Prius II vs. Insight Gen II EX

Impulse bought an Insight 3/1/2010. Observations from someone who has taken a ride or two in a Prius but not enough knowledge to really compare the 2 cars:
1. Insight is not for the overweight driver. Height is not a problem if you are under 6'2". I'm 6' and there's still a couple of inches above my head.
2. From comments and reviews, you will either like the seats or find them very uncomfortable. I think they are comfortable.
3. Seat is a bit low and getting in and out requires some effort; maybe because I'm 59 y/o and coming from a mid-size SUV.
4. You will either like or dislike the dashboard arrangement. It's unusual. I like it.
5. Many people think it is a Prius.
6. The Integrated Motor Assist technology is not as good as a Prius, but the gas mileage I'm getting is exceeding my expectations. Almost never on a freeway and I'm getting 38.7 (last reading) about the same as my friend who owns a 2008 Prius and does similar driving.
7. Get the EX - the alloy wheels, upgraded sound system and cruise control (not available on an LX) are worth it.
8. Got my EX through an on line service for $20,550, way lower than what a dealer wanted. It's a damn good price for a Hybrid.
9. Have owned a Lexus and a Camry. Toyota makes a fine car with excellent fit and finish and superior performance.
10. My impulse purchase at week #7 of ownership was not a mistake. It's a fun car to drive. I think it looks great in and out. But it's not for everyone.

 

We tested an Insight prior to our Prius purchase. We felt the car showed why it was 10-20% cheaper than a Prius in it's seating, ergonomics, it's ride and how 'thin' it felt. We were in the $26k-$32k purchase range (I also looked at an Acura and Camry hybrid) so the Insight was 'low' budget for us. I did not even like the Acura dash - the round A/C dial in both Insight and TSX is uninventive to say the least. We have owned other Honda products and liked the switchgear - not here.

I did like the exterior of the Insight and the some of the colors Honda were offering. We took it home for a night but returned it and bought the Prius instead. YMMV

 

FIT is such a great car. But don't get the ones without the CVT. Ishift is a no no.

 

What is "Ishift?" I don't think they offer that here. Here in the US, for the Fit we get a choice of a 5 speed manual or a 5spd auto. On the "Sport" model, the auto comes w/ paddle shifts--but I don't think it's a CVT. So many automakers--this is especially ironic when it is a US nameplate--seem to reserve the good stuff for the Euro market and assume we in the US want boring old 1970s-era slushbox auto trans. Too bad. At least Ford seems to be waking up and will supposedly be giving us the Euro market Focus...we shall see, I guess.

I still like the pure manual tranny on the Fit--seems perfectly mated to get the best out of such a lightweight car--it feels a lot faster than it really is, but makes it fun. Fun, as they say, is good.
Cheers
~T

 

The paddle shift you've got is the Ishift. Don't get it. Stay away seriously. It will be fine for the first 2-3 years and after that you will start to have delays. Serious shifting delays. Toyota UK has them on some of the range of the cars but they are scrapping them since it has caused a lot of very unhappy customers.

It got so bad to a state where when you put the car in reverse it will take 5 seconds before it will sift into gear.

Stay away from them.

Thats why CVT the older generation FIT or we call it Jazz here is so much better. The Honda CVTs are proven to be a workhorse and very reliable but they are much more expensive and also not as fuel efficient than the Ishift.

 

Yes I think the Prius is much suerprior than the insight. Good choice but don't get the Prius Satnav.

Prius is a great car but try to stay away from their really expensive over priced Satnav system.

I regret buying my tech systems. I would be much happier with just the 17 inch wheels and not the self parking rubbish. Satnav is so crap that I despise it. And the radio problems oh thats bad too. But I do like the rear parking camera.

I've also got the rear parking sensors which is good combo with the camera.

I wish I can install the front parking sensors as well but unfortunatly you can't have that when you have the Self Parking Assist system. Stupid really.

But the bluetooth is good. So I don't know what kind of combination you can choose in the US.

 

How did you like the leather on your friend's package IV (wrapped steering wheel and seats) compared to the II that you test drove? For myself, I really liked the wrapped steering wheel and felt that the leather seats felt better and that they (and the leather trimmed arm rests) would wear longer than the cloth.

 

I also looked at an Insight before getting the Prius. There were two main issues:
1) The back seat on the Insight was almost unusable for me - I'm 6' and my son is 6'2", so head room was an issue.
2) Here on Long Island, NY the Insight is not allowed in the HOV lane during peak hours (only the older Insight, Prius and Honda Civic are) and the new Insight is not eligible for the Green EX-Pass. These were the real deal killers.

 

Congratulations on your new purchase and good job on your evaluation.

I have the III with cloth seats and after 8 months they look fine. I was like you, the difference in price between the cloth and leather was just not worth it to me.

 

Congrats. I have the cloth too and I think they are ok. Not too bad and also the price they charge for the Leather was just way too much for my liking. I dont' really like leather Seats much anyway. You always need heat seater to go with it and also a lot harder to maintain.

But the cloth seats in the Pirus is really not that great compared to other car cloth seats such as the Audis.

 

I test drove both the Insight EX and the Prius. The Insight I drove was installed with an aftermarket leather seats. Overall, I noticed the Insight was a bit sluggish and the interior, while it looked better than on Honda's website, didn't really look all that refined to me. Plus, coming from an Audi A4, it was really small inside. I'm only 5'11" - small to average build, but I felt really cramped inside. And the backseat legroom was almost non-existent. Plus, it just didn't have enough gadgets/options that I wanted.

I test drove the Prius IV after and immediately liked it. I first noticed that it was much roomier. It was bigger, if not the same size as my Audi, and it was definitely faster than the Insight. Also, it had more gadgets/options. Additionally, it came in the color I wanted and better fuel economy for 60mile roundtrip commute. While the cost different was pretty substantial, I had to overlook that and go with the car I'd be most happy and comfortable with since I know I'd regret it in the end if I decided to go cheap.

 

I am baffled by some of the things I've read on this thread. I am amazed how many people bailed on buying an Insight over issues like cup holders, arm-rests, leg-room, etc. I guess if I weighed 300 pounds and I felt the need to eat and drink a lot in the car (probably the reason I would weigh that much) then I suppose a bigger car would be nice. But if I was that concerned about things like that, then maybe a Cadillac Escalade would be a better choice, or maybe a Hummer.

We have both a Prius and a 2010 Insight in our household. My wife drives the Insight. She actually gets better fuel-economy than I do. She usually gets 46 Mpg where I typically get 44 in the Prius. So the EPA numbers do tend to lie a little bit.

Now, if you wanted a REAL complaint about the Insight, the only thing I can think of is the fact that the air-conditioner is belt-driven and when the engine shuts off, you loose your A/C. In the heat of the Summer it requires disabling the auto-stop feature in order to keep the car cool. The Prius doesn't suffer from this since it has an electric air conditioner.

Still, both cars are nice.