Well I just received word yesterday from the dealer that my Insight battery is gone. I have 104K on the car so its way out of the warranty. My 2000 Insight has been a wonderful car. The service manager told me yesterday that I could expect to pay upwards of 5K to replace. This is not good news. The dealer is currently contacting Honda to get a firm price for the replacement and they will let me know on Monday. The dealer here in Austin, Texas stated that this would be the second replacment they have done this past month on an Insight. Does anyone know how much this might be exactly? I am really shocked I am at this point already. I was expecting this not to happen for at least a couple of more years or ever at all. Is this a common problem? I owe 5K on my Insight so if I am going to have to invest an additional 5K just to keep it going in normal operation they can forget it. At this point I would consider my car totaled. All of that gas money I have saved over the past couple of years just came due in one large payment. Hopefully HOnda will come through and offer me something a little more reasonable.

 

See if they can get a used one from a junk yard. You may not know exactly how used it is but it will probably give you another couple years.

 

I will never buy another hybrid again until the battery prices are more reasonable and or if they can fix this problem and or extend the warranty. I am not sure if any Insights have made it to any local junk yards around here but I look around. The car is so limited I would think that it would be hard to find one in a junk yard. You never know.

 

Honda claims no one has had to pay for a new battery. Additionally some have had luck swaping out the bad cells to restore their battery to new condition. Have fun, Rick

 

Other than the battery, how has the car been running?

If you only have to pay another $5000 to get another 100,000 miles with the mileage you are getting would it be worth it?

It does seem that $5000 is a bit high. Maybe the dealer was just making a guess. Maybe another dealer will do it cheaper?

 

I think 5K is an overstatement.

Might want to inquire on www.insightcentral.net about this...

 

Boy-$5000 at 100K-not what Toyota and Honda have been implying with their 150-200K life.
Can the Insight be modified to run on just the gasoline motor.It should get excellent mpg-40+) with the tiny motor and under 2000 lb wt-low drag also.This woulkd certainly be the most cost effective solution.Forget about that $5000 battery(unless Honda discounts it heavily,or just gives it to you).Luck,Charlie

 

Did the battery recalibrate a lot? Just a guess - the more it recalibrates, the sooner the hybrid batteries bites the dust.

 

Is the battery not guaranteed for 8 years? Is your car 8 years old? There may be a mileage limit; I don't recall.

A quick check of my glove box does not clarify.

 

8/80 on the battery pack, and all other IMA parts. either try to make a deal with them, or go the junkyard route. fwiw, my pack is being replaced as soon as the 2 modules (MCM and BCM) come in.

andy g.