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Road Tests: Long-Term Test
Long-Term Test: 2000 Honda Insight
December 2001
By editors at Edmunds.com
Date Posted 04-24-2002
Video highlights of this vehicle
Though the Insight was originally slotted for Staff Photographer Scott Jacobs
to drive this month, his shooting and travel schedule prevented him from putting
many miles on the Insight during his brief tenure.
"One irritating thing I found with the Insight," commented Scott, "was that when
the engine does an automatic shutdown when you're waiting at a stoplight, it can
be tricky to get it to come to life again when you shift it into gear."
Scott is referring to the gas-saving automatic shut-off feature. When the car
is sitting completely stopped and there are no energy requirements to run features
such as the air conditioning, the engine will automatically shut down. Once the
car is shifted into first gear to start moving again, the engine will automatically
turn back on. It's thought by Honda engineers that the less time the car sits
idling, the more gas it will save.
"I tried to shift into first in a consistent manner, but I found that the engine
would turn on at various times," Scott grumbled. "At various times, it would be
immediate, a short delay or long after I had shifted. It got really frustrating
at times when the engine hesitated to start back up and there were many cars behind
me waiting to go."
When not in the hands of Scott, the Insight found itself to be very useful again
in ferrying Road Test Coordinator Neil Chirico to and from work this month. Due
to scheduling, Neil has been a constant companion of the Insight for almost two
months straight.
Since Neil seemed to be the one who continued to put on the miles, when the time
came for its 30,000-mile service, he figured the least he could do was take it
in for the check-up. Neil called the dealer on a rainy Thursday morning and asked
if they could take the vehicle that same day for the service (rainy days are good
days for same-day service). He contacted a service advisor he had used on a previous
visit, who told him to bring the Insight in with the assurance that the dealership
would be able to complete the service the same day.
Neil promptly took the vehicle down to the dealer, bringing with him a list of
Honda's recommended 30,000-mile service items and a list of staff notes on some
of the Insight's other concerns. Upon arrival, our service advisor greeted us
and we then sat down to go over our list. Neil explained to him that we needed
to follow Honda's recommended service schedule, exactly, with no variations. Our
advisor explained that the dealer's recommended service was the same as Honda's
recommended service. For more on this topic, check out these articles: Maintenance
Madness and Maintenance
Madness II: Dealer vs. Manufacturer Maintenance Schedules.
Neil agreed to do the service only if it was exactly as Honda recommended and
our advisor said it was; Neil had his doubts, but agreed to do it. We also added
from our staff's list:
- Check and advise on driver-side window's slow operation
- Speakers have static; advise
- Customer states vehicle has click noise on turns
- Auto Stop feature inop at times on warm engine; advise
Neil signed the work order for $349.00 for the 30,000-mile service and caught
a shuttle back to work. Later in the afternoon, after not hearing from our service
advisor, he decided to call in and check on the dealer's progress. They had completed
the service and were able to check out our list of concerns. In the same order
as above, here are our dealer's answers:
- Cleaned and lubed driver window run channels/track — window operation
is normal at this time
- Unable to duplicate any abnormal noise from speakers at this time
- Unable to verify noise (clicking) on turns due to weather condition
— customer is advised to return on a day that is not raining for test drive
under normal road conditions
- Advised customer to read page 136 in owner's manual on auto stop feature — system is operating normal at this time
Neil was pleased with how efficient Santa Monica Honda's technicians were in completing
his list of items, and they did have a point about diagnosing noise concerns on
rainy days, since it is nearly impossible to do. Overall, it was a pleasant service
experience, but due to the nature of the service bill, it was nearly impossible
to determine whether we got all of the recommended Honda items completed. Honda
lists that both the air and air conditioning filters are recommended for replacement
at this interval, and we could only find one filter, other than the oil filter,
on the list of parts that the dealer had replaced.
It has proven itself as a commuter car. Its compact size and excellent
fuel efficiency have earned high praise from the Edmunds.com staff. It has again proven its mileage machismo with the help of the long distance Mr. Chirico
travels to and from work every day. The Insight achieved an astounding 62.7 mpg
(according to the car's computer) at its commuting height this month. If you do
the math, it becomes even more impressive. Neil's commute each way is 66 miles,
the gas tank is just over 10 gallons; with all things considered, it's possible
to get over 600 miles to the tank. That means that even with the long round-trip
commute of 132 each day, Neil can get almost a work-week's worth of commuting
out of the Insight. How many times do you fill your tank each week for commuting
from home to work and back? Given the cost of gas these days — and remember,
the Insight only needs a little more than 10 gallons — the funny-looking
little car starts making all kinds of sense. Those people you see driving around
in Insights don't seem so crazy any more.
Current Odometer: 30,537
Best Fuel Economy: 64.1
Worst Fuel Economy: 49.6
Running Average (over life of vehicle): 52.3
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: $349.00
Problems: None
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