Prius To Insight

[redmires]

Has anybody done the switch (or Insight to Prius) ?

My Prius goes back next week. The 2 year lease is up and I've signed up for a Honda Insight ES-T. I don't know what has happened to Prius lease prices but they have gone sky high. What was costing me nearly £400/month would now cost me nearer £500/month for a T4 with no extras. The Insight is costing just over £300/month.... no competion. And it's a better spec, built in sat nav etc. It's just a question of financials and I have no loyalties, the car is a workhorse and I don't get emotionally attached to them.

What can I expect from the Insight then ?

Lower mpg ? - 60 v 70 mpg (quoted figures)

Less power ? - 1350cc v 1800cc

The Prius has been a decent car. On the negative side, it rattled to much for my liking and I find the interior to be very poor build quality. The plastics are particularly bad. On the plus side, it was ultra reliable (unlike the Nissan I had previously) and has covered 38000 miles at an average of 57.91mpg. The original tyres are still on (and legal). And the service costs were reasonable.

I'll stay on the board for a couple of months and give a comparison of the two.

Thanks for all the useful info over the last couple of years......

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Before I bought my Prius in 2009 I actually looked at the Insight. There wasn't much in the price - about £15,000 if I remember but the Prius was much more car for the money. Since then however, the Prius has gone up about £4,000 whereas the Insight has gone up about £1,000, making it much more viable despite the compromises.

It's not as big, not as fast, not as nice to drive, not as reliable, not free tax but it's still a reasonable economical automatic petrol car and now very well priced.

It's still too small for me, which is a shame, but the Prius costs are just ridiculous now, especially the plug in, and I for one won't be buying another new.

[cuius]

Did you price an Auris HSD?

[redmires]

T4 Auris hybrid would be about £400/month for 2 year 20k. Didn't consider it.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

There are some bargains on the Insight as follows;

Insight prices start at £16,995 and head up to £20,995

Auris costs range from £20,295 to £22,745

Prius range from £21,560 to £24,870

I'm guessing options apply to all the above for metalic paint etc etc, but if you're just after a basic, cheap automatic hybrid then the Insight is £3,300 cheaper than the Auris and £4,565 cheaper than the basic Prius. If it was bigger, I'd take a punt on the Insight for the £4,500 saving!

That's a big deal.

[Chris Dance]

Looked at the Insight last year. Honda salesman was OK but not as good as the Toyota chap. Toyota knew far more about their products. There is a big cost saving buying the Insight but I have reservations about its quality and reliability but then I have never owned one. If you want a fairly decent basic car I suppose it is OK.

[wass]

Our neighbour has an insight and we would conclude that so long as you can afford to take your time, the insight is a better package. The prius has an engine which is 33% bigger and it feels like it. The insight is equiped and finished better than the cheapest toyota hybrid.

[johalareewi]

Don't mention the 'biblically terrible' Clarkson review.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

lol, that was one dreadful review BUT it's Clarkson we're talking about. His views of the Prius are also as scathing. Best way is to find out for yourself and take one for a test drive. Infact, I think I might just do that. Let's see it compares to the Prius which I am now very familier with.

[redmires]

Hello all. I said that I would report back.

I've had the Insight for about 10 weeks now and covered just over 5,000 miles. Here's a few observations and comparisons.

Build quality

Insight much better than Prius - feels more solid, no rattles etc. I had a glasses case jammed into the Prius dashboard for the two years I had it in an attempt to stop the rattles.

Space

Smaller than the Prius but not by that much.

Service

Every 12,500 miles as opposed to the 10k of the Prius. Not had a first service yet so cannot comment on the price.

MPG

Averaging 54mpg compared to 58mpg in Prius. May improve as weather warms up.

Engine/Drive train

Insight nowhere near as smooth as the Prius. Uses stop-start technology and the Battery never powers the car on its own. As soon as the brake pedal is released, the engine starts, which is a nuisance in crawling traffic. The Insight feels more like a normal car, as opposed to the futurist feel of the Prius.

Comfort

Not much in it. Both feel ok on long journeys.

Finish

Non-metallic finish on the Insight seems more robust than the metallic paint on the Prius. Less prone to dead flies and bird muck leaving permanent marks.

Road holding

The insight feels more sure footed on cornering but I never thrash the cars so can't give proper account.

Fixtures and Fittings

Insight came well spec'd. Sat Nav fitted as standard, Long wave on the radio for the cricket, Ipod/USB connectivity. As mentioned previously, the Insight lease cost at £311/month was at least £150/month cheaper than the T4 Prius. Having said that, I notice the price of the Insight has shot up now so I must have got the last of the good deals on that car.

Overall

If price wasn't a factor then I would have a Prius. However, the price difference cannot be ignored. Perhaps a Prius with the Honda build quality or an Insight with the drive train of the Prius would be the best choice.

Finally, the Prius went off to auction I believe so if anyone is driving a newly aquired dark grey T4 with about 39k on the clock, reg of **10 JEO, then look after her, won't you :)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

..... Having said that, I notice the price of the Insight has shot up now so I must have got the last of the good deals on that car.

Just been to check. Wow they've shot up since I gave the price comparison earlier in the post;

Insight range from £19,535 (HE model) to £22,535 (HX model) with extra for metalic etc.

Wow, that's a big increase and probably not worth the paying compared to the £2,000 extra for the Prius.

Are they hoping that this being the 2nd generation version that it is significantly different to the one Clarkson reviewed? I'd have paid £16,000 for an Insight but I'm not paying £19,500 for one.

[redmires]

I think I got lucky and got the last of the old model Insight. New lease price is £500 + and Prius is around the same price. I can get a C Class Merc for just over £400/month. Madness !!!!!

