Attention, everyone: The Fit is being replaced
Attention, everyone: The Fit is being replaced
Ever since the Fit lost its original engine, it hasn't had the same charm. For a while, I've been eyeing a 2011-2014 TSX wagon, but the used car market has gotten out of control. I looked at cheaper options under $10k and found something way under budget that I've also had on my want list for quite some time: a first-generation Insight. Of course, the car and its story aren't average. **This doesn't mean I will sell the Fit, but its mileage accumulation will drastically slow down.** I felt that note needed to be made. Now that's out of the way...
Long story short, I've flown to Seattle to purchase what was reported to be Alaska's first hybrid sold, hence the newspaper articles you will see in the photos. The entire story is a copy/paste from another forum.
My G1 Insight at Pikes Peak!
This whole thread is essentially my intro to InsightCentral. My name is Julian and I’m from Delaware. I was crazy enough to fly across the country to buy an Insight and drive it back. My friends had mixed feelings about this whole journey. Some were excited because this is purely not out of the ordinary for me, some were afraid I was going to get kidnapped whether it was the seller or some cult in BFE, and some responded with “you could’ve gotten one locally” when they clearly have not looked for a well-sorted G1 Insight. This thread here was technically an intro, but this one’s a bit more formal. Buckle up.
Growing up, my father had a red 1989 CRX. During that time, the first-generation Insight had just hit the roads. I always thought they were so cool and of course, futuristic looking. The other thing I appreciated was there were some S2000 cues in the interior. I’ve obsessed with them for quite some time, but of course I was still a kid and couldn’t get my hands on one. I’m 30 years old, by the way. Years pass by; my father sold his CRX before I got my license and I have moved on with my Insight obsession.
Fast forward to 2021: I currently have three cars, preparing to sell one of them - a 1999 Civic Si that I’ve pieced together during Covid lockdowns. Originally, I wanted to purchase a 2011-2014 TSX Sport Wagon, but the prices on the have been affected by the insane used car market. This eventually no longer became an option as I couldn’t justify overpaying for one, in my opinion at least. After a while of disappointment, I’ve concluded that I might just have to stick with daily driving my 2009 Honda Fit with roughly 575,000 miles some more, which I’ve owned for about five years now.
I’m sitting at work, browsing through the internet because it’s a slow night. I find myself on Insightcentral.net. I’ve joined the forum in 2019, but periodically fall down an Insight rabbit hole. That night changed everything. I have stumbled upon a listing that was posted for about a month at that point. The Insight’s location was in Bellingham, Washington. Not knowing where it was, I looked it up and eventually daydreamed about a road trip for the rest of the night.
The following night at work, I find myself back on IC. Not sure why, but there I was - staring at the listing again. I’ve thought to myself, “f- it, I’ll email the guy.” Sure enough, the seller Pete, emailed me back saying he still has it. Long story short, we’ve emailed for a month and sure enough, I was flying to Seattle.
First time seeing the Insight!
Day 1: Seattle, WA to Wendell, ID
Woke up early and went to PHL. The flight alone was quite the treat at the last stretch. Never been west of Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Texas before, the mountain views were amazing from above. Six hours later, I’ve arrived at SEA. Pete was reading a book in the cell phone lot with the Insight. He had picked me up in it, we chatted, and I did a thorough once-over on the car. Afterwards, we went to Seahurst Park, if I recall correctly. Pete insisted I’d at least check out the Pacific Ocean and dip my feet in it, so I did. We were chatting about the car, then about random things about our professions. After some time and lunch together, we had parted ways. I could tell Pete was experiencing a bittersweet moment about the whole transaction, but he was looking about as happy as I was. As I drove off, I waved goodbye and noticed he was filming a video smiling and waving back.
For roughly five minutes, I just laughed mostly in a borderline hysterical way. (At least if I was driving on the highway and saw myself, I would think that.) I simply couldn’t believe that I had just purchased one of the cars I’ve always wanted AND I’m driving cross-country in it. I had made my first stop at Honda of Seattle for a license plate frame.
