Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Video highlights of this vehicle

Our Insight was a busy hybrid for the month of June. And that's not even including the speeding ticket.

It is hard to believe that the slowest car in our long-term fleet, the one with a 73-horsepower, 1.0-liter engine, is capable of getting a ticket. Since this is environmentally conscious California, shouldn't hybrid vehicles be immune to moving violations? It seems only fair.

Piloting the Insight was none other than Senior Features Editor Brent Romans, whom up until this point in time had only received one speeding ticket in his life. And did he deserve this ticket? Was he speeding with reckless abandon, causing mayhem and destruction on the California highway? No.

Brent attributes this ticket to three things: 1) The California Highway Patrol's need for revenue generation; 2) the Insight's distinctive shape and shiny silver paint; 3) the Insight's myopic rear hatch glass that could also double as a shower door.

"The Insight's rear view is even worse than the '88-'91 Honda CRX's," said Brent. "The hatch glass totally distorts the image. Trying to spot a police cruiser in the rearview mirror is hopeless. Everything just looks like a '97 Taurus through it."

The story gets even better. Brent received this wonderful citation while conducting a maximum fuel mileage test. He wasn't late and he wasn't going anywhere in particular. He was just driving the Honda to see what kind of fuel mileage it could get.

Brent had looked at the Honda's fuel mileage from the last couple of months and was disappointed. He wondered whether the poor mileage was due to our staff's driving style or if the EPA's fuel mileage numbers of 61 mpg in the city and 70 mpg on the highway were overly optimistic.

To test the Insight's maximum mpg, Brent devised a highway test loop. The 96.9-mile loop would start in Camarillo, follow highway 101 to Santa Barbara, and then return on the 101 to Camarillo. This stretch of the 101 is slightly curvy, with an elevation gain when driving to Santa Barbara.

Traffic was heavy on the first leg, but Brent didn't think it affected fuel mileage much. For the entire trip, he drove the Insight between 55 and 68 mph. He also turned the air conditioning off, rolled the windows up and used light throttle and brake inputs. Tire pressures were correct, and the gas tank was full. The end result? An impressive 79.9 mpg for the loop, according to the Insight's Fuel Control Display.

"The Insight is extremely sensitive," our wrongly accused speed demon said. "Driving style and environmental conditions have a huge affect on gas consumption. Using the FCD, I could instantly tell how changing my driving style would alter mileage. Driving at normal highway speeds (70-80 mph) with the air conditioning drops fuel mileage by 20 percent, or down to 55-65 mpg."

This mileage test proved that some of our previous drivers weren't as light with the throttle as Brent was. Still, he reports that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach the EPA's 61 mpg in the city. Perhaps in a less congested city, this would be possible. But here in gridlocked Los Angeles, Brent's best average was 50 mpg.

At the end of June, we took our Insight in for its scheduled 3,750-mile oil and oil filter change. We also wanted to take care of a "product update" that Honda had notified us of via mail. Honda indicated that a new ECM needed to be installed for improved cold-weather starting (zero degrees Fahrenheit and below), and a grounding strap needed to be added to the rear wiper motor to improve AM radio reception. Both of these would be free of charge, and the letter indicated that the updates would take half a day to perform.

We decided to go to Miller Honda in Culver City, California, since we had a good experience at this dealership when we took our '99 Honda Odyssey minivan there. Miller doesn't require appointments, so we just showed up unannounced. Thinking back, we probably should have told Miller that we were coming. It seems our Insight was the first the dealership had ever serviced before.

When we showed up early Tuesday afternoon, the service adviser wasn't available, and so a gentleman responsible for aftermarket equipment installations wrote up our invoice. He was interested in the Insight but not very knowledgeable about it. He incorrectly called it a pure electric vehicle, not a hybrid. We left the vehicle, expecting to pick it up the next day.

When we first called Miller Honda the next day, we couldn't get in contact with anybody in the service department. We left a voice message in the morning inquiring about the Insight's status, but never got a reply. Finally, after a few more calls to the service department, we got in touch with the service adviser. He informed us that work hadn't started on the Insight yet. The dealership lacked the correct size oil filters and had to order them. Miller also had to order the parts for the updates.

Our Insight was ready to be picked up on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, the parts for the AM radio reception update didn't come in, so only the oil change and ECM swap were completed. We didn't want to leave the car at the dealership any longer, so the service adviser informed us he would hold onto the parts until we returned for our next oil change.

On Friday, one of our drivers noticed that the Engine Immobilizer warning light was staying on, so we asked our editorial assistant, Erin Riches, to contact Miller Honda for help. She called Miller on Monday and was informed the service department was so backlogged that nothing could be done until Tuesday. We thought we had no choice but to wait, but then the Insight became even sicker and refused to start.

After several tries, we found that the engine would sometimes turn over a bit in an effort to start but, most of the time, we would turn the key only to hear silence. We knew that this problem was related to the Immobilizer warning light, most likely related to the ECM swap. We called Miller and explained that the Insight was now undriveable, and after a bit of negotiating, they agreed to spring for towing the Insight back to the dealership and a rental car. We called the towing company, and a truck arrived in about 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, our Insight was stuck in our office's underground parking lot, and the flatbed tow truck was too tall to drive into the lot. Solution: a motley band of editors pushed the 1,700-pound car up three parking levels and out into daylight to meet the tow truck. And there was much rejoicing.

After we arrived at Miller Honda, getting the rental car -- an unloved, under-optioned Cavalier -- was no problem. This time, we brought the spare key since the ECM swap requires that all keys be reprogrammed (or else they will no longer be operational) and handed them personally to the service adviser with a thorough explanation. He said that he would take care of all the keys.

The next day, Miller Honda called to say that the Insight had awakened from its coma. Apparently, when the new ECM was installed, the technician did not fasten a clip completely -- the more we drove, the looser it became until the Insight would no longer start. Since the parts for the AM stereo reception update arrived that afternoon, the dealership asked if it could keep our vehicle overnight and have it ready by the next morning.

The Insight was not ready until almost 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday -- we suspect that work did not begin until we called at 11:30 that morning. We arrived at the dealer around 2:00 p.m. and then had to wait 20 minutes while the spare key was located and reprogrammed.

Throughout our service experience, everyone at the dealer service department seemed even more baffled about this car than we were. One member of the service department actually asked if he could drive our car around the block. As we have learned with our long-term Lincoln LS, there are often dealership service problems associated with brand-new vehicles. It would seem the Insight is falling into that category, as well.

Total Odometer Reading:
Best Fuel Economy: 79.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 35.3 mpg
Running Average Over Life of Vehicle: 47.03 mpg
Body Damage: $0
Maintenance Costs: $19.37
Problems: None