Let me start off mentioning here I currently own a 1987 Honda Civic Hatchback I bought new and a 2004 Toyota Tacoma I bought used that had 7400 miles on it. These are the two best vehicles I owned, so I know both Honda and Toyota are reliable. I was in the market for a new vehicle to replace my Honda because some parts for it are getting hard to come by. Never will get rid of it though. The 2 vehicles I were interested in and drove were the 2010 Honda Insight EX and a 2009 Toyota Prius. Let's start with the Insight. Outside looks were great, inside aesthetically was fine also. The first thing I did when I sat in it was adjust the steering wheel and seat to my liking. So far so good. I started it up and looked at the dash to see where the speedometer was. No Speedometer, what! Oh there it is. Right in the line of sight with the top of the steering wheel. I had to readjust the seat to see the speedometer. Not a good placement for a speedometer in my humble opinion. Next I went out on the road. I accelerated from a stop to 45 mph and took notice of how much the power of the motor was lacking compared to a Prius. Yes, I realize it wasn't a sports car. It had a button on the dash labeled, Econ. I tried it with that button Off and On. It performed a little better but not as smooth as the Prius. Next I didn't like all the junky info displayed on the dash display. It just looked cheap to me. No backup camera. Wow, that is a nice feature on the Prius. The Paddle shifters. My first thought, what in the world do you need these for. Cheap looking and unnecessary. ( I know they probably serve a purpose, but I didn't need it or use it on a test ride) And yes, I read their purpose, still unnessesary. Then I went to the Toyota dealer to drive a Prius. What a refined nice riding car it was. I had driven a Prius one year ago so I knew a little bit what to expect. But I needed to confirm that feeling. I ended up buying the Prius the next day. I was searching the web and came across an article by Edmunds comparing the two. They liked the Insight better. They came the conclusion the Insight seating was more comfortable. The handling was better. Not to me. In my opinion, the Prius was better.
Blippo: I have to agree. We never did get to the point of test driving the Insight, but we did look around them considerably. I also have a 99 Odyssey which we love, but the Toyota was the much better car in this case.
If you were that impressed with the 09 Prius just think what the 2010 is going to feel like to you!!! Nice writeup!!
I bought G2 Prius. Before that I test drove 2010 Honda Insight as well. Let me say I like Honda's. I had 250,000 trouble free Miles on 99 Accord, the one that Prius replaced. I also have 95000 Mi on 2003 Pilot with only a minor problem so far. I do prefer the way Honda's handle roads better than toyota's in general. But I must say I definitely found G2 prius better than Insight. Only road handling was better for Insight. Apart from road noise which I am used to in Accord, Insight was definitely underpowered as compared to Prius. In fact I was considering Honda Fit which I liked much better than Insight. I am also not a fan of MFD energy screen on Prius, I would have prefered 2 or 3 multicolor led's showing Engine on/off/rotating without gas consumption, battery chargin/discharging, Motor driving / regenerating. But then Insight's display was not too great either. I did never give much thought to Insight after the test drive. I was sold on Prius. Too bad I could not wait for 2010 Prius II which meets all my needs.
I'll take a shot at this after sitting in the 2010 Insight again today .... The 2010 Insight is .... small !! I moved the front seat all the way back and down (I'm tall). It's pretty good in the front seat, but sat behind the driver's seat, back seat ... yuck. Can barely get into the seat. No headroom at all for me. I had to tilt my head a lot just to sit back there. The 2010 Insight is a sub-compact. I have much better rear seat headroom and legroom in my 2009 Prius. And the Insight is no comparison to the 2010 Prius. No matter that the Insight is a couple thousand $ less, appparently. Hopefully people are warming up to idea of driving smaller cars, but IMO the Insight is a 2-seat car for many 'big Americans'.
I have the Insight but have only driven it about 65 miles in one trip. I just returned last night and put 1740 miles on the new GenIII Prius that we picked up last Friday. I had made the same trip the last 2 years in a GenII. This year was the most comfortable of all. The ride and drive is much improved as well as the seating. The leather is more comfortable as well. The Insight II is a great car but it is smaller. The ride of the the Gen III is superior. I just filled the Insight up an hour ago, and my daughter got 50.3 mpg in in. She drove a few 6 to 10 miles rode trips but most was around town. They are both great cars, but the Prius wins in all categories.
Just noticing from your sig that you have quite the collection of hybrids in your family - fantastic!
I don't know about in VA but here in NY, 2010 Insight can not get clean pass to access HOV lane. 41 MPG isn't going to cut it.
For those that can tell the difference in handling from one car to another, they should test drive the touring. Many say they don't notice the difference but if you don't push it, you're not going to. I first drove a 2004 back in early 2005 and quickly decided that the Prius was not for me and I could never stand to drive a car that handled so poorly having owned mainly sports cars and sport sedans over the last 20 years. Then last year I test drove a standard Prius and then a touring. I couldn't believe the difference. It was like night and day. Where the standard model leans and screetches the tires on circular on and off ramps, the touring model is flat and tight by comparison. I see from time to time someone making a comment about the prius handling whether it be in comparison to the insight or simply on it's own and discounting it without ever having tried a touring. For an extra $500 and the shorter stopping distances, it's a no brainer.
I test drove the Insight Wednesday night. In addition to having the rudest salesman I've ever encountered (Halfway through the test drive-Him: you buy car tonight? Me: No. Him: WHY NOT?), the Insight felt very cramped. My girlfriend sat in the backseat and felt claustrophobic (She's 5'8"). I also felt the ride was a little bumpy. The dealbreaker was that the backseat felt too small for us to comfortably transport another couple around, plus our spoiled choc lab wouldn't be comfortable for long car trips! By comparison, the 2008 Prius I bought the next day felt like a much nicer, much more powerful car. I can see this being very subjective, but I like the style and feel of the Prius a lot more.
