The sooner the better. I want to see some crazy drivetrain swaps in these things. Total sleeper potential!

I just saw one of these things yesterday. It was being driven by about 130lb guy with about a 300lb chick in the passenger seat. It wasn't leaning a bit. I was impressed.

Also, all of the honda badges had been replaced by ferarri badges (even the hubcaps).

Turn the thing into a real CRX and I'll be happy. The NSX's engine probably offers decent possibilites of keeping the hoonage inside the Honda family, until they have a proper V8.

Sure when asked how many batteries were replaced under warranty, Honda said it was a small amount. When Asked how many Insights they have sold, they said it was " A little more than a small amount". Maybe.

@FLB: Actually, the Accord Coupe v6 has a significant amount of power; I bet it would really kick the Insight up a few notches! Especially if it was mounted in the back, driving the rear wheels. It would have the advantage of not costing a body part or two.

Now I want one!

These need to hurry up and depreciate so I can buy one and stuff a powerful Honda engine in one.

@3wheeler: Exactly right. No hybrid owner is gonna complain at all about getting new batteries under warranty. They would probably even lie about it happening, since they're invested in hybrid technology already and want it to appear as "good" as possible. Until Honda tells us an exact number, we won't actually know a damn thing, and in the meantime, this story is as about as useful as the Pope's testicles.

@TrackpediaCow: Those hybrid bastards!

Since our dealer was apparently unable to tune up a Civic, I'd hate to see what they would have done with any real technology. It would have come back a barely working toaster oven.

@sos10: Megadittoes!

There's a guy on the Insight forum with a turbo setup. Not a whole lot more power, but I think he actually gets better mileage than stock...

[www.insightcentral.net]

This is new, since the last time I went there...

[www.insightcentral.net]

Man, the haters just keep on hatin'. No one's lying on the other JD Power surveys, just this one, right?

Seriously, this is an 8 year old car with 1st generation technology. The fact that a lot of them still function at all is testament to their engineering quality. Plus, it does its job amazingly well - the mileage people achieve in this thing when they master the proper driving techniques is astounding.

If you want to hate on hybrid drivers, hate on the politicians who drive Escapes just to say they drive a hybrid, or any jackass who drives the LS600h... Anyone who is willing to cram themselves into an Insight for 8 years is either really committed to saving the planet or a real cheapskate, not some poseur making a fashion statement.

Gee, and the critics all thought that every Insight owner would be crushed by all the giant SUVs. Didn't happen!

I owned a 2003 Insight with a C.V.T. trans. for 105,000 miles. Most of the miles were highway, first making roundtrips from Lexington, KY to Ann Arbor, MI every weekend. Then I made daily roundtrips from Ann Arbor to Detroit. The battery never failed, but based on the reports I read on insightcentral.net, I fully expected it to in the near future. Based on what I read, the batteries fail at the 100-125 thousand mile mark, which is after the factory warranty has expired. It is true that some have exceeded or fell short of this figure, but we're talking about an average. If you're in a hotter climate, you're in for an even quicker failure, and Honda has acknowledged this by extending a special warranty notice for Insights sold in warmer climates that brings the battery pack coverage up to something like 150 thousand miles. Even if you were out of warranty, Honda typically picked up part of the ridiculously expensive tab for battery pack replacement, but that was as of the time the Insight was still in production. Would they still? Probably only if they think even higher Insight battery replacement cost would generate bad word of mouth that would deter consumers from their other hybrid offerings.
Would I do it again? Maybe. The savings in gas do not make up for the increased cost of the hybrid (though the tax credit certainly helped), the high maintenance costs, the expensive parts replacement costs, the leisurely acceleration, and the rough ride. Not to mention, you are left with a difficult decision if the battery pack fails out of warranty. If it dies on you, do you spend the 2-3 thousand (which is your cost after Honda subsidizes some of the replacement cost) to repair it, knowing that you have a high mileage engine and transmission? Or do you sell it, non-running, for a low price?
What can be said in its favor is it returned 45-50 m.p.g., it handled well (though the low rolling resistance tires did suck), and with the exception of a slipping C.V.T. starter clutch that was replaced under warranty, it was completely reliable even though I drove it in deep snow and, on one occasion, water that came up to the rocker panels.
For me, the problem is if you compare it to a 2003 Toyota Echo with an auto trans., the car I currently own, you will find that it has more cargo room, four seats, and better acceleration for a lower cost. That, and the Echo consistently gets 40 m.p.g., has lower maintenance costs, cheaper parts, no pricey hybrid components waiting to fail, and probably a longer lifespan. The only downsides to the Echo are its "interesting aesthetic" that amounts to chastity belt (I would not have purchased it if I were not already married) and bad handling. Of course, a Scion model with a similar (or the same?) drivetrain might alleviate those concerns.

Go Beach!!!

Sorry guys, just had to do it.

All hail the mighty blue pyramid.

@ TOM CHAMBERS OVER MARK JACKSON

The Insight has already depreciated a good deal, especially when compared to the Prius, which seems to hold its value quite well. A quick check on Autotrader shows some higher mileage Insights for under $6000. Amazing, considering the 70mpg fuel economy and the fact that Honda has agreed to guarantee batteries for 150,000 miles. Hybrids may be overpriced when new, but at those prices, used hybrids actually look like a pretty good deal.

I heard from one engineer that as long as a hybrid has an automatic transmission (ie, most of them) the batteries have a very long life, due to near perfect regulation of the charge/discharge rates.

He did say that some of the early 5-speed Insights had premature battery failures, due to owners doing things like repeatedly lugging them up steep grades in 5th with the throttle to the floor.

@brownie: Oh that JD Power, he's such a scoundrel.

It's all an elaborate hoax, just like these dang computer-machines..a fad, it'll blow over.

@FLB: I dig your style.

Honda did a Legend concept car a few years back that has a longitudinally mounted V8 with stacks under a shaker hood! Finally, a Honda worth being fully alert behind the wheel for!

@brownie: Hating on hybrids is just part of Jalopnik, even if it doesn't make any sense.

I for one welcome our 8 year old hybrid 2 seat overlords.

@au6553: Your response was roughly 26,000 times more useful and interesting than the original article. Good work.

@elwood: At least Jalop has (apparently... hopefully) stopped the annoying AutoblogGreen reach-arounds. It's bad enough that I actually frequent an AOL-owned site. Don't rub my nose in it by cross-posting Jalop, this last bastion of hope for true car-guys, into just another version of Autoblog mediocrity, manufacturer press releases, and militant political correctness, ok?

If the Insight's first year was 1999, and it is now 2007, the car is "rolling through its NINTH year", not its eighth. Simple error. Happens all the time. Too bad they stopped making this car, though. Guess I'll have to get a Civic.