Oh, this is ridiculous, that's not a way to greet someone, PriusChatters! Welcome to the forum, sandt. The moderators can move the thread to the proper place, but it's a good question (I'm guessing you mean in potential repair costs down the road?). I have zero knowledge on the comparison, but someone here will, hopefully they can chime in. The 2006 is pretty good on maintenance. If you're asking specifically about battery replacement, which isn't definitely going to happen, but could with age and high miles, people on here have replaced it for under $2000 total, labor included, with a refurbished battery instead of getting a brand new one from the dealership. In theory this price will go down further with time. One user documents his maintenance costs here: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-2004-prius-my-ongoing-maintenance-costs.html
I personally think the Gen 1 Insight (2000 - 2006) will be a classic: limited production, very high MPG, ultra-lightweight, hand-built, etc. An Insight can be re-purposed to a pure EV or a K20 hot rod. It is a car for a variety of enthusiasts. Whereas, the Gen II Prius (2004-2009) will be the hybrid beater of tomorrow and carry the same cachet in 20 years as a 1990 Tercel does now. One thing to consider, though, is DO NOT buy an Insight with LOW miles (less than 10,000 miles/year). Those tend to have the most battery problems, although it is in the neighborhood of $1,000 to have the battery reconditioned by a non-dealer.
Wow, tell us how you really feel! I bought my 2000 Honda Insight MT for $3,500 back in February. The vehicle had about 66k on the odometer when I bought it, now over 73k. This vehicle is one of the best investments that I've ever made. I was in a tight spot, torn between putting miles on my Thunderbird or continuing to drive my Navigator which got 14 mpg at best. In just the 7,000 miles driven since buying it, it has saved me $1260, at this rate the vehicle will pay for itself within a year of ownership. Not to mention that I could easily sell this thing for at least twice the purchase price. Are there some features that I wish the vehicle had that it doesn't? You bet. The three biggest; Tilt wheel, a center armrest and CRUISE CONTROL. But other than those features this thing does the job.
Take good care of it. At some point I bet they become collector cars. There was not a high number of them built and many are lost due to accidents and such. Like the early Prius models, I think people will seek them out for collections in the future.
Mine has been pretty useful. I got it for commuting and was getting 84+mpg with the thing (overall winter/summer). Now I use it for longer trips. Today it gave me 97.7 mpg on a ca. 110 mile trip to the other side of CT and back. It was pushing 100mpg until we hit a construction jam, and it doesn't handle stop-and-crawl as well as the Prius does. I can help you with one out of three: armrest-autoaccessories.com - HONDA INSIGHT armrest arm rest
Thanks for the link. I've also heard that 92-96 Honda Civic armrests will fit it. That is most likely going to be my first modification to the car.
Before I got my Insight-I, I was absolutely certain that I would install a Rostra cruise control. After I got the car, I found I didn't want cruise control and have never missed it. Actively driving the car is much too fun. The most useful modification I have on mine is MIMA. I think they are building up another batch of plug-and-play MIMA units; see http://99mpg.com/mima/buymima/
now that you have made this an all insight thread, i didn't mean to put down your car. i was simply stating that 'all else being equal' the prius will cost more because it provides more value to a larger segment of the population.
In another thread, I'll be asking you lots of details about MIMA. I'm interested. I'm hoping to be able to completely compare a 1st Generation Insight with a 2nd Generation Prius.
--------------------------------------------------- For armrest, check out the JC Whitney #17485G @ $40.00, center console armrest. I have it in my 2001 Insight. Its better than the armrest king. I've had both types in two different gen 1 Insights
Surprisingly, the Gen I insight has the same drag coefficiency (.25) as a Gen III Prius has. That's hard to imagine ... not just because the Gen III is so much bigger, but because Honda went to all the trouble to put rear wheel skirts on it. .
