Prius vs Insight?

honda has a bad rep

 

The newest 2019+
Honda Insight has Voltec inside And lithium and thus far has been a solid choice.

the older cars have a poor reputation though but their issues can be worked through or Bypassed, the 2nd gen insight is far superior to the earlier Civic hybrids with mainly an issue with oil burning on the earliest examples
(where have we heard of oil burning before?)
the very first Insight is a great hobbiest car with many mods possible including Ksight and lithium swaps, a true engineering car.

 

All I know is that the two things that took the Insight out of the running were the driver's ingress height (top of the seat cushion to the bottom of the top door sill), and that I really wanted something close to a hybrid station wagon (so the Niro was tested as well). The rear hatch, plus the extra storage, has proven itself invaluable to my daily and weekly tasks.

 

I don't know about the latest ones but ISTR the previous Insight was not a full hybrid, i.e. it couldn't move on electric alone, whereas the Prius is and has always been a full hybrid.

 

You might want to peruse or ask on gen3insight forum, hopefully they can offer knowledgeable opinions on the current generation Insight. Let us know how it goes.

 

That really should be you. And, report your impressions here, it'd be interesting.

I'd be a lot more interested in the Insight if it was a hatchback. Is the Clarity a sedan as well? Not sure.

 

PASS!

Treat vehicles that were previously used as rentals or commercially for fleet use (such as mine) in the same way that you would treat a salvage vehicle.
There are some bargains out there that can be turned into reliable, long term drivers but they should also come at a STEEP discount.
Are You Buying Trouble if You Buy a Rental Car? | Edmunds.com.

I also will not buy ANY Prius with only one fob unless it's discounted enough.

My last car came with two fobs (smart key, with remote start) and I bought a third OEM fob so that i could program it myself and take the battery out and hide it in the car, and tie wrap the metal key underneath.

That way?
I'm lockout proof.

Your call.

 

Agree with ETC. If it's a deal that they aren't nearly kicking you out of the facility for, skip it.

Follow enough car-enthusiast youtube channels and you'll see the extremes that rentals get treated to. Part of the buying would then require having a mechanic put it up on a lift to make sure a inner-rental-agency body company didn't repair hard damages (front bumper area, rear bumper area, etc.) that didn't get reported to CarFax.

Also, really, from a rental company's perspective, there really is NO incentive to change the oil, ever, on a car they get rid of in less than 25,000 miles. That's hundred of thousands of dollars, if not millions, saved over the course of a large fleet right there.

 

I've bought many, low mileage, ex rentals in the past and had no problem. Here in the UK they tend to be looked after cosmetically as drivers pay a huge penalty for any damage, even scratches and stone chips. The ones I've bought have also been serviced on time and had two keys.

 

I would have taken super white in a heartbeat over blizzard pearl. I don't think it was an option in 2019 for average buyers, but there's no doubt that Taxi fleets are running a pure white on their Priuses.

 

US is different than U.K., it is very hit or miss getting a rental but normally the rental place offers a strong warranty to cover for this.

The main problem buying a rental in the US is

1. Even though they are in bankruptcy, their sales Prices are far above private party/wholesale (low to mid retail)

2. The extra cash paid for the “warranty “ is lost due to the bankruptcy (They will be our of business before the warranty is up)


These bankrupt rental places really need to drop their prices to take into account the current market (blackbook) to stop ripping off potential consumers who pay the full rate for a potentially dodgy car with no warranty.

AKA Risk VRS reward in that market is pretty poor right now.

(Honestly all retail vehicles are very poor values At the moment but rentals especially so, blackbook right now is under 1/4 the retail price meaning lots of folks getting the shaft)

 

congrats, all the best!