2003 Honda Insight

Hatchback

1.0L 995CC 61Cu. In. l3 ELECTRIC/GAS SOHC Naturall

Automatic

JHMZE147X3T000742

Clear

ELECTRIC/GAS

Hi, this is a 2003 Honda Insight and is for sale here on Ebay. We are Reminisce Antiques and Variety Store in Terre Haute, Indiana and a customer of ours is willing to sell his car with us. We take pride in treating our customers right as well as our ebay customers we sell to. We have the clear title to the car pending the auctions end. This car is a 1.0 I3 SFI 2 Door Hatchback. It has been very well taken care of and was just recently paid off this year by the current owner from the bank. It is used as highway transportation, as many of these cars are because of the 70 mpg maximum mpg. It has one of the lowest coefficient drags of any car on the road and it's all mostly aluminum and magnesium. The engine, the chassis, the doors, the motor mounts, the spare tire are all very lightweight to increase mileage and pick-up. This car (make and model) is very popular with hyper-milers (getting 50 to 120 miles a gallon of gas with modifications) as well. Many forums show exactly how to maximize the potential of these cars. The newest 2012 insight does not come close to the mpg's these cars in the first generation get. This car has recently had the ima battery pack go in and out on occasion. The computer automatically runs the car on the 1.0 liter engine in those instances. So, this car has been averaging 45 - 55 miles a gallon running the engine alone. Remember the ima pack and motor assist adds 13 hp and 36 ft pounds of torque to the car when functional. So with out it, acceleration will be slowed by the 13 hp, which is not very much. The local Honda dealership wants $80 to do a diagnostic, but the codes pulled at autozone suggest it's a IMA battery pack error. This could mean that it is just an internal fuse or other simple part or it could mean a whole new pack, which can be had or serviced with ima techs, like the ones who advertise on ebay and the online forums. I've read that a lot of owners, make it a plug in hybrid to charge the battery nightly or just unplug the rear battery pack completely to just use the engine alone, like a "normal" car. So, this car is going on ebay for sale because the owner has two other cars and this car could mean one less car and more money for bills and the family. The rear shocks on this car needs replaced as well. A lot of insights have the shocks go out pre-maturely and they can be replaced at honda for $260 is what the dealer suggested with labor included, which isn't too bad. The shocks can be ordered on ebay as well and replaced by you. So the back of the car bounces really easy because it is such a light car. Front shocks are in good condition. Because of the shocks, which doesn't permit the car from being driven at all, it is, along with the battery codes, It is suggested that the car be trailered, to your home, so no issues come up on driving the car extensively. I took photos of it with the camera and it was not cleaned up or washed at all. It was an overcast day and the sun wasn't out when the photos were taken. There are a few rub marks on the bumper, due to bicycle tires I was told, but they should rub out with a clay bar or magic eraser. The Honda will clean up real nice, it's just we haven't had time to detail it. He would like to see this car in this condition go for around $3500 which is the average for these cars throwing the codes it does. The engine itself is in great strong order with no knocks or issues ever and I drove it myself and none of the gears slip. It is a fun ride. The air conditioning blows real cold and the heater works great too. It has electronic mirrors and nice mp3 cd player installed. The buttons do not have a lot of wear-off on them so the dash looks good. I will get the car more cleaned up as the week goes by for the new owner. The car has not been driven much, about 400 miles since the codes came up, so as to not initiate additional codes. This car will make a great hyper-milager fix or use it as just an internally combustable stand-alone car at appx. 50 mpg's. The look is also nice as a 2 door coupe'. The colors of these cars were usually red or silver. The silver, gray and black looks real sporty. Well, ask any questions that you would like and I'll get the answer to you as soon as I can. The reserve is set substantially lower than the wanting price. Tip bidder wins. Feedback of less than 10 will be excluded from bidding UNLESS you message us first with your good intentions and phone number, quite simple to do. If you have less than 10 feedback and want to bid right at the end to win, then message us first, that's all we ask of you. Winning bid will owe the entire amount within 3 days, otherwise the car will go to the next highest bidder as a second chance offer, no exceptions. Communicate your purchase and things will be fine. The car can be viewed at any time as well. Feedback on your end is prefered upon vehicle pick-up and inspection from location, there are too many people bidding winning, paying by paypal from a non authorized account, then filing claims for refund while not returning cars on ebay. This is why feedback is so important on a large purchase to protect both you the buyer and us the seller. Paypal only or cash with bills verified at our store location at 2401 North 13th Street, Terre Haute, IN 47802. We are also on Google Stores. Good luck and happy bidding. On Oct-23-12 at 15:55:27 PDT, seller added the following information:Cracked windshield. I am very upset. I walked out to see the car today and it looks as if someone threw a rock or hit the windshield with something. It is right above the passenger wiper and spiders outward. I don't know who could have done this, but it really pisses me off. So, the pictures of the car that I took previously does not reflect this. It's not a large shatter, but its still noticeable. I'll take a few pictures of it and post them in the description. Haven't checked on a replacement yet, but most often it's around 250.00, so keep that in mind when bidding. In Return...I have lowered the reserve