What Insight? Toyota Prepping Low-Cost Prius to Battle Honda

Same basic shape, yes. But the Insight has more style. Besides, I'd rather have a Honda than a Toyota.

Altimadude, actually Honda hybrids and Hondas in general are pretty basic when it comes to options UNFORTUNATELY. The Insight has 3 trims LX, EX and EX Navi.

All that extra stuff is added to absorb the cost of the hybrid system.

Or you could be smart, buy a nice simple traditional small car, new or used, and call it a day. But of course that isn't nearly as conspicuous, and that's all that really matters right?

"But of course that isn't nearly as conspicuous, and that's all that really matters right?"

Or you could accept that the Honda Insight gets a much as 20 miles more per gallon then the Fit and maybe Hybrids aren't a scam and maybe wasting gas isn't a good thing even if you don't care about the enviroment.

And just maybe (with the possible exception of California) people don't buy hybrids to impress their neighbours.

Numbers alone don't always tell the story. The 2009 Fit automatic costs $16,220 with destination, while the 2010 Insight LX will be $20,470 with destination. That's an initial cost difference of $4,250. The Fit has an EPA combined rating of 31 MPG, while the insight has an EPA combined rating of 41 MPG. Gasoline down the street this morning would cost me $1.82 per gallon. With me being an average American and driving 12,000 miles per year (I don't know how I keep hitting exactly that number), it would take me 25 years of driving an Insight instead of a Fit to make up the initial cost difference. Even if gas prices somehow were $4 per gallon tomorrow (and that day will most likely come), it would still take me 11 years of driving my new Insight to recoup my financial splurge.

But isn't it worth paying the extra cost to save the environment? Just think of the potential impact we could all make if we each bought a Fit instead of an Insight and donated our $4250 in savings to a worthwhile environmental cause. Toyota sold more than 180,000 of their Prius models in 2007. I think Honda wants to get 100,000 Insights on the roads this year. If all of those Insight purchases were Fits instead, that'd be $425 MILLION donated to a worthy environmental cause. (I wonder what kind of carbon offsets that'd buy...?)

So, you see, numbers may not always tell the whole story. But they can surely be a compelling argument.

(By the way, I would certainly consider buying a new Insight -- depends on how I like it compared to a Fit and several other models, including a Prius, I would be test driving at the time of my search!)

I really was curious... It would cost $34.34 per year to purchase carbon offsets for the emissions of a 2009 Fit, according to the site below:

http://www.carbonfund.org/Calculators/#

That's 123.76 years of offsets until I use up my $4250 I saved by buying the Fit instead of the Insight....

And that's not even counting the additional cost to insure, finance, and maintain. That's also not counting the environmental cost of manufacturing and disposing of the batteries.

10 mpg isn't 20 mpg. The difference isn't big enough to justify the expense.

Sadly I do live in California. Here, being environmentally friendly means living in a McMansion with negative equity and a solar panel on the roof to partially offset the astronomical energy consumption (aka Al Gore residences), buying "organic" food shipped in from exotic locations far, far away, recycling the cardboard boxes all the gadgets and toys we consume come in, and buying a Prius with the back end completely covered in very angry bumper stickers. I, on the other hand, live in a small apartment, buy very few non-necessities, keep my energy bills as low as possible (which isn't hard given the small size of my apartment), drive a conventional small car perfectly suited to my needs, and take a van-pool to work whenever possible. My environmental impact is relatively small yet because I don't do all the conspicuous things listed above, I'm considered an enemy of the environment.

The problem is we've all become so enamored with the Al Gore thing that we want to visibly show how good we are. While maintaining a simple, sensible lifestyle would accomplish the most good, we instead make things as complicated as possible so we can maintain our excessive consumption lifestyles while putting on appearances.

Global warming is a hoax, carbon offsets are a scam, and cap and trade will help kill the economic output and incentives of this country. Carbon dioxide is a pollutant??? Humans and animals exhale carbon dioxide - so we're polluting the air by existing?? It's amazing that junk science has gained so much influence and that so many are disregarding the basic science we started learning in elementary school. Or do our government controlled school systems not teach that anymore?

Let's stop being sheep and stop following the propagandists who advocate expanding government control over individuals' lives. I am not willing to give up hard fought for freedom by our ancestors as if it's worth nothing, to a bunch of government bureaucrats who care about nothing but enriching their power over the masses.