I was never considering AGW in my decision. I think it's a crock as well. im just a cheapskate.

 

the problem with this comparison is that its being compared with the fit.

and only in this comparisoni does the lower price point of the fit help win it some points.

but compare the insight to other cars in its class, like the civic and corolla, and the 'premium' you have to pay for driving a hybird dissapears.

 

Check your data. The Insight is smaller than the Fit inside and kneeroom. And certainly Civic Hybrid. Where is the premium worth more uncomfort?

 

I made this comparison because those were the two cars I was looking at buying.

 

... about knee-room. The Insight has a bit more leg and hip room than the Fit. The ceiling is lower, about the same as the Civic.

The Fit has 2" more headroom and an immensely bigger backseat. The Magic Seats make the cargo area bigger too.

But comfort is a relative and personal term. I'm much more comfortable in the Insight than I was in the Fit. The Insight is much quieter, more cushioned on the road while still keeping some road-feel and much smoother and easier to drive.

The Fit is best for the "fun" factor, cargo room and enormous back seats.

Though I gave up those qualities, I gained in fuel economy, luxury and personal comfort.

 

After back-to-back test drives, it seemed a toss-up between a Fit Sport Auto and an Insight EX. But the more I thought about it, I couldn't justify the difference in cost for less interior space, poorer handling and steering, and poorer visibility of the Insight. I liked both cars, but liked the Fit better overall.

 

i agree with j, comfort is relative. especially when you consider the countless cars that people buying the insight could be coming from.

the insight only feels a little less roomy than the civic and thats mostly in the back seat. in my case ( a 5'8 guy with a 5'2 wife and no kids and stuff to haul around) the insight is just as comfortable if not more than my gd3. (not to metion safer and a better highway cruiser.)

 

I went to my local Honda dealer and test drove both the Fit and Insight. I drove the FIT first (Sport MT) and was surprised how well it drove. It was fun to drive, cornered well, and was fast enough for me. I then drove the Insight (EX). I didn't like it. I didn't like the transmission (can't get an MT), didn't like the blind spot in the back, and didn't like the mushy ride. It is a boring big sedan. Even if the price were the same, I'd go for the Fit over the Insight. I am waiting to try the 2010 VW Golf TDi, before I make my decision.

 

My experience exactly, except you didn't mention the vague steering of the Insight. Fit vs Golf TDI -- now there is a dilemma! The TDI is going to run circles around the Fit, while getting better gas mileage, but the Fit will probably see fewer trips to the service department for repairs.

 

LMAO ^

For me, I'd rather get a Fit than an Insight, same with the Yaris over the Prius. We can get as good as, if not better gas mileage than hybrids. Also, imo, unless you do a lot of city driving where you can drive 25 mph (so that the engine doesn't kick in), hybrids are a waste of money.

 

I think it's all about the value for each person - from $$$, drive experience, looks, utility, etc.

Looks - I think the Insight looks so close to a Prius. :-) And the difference in GD and GE looks is in the eye of the beholder. I bet people who have the GD will say they like the GD look better and the owners of GE will say the GE is hands down more appealing than the other. :-) I hope so since that's one of the reasons we bought the cars we did. We like the way it looks, the way it drives, the ammenities we got, and so on.

:-)

If I had all the money in the world, I would have quite a few cars and a few garages filled.

 

True that. On my Yaris forum, there are some people who will talk smack about the sedan, which is what I own. I have no clue why they choose to put down other cars. Sounds like you guys might have that here too, between the GE and the GD???

 

My old road atlas is falling apart, so I tried to buy a new one at Walmart last weekend. I couldn't find one, so I asked. "If we have them, they'd be over by the magazines, but they're kind of obsolete." I hadn't thought of this before, but GPS units are basically to printed road atlases as electronic calculators were to slide rules. (If you're too young to remember slide rules, google it.) At some point, I'm probably going to have to break down and get a GPS -- preferably one that I can use either on a motorcycle or a car.