To make a long story short, I am a license plate collector and am in the slow process of collecting all 50 states and have a Honda dealer frame attached to said plate. The project is called The 50 States of Honda. I’ve had a WA plate/frame already together, but I wanted to make it a little more special: I’m going to use the Insight’s WA plate along with this frame to have something from this trip. The second stop was just at Walmart to grab some tools for the road and snacks. This took way too long due to the absurd long lines at the registers. I was also given snow tires on steel wheels by Pete, so I can use them as full size spares in case I experience a flat on the trip.
Car-spotting is one of my favorite things to do while travelling.
Arrived in Baker City, OR and made my first fuel stop. Pete had reset the trip meter before I left and the tank wasn’t 100% full, so the trip meter only read 394 miles. The gauge was also at the 1/4 mark and I’m sure it would have gone further, but I wasn’t comfortable yet, especially being out west. Topped off the tank and moved on with a fresh start. Also realized I was about to lose an hour. Third time zone of the day for me!
After a six-hour flight and roughly ten hours of driving, I was starting to fade out. Originally, I had planned to make it to Salt Lake City to nap/sleep, but it just wasn’t happening. I noticed it would take me another 2 hours and 45 minutes to SLC, I’ve decided to just pull over at an empty gas station outside of Wendall and sleep in the Insight for 2 hours and 45 minutes to make up for lost time.
Long story short, I've flown to Seattle to purchase what was reported to be Alaska's first hybrid sold, hence the newspaper articles you will see in the photos. The entire story is a copy/paste from another forum.
My G1 Insight at Pikes Peak!
This whole thread is essentially my intro to InsightCentral. My name is Julian and I’m from Delaware. I was crazy enough to fly across the country to buy an Insight and drive it back. My friends had mixed feelings about this whole journey. Some were excited because this is purely not out of the ordinary for me, some were afraid I was going to get kidnapped whether it was the seller or some cult in BFE, and some responded with “you could’ve gotten one locally” when they clearly have not looked for a well-sorted G1 Insight. This thread here was technically an intro, but this one’s a bit more formal. Buckle up.
Growing up, my father had a red 1989 CRX. During that time, the first-generation Insight had just hit the roads. I always thought they were so cool and of course, futuristic looking. The other thing I appreciated was there were some S2000 cues in the interior. I’ve obsessed with them for quite some time, but of course I was still a kid and couldn’t get my hands on one. I’m 30 years old, by the way. Years pass by; my father sold his CRX before I got my license and I have moved on with my Insight obsession.
Fast forward to 2021: I currently have three cars, preparing to sell one of them - a 1999 Civic Si that I’ve pieced together during Covid lockdowns. Originally, I wanted to purchase a 2011-2014 TSX Sport Wagon, but the prices on the have been affected by the insane used car market. This eventually no longer became an option as I couldn’t justify overpaying for one, in my opinion at least. After a while of disappointment, I’ve concluded that I might just have to stick with daily driving my 2009 Honda Fit with roughly 575,000 miles some more, which I’ve owned for about five years now.
I’m sitting at work, browsing through the internet because it’s a slow night. I find myself on Insightcentral.net. I’ve joined the forum in 2019, but periodically fall down an Insight rabbit hole. That night changed everything. I have stumbled upon a listing that was posted for about a month at that point. The Insight’s location was in Bellingham, Washington. Not knowing where it was, I looked it up and eventually daydreamed about a road trip for the rest of the night.
The following night at work, I find myself back on IC. Not sure why, but there I was - staring at the listing again. I’ve thought to myself, “f- it, I’ll email the guy.” Sure enough, the seller Pete, emailed me back saying he still has it. Long story short, we’ve emailed for a month and sure enough, I was flying to Seattle.
First time seeing the Insight!
Day 1: Seattle, WA to Wendell, ID
Woke up early and went to PHL. The flight alone was quite the treat at the last stretch. Never been west of Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Texas before, the mountain views were amazing from above. Six hours later, I’ve arrived at SEA. Pete was reading a book in the cell phone lot with the Insight. He had picked me up in it, we chatted, and I did a thorough once-over on the car. Afterwards, we went to Seahurst Park, if I recall correctly. Pete insisted I’d at least check out the Pacific Ocean and dip my feet in it, so I did. We were chatting about the car, then about random things about our professions. After some time and lunch together, we had parted ways. I could tell Pete was experiencing a bittersweet moment about the whole transaction, but he was looking about as happy as I was. As I drove off, I waved goodbye and noticed he was filming a video smiling and waving back.
