Honda Insight Reviews
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About Honda Insight
The Honda Insight is a hybrid electric car. Read more Honda reviews to learn about other models.
Honda Insight Reviews
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Reviewed Jan. 30, 2023
Dear South of Atlanta, I am not often leave a non-positive review in public like this, because If I need a review, I go straight to the one who is in charge with to have a talk. Recently I don't have much time. My family like Honda cars. We have ALL 3 cars Honda: Van Odyssey 2018, Insight 2019, Insight 2020. November 12, 2022 I brought my Honda Van to Honda South due to the light ON (Morrow, GA), the Honda gentlemen want I leave my car at the dealer for repairing. Today, January 30 2022 (over TWO MONTHS), they still keep my van there. Last week, the other HONDA INSIGHT 2019 the light ON, we brought the car to Honda South, the Honda Morrow lady (I don't want to mention her name here) said they need to diagnostic to see what going on.
I leave the car there, in the afternoon, she we said we need to leave the car at the Honda South Dealer. I said, "We have 3 Honda cars, one for my son who studies at University of Tennessee, two of them stuck at Honda South, can you suggest what we do, when we can pick up two of these?" She said she have no idea!!!? To myself, and all of readers who catch this, from now think first, Honda or Toyota, Honda South or other place?... Your decision. I know mine very clear. Thomas **
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2019
With studded tires, this car goes through anything winter in the mountains produces. It handles like an expensive sports car, gets almost 50 mpg, is comfortable and ultra reliable. Hold a lot of stuff in the back, has 150, 000 miles and still looks good and has no major problems. Love love this car.
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Reviewed Sept. 28, 2019
I’ve had my 2010 Insight for 9.5 years. No major issues. However, I recently had a horrific experience and afterwards googled it and found a site where 17 people had the same issue. There should be a class action suit against Honda for not disclosing this possibly fatal flaw in hybrid cars. I learned that if you hit pot home or go over a speed bump some sensor goes on and the brakes fail.
Here’s what happened. I drove into my parking garage at work-I did not hit potholes or go over bumps. I turned up a couple of levels. Driving slowly I saw a spot between 2 cars. As I slowly turned and bear in mind I was on an incline, the car lunged forward and my left front bumper slammed into the back bumper of the car on my left. I tried to brake and control the wheel but literally had no control of the car car. It then flew forward slamming into a metal barrier in front then flew up in the air on the right landing down onto the car on the right. The metal barrier stopped my car from falling to the level below.
In live in CA and this is deemed my fault, which is insane.There was extensive damage to my car and the car on the right. Minor bumper damage to the car on the left. The guy at the body shop told me this is common in hybrids. Why isn’t the public made aware of this? This could have been farmyard fir myself and if there were pedestrians there. Also what if I was on a street or highway at a high speed other than barely moving to pull into a spot? I’m trying to find a lawyer to take my case.
Reviewed Sept. 9, 2019
I noticed that I was putting what I believed to be excessive amounts of oil in my 2013 Honda Insight that I purchased 2 years prior. I did not know about the problem and I was reading that people were saying in reviews that Honda was saying 1000 miles a quart was normal. I did nothing but kept putting in oil. Over the course of 6 months There were other signs that this was not normal. In February/March my car just basically went into Limp mode. I was not too far from a garage so I coasted and drove no more than 5mph (which is all that my car would do). $800 dollars later they "fixed" the issue *Temporarily that is. They did not find any leaks or burning issues.
That fix did not last. The car would still need oil in less than 3 weeks from the oil change and new spark plugs and complete cleanup. I searched online and found more oil consumption complaints but then I found that Honda put out a TSB Technical Service Bulletin extending the Warranty up to 8 years past the purchase date with no mile restriction. I was still reading that some Honda owners were having difficulty getting Honda to honor this. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE REVIEWS.
