I have a 2000 Insight with 109 k miles on it. I know others have more mileage on theirs. Comments appreciated.
I think since I am driving a low volume, hand built car, more and more I will encounter repair bills like those for luxury cars.
My Honda dealership found a slight oil leak, and advised me to try and live with it, after they diagnosed it, and looked up parts and labor. They said the leak came from the housing for the oil pump. The replacement house costs $1300+ from Honda, the labor hours would be over 14.
Since this was new technology, I had the HondaCare for the car. I think that was only effective during the warranty.

 

the more you can do yourself, the better. especially with the insight. i dont plan to take mine in for anything, if i can avoid it, unless its under a warranty of some sort. one of the problems, i think, is the typical attitude of "replace it" instead of "fix it". for all you know, the oil pump housing is just a bit warped, and a little bit of surfacing would clean it right up. but once they receive the new part and tear into it, i doubt they would even try to fix the original part. too much trouble, and the chance of a "come-back" is too high.

 

I think most repairs will be similar to other Honda's but for the few specialized parts for the Insight. I also drive a 2000 and have been lucky to stay away from the dealer. I also do all of my oil chagnes.

 

Since we bought the Insight, I have wondered about replacing the battery pack. It has happened.
At 112 k miles the IMA light appeared on the dash. The service rep said the battery pack was deteriorating.
Months ago I had read online chat, to the effect that Honda was extending the warranty on the battery pack in six states, from 80 k miles to 150 k miles.
Fortunately for me, Honda now has extended the warranty in all fifty states. Otherwise the bill would have been around $5 k.
Honda was nice to me. ..The service department had its own complaint about Honda: Honda only allowed them one hour for the labor....
As a side note, the struts had given out on the rear hatch. Replacement struts had been on order for weeks. I had to prop the hatch with my shoulder or my head when loading bags of litter into the hidden compartment. But when the technician needed to access the rear deck and the battery pack, the struts arrived quickly.

 

as a honda tech we have zero influence on how fast parts get to our stores...

but i myself have tools that hold hatches with bad struts so it would be no concern to me anyway whether or not they were in stock.

and as far as surfacing goes we have no equipment to do that job properly in a dealership. and if you surface something you are taking surface area away.
in turn you are making the oil storage volume smaller which in turn increases pressure...hence factory parts instead of a quick fix...you get what you pay for