For roughly five minutes, I just laughed mostly in a borderline hysterical way. (At least if I was driving on the highway and saw myself, I would think that.) I simply couldn’t believe that I had just purchased one of the cars I’ve always wanted AND I’m driving cross-country in it. I had made my first stop at Honda of Seattle for a license plate frame.
To make a long story short, I am a license plate collector and am in the slow process of collecting all 50 states and have a Honda dealer frame attached to said plate. The project is called The 50 States of Honda. I’ve had a WA plate/frame already together, but I wanted to make it a little more special: I’m going to use the Insight’s WA plate along with this frame to have something from this trip. The second stop was just at Walmart to grab some tools for the road and snacks. This took way too long due to the absurd long lines at the registers. I was also given snow tires on steel wheels by Pete, so I can use them as full size spares in case I experience a flat on the trip.
Car-spotting is one of my favorite things to do while travelling.
Arrived in Baker City, OR and made my first fuel stop. Pete had reset the trip meter before I left and the tank wasn’t 100% full, so the trip meter only read 394 miles. The gauge was also at the 1/4 mark and I’m sure it would have gone further, but I wasn’t comfortable yet, especially being out west. Topped off the tank and moved on with a fresh start. Also realized I was about to lose an hour. Third time zone of the day for me!
After a six-hour flight and roughly ten hours of driving, I was starting to fade out. Originally, I had planned to make it to Salt Lake City to nap/sleep, but it just wasn’t happening. I noticed it would take me another 2 hours and 45 minutes to SLC, I’ve decided to just pull over at an empty gas station outside of Wendall and sleep in the Insight for 2 hours and 45 minutes to make up for lost time.
Last edited by julianachos; Sep 21, 2021 at 08:11 AM.
Day 2: Wendall, ID to Colorado Springs, CO
After my nap, I have decided to get a morning stretch in and keep it moving. Once I overthought some things, I’ve realized I had forgotten to get zip ties, even after making a list! I was in Brigham City at this point and stopped at another Walmart. Thankfully, I was in and out in five minutes.
Fueled up again the second time, but at Spanish Fork, UT as you hop on US-6 to start the fun roads. The gas station I had visited thrown me off with the buttons, so I had hit 91-octane instead of 85. I’m used to a left-to-right format reading 85/87 through 91/93, not the opposite. Also, to my defense, 85 was highlighted red whereas 91 was white. Being too lazy to restart the transaction, I filled up with 91 and moved on.
This was looking promising.
Simply put, the views did not disappoint. If I had a six-pack of beer and a lawn chair, I’d stare at this for hours.
After being in awe of the sights, I managed to get pulled over in the slowest car I’ve owned. Was told I was doing 60 in a 45, and of course where the cop sat was the beginning of a 55-zone. After a few minutes, I was let go with a warning.
Originally, this leg of the trip was supposed to be my shortest, but Pete insisted I stopped at Arches and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Unfortunately, Arches was at max capacity as I arrived. I had sat for about thirty minutes watching cars leave. Noticed some cars driving up to the entrance, but all of them got turned around. As I was waiting and observing, I checked Rocky Mountain’s status - It was closed to visitors unless you had a reservation and parts of it was closed due to wildfires. I decided to leave and move on being a little disappointed.
Sure enough, I made up for it by finding a small, secluded part off the road that made the Insight very picturesque.
Crossed into Colorado and eventually made my way into a stretch of I-70 that easily became one of my favorite stretches of highway. Once I passed Grand Junction, it turns into a windy stretch of highway parallel to the Colorado River with mountainous views, and occasionally went through a small town. I did not know I was in for such a treat. This gave me heavy European vibes and I was here for it. To make it even better, there was construction that slowed traffic down which for once, I did not mind.
