This will likely be my last thread here. Just traded the 08 Fit manual Sport in on an Insight today. I am posting to provide info to anyone interested in the Insight or just wondering about it - not to say the Insight is a better car. It's not. It's just a different car for different needs.

I really liked the Fit and it was trouble free for 1 year and 12k miles. The reason I switched over was that the Fit, as nice as it is, for me it isn't the most comfortable highway car. That's where I spend 95% of my time driving. The Insight is heavier and has a longer wheel base which I suspect combine to make for a smoother ride. On the other hand, it's nowhere near as agile as the Fit. Not totally boring like a Prius though. Somewhere in between I think.

The inight has decent interior room - very similar to a Civic but with the hatch. It's more comfortable than the Fit up front for me - I'm very tall. But, there's less leg room and headroom for passengers I'm told. Looked okay to me though. The seats are nicer than the Fit's but the Insight has the same cheapy carpet - dissapointed. That said, Weathertech makes the liners for the Insight already so I'm covered (literally). They did a great job protecting the Fit carpet which looked like new when I traded it. (Btw - I'm selling them in the classifieds) The back seats also don't flip up like the Fit so it's safe to say that the Fit will carry more stuff. .

The increase in mileage was not enough incentive to switch. Frankly, I had to set aside the fact that it's a hybrid because it gets maybe 2-3 mpg better than my Fit which got about 38 mpg on the hwy. Pretty lame by hybrid standars imo. If you look at it as a nice $22k car that gets 40ish mpg, it makes sense. If you look at as a hybrid that gets 40ish mpg, not so much.

The cost is where it starts to make sense especially if you compare it to the Prius. The EX stickers at $22,010.00. The Prius base car is 2-3 grand more. With similar options even more. That cash difference buys a LOT of gas and frankly, I don't like the Prius. It does get better mileage but it's more complicated. I digress, The LX version about $1500 less than the EX. BUT, the LX does NOT have cruise. I was going to buy an LX. Even made the deal. Thank God I drove it to get a check from home. I didn't notice it on the test drive. It has buttons on the steering wheel, but they are for the information center. No cruise! No deal! I think Honda shot themselves in the foot on that one. Anyway, I ended up getting the EX for $20,768 due to an internet advertising error supposedly. I guess I believe it as another dealer (the one I made the deal on the LX with) said buy it - it's under his cost. They gave me $12k for my Fit which I thought was pretty minimal depreciation. I paid $15,300 for it a year ago.

I have 32 miles on the car so I can't give a whole lot beyond what I've already said. I expect that like most Hondas, it will not dissapoint.

 

just glad to hear you stayed with Honda

 

I suspect you will be getting much better than 40 mpg on highway cruising once the Insight is broken in. It may not deliver Prius mileage, but should be considerably better than the Fit.

 

i heard people are getting much better than the epa estimates. good luck!

 

It would be nice if you guys are right. The read out was saying 41.5 mpg when I was driving home. I'm not sure if that's an overall average or what (I have to read the manual still), but either way I'm sure it will do better once it breaks in. The Fit got about 33 mpg when new, but better than epa at 38 mpg last week.

 

it took my fit about 4-5k to start getting good mileage. so maybe you'll start seeing it in a few months.

 

If I drove 95% highway I wouldn't want a fit either. Good luck!!!

 

congrats on your purchase.

the insight is based on the ge8, which already rides better than the gd3 as a highway car, so i would imagine the insight would be better.

it worries me that you said you 'figured' it would be....did you take it for a drive on the freeway? i requested to do so when i drove the ge8 and the salesguy had no problems whatsover with it.

if you were able to get that type of mpg with the fit, you will love what you can do with the insight. highway cruising is the best way to suck good mpg out of a car, and thats mostly your commute so there you go.

despite reviews that the engine itself is noisy, most dba readings suggest that the insight is VERY quiet at a 70mph cruise, i think like under 67 decibles.

 

You should post some pictures of your new insight for us!

 

I am considering an Insight as well, currentley own an 07 Taffeta White Fit manual trans. Love the car,great city mpg at 32-35, but same hwy(with a six speed it would get 45 prolly) I have read on here some folks are getting close to sixty hwy with their new Insights, which would be even better than a Prius??.
Any way I have gotten very used to the cargo space on the Fit, so the Insight is really the only other config in a hybrid I would want- not considering a Prius from a price point perspective.

 

Thanks!

Poor wording on my part. The 1st thing I did was a highway test drive of a LX to make sure it had a comfortable ride. But, as mentioned, the lack of cruise control was a deal breaker for me so I moved on because that dealer had only LXs. I bought the EX from another dealer where it sat - no test drive. I figured it would have pretty much the same ride. It does.

I heard of the engine noise complaint. I have no idea what they are referring to. It's very quiet on the highway at 75 mph. Hardly any wind noise at all. Maybe upon hard acceleration the motor makes it's presence known, but that seems as it should be to me.

 

Pretty much where I was coming from except I was getting better mileage. I was pretty conscious of using gas saving techniques - lots of gliding, short shifting and soft starts. My brakes looked like new according to the last dealer inspection. I also bumped the air pressure up a bit (not insane like hypermilers tho) which certainly did not help ride quality. Also, my mileage greatly improved after 10k miles of break in.