I went to Honda, told them about my oil consumption bringing up the TSB 16-101. They explained that I would need to do an oil consumption test before coverage. Not an issue. I hoped. Well I needed to drive 1000 miles and see if I lost more than a quart. I drove 700 miles and it took about a week to lose nearly all my oil. They said indeed my car was going to need the 16-101 O-ring replacement and any other part affected by this issue. COMPLETELY COVERED. They gave me a loaner for the 5 days they had my car and when I returned, they told me that I basically had a brand new engine. My car is great now and the car that I expect it to be.
Reviewed Aug. 19, 2019
I have owned 3 other Hondas in the last 20 years -- and all have been good to me. Now, at under 3000 miles (2820), my brand new Honda Insight 2019 model with the 1.5L gasoline ("Earth-Dreams" technology) engine has the smell/odor of gasoline on my oil dip stick, out of the oil crankcase! Having the 1.5 L gasoline engine (not the turbo), this engines design is mainly used to generate power to the two electric motors, and the battery. ** FYI -- there is NO transmission for this 2019 model! According to my oil dip stick, I measured the oil level at 1 mm to less than 2 mm above the oil dip stick max line. When I purchased this car new, I checked the oil dip stick, and it appeared to be "spot-on" the max line. So now what? **
I have contacted the dealer (on a weekend) so must wait until tomorrow for the service dept. to be open, notified Honda.com, and for good measure, I also notified the NTHSA too -- as I am not aware of any other 2019 Honda Insights being reported with gasoline dilution in the oil crankcase (all have the 1.5L gas engine). My car is covered under warranty (yeah), but this is still a shock to me! I have also noticed that keeping all my gas receipts, and having the touring model, it does get a lower gas mileage figure (heavier car), but it has also been getting a slow downward trend in mileage too!? Could there be a connection? Lastly, I dread winter coming as this will be where the "rubber meets the road" as winter/cold weather does indeed affect your gas mileage lower, and hopefully no other issues like heating the car, stalling, etc.
Reviewed May 19, 2019
2013 Honda Insight Engine Damage from Design Defect. I have a 2013 Honda Insight. Friday May 17, 2019, I was headed home to Seattle after attending graduate school here in VA the last two years. This past year my car has been using excessive oil, and although I took it to a local mechanic, who found no problems with it, he did recommend I continue to put oil in as needed, which I have been doing every couple of weeks. On Friday, an hour outside Chantilly, my car came to a complete stop on I-70, putting me in mortal danger. I was towed to Hagerstown Honda, who now have the vehicle. They determined that the engine was damaged when a spark plug melted and my two warranties have declined to cover it.
Upon further research I discovered the class action suit against Honda for this very problem, which posited that "the vehicle contains a systematic design defect that enables oil to enter into the engine's combustion chamber. The alleged defect led to premature spark plug degradation and engine malfunction.” This is EXACTLY what happened to my car. EXACTLY. Honda extended the warranty to Insights as a result of the class action suit, which my car should qualify for, but they are claiming that the spark plug caused the damage. The evidence clearly does not support that assertion. I'm an evidenced based social scientist, and my research is pretty conclusive. Honda needs to cover the repairs to my car, or replace my car, so I can get home to Seattle to start my new job on May 31, 2019.
Reviewed Jan. 12, 2019
I bought a new 2010 Honda Insight and had been having trouble resolving the issue which was that the alarm kept going off. Sometimes 10 or 20 times a night! I returned it to original dealer (Gillman Honda) in Schertz, Texas. They said there were four sensors and the driver side and the rear passenger sensor was defective. They wanted over $600 a piece to replace them. I laughed in their face. I had to pay them almost $100 for diagnostics! Kept going off so I took it to a Christian Bros automotive repair. Again had to pay almost $100 for diagnostics. THEY said there were five sensors and it was the rear hatchback door sensor that needed to be replaced. $532 was quoted. $400 for one Honda part!
I waited for three days and Honda kept sending the wrong part. It was then I looked on blogs regarding Honda alarm systems! Many many people have had trouble and complaints regarding the alarm systems. There was NO WAY to disconnect it on newer models. So I called Honda USA. They said I had to get ANOTHER diagnosis from a certified Honda mechanic at a Honda dealer. I took it to Honda of San Marcus Texas. Another almost $100 to diagnose BUT THEY SAID IF I repaired the car there they would waive the diagnostic fee!