Once I passed what was basically heaven, I learned the hard way on how to properly drive an Insight. Traffic went from three lanes into one, going uphill on a steep grade 10k feet in the sky. I ran out of juice in the IMA battery and was only able to go 25 mph with the pedal to the floor. Don’t forget, I had essentially four heavy ballasts weighing me down in the cargo area.
After potentially annoying someone’s day, I had made it to Denver. I had dinner with friends that lived in the area and made my way south to Colorado Springs to stay at another friend’s house there.
This was quite the spot: 964or 993 911 on BBS RS with gold faces! This 911 was oozing ‘90s drip.
After my nap, I have decided to get a morning stretch in and keep it moving. Once I overthought some things, I’ve realized I had forgotten to get zip ties, even after making a list! I was in Brigham City at this point and stopped at another Walmart. Thankfully, I was in and out in five minutes.
Fueled up again the second time, but at Spanish Fork, UT as you hop on US-6 to start the fun roads. The gas station I had visited thrown me off with the buttons, so I had hit 91-octane instead of 85. I’m used to a left-to-right format reading 85/87 through 91/93, not the opposite. Also, to my defense, 85 was highlighted red whereas 91 was white. Being too lazy to restart the transaction, I filled up with 91 and moved on.
This was looking promising.
Simply put, the views did not disappoint. If I had a six-pack of beer and a lawn chair, I’d stare at this for hours.
After being in awe of the sights, I managed to get pulled over in the slowest car I’ve owned. Was told I was doing 60 in a 45, and of course where the cop sat was the beginning of a 55-zone. After a few minutes, I was let go with a warning.
Originally, this leg of the trip was supposed to be my shortest, but Pete insisted I stopped at Arches and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Unfortunately, Arches was at max capacity as I arrived. I had sat for about thirty minutes watching cars leave. Noticed some cars driving up to the entrance, but all of them got turned around. As I was waiting and observing, I checked Rocky Mountain’s status - It was closed to visitors unless you had a reservation and parts of it was closed due to wildfires. I decided to leave and move on being a little disappointed.
Sure enough, I made up for it by finding a small, secluded part off the road that made the Insight very picturesque.
Crossed into Colorado and eventually made my way into a stretch of I-70 that easily became one of my favorite stretches of highway. Once I passed Grand Junction, it turns into a windy stretch of highway parallel to the Colorado River with mountainous views, and occasionally went through a small town. I did not know I was in for such a treat. This gave me heavy European vibes and I was here for it. To make it even better, there was construction that slowed traffic down which for once, I did not mind.
Once I passed what was basically heaven, I learned the hard way on how to properly drive an Insight. Traffic went from three lanes into one, going uphill on a steep grade 10k feet in the sky. I ran out of juice in the IMA battery and was only able to go 25 mph with the pedal to the floor. Don’t forget, I had essentially four heavy ballasts weighing me down in the cargo area.
After potentially annoying someone’s day, I had made it to Denver. I had dinner with friends that lived in the area and made my way south to Colorado Springs to stay at another friend’s house there.
This was quite the spot: 964
Day 3: Pikes Peak and a headache
I woke up relatively early out of excitement. Going up Pikes Peak via car was something I’ve wanted to do since driving up Mount Washington, but I really wanted to do this in my Fit. With an Insight, it almost sounded like a challenge. My friend’s husband was mildly skeptical of this idea, and I won’t lie, so was I, but I was up for it – pun intended.
Before heading off, I unloaded the steel wheels into my friend’s garage. This was the first time I’ve driven the Insight with an empty load, and wow what a difference. I fueled up at a Sinclair and took a photo since it’s a friend’s favorite gas station. This tank made it 597 miles with two ticks left on the gauge. Getting a little comfortable now.
Being just as excited as I was the first five minutes of driving the Insight, I arrived at Pikes Peak.
A nice addition to the twelve years’ worth of Alaska State Parks parking passes.
Making sure I had an almost full battery, I ensured I didn’t use assist unless I absolutely needed it. I had brought my Fit’s Ultra-Gauge with me to make sure coolant temps were good, and of course to scan any CELs. Temps stayed within a 208-215°F range and I took a couple of breaks to take photos and of course, let the car cool down a little.
