Used 2011 Honda Insight Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2011 Insight, so we've included reviews for other years of the Insight since its last redesign.
Very happy with our Insight
slow_jim, 08/28/2012
2010 Honda Insight LX 4dr Hatchback (1.3L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
16 of 16 people found this review helpful
We are up to about 20k miles in our Insight now and still getting 45-50mpg with no issues. My wife uses it as her daily driver and loves it. We will never sell this car - so much space, practicality, and fuel economy for the price.
Money saver
barbarossa3, 02/25/2012
2011 Honda Insight LX 4dr Hatchback (1.3L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
15 of 15 people found this review helpful
We've had our insight for 10 months now and have been completely satisfied with the car. We normally achieve 43-46 mpg CITY ! At 75 on an interstate it drops to 40 MPG but I usually get 50-53 on a 55 mph highway. Some routes to work net me 53 mpg city. We replaced a 4.2 litre Ford Freestar which gave 17-19 mpg city and are saving the entire car payment in cost savings. Free Car!! Ride is a little rough and firm as new cars go(typical for Honda). Interior on LX is a little too plastic. Blind spots are awful in traffic.
2011 Honda Insight for sale near you
3 of 26 listings
- LX 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $7,80319 mi away
- EX 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $7,990151 mi away
- EX 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $7,995681 mi away
See all 26 listings
I used to pray this car breaks.
Hua Kai Gai, 01/29/2019
updated 10/31/2024
2010 Honda Insight EX 4dr Hatchback (1.3L 4cyl gas/electric mild hybrid CVT)
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
I own this car first-hand since 2009. Current mileage is 308K. This car requires unbelievably low maintenance. So far, I have replaced breaks twice, water pump once, batteries twice, and wheel bearing and tie rod once. Everything else is regular oil, filter, and tires. I used to pray this car breaks so that I get a new car but that never happened. Now, I love my car more than ever since I realize now it’s a gem and I will keep it as long as possible. This car is 100% built in Japan.
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Don't sweat the official reviews -it's a great car
Nick, 02/25/2021
updated 02/26/2024
2011 Honda Insight LX 4dr Hatchback (1.3L 4cyl gas/electric mild hybrid CVT)
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
I bought my Insight after a bit of trepidation. Everyone's a critic now when it comes to cars. We generally read so much about cars and form opinions of them without ever having driven them. Car mag reviewers seemed to hate the quality of plastics, harsh ride and excessive noise. Things are never enough for them when held up to the massively expensive cars they usually ride in. Jeremy Clarkson moaned about the CVT transmission. But Honda was early to the game with it on this car. Many cars have a CVT now. Clarkson even called it "biblically terrible" and "really, to get an idea of how awful it is, you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer." They also compare it unfavorably to the Prius, the worst cut of all. Well, challenge accepted. Consider this the contrarian's choice. Honda built this thing as the cheapest hybrid you could buy. Bombproof, easy to work on (when it needs work, which is never), enjoyable to drive and cheap. It won't do 0-60 in 7 seconds or carry 5 adults comfortably. What it will do is get you around comfortably enough 97% of the time. If you read the manual just for a few minutes you can adjust the settings to your liking. Want all the doors to stay unlocked when you start moving? You can do that. Want the engine to not turn off when you stop at lights? Turn off the eco button. I was a bit worried about the hybrid battery (aka IMA battery) failing at some point and being massively expensive to fix. 10 years later and it's working fine. You can't even find people talking about it in forums because it doesn't seem to happen much at all. The Insight forum is about the most boring one anywhere because nothing ever happens to these cars. They just work. All people find themselves talking about is responding to newbies asking how concerned they should be about the battery failing, what mileage they're getting, and answering other people who wandered in from the first generation Insight forum by accident. If you enjoy working on cars, get something else. This one will bore you because there's never anything to fix. Routine maintenance like oil changes gets done twice a year and that's all it needs. It does need 8 spark plugs (2 per cylinder) at 105K miles but that can be done easily after removing a couple of panels. CVT needs to have the fluid changed every 30K miles. But really, is that a big deal? If you do your homework you'll want to know if the IMA system had the software updated. There were some early problems with it when climbing hills that were fixed. The 2012-13 models have a slightly updated engine that had a nasty habit of burning large amounts of oil because of a new kind of piston ring that was supposed to reduce friction. Make sure those had the engine fixed. The 2010, 2011, or 2014 are the ones to get. You'll also want to make sure the regular 12V battery in the engine bay doesn't get more than about 3 years old as a low 12V battery causes issues with the IMA system. Update: It's been over 3 years and 40K miles that I've had this car and nothing to report. It simply works. I also learned that it was rated by Consumer Reports as the top pick for reliability. It was also the top selling automobile in Japan when released. Still no concerns about the IMA battery. I did replace the 12V battery recently as the last one was good for 3 years, as expected. I have winter tires on it now and it's been fun to drive in the snow.
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17K Miles later...
nickdapit, 11/13/2011
2011 Honda Insight EX 4dr Hatchback (1.3L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
18 of 19 people found this review helpful
So far I couldn't ask for much more from the car, I bought the car specificlly for my job as I drive large stretches of the country. My latest trip took me from Los Angeles to Denver; then Denver to Seattle; then Seattle back to Los Angeles. I have had no problems with the car and average the EPA estimate for driving. (42 mpg) The only thing that dissappoints me is the rear seat area, a six foot man cannot fit even with a 5 foot driver in the front seat. Headroom is almost ridiculous to the point where Honda should have just made an inch or two higher for the rear seats even if that cost the vehicle 2 mpg's overall! The leg room is very tight in the rear. Don't buy if family is large.