Advice wanted on Honda Insight
 

I have the chance to buy a Honda Insight from its original owner who performed all the prescribed maintance and has all the records. It does have almost 200K on it though. I asked about the battery pack and it's the original one. The owner says he had the battery pack specifically tested at 120K and it was in excellent condition then. The owner says there are no problems with it at all and he is only selling because he wanted a new car and has purchased a Toyota Prius.
The price is totally right so it's very tempting, but is it wise to buy an Insight with that may miles on it with an original battery pack? And what other short term issues could develop. How much is a new battery pack?

is the it guy in Southern California?

honda quoted me $5000 to replace the battery pack. I've heard more like $2000-3000 though.

Look out for those catalytic converters. if they go bad, they will run you about $2000 to replace both, assuming that one or both of the o2 sensors also needs to be replaced.

I'd say go for it if the price is right. New pack is prolly expensive, but who needs it anyway, :p

Without the pack it's still a kick butt car with a super efficient engine and sexy styling.

No, its closer by and they are wanting less than $5000. had a very slight fender bender in the back but nothing too noticeable. Matt, where did you hear $2000-3000? And how could I check the catalic converter? Seeing as this technique is rather complicated I would probably spend some money on Honda checking it out first.
SVOboy: you have an interesting point there. Suppose I'd bu it and the battery pack would stop working at some point in the future, you're saying it will still drive fine just on the conventional engine? Aren't there any vital functions that need the battery pack? Or does the conventional engine have it's own standard battery?
That way, one could always decide to get a battery pack when money allows. What kind of mileage do you think is possible with just the conventional engine?

I've heard 2000-3000 from various people... nothing concrete.

If I were you, and you seriously are considering it, take it to Honda and pay the $75 to have it inspected top to bottom before you buy it.

Check out insightcentral.net to have some of your other questions answered.

I would take it to a dealer and pay to have a thorough checkup. It should cost less than $200 for an extensive pre purchase inspection. I think the last one I had done to saab ran me $140 and it was money very well spent. It needed a $1200 HVAC repair. We walked.

I believe that it would drive just fine unless there was a malfunction. Otherwise it would just keep getting really low. Usually what I read about insight driving techniques revolve around NOT using the battery, so I think pretty good mileage should result either way.

Yes, a dealer inspection is definitely good with this kind of technique I think. I have been browsing the insightcentral forum and it doesn't seem that there are many people there at all with Inisghts that are nearing 200K. It does seem though that if a new battery pack and/or modules are needed that starting a dialogue with Honda America usually ends up with the customer paying more of a symbolic amount, say $500 of a real cost of $5000.

Thanks SVOboy, yes from what I have read on forums in the past hour several people were talking about just keep driving it the way it is after the IMA batteries go out. Trying to find the horsepower of the gasonline engine still though. people do say it has less power with just the gasoline engine (which makes sense) especially noticeable when accelerating.

The Insight has a "goodwill" extended 10 yr. 150k mile battery warranty...which you can't use:o

Depending on the pack failure mode you may be riding only on the 12v battery...good for a few dozen miles.

"The owner says he had the battery pack specifically tested at 120K"
Poppycock. The IMA constantly checks subpack volts and temps.
The only other test is to open up the battery and and compare subpack voltages, which should be within a few millivolts. I really doubt that this was done.

New pack is $2,500~$3,500 from the dealer