Half the juice of an IMA battery and an hour later, I made it to the summit point! Roughly on the last 10% of the road, I ended up flooring it and attacked the corners like I was Romain Dumas. That’s where the battery started to go down. The unfortunate part of this whole trip besides not breaking a hill climb record is I did not know the Pikes Peak doughnut was a thing until after I had left….
On the way down, I did not have to stop for a temperature check. I might have stopped at least 6-7 times anyway for photos and to let the brakes cool down.
The original plan was to have lunch with my friend, load up my four full-sized spares, and head out. This didn’t happen. Simply put, I’m from Delaware, and its average elevation is 60’ above sea level. After staying the night and going up and down Pikes Peak, I almost felt like I had a hangover for a headache. I decided to stay an extra day in Colorado since my friend didn’t mind, so we just ate, drank, and caught up on stories.
I woke up relatively early out of excitement. Going up Pikes Peak via car was something I’ve wanted to do since driving up Mount Washington, but I really wanted to do this in my Fit. With an Insight, it almost sounded like a challenge. My friend’s husband was mildly skeptical of this idea, and I won’t lie, so was I, but I was up for it – pun intended.
Before heading off, I unloaded the steel wheels into my friend’s garage. This was the first time I’ve driven the Insight with an empty load, and wow what a difference. I fueled up at a Sinclair and took a photo since it’s a friend’s favorite gas station. This tank made it 597 miles with two ticks left on the gauge. Getting a little comfortable now.
Being just as excited as I was the first five minutes of driving the Insight, I arrived at Pikes Peak.
A nice addition to the twelve years’ worth of Alaska State Parks parking passes.
Making sure I had an almost full battery, I ensured I didn’t use assist unless I absolutely needed it. I had brought my Fit’s Ultra-Gauge with me to make sure coolant temps were good, and of course to scan any CELs. Temps stayed within a 208-215°F range and I took a couple of breaks to take photos and of course, let the car cool down a little.
Half the juice of an IMA battery and an hour later, I made it to the summit point! Roughly on the last 10% of the road, I ended up flooring it and attacked the corners like I was Romain Dumas. That’s where the battery started to go down. The unfortunate part of this whole trip besides not breaking a hill climb record is I did not know the Pikes Peak doughnut was a thing until after I had left….
On the way down, I did not have to stop for a temperature check. I might have stopped at least 6-7 times anyway for photos and to let the brakes cool down.
The original plan was to have lunch with my friend, load up my four full-sized spares, and head out. This didn’t happen. Simply put, I’m from Delaware, and its average elevation is 60’ above sea level. After staying the night and going up and down Pikes Peak, I almost felt like I had a hangover for a headache. I decided to stay an extra day in Colorado since my friend didn’t mind, so we just ate, drank, and caught up on stories.
Day 4: Colorado Springs, CO to St. Louis, MO
Now a day behind technically, I loaded up and said bye to my friend. This day was uneventful and quite boring as there wasn’t much to see. I did however fill-up near Solomon, KS with the trip meter showing 517.5 miles and three tick marks left on the gauge. Note this was after going up and down Pikes Peak on that same tank which in hindsight, I should’ve only filled up maybe half a tank for the sake of weight.
From sleeping in the car for over two hours to now a hotel with a king-sized bed and maybe seven hours of sleep!
Day 5: St. Louis, MO to Newark, DE with a layover in Honda Town
Another uneventful drive with boring scenery, but this is where things get a little fun. After one fill-up near Greenup, IL with 550 miles completed on this tank with three notches left, I headed over to Marysville, Ohio. The first stop was Acura’s Performance Manufacturing Center, where they hand-build the Acura NSX, as well as the RDX and TLX PMC Editions. I wanted a photo here simply because the G1 Insight was built with the S2000 and first-gen NSX in Japan.
They’re essentially all the same car, right?
Next stop was the Honda Heritage Museum. I’ve wanted to visit here for quite some time and was hoping I could visit here for my 30th birthday. That didn’t happen, so this photo will suffice. One day…
Next stop was at a buddy’s house nearby. I had Ohio dealer frames already for my plate project, but not plates, so he told me to stop by. After checking out his car collection and some story swapping, I was on my way back home.
