Tell me about the Honda Insight

To be fair though we pretty much are - it's £10k to rent a low end Honda for 3 years.

£10k in depreciation over 3 years opens up far nicer cars.
 
Thats pretty scary putting it like that, it puts the additional fuel consumption of a thirsty car like mine, over an economical one like that, at around £10-12k over a 3 years period.

Thats...fairly significant :eek:
 
Jesus if Jez is considering becoming an 'ECO miser' then petrol must be getting very expensive :p. I imagine most your mileage is motorway Jez? An Insight on the motorway isn't really in its element anyway as you will get similiar from a diesel in terms of £/mile but plenty of grunt when needed and the diesel NVH isnt so much of an issue at speed. The Insight type car is better for around town or lower speed/lots of roundabouts etc A roads, as it there is no where near the drop off in terms of MPG, the noise benefit is far more evident (high throttle demand + CVT aside) and warms up quicker.

320ed looks like decent leases.
 
Diesels are not a consideration for me with the way our car allowance/benefits system works. Out of pure interest what weould you expect from an insight at a cruise controlled 70mph? :)

Only thinking aloud anyway, the merc is not worth enough and is too nice to not simply run into the ground now :) I'd imagine its replacement will actually be a smaller engined W221 S-Class, as to be honest i dont really like any other (affordable day to day) cars.
 
Damn, im even more confused now lol, like I said I could lease it for 3 years at £252 a month but ive just noticed I can by the thing for a £3k down payment and £272 a month for 5 years.

Any idea how much a 5 year old Insight would be worth? Im horrifically bad at saving, I always get a couple of grand then blow it on something retarded, this may be a worthwhile investment.

I hadn't looked at the fuel difference but now ive worked it out id be over £100 a month better off, so factoring the extra cash id have from fuel savings in I could buy the Insight for like £170 a month over 5 years (plus down payment).

*EDIT*

According to he official figures at 70mph CC the Insight should hit 61mpg, which is more than double what my current car gets
 
What official figures give 70mph cruising speed? Sounds optimisitic to me. This is not the best way to save money to be honest.

Ive seen other companies that will do a similiar monthly payment (maybe a little less) but the deposit is 6x the payment so comes in around £1500 not £3k!

You could entertain the idea of a £13k secondhand one still well inside warranty with a loan, similiar TOC over 3 years to a lease but you have a car as the end.
 
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with the way OP speaks about his epic money handling i can only see paying £272 a month for 5 years for a dull hybrid being a total failure.

Why not find something in diesel on the used market and use a personal loan with a decent chunk of deposit
 
with the way OP speaks about his epic money handling i can only see paying £272 a month for 5 years for a dull hybrid being a total failure.

I don't have any problem managing what I need its controlling what I have it that's the problem if that makes any sense, i.e I know at all times I have to have at least enough in my account to cover all bills I will be receiving that month (i.e WoW sub, mobile phone bill, etc) and so adding the £272 to the "do not go below" limit wouldn't be a problem.

My problem is when the is non-needed money sitting in my account I start looking at new phones, computer upgrades, holidays, I spend more on nights out, etc. Basically paying bills I can cope with, saving I suck balls at.
 
I don't have any problem managing what I need its controlling what I have it that's the problem if that makes any sense, i.e I know at all times I have to have at least enough in my account to cover all bills I will be receiving that month (i.e WoW sub, mobile phone bill, etc) and so adding the £272 to the "do not go below" limit wouldn't be a problem.

My problem is when the is non-needed money sitting in my account I start looking at new phones, computer upgrades, holidays, I spend more on nights out, etc. Basically paying bills I can cope with, saving I suck balls at.


5 years is a long time what happens if at any point you lose your job?
 
Diesels are not a consideration for me with the way our car allowance/benefits system works. Out of pure interest what weould you expect from an insight at a cruise controlled 70mph? :)

If it's anything like my Auris I 'only' average about 44mpg from it, doing 80% motorway stuff just sat at 70-ish day in day out.

It's pants compared to an infinitely more pleasant-to-drive conventional diesel though....and even compared to a conventional petrol it's a bit of a struggle as the CVT box is just an annoyance, although it is quite easy to drive.
 
Auris isn't as aero and the powersplit device is a bit silly as it always needs a counter torque to hold the gear ratio and that comes from an electric motor thats being supplied electricity from another motor thats taking its energy from the engine. Proper bar of soap inefficiency. Insight is just a 1.3 with an extra on demand cylinder in the form of a fancy 'alternator' and normal CVT, its more about real world MPG. My friend had one whilst his 2.2 Civic was being fixed. Dropped from 48 to 45 to and from work but that was 50 miles a day sat at 90-95 where he could on the A38.

I managed 44mpg in the CRZ on my test drive which was exactly that, including a A3 diesel slaying on a sliproad :P
 
I do actually quite like the external look of the Focus and have for some time, however according to their website they don't make a diesel Focus with automatic transmission an cruise control, both of which are a requirement. Also even though I like the exterior of the Focus I prefer the interior of the Insight and that's where I sit.
 
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If it's anything like my Auris I 'only' average about 44mpg from it, doing 80% motorway stuff just sat at 70-ish day in day out.

It's pants compared to an infinitely more pleasant-to-drive conventional diesel though....and even compared to a conventional petrol it's a bit of a struggle as the CVT box is just an annoyance, although it is quite easy to drive.

Thats pretty pants compared with anything really, a normal petrol focus will manage that :/ What a pointless car if thats all it does! :)
 
10k got me a brand new yaris I get to keep at the end of the finance agreement.

Buy a car within your means

I can afford to pay off the car fine, it is well within my means, hence why I posted here for information on the vehicle I was interested in :P

*edit*

According to the Honda website the price for a Insight ES is £18,285, how far do you reckon I should be able to beat down a dealer? I was thinking ~£17,000 should be my target? Im assuming they will want to sell before the Jazz Hybrid arrives as that may lower their appeal/demand
 
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Thats pretty pants compared with anything really, a normal petrol focus will manage that :/ What a pointless car if thats all it does! :)
Assuming the Auris is a hybrid, I bet it would be much better than a normal petrol Focus if it was sat in stop-start traffic all day. The motorway is not a place to compare hybrids and conventional vehicles.
 
Assuming the Auris is a hybrid, I bet it would be much better than a normal petrol Focus if it was sat in stop-start traffic all day. The motorway is not a place to compare hybrids and conventional vehicles.

Yet it seems to be the place they all end up as most are fleet cars and thats where a lot of fleet cars spend time..

Infact around town and in stop start traffic fuel economy becomes unimportant - you cant exactly do 300 miles a day in stop start town traffic..
 
I wish my normal Focus did 44mpg!

TBH this is the first time ive seen petrol versus hybrid on the motorway.... the hybrid will be better for that, and if its not it because its probably offering a larger segment of car with better performance yet the same MPG. Any results here suggesting otherwise are simply due to the driving condition and routes.

The 2011 Insight has a cheaper entry point with some tweaks to trim and suspension. The Jazz Hybrid will be starting at £16k aswell.
 
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