exactly 250.00 to cover this, so it will help out as well The car still looks good overall, paint and body, but this is just upsetting. On Oct-25-12 at 09:32:50 PDT, seller added the following information:IMPORTANT… GOOD NEWS… Yesterday, (Wednesday) I went to the dealership and had a technician look at the Insight, the battery light that was lit on the left side of the dash was not the IMA battery pack that the owner Andy suspected. The small 12 v compact battery in the front of the car, that runs some 12 accessories was completely discharged. He put the battery on a quick charge and the battery light went off after it was put back in the car. I was under the impression the expensive rear battery was cycling on and off. That IMA light is not on and not throwing a code at this time. The charge section of the dash fluctuates with engine speed and car speed as it should. The only dash light that is on reads Maint. Req. That light I was told, is due to unbalancing of the d-cell battery packs being out of sinc., meaning the end sticks of batteries use more power than the cells sticks in the middle of the pack. I’ve learned there are a few ways to cycle these batteries back in a good order that permits the car to use the IMA pack more efficiently. The easiest being a plug in digital trickle charger left on the pack at certain connectors in the trunk. This is my first experience with these cars and I learned a lot. It is important to realize as a bidder, that I wrote this listing as though the back battery pack was bad. An great indicator that it is in good order was found out when driving back home from the dealer yesterday. That being, the Auto-Stop feature of this car, it is works perfectly. For this to happen the car has to meet like 5 criteria. One being the IMA pack is charged over 30% and is receiving charge from the generator; the engine is at operating temperature 150 degrees; coming to a complete stop after driving 19mph; the air conditioner is in ECON mode and a few others. So again, this car is functioning as normal now and I was considering ending this listing and writing a new one, due to the price of these cars in working order, but since there have been over 500 views and 50 watchers, I will keep this listing up and hope people scroll down to read this additional section. Ebay, does not allow change in the title or main description once a bid has been placed. The dealer still suggests I buy a new frontal 12 v battery, which I will do before this auction ends and post the pictures of it being new and installed. I will also take a video of the car completely working fine while driving with the cell phone along with the dash lights and gauges while driving posted in a link, probably to youtube. So, I will keep you up to date for the next four days before the auction ends. This will be a good car for someone, based on what the car is doing. Thanks for your time and good luck winning your Honda. Duane and Darleen Fields.On Oct-26-12 at 09:13:33 PDT, seller added the following information: Hi, bought a new Nascar Extreme Exide 12V battery today. It is a real nice battery and the receipt comes with the car because it has a 3 year warranty with the store. Made a little video of the car starting through the ima battery, showing complete charge on the pack and the maint. light on the dash. ALSO, about the maintenance light... I've had a couple ebay watchers tell me that the light does not mean the cells are out of sync, it just means that it tells you that it's time for an oil change or regular maintenance only. I believe my honda dealership just sees dollars when I go there. So that light, is just that, regular maintenance is due. Now that I know the car is in good order, pictures will be up after it gets detailed on Saturday. Thanks a lot.      On Oct-26-12 at 18:13:56 PDT, seller added the following information: TEST DRIVE RESULTS AFTER SERVICE. Today, Friday Oct. 26th, I wanted to take the car that I'm selling for Andy on a test drive over 20 miles. I have never owned one of these cars and by the length of this listing, you can tell I've learned a lot about the car. The new Exide battery was installed and I made 4 videos of it and uploaded them to Photobucket by my cell phone. You will see the car on Interstate and in stop and go traffic. It performed just as it should. The car has great pickup as well. Stopping the car and applying the brakes assist the battery in charging it automatically, a really neat function. I am writing this just after my drive so here are the videos. Note that the main description has a lot of errors in it, because it was the information I was given before testing, servicing and buying parts for the car. The IMA generator and IMA battery is charged fully and working properly. The car is functioning as it should at this time. This car is also a two owner car from CarFax and was only involved in one minor accident with a bicycle at low speed. One thing I forgot to mention is that it has cruise control from the factory as well. Thanks for viewing and good luck bidding, I will have detailed engine, body and interior pictures tomorrow.       On Oct-27-12 at 18:53:16 PDT, seller added the following information:Hi. The insight was detailed and I took 108 high quality photos and 2 Drive-along videos and they are on youtube. I didn't use the cell phone but a nice camera which shows better details. Youtube videos are Titled 2003 Honda Insight For Sale. The car is functioning as it should and the girlfriend and I drove around all day with it. Direct Link to Folder with pictures is at Photobucket: http://s312.photobucket.com/albums/ll331/duanefields/Insight/Insight%20detailed/ Copy and Paste into browser. Youtube videos are at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uR1PVkLVQbw If you have any questions, message me or call my cell phone at 812-223-6731. Thanks and good luck bidding and winning your Insight. On Oct-27-12 at 22:18:18 PDT, seller added the following information:   On Oct-29-12 at 14:30:28 PDT, seller added the following information:Feedback >10: eward01 (2) the current top bidder has been approved to bid.