He recently purchased this first-gen CR-V from Colorado. Also a manual!
I was still in Ohio and the sun was setting. Once it became dark, I reached a relatively familiar sign: “Welcome to West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful.” By this point, I still had five hours to go. Stopping in Triadelphia, I filled up for the last time on this trip. I’ve made it 477 miles and had a quarter tank left. I wanted to avoid getting gas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, so I stopped at another familiar sight: a Sheetz.
Cartoon Network Hotel, Lancaster, PA
After exiting the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I’ve gotten closer to Lancaster, PA. By this point, it was really the homestretch. Feeling bittersweet that my trip was ending, I trekked through and made it home at 2am on a late Friday night/early Saturday morning. I didn’t take any photos once I reached Delaware, but I live in a college town, so just use your imagination with that one.
Technically four days of driving, six fill-ups, and 3,396 miles. All in all, I would do this trip again. I didn't even care I did this solo although I'd honestly prefer to do it solo anyway. The only issue I've even had with the car is its aftermarket radio. I had connected my phone to it via USB and periodically, the display will say "check USB" and stop music and charging. After reseating the cable on both ends, rebooting my phone and headunit, it was never consistent on what method worked or when it would stop. Sometimes it would cut out once an hour, sometimes it was every five minutes. I stopped at some Walmart and purchased a Bluetooth FM transmitter. Problem solved.
Here's a big thank you to Pete! I seriously cannot thank you enough for everything. I'm very much looking forward to my adventures with Alaska's first hybrid.
The Insight's first east coast wash:
With some friends:
If you are wondering about the story of the multi-colored Golf, here's an article on it: https://jalopnik.com/this-mad-genius...-fr-1796071482
To even add more to the story, there was a bit of hesitation while talking to Pete about the Insight. He mentioned he replaced the A/F sensor twice in a relatively short period of time. Pete also mentioned the dealer he'd take the car to get serviced would overfill the engine of oil during oil changes. I asked him to take photos of the air box behind the filter, and sure enough, there was oil piled up.
He said he was okay with taking the Insight to the dealer for a compression and leakdown test. The tech corrected the oil level, but did not do any testing. Pete was given this:
After this, Pete said he was going to drive the car another 800 miles or so. He reported no oil burning, so I felt confident it was fine. I bought a gallon of oil just in case.
Once I drove up and down Pikes Peak, this was the dipstick:
Afterward, I stopped obsessing over checking the oil. To this day, it's still on this level. The air box is also still clean. I still need to get a new filter, though.
Now a day behind technically, I loaded up and said bye to my friend. This day was uneventful and quite boring as there wasn’t much to see. I did however fill-up near Solomon, KS with the trip meter showing 517.5 miles and three tick marks left on the gauge. Note this was after going up and down Pikes Peak on that same tank which in hindsight, I should’ve only filled up maybe half a tank for the sake of weight.
From sleeping in the car for over two hours to now a hotel with a king-sized bed and maybe seven hours of sleep!
Day 5: St. Louis, MO to Newark, DE with a layover in Honda Town
Another uneventful drive with boring scenery, but this is where things get a little fun. After one fill-up near Greenup, IL with 550 miles completed on this tank with three notches left, I headed over to Marysville, Ohio. The first stop was Acura’s Performance Manufacturing Center, where they hand-build the Acura NSX, as well as the RDX and TLX PMC Editions. I wanted a photo here simply because the G1 Insight was built with the S2000 and first-gen NSX in Japan.
They’re essentially all the same car, right?
Next stop was the Honda Heritage Museum. I’ve wanted to visit here for quite some time and was hoping I could visit here for my 30th birthday. That didn’t happen, so this photo will suffice. One day…
Next stop was at a buddy’s house nearby. I had Ohio dealer frames already for my plate project, but not plates, so he told me to stop by. After checking out his car collection and some story swapping, I was on my way back home.
He recently purchased this first-gen CR-V from Colorado. Also a manual!