The Fit has better cargo space - hands down. But, I think the Fit has better cargo space than my Yukon XL! That said, the Insight is pretty good. Go check one out. Doesn't cost anything to look.

 

If he drove a new Prius at $23k, he might have not bought the Insight. All around better car. I went shopping for a hybrid recently to use as a daily car and ended up with an Altima Hybrid. I have more urban/city driving and it kicks butt. Drives really close to a regular car. I thought the Insight couldn't pull itself on a parkway/hwy onramp fast enough in my area.

 

Maybe. And that's a BIG maybe. Even at even money I don't like the Prius. But, a comparable Prius is no where near $23k let alone even money. I can only comment on pre 2010 models (but I don't like Toyotas in general so I'm sure nothing would change on my end). This is certainly a topic that will be debated many times over. The Prius is one of the most controversial cars on the road. With that, my observations (some is opinion) on them are -

Pro
More interior room
Better mileage (potential anyway - not real world. I'm being charitable)

Cons
Bigger - I don't want a bigger car
Heavier
More complex
Boring
Expensive
Ugly - side by side the Insight looks much better
Documented problem areas on some of them including, but not limited to -
limited slip issues in winter - car immobilized on slippery surfaces
gas tank bladder issues - hard to fill tank above 3/4
bad paint quality

I'm not knocking the Prius. I have friends that have them and love them. They have none of the problems listed above.....but some people do. There are web sights dedicated to dissatisfied Prius owners - and there's lots of them. These are all things that factored when making my buying decision. So, it is definitely not an all around better car. Maybe better for some people, but not me.

As far as speed, the Prius and Insight are very comparable. Getting on the highway, you have to really put your foot down to get the Insight going. Part of that is if it's in the "green" mode which alters the throttle response for economy. Was that on when you drove it? And also, what do you expect from a 1.3L car who's primary raison de etre is fuel economy? My Fit wasn't exactly a bolt of lightning either. I had to keep the revs up pretty high to get anything out of it. Same with the Insight. Fact is, it's plenty fast for public roads. I've had all manner of fast cars including nice BMWs and Porsches which satisfied my need for speed. I'm not looking for speed out of this car, but I'm not dissapointed by it either.

I'm glad you like your Nissan. I'm sure it's the right car for you.

 

My previous 06 CivicEX sedan was doing 39-41mpg consistently on the hwy... And was $19K, very comfy. Not as sporty as my FitS, but not bad. The AT was what killed it for me though...probably 1/2 my mistake...and they didn't have the Si sedan's out yet.

Traded in the civic for the FitS.

 

Absolutely....I did the basic math. Even factoring in a substantial +/- on the EPA numbers, I figured 9 - 12 years for me (based on my yearly miles) to break-even on the extra cost of the Insight with gas savings versus buying a Fit. It just didn't add up. I almost bought the Insight on principle alone -- we shoulda been in hybrids 20 years ago. In the end, the Fit won....but it was a tough choice.

Enjoy yer Insight!

 

Sorry to see you getting out of the Fit but glad you found a Honda that was able to work for you. Come back to visit from time and time. Have you seen this yet ----- Mugen Insight - really different!

Cat :x

 

^^ thats sweet!

 

I have owned 7 or 8 Hondas. At one time that's all I would consider. Now I rationalize vehicles differently. I won't go further in discussing the differences because you made your purchase. I would think you might be in a Honda-only frame of mind. Yes the Nissan was the best choice for what I do and where I travel. Enjoy the Insight, it's a good car regardless. The Prius is a
hell of a car with loads of refinement and technology.

 

Don't take this as a tit for tat response but, I feel I should answer your "Honda only" frame of mind statement. In fact, before we owned any Hondas, we were going to buy the Prius. One set of in-laws had one and raved about it. Other friends own them and gave like accolades. We were pretty much going to just go buy one despite what I thought was a too high price for the return not to mention I just wasn't crazy about the car.I hemmed and hawed, looking at alternatives including Mini (too $$ and uses premium gas), VW diesel Sportwagon (made in Mexico - been there, done that. Never again.), Aveo (for the briefest of moments), Focus (likewise), Sentra SE-R (sedan), Altima (sedan), and the Civic (sedan). (I will say that all of the above were more cost efficient than the Prius, they just didn't have what I needed) Then the Fit became available in the US. I did the math and found the Fit a far more cost effective vehicle than the Prius. I arranged a test drive and liked it more than the Prius, so we bought the Fit. Yes, one can say apples to oranges, but my criteria was to get a fuel efficient vehicle with a hatch. In that, they are comparable.

Flash forward one year. A new criteria, highway comfort, emerges. Truth be told, the Prius would have been the better choice factoring that. I was almost going to grudgingly trade the Fit on the Prius. Then I saw the Insight. Problem solved. Less money, meets the criteria, and I like it.

So, I am not a Honda only guy. I have a Yukon XL and a Dodge Grand Caravan. Both have been fantastic, reliable vehicles that serve their purpose. I will say that I think Honda makes a damn fine car. They don't cost a fortune, have low running costs, are nice driving cars, and have very good resale. What's not to like?