Forgot to mention a couple of things I miss from the Prius

Hill start assist

keyless entry

[dee s]

What has happend to the Civic hybrid, it look like just like an Insight

[kithmo]

I would be interested in the average mpg over a year, on the Insight, compared to the Prius.

Economy on my Prius varies quite a lot with temperature, around 57mpg in Summer and near 40mpg in Winter (calculated) on my short commute and I was wondering if the Insight economy was more stable with the engine being used all the time.

I.e. less mpg in summer due to more use of the engine and more mpg in winter due to the smaller engine.

I would consider am Insight as a second car, maybe purchase a nearly new one rather than new.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I think I got lucky and got the last of the old model Insight. New lease price is £500 + and Prius is around the same price. I can get a C Class Merc for just over £400/month. Madness !!!!!

I appears the lease companies don't feel they can recoup their money as well on the Prius. Second hand prices with average company mileages mean the car will be worthless after 3 years and that chronic depreciation has to be recovered somehow.

One of my neighbours got a brand new 3 series the other day and I must say it looks the business! It's the base diesel manual so costs the same as a t-spirit, but it looks £10k more.

Also, to say the new shape gen3 has been out a little while, I haven't seen one in the wild yet. I see loads of gen2's and a lot of gen3's in town and a fair few Auris hsd's, but no new shape gen3 yet. Saying that, I wouldn't pay the best part of £21k+ for one.

[Dave R.]

My T-Spirit lease is up in September, so I'll have to start looking for a replacement soon. Has anyone looked at the Lexus Hybrid? (Saloon car, not the Chelsea Tractor).

If I don't get another Prius I'll really miss the smoothness and simplicity of the hybrid synergy drive. There's something quite satisfying about knowing the engine is either doing something useful or isn't burning petrol!

I've yet to investigate both prices and fittings for the updated Prius.... some of the negative comments in this forum are a bit depressing.

I'm a massive fan of Cruise Control - so I'll be interested to see what the price of adaptive cruise control looks like!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I guess it depends on your budget. Which Lexus do you mean, the CT200h or the GS hybrid?

Do you need London CGZ exemption or does that not matter?

Peugeot hybrids are stylish and surprisingly nice to drive and if it's a company car, then long term reliability doesn't really matter.

Or what about an EV? Is your daily mileage within their safe limits? They're smooth and the latest tech. The Fluence ZE can be had for very little - with a monthly Battery lease on top. This too would be a reasonable lease via your company scheme.

[johalareewi]

I would be interested in the average mpg over a year, on the Insight, compared to the Prius.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/honda/insight

http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius

[Grumpy Cabbie]

When I clicked that link it brought up US mpg figures. US gallons are about a quater smaller than ours. 48 mpg US is about 57 mpg UK.

Suggest others clicking the above links select the UK option on the left and then let the figures update for UK miles per gallon.

There isn't much difference in Insight and Prius mpgs. I often wondered how much more economical the gen3 Prius could have been if it had been tuned more for mpg's rather than speed. The Americans believe the gen2 to have been too slow on the 0-60 etc.

[kithmo]

http://www.fuelly.co...r/honda/insight

http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius

Thanks johalareewi, I forgot about fuelly.

There's not much in it for the 2012 model Insight 57.8 mpg v 58.5 mpg for the 2012 Prius, but a bigger difference with the older (2010) Insight 52.0 mpg v 58.2 mpg for the 2010 Prius.

What I was wondering from a personal point of view is the differences on short journeys.

[kithmo]

The Honda Civic Hybrid hasn't improved much over the years (Fuelly) around 50 mpg since 2003.

[Bibsy]

I'm a massive fan of Cruise Control - so I'll be interested to see what the price of adaptive cruise control looks like!

Adaptive Cruise on the Prius is part of the technology Pack, so it's £1750.

Interestingly, it's not an option at all on the soon to be launched Plug In Prius. Adaptive is no longer available, nor is self park as far as I can see.

[kithmo]

I'm a massive fan of Cruise Control - so I'll be interested to see what the price of adaptive cruise control looks like!

Adaptive Cruise on the Prius is part of the technology Pack, so it's £1750.

Interestingly, it's not an option at all on the soon to be launched Plug In Prius. Adaptive is no longer available, nor is self park as far as I can see.

Intelligent park assist is part of the Technology pack.

[Bibsy]

I'm a massive fan of Cruise Control - so I'll be interested to see what the price of adaptive cruise control looks like!

Adaptive Cruise on the Prius is part of the technology Pack, so it's £1750.

Interestingly, it's not an option at all on the soon to be launched Plug In Prius. Adaptive is no longer available, nor is self park as far as I can see.

Intelligent park assist is part of the Technology pack.

...which isn't available on the Plugin. Only the Protection and Style Packs are advertised on the UK site, and I did ask Toyota UK about adaptive/IPA for the Plugin. The answer was no. You can get it ok on the existing Prius, just not the Plugin.

[Bibsy]

I'm a massive fan of Cruise Control - so I'll be interested to see what the price of adaptive cruise control looks like!

Adaptive Cruise on the Prius is part of the technology Pack, so it's £1750.

Interestingly, it's not an option at all on the soon to be launched Plug In Prius. Adaptive is no longer available, nor is self park as far as I can see.

Intelligent park assist is part of the Technology pack.

...which isn't available on the Plugin. Only the Protection and Style Packs are advertised on the UK site, and I did ask Toyota UK about adaptive/IPA for the Plugin. The answer was no. You can get it ok on the existing Prius, just not the Plugin, (unless they change the specs before launch I guess)