I was still in Ohio and the sun was setting. Once it became dark, I reached a relatively familiar sign: “Welcome to West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful.” By this point, I still had five hours to go. Stopping in Triadelphia, I filled up for the last time on this trip. I’ve made it 477 miles and had a quarter tank left. I wanted to avoid getting gas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, so I stopped at another familiar sight: a Sheetz.
Cartoon Network Hotel, Lancaster, PA
After exiting the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I’ve gotten closer to Lancaster, PA. By this point, it was really the homestretch. Feeling bittersweet that my trip was ending, I trekked through and made it home at 2am on a late Friday night/early Saturday morning. I didn’t take any photos once I reached Delaware, but I live in a college town, so just use your imagination with that one.
Technically four days of driving, six fill-ups, and 3,396 miles. All in all, I would do this trip again. I didn't even care I did this solo although I'd honestly prefer to do it solo anyway. The only issue I've even had with the car is its aftermarket radio. I had connected my phone to it via USB and periodically, the display will say "check USB" and stop music and charging. After reseating the cable on both ends, rebooting my phone and headunit, it was never consistent on what method worked or when it would stop. Sometimes it would cut out once an hour, sometimes it was every five minutes. I stopped at some Walmart and purchased a Bluetooth FM transmitter. Problem solved.
Here's a big thank you to Pete! I seriously cannot thank you enough for everything. I'm very much looking forward to my adventures with Alaska's first hybrid.
The Insight's first east coast wash:
With some friends:
If you are wondering about the story of the multi-colored Golf, here's an article on it: https://jalopnik.com/this-mad-genius...-fr-1796071482
To even add more to the story, there was a bit of hesitation while talking to Pete about the Insight. He mentioned he replaced the A/F sensor twice in a relatively short period of time. Pete also mentioned the dealer he'd take the car to get serviced would overfill the engine of oil during oil changes. I asked him to take photos of the air box behind the filter, and sure enough, there was oil piled up.
He said he was okay with taking the Insight to the dealer for a compression and leakdown test. The tech corrected the oil level, but did not do any testing. Pete was given this:
After this, Pete said he was going to drive the car another 800 miles or so. He reported no oil burning, so I felt confident it was fine. I bought a gallon of oil just in case.
Once I drove up and down Pikes Peak, this was the dipstick:
Afterward, I stopped obsessing over checking the oil. To this day, it's still on this level. The air box is also still clean. I still need to get a new filter, though.
Took it to Cars and Coffee this past weekend:
My friend helped put the newspaper article on the window. I need to make a proper board for meets and such...
I know there's an underpanel/fender liner not in place. On my list of things to address. If I recall correctly, there's a broken tab of some sort.
My friend helped put the newspaper article on the window. I need to make a proper board for meets and such...
I know there's an underpanel/fender liner not in place. On my list of things to address. If I recall correctly, there's a broken tab of some sort.
I still want a TSX wagon. I had a Legacy wagon I regret selling, but it is living its best life now. Actually seeing it next week for the first time since I've sold it seven years ago. The Insight actually filled three voids of my past cars, so I can't be too mad whereas the TSX will just fill one, maybe two.
Ahhhh I hope its still out there on the roads kickin'!
I love my Insight, just wish it rode better. Front struts are blown and the rears got replaced with GAZ shocks. I'm about to order new front struts from Honda and hopefully upgraded springs soon.
I reset the lifetime MPG on mine because it was around 48. Currently its showing 53 after 5-6k miles. Winter temps have been kicking my ass lately.
My Miata is the car I've owned the longest (2015-current) but mileage-wise, the Fit (2016-current) holds the crown at 194k. I've accumulated maybe 60k miles onto the Miata in my hands.
I love my Insight, just wish it rode better. Front struts are blown and the rears got replaced with GAZ shocks. I'm about to order new front struts from Honda and hopefully upgraded springs soon.
I reset the lifetime MPG on mine because it was around 48. Currently its showing 53 after 5-6k miles. Winter temps have been kicking my ass lately.
My Miata is the car I've owned the longest (2015-current) but mileage-wise, the Fit (2016-current) holds the crown at 194k. I've accumulated maybe 60k miles onto the Miata in my hands.
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