Hold on to your seats! They said it was a completely different problem and felt it was the front hood door latch sensor. Now there were six sensors! Quoted about $350 to repair. I did nothing to cause this problem! Three different diagnosis from CERTIFIED HONDA MECHANICS! All assuring me this was the problem. All the complaints on blogs! I agreed to the repair and they told me to recontact Honda USA. I wrote a long letter explaining I have bought five Hondas over last 20 years. NEVER AGAIN.
I got a call from a disinterested and arrogant customer service rep from California almost a month after the letter was written. It was like she was reading a script and told me the car was long out of warranty! Would not acknowledge any liability and would not let me speak to a supervisor. She was rude and arrogant until I told her I too was recording the conversation. She freaked. She said ONLY she was allowed to record! One-sided anyone? I said, "Ok I stopped recording."
After maybe another 30 seconds after she told me they would not do anything she hung up on me! I am going to tell my story on every blog I can find regarding what appears to be a common thread for legitimate complaints! Deny, deny, deny! She said if I had an issue to talk to the dealer! Funny, the dealer said exactly the same thing and to call Honda USA! Circle jerk anyone! I will NEVER BUY ANOTHER HONDA PRODUCT! Disgusted in Texas.
Reviewed June 28, 2018
I purchased a second hand 2010 MK1 Honda Insight Japanese import??? I love the idea of hybrid, I have it since February 2018. I traveled a long distance to get it, I found the drive home exciting. I noticed as a 6 ft 5 male I was frequently stopping to stretch my legs which made a 4 hour drive home turn into a 6 hour drive home. My legs were sore for days after, so it's now quickly heading into July and so far I've been happy enough with the car. I read a lot of reviews about the Insight online, mostly about oil issues. I don't have that problem it seems, I've topped up once and had 3 quarter dip since.
One thing I've noted is I'm missing an engine temp gauge, I feel like the cooling system isn't doing much lately since we're getting extremely hot weather. I've noticed the stop/start is annoying and not very responsive, it can jerk sometimes. My brakes are funny with the pedal depressing itself while braking, sometimes the brakes are hard next soft. I'm coming to a soft stop next I'm jamming on. I have noticed it loses power sometimes and it comes back. It can be sluggish at high speeds trying to overtake. I don't like pushing it too hard. I've replaced my front parking lights since the original bulbs were blown. I think the idea of not having a spare tire hilarious, although I love the size of the boot. The wing mirrors are electric and huge for a family wagon love it. At the end of the day I got this car on a whim, so far it's the best car I've owned in years.
Reviewed Dec. 11, 2017
We purchased a 2013 Honda Insight for fuel efficiency. After a time, the engine began to burn oil. We were going through a gallon of oil a month. We found that the oil rings were bad and others with this vehicle had issues as well. Eventually Honda contacted me and after I had to replace the engine due to the oil rings failing, they refused to pay. Note: Honda contacted me and stated there was an issue with the oil rings and they would reimburse for the repairs. My mechanic had even explained this to their claims department but the woman in-charge of the claim did not understand the issue. I asked to speak with a manager or someone in-charge of her and she refused.
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2017
Not satisfied with my Honda Insight 2012. I have to add a quart of oil every 700-1000 miles. Also, in the middle of 2017, the car developed a rattling noise, as if muffler was hitting the body of the car. However, I tested the muffler by shaking it, and it does not cause it. I suspected drive shaft to be causing the rattle, as if you shake it in neutral gear, it produces metallic rattle. However, I replaced both driveshafts yesterday, and the rattle was still there. IT WAS NOT THE DRIVESHAFT. The other thing I noticed while replacing the driveshaft was that the passenger side stabilizer link was producing clanking sound when I was shaking it. Will be replacing it tomorrow. I hope this will fix the rattle.
Honda Insight Company Information
- Company Name:
- Honda Insight
- Website:
- automobiles.honda.com