8th Mar 2011, 08:00

I like and want an Insight, trade in my Cobalt for it. I was thinking about a Prius, but I'm not making any investments in Toyota.

9th Mar 2011, 10:14

The Insight, as good as it is, will only get you into the low 40's for mpg's. You can get close enough to that with a more powerful Civic. The Prius will get you over 50 mpg. It is a much better choice if you really want to save fuel.

Stop being so afraid of Toyota. They made their mistakes, but have corrected most by now, and many of them were even disproven as actual defects. If you buy a Prius, before the rush comes on in a month or two, you will have a car that will hold its value better than any other car out there, all while saving more fuel than pretty much anything else on the road, short of a motorcycle.

9th Mar 2011, 14:55

I still don't understand why Honda made the Insight look so much like the Prius. Anyways, with all the new technology being used in modern internal combustion engines, you're better off to pick a regular four cylinder over a Hybrid.

Hybrids almost never get the advertised mileage, and they cost so much more to purchase than many regular four cylinders. You really need to think about why you want or need a hybrid. Most people want hybrids just to make a statement about the environment.

10th Mar 2011, 21:32

"Hybrids almost never get the advertised mileage"

I do know actual owners of the Prius that have seen 55 mpg, so they can achieve their estimated mileage in some cases.

18th Mar 2011, 18:51

I want to comment about the gas mileage that I have been getting with the new Insight. On my trip into work in the morning, I can get mileage in the 50's. My best trip in was 62.5 mpg. Right now I'm averaging in the mid to high 40's. I had a 2010 Prius that I traded for a Tacoma. I liked the car, but the dash went out in the first 6 months; I just didn't trust the quality of the car.

19th Mar 2011, 12:28

That is good to know. Honda should revise their mileage figures on these cars, as many people will opt for the Prius over the Insight based on the lower mileage figures. As far as quality, Toyota is on par with Honda, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are issues in every line, no matter how much you pay or how well rated they are.

23rd Mar 2011, 22:39

I had a Honda Insight... and had it for about 3 months... really nice vehicle... you can't compare it with the Prius inside... Honda do make better plastic inside, and overall it feels more expensive than the Prius. Mileage depends on how you drive, and 55-60mpg is quite achievable. I also like the way hybrid system works on Hondas more than Toyotas... anyway, I really liked Insight a lot, and I'm really thinking to buy one for myself.

24th Mar 2011, 11:19

I just wanted to update all of you on the gas mileage that I started to get this week with my Insight. I guess they have made the change to the summer blend gasoline, because my best trip into work this week was 67.5 MPG and the round trip averaged 54 MPG. About a 5 MPG increase from two weeks ago.

I had a 2010 Prius and the best I could get was 52.5, and that was a trip to Washington D.C. where I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours, moving at 10 MPH.

Anyway, the gas mileage just keeps getting better, which is why I bought the car.

22nd Apr 2011, 15:04

I laughed a lot when you said that they make them uglier. Good point. I think that Honda doesn't have any good designers.

23rd Nov 2011, 08:19

If you don't like the looks of the Insight, do what I did and get a Honda CRZ Sport Hybrid.

29th Dec 2011, 23:57

The EPA sets the estimates. However, Toyota tunes their engines to score higher than average on the EPA tests. In real world driving, the Prius only gets 1-2 mpg higher than the Honda, and at a cost of $5,000 higher, you really lose in the long run.

30th Dec 2011, 00:13

Yes, they make them ugly because research showed that people like the ugly look of the Prius, because people can recognize it's a hybrid.

Unfortunately, a majority of people who buy a hybrid car, do so for egoistic political reasons, and the design had to conform to them. Toyota loves to put giant bold letters on their vehicles that let other people know what power train is in use. "HYBRID" and "Plug in Hybrid". Honda and other companies are more discreet.

30th Dec 2011, 14:03

No, the styling of these cars is more to do with aerodynamic, and the shape you see of basically every single hybrid is essentially the same.

Lastly, name ONE car or truck that isn't bought for its image. Why do some guys who never take their trucks off-roading or use it for real work sometimes buy HUGE trucks or SUVs? Why do some people buy $90,000 sports cars? Why do some people buy station wagons, muscle cars, or any other type of car?

It's because it projects an image that the buyer wants others to see. A person buying a muscle car because they wanna' look like Mister Bad&^$% is no different than someone buying a hybrid because they want people to think they are "environmentally concerned". If looking at it that way, we all buy cars basically for ridiculous reasons. I have yet to see one person that intentionally bought a car they hated or thought was insanely ugly.

30th Dec 2011, 20:26

They actually look the way they do purely for lowered wind resistance. These cars are designed for economy and aerodynamics. You are limited to a certain shape to get the best results and the lowest coefficient of drag.

4th Jan 2012, 01:44

Actually, the Prius copied the old design of the previous generation Insight. However, yes they seem to be pretty ugly deigns, but that's what consumers wanted according to research. Most Prius drivers buy them so they can attract attention to themselves. If they were designed with style, nobody would know they were driving a hybrid.

4th Jan 2012, 11:36

I can't disagree more about the "drawing attention" comment. There are so many Priuses around here that buying one only guarantees blending in with the crowd. They aren't the standout they once were, as more and more people are concerned with just saving gas rather than making a statement. It is actually too bad that so many people put their emotional attachment to cars, ahead of making better choices for the environment we are all destroying every day.

22nd May 2012, 21:33

I can't believe how the comments on carsurvey.org about the quality and reliability and styling of a car, have come to a bunch of people ranting about how hybrid car owners are so concerned about everyone thinking a certain way about them. Maybe they buy these cars because anthropogenic climate change is causing changes to the atmosphere and environment, and it needs to stop.

While there's no way Americans will change the way they live (buy, throw away, shop, shop, shop, buy, throw away, pollute, pollute, pollute), we can start making smaller differences by switching over from these unnecessary gas guzzlers, to cars that we don't only have to spend less in gas (hello, look at how much they've made the gas cost), but also pollute less because they're more fuel efficient.

I wish I could afford an Insight, but I'm a college student, so I can't right now. Instead I'll just empty my bank account so I can visit my parents in my Accord.