Looked at Hondas today.

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

My wife traded a Civic for the Insight. She drove my Prius and thought it was too big and didn't like the dash. We are both small so seat size isn't a factor. The hatchback design is important--more cargo room.
I think she felt more comfortable with the Insight--drives more like a Honda and has a more traditional dash. She also liked the Fit, but they didn't have any stick shifts she wanted. She does like the CVT on the Insight--just like the Prius.

The thing that separates Prius II from the Insight is the eco mode.
That's more like the Prius III. She says you definitely feel less pickup with the eco mode on, but she doesn't mind--it makes you drive slower.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Wow, great price. Definitely a good deal at that price.

Have her keep track of your gas receipts and odometer and let us know how she does. fueleconomy.gov user-reported economy is within a couple percent of the 2009 Prius, so you're probably right.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Honda makes fantastic cars but the current Insight model leaves a lot to be desired. I didn't drive one but all I needed to do was sit in one. The whole car feels very cheap. From the flimsy doors to the cheap materials used on the interior. I have no idea what they were thinking. Truth be told, I'd give up a little in the mileage department to have a 2 door Civic. Great car... Ooops... Make that FANTASTIC car.... very reliable and very cheap to maintain. Same goes for the Fit but I'm just not crazy about the styling.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Civic is a tried and true car. They last almost forever. The Insight was around for awhile, then stopped, now started again in a redesigned version. It's kind of a first model year, though Honda has had a lot of experience now with its version of a hybrid. In fact, Honda people say they were first with hybrids, but Toyota seems to have leapfrogged them with the Prius and the Synergy drive concept.

What with the bad PR Toyota is currently getting--of questionable substance--Honda is trying to take advantage by offering dealer incentives of $1500 or so, until March 1st. They are also trying to protect their market. My dealer says Insights are selling, so we'll see what happens. The Insight does have an advantage over the Prius in that it looks more like a conventional car inside (dash, etc.). It isn't as big a switch--at least in perception.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

I test drove both the Insight and a Prius today.. I have to say.. there is no comparison IMHO.

Prius- Hands down drives much smoother, and better, and has MUCH more room inside.

But I just can't justify a new car note when my Nissan Frontier is paid for....

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

It isn't fair to compare a compact against a mid-size.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

The deal breaker for me for the Honda Insight vs Prius are:
1) not a true hybrid; you cannot crawl into traffic without using the ICE
2) looks
3) overall engine power
4) fuel consumption
5) overall available standard options in comparison to the buy price

I remember the Honda Civic sold in EU about 15-20 years ago - even then there was no passenger space in the back (this was the reason my parents decided not to get it). We looked also at the 2 doors coupe version and the deal breaker was that the driver's seat would not move forward when tilted to get out from the left side - to prevent children popping out in the traffic???

My father drives since 4 years a Honda Jazz (Fit?) with CVT and he is extremely pleased - not a single repair yet, except the standard checks. The car looks new and overall build still feels new inside the cabin - lots of space also for all passengers. The Honda Jazz is sold a lot in EU.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

I just noticed today the AAA internet price on the Insight is $1000 more than we paid last week. Probably because the Honda price incentive ended yesterday. The Prius was also about $1300 more expensive than last week. I guess Toyota was countering the Honda incentive last week with their own.

Note that these incentives were not highly publicized--maybe because the dealers wanted to pocket the incentive and not pass it on to the buyer. AAA, however, included the incentive to their customers, and so their internet dealers were bound to honor the price. We saved a lot of money dealing through AAA.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Yep on #3. Notice that the Insight is amongst 4th slowest vehicle in terms of 0-60 times that CR has tested at Best & worst cars review, best & worst acceleration. The 2010 Prius in their tests did it in (a not fast either) 10.6 seconds.

FWIW, I've taken my Z and my former Maxima drag racing before and I can safely say that a 1 second difference in the quarter mile [much longer distance than a 0-60 run would be] is huge. My Max could only do the 1/4 mile in the high 14s/low 15s (finishing in the low 90 mph range, IIRC) when I went.

Insight's economy, although good, is definitely inferior to that of the Prius. (Most fuel-efficient cars for CR's figures). As many of us have stated here, it's too bad that not only is the Insight smaller and slower, it also gets worse mileage.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

The Insight's gasoline powered A/C will annoy you. It is an assist hybrid but battery can not even help with the A/C. It is belt driven from the gas engine.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Nope, Honda took a step back (probably to reduce cost) and put HCH-I A/C system in the Insight.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Caranddriver disagrees with your conclusion.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

That's because Car & Driver was judging handling feel, while coach81 was not.

Apples and oranges.

The Insight may be more fun on a twisty road, but most find the Prius more satisfying to live with on a day-to-day basis.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

The magazine is Car & Driver. We at PriusChat are Car & Owner. Owning a car is much more than driving it to review.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

The double transformation of mechanical energy to electrical and back to mechanical has to be less efficient than running the AC compressor directly from the engine.

What are the loss figures ?

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

But the engine has to run all the time that the AC compressor is on, just to run the compressor. With other designs, it's off under certain conditions, saving fuel at that time.

 

Re: Looked at Honda's today.

Interesting. I guess the tradeoff is then between how much of a idling engine's energy is wasted while it runs the A/C and charges the battery, vs the energy loss due to the double conversion.
Any guesses ?