Honda Car Forum

I am thinking of buying an Insight, but have heard that the only place
that will repair it is a Honda dealer.
Is this true?

Are other independent garages unfamiliar with it, and, as a result,
stay away from it?

This would affect my decision about buying one.

thanks for any help!
Tom

In article <16e245d4.0401241953.3c423f39@posting.google.com >,
tmpw23@yahoo.com (ziggie) wrote:

> I am thinking of buying an Insight, but have heard that the only place
> that will repair it is a Honda dealer.
> Is this true?
>
> Are other independent garages unfamiliar with it, and, as a result,
> stay away from it?
>
> This would affect my decision about buying one.
>
> thanks for any help!
> Tom

Check out dealerships in your area. Some are total rip-offs while some
can compete with the locally owned shops. Larry Hopkins Honda here can
do good repairs at 1/2 to 1/10 the cost of bad repairs at Stevens Creek
Honda.

The electric assist is the only scary thing and you can get by without
it in an emergency. The rest of the car should resemble a Civic enough
for any good mechanic to perform emergency engine repairs.

>"ziggie" <tmpw23@yahoo.com> wrote in message

> I am thinking of buying an Insight, but have heard that the only place
> that will repair it is a Honda dealer.Is this true?
> Are other independent garages unfamiliar with it, and, as a result,
> stay away from it?This would affect my decision about buying one.

I have a feeling not all Honda tech would be informed about
electric motors systems. They may spend half a week relearning
everything about electric motors systems - wasting your time.

I've heard the 10-year about $10k NiHM battery is a bummer. I
thought the 6-year $600 timing is belt is a bummer already. The
Prius is probably the same but unlike the Insight, the Prius runs
its electric motor in city, which is much more quiet and zippy.

I'd keep a service manual in the trunk for a clueless mechanic. And
if the problem is minor enough to do yourself, you save $80/hr for
diagnose work.

I'm not scaring you away from going electric. It's open-minded
folks like you that help keep electric cars price down so I can
afford one too.

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Tibur Waltson <Toush@hi.com> wrote:
>>"ziggie" <tmpw23@yahoo.com> wrote in message

>> I am thinking of buying an Insight, but have heard that the only place
>> that will repair it is a Honda dealer.Is this true?
>> Are other independent garages unfamiliar with it, and, as a result,
>> stay away from it?This would affect my decision about buying one.

I had that problem with my Mazda RX-2. I couldn't get my uncle's shop to
change the plugs and points, because they didn't work on rotaries.
I bought a timing light, dwell meter, and never looked back.

My Civic Hybrid is different though. I can't work on it. With my other
recent cars, my service record at anyplace other than the dealer is
abysmal. There is too much specialized knowledge required.

> I have a feeling not all Honda tech would be informed about
> electric motors systems. They may spend half a week relearning
> everything about electric motors systems - wasting your time.

You think the electric motor is going to fail? I think there are thousands
of other components more likely to fail, some already familiar, others
disgnosed by computer.

> I've heard the 10-year about $10k NiHM battery is a bummer. I

Where did you get an estimate of $10k? That's nonsense. Half the price of
the car new, for one component that I could change myself in an hour?
The Civic has 120 each of D-Cell 1.2v NiMH batteries, at 6 Amp Hours.
I found 9000mAH for $6.83 quantity 100+, $819.60 total.
In ten years, I expect the price of NiMH to drop more.

> I'm not scaring you away from going electric. It's open-minded
> folks like you that help keep electric cars price down so I can
> afford one too.

This isn't electric. It's hybrid.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N36A423A7
will lead you to 160 articles in this newsgroup with Insight and either
break or fail in the article.

One of them refers to a price quote of $1300 of the battery pack, and
mentions that if the battery pack goes dead, you can drive without it while
you shop price. The battery pack has an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty, so I
don't have to worry about the cost immediately, but I'll be out of warranty
before I anticipate a failure anyway.

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5