 

The Insight has a VERY annoying problem; the hatch window angle(s) is set so that with the rear-view mirror set right for me at 5'11"*, the mirror reflects the hatch which reflects the road. Which means if there is a tar-patch job on the road and it is sunny, there's a constant little wiggly line ticking my vision up to the rear view mirror. Seriously annoying. This isn't a problem the Prius or Fit had.

*: I've got longer legs proportionally for my height though, so I'm all-the-way-back in the driver's seat.

 

I think it's more than just relative. I was really "jazzed" about getting an Insight. But when I did the math and looked at the car, I was just less than impressed. Immediately after I made my decision, the mediocre reviews of the Insight came pouring in. And even in Car and Driver's comparo vs. the Prius, which the Insight won, the last line of the story tells people to buy a Fit!

As for money, I can buy whatever I want (within reason). But that doesn't mean I want to waste it. With the driving I do, the Fit just made more sense.

 

For me, I need the cargo space of the Fit. I was very happy with a 2006 Civic EX 2-door (always 40+mpg), but swapped it for a 2009 Fit Sport because I needed to haul a lot of equipment once or twice a month.

I want to drive a hybrid, and I'm willing to pay a premium for it. I know that I won't save money by buying a hybrid, but I want to be responsible and burn as little fossil fuel as possible. I've tried lots of ways to justify buying an Insight, but I just can't. If I didn't need the cargo space of the Fit, I'd buy an Insight for sure.

What is likely to happen is that when a plug-in hybrid with a reasonable amount of room becomes available, I will buy it. I would kill for a plug-in hybrid Fit!

If the Insight were a plug-in, I might find a way to make it happen. That would be special enough that I'd make other arrangements for hauling stuff.

 

You made the right choice going ith the fit. The irony of the insight is... the car has no insight. For a Hybrid vehicle, its an ABSOLUTE POS. The design is bad, teh engine stops at every light as if its stalling... and its just noisy and rattles... Its alsmo missing the EV element so you are not saving a whole lot of gas.

Dont get me wrong, I liek Honda cars, and I have test drive an Insight and a 09' Prius. After teh test drive, I am sooo convinced that the Prius is just SOOO MUCH BETTER that the extra premium price on it actually make sense and its worth.

 

So buy a used Insight gen 1. You will save money. mine does and nearly doubles the mpg of my Fit.
Fit = cargo/passengers
Insight gen 1 = daily errands/commuting

Ask yourself why Honda brought the gen 1 back instead of successor to CRX.

 

Just saw my thread had been updated. I actually almost bought an Insight....again! But, again, when it didn't work out financially, I bailed. My local dealer was trying to move some of their stock before the end of the year so they had a loaded Insight EX for right at $19k. I thought it would be a great deal and started running numbers with the salesman when I realized I'd forgotten about depreciation on my Fit. It was already down to somewhere between $12-14k kbb trade-in value (can't remember now) due to mileage. So when I factored that in I just told the salesman he and I were wasting our time and called off the whole shnazoodle. And thanks to a batch of Christmas toys my wife got for me (and others she "let" me buy), I've got the Fit all decked out like the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon now, so I'm as content as can be and will put the Insight thing to rest.

 

I too have an Insight for the 1 or two person driving and now a Fit (replacing and Element) for the extra space when needed.

The Insight is a 2001 manual. I have never had any problems with it at all.

The Insight has been the best car I have ever owned up to today.

Autostop works perfectly (it is depressing even in the Fit to sit and have the engine running when stopped). I can easily get mid to high 80s mpg on tanks. It is nice to not stop for gas for 800 to 900 miles on a single tank.

I figure that driving the Fit as if it were and Insight will give at least mid 40s. We'll see.

The Insight was really tall gearing, and that also makes a big difference. You can go about 65 to 70 mph in the MT 2001 Insight and not hit the redline in 2nd gear. That let's you really cruise easily in higher gears. Also, with the way the hybrid electric kicks in you can run in a high gear that would make a non-hybrid system lug the engine (not good).

Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

p.s. If I had to choose the new Insight vs. the Fit, I would definitely pick the Fit. The new Insight gets such worse mileage from the original Insight and doesn't have the utility of the Fit (or the look).