6spd manual…) it would be a helluva car.
also the new HRV is a fantastic looking car. still a meh drivetrain but who cares in that sorta car.
And Toyota is slow on ev. They gonna lose so much momentum
Not really, most customers aren't that ready for EV
Personally, EV needs solar panels and battery storage to charge your car at night
Not to mention how many people live in apartments etc with no access to charging points
Or that most mainstream EV's are around $20k more than their ICE counterpart
Don't get me wrong, EV is coming and coming in strong even in Toyota. But they were right not to rush into it as the general public aren't quite ready. This site just represents the good chunk who are into tech, which aren't necessarily the majority.
Any thoughts on the Corolla Cross Hybrid coming later this year? Have you seen one in the flesh yet?
@DashCam AKA Rolts: I haven't yet unfortunately! Seems like it should be good, I want my Dad to get one :)
@spackbace: Thanks for that. Would like to hear your thoughts once you've seen it/had a test drive. Australian release October from what I've heard.
@DashCam AKA Rolts: Correct, mid-October. Getting built in August
If you're keen on one I'd talk to your local dealer. We've taken a few pre-orders
Missed opportunity to ask for insights in to the Honda Insight.
get a Camry
Like Magda Szubanski its got an arse only mother could love.
Bet your mother doesn’t love yours!🤣🤣🤣🤣
shit I dont either :(
@Edgecate.They are ultra reliable,I know one owner personally who has had hers since new(2012) battery is fine.You can get them replaced @ quite a reasonable cost I am lead to believe @ around $2,000AUD.Great little car btw!
I had one for three days when I was in the USA a decade ago. Drove well in town, but on the open road I had to beat the daylights out of it to keep up with traffic (which admittedly, in eastern California and Nevada, went like a bat out of hell).
As a result, the fuel economy was not that great.
But if you intend to drive it around town, it would be fine. Boring as all heck, but nicely built.
You won't be buying a first gen example, I think they sold less than 100 in Aus until they were discontinued in 2005. No parts available and they were a completely impractical 2 seater with no A/C or power steering with a manual transmission.
Second gen examples are rare - I see 2 available on Carsales. They were okay but still completely inferior to Toyota hybrids. They had a mild hybrid system with a small ~10kW motor on the end of the crankshaft which means its electric only operation is very limited and the engine always spins when the electric motor spins.
Fuel economy was okay - around 5-5.5L/100km real world. Pretty much the same system was available in the mid 2000s Civic hybrid and the batteries were quite unreliable in those, not sure if they had improved them in the Insight.
I wouldn’t. Not enough of them around to make parts easy to find.
Thanks all for your inputs!
I did a bit of calling (3 Honda dealerships, and 1 mechanic that specialises in Hybrid's and EV's).
Honda dealerships: It costs ~$5000 to buy a new battery, assuming they can even source it in the first place. Apparently it's hard to find one. That doesn't cover the cost of installation - I wasn't able to get a price on that. In saying all that, the battery is supposed to last the life of the vehicle (so they claim). Of the 3 dealers, only 1 said they'd only had to order a new battery once (after 15 years of working there).
Mechanic: Doesn't deal with Honda Insight batteries as they're hard to source and work with (he used a specific term but couldn't remember it…something about being able to swap cells out if they fail…can't do that with these batteries - the whole thing has to be replaced). Just based on lack of availability of batteries, he suggested staying clear of it.
Looking into a Prius now.
I would imagine that is your safest bet, sourcing a good 2nd hand Prius.Good luck.
Prius is way better. I bought one new in 2010 and put 350,000km on it with absolutely no repairs, original HV battery, still on original brake pads. Lifetime fuel consumption of 4.5L/100km and nothing other than oil and filter changes. Handed it down to my MIL and she's still driving it around.
Might be Toyota and Tesla camp in OzB.
1st google search result “Honda Insight Hybrid forum”
https://www.insightcentral.net/
Many other forum in 2nd and 3rd google links.