Honda Insight vs Honda City, which is more cost effective?

[aalto]

Seeing the launch of the Honda Insight, it made me wonder.....
Is the jump to hybrid cost effective?

Lets compare...

Price :
Honda City Grade E : 90000 OTR
Honda Insight : 98000 OTR

Say loan for 7 years, difference is about RM100 per month

Fuel consumption (based on honda japan):
Honda City : 20km/l
Honda Insight : 26km/l

Say i average around 800km per month, difference about 10L/per month ~ RM20/per month (RON95)....(40L(city) vs 30L(insight))

Others factors:

Honda insight - batteries need to be changed after 5 years+, cost around RM5000++ for battery change

Honda City - maybe servicing a bit more frequent than insight (3 times (city) peryear vs 2 times (insight) per year) , so extra RM200 per year for servicing.

Conclusion :

So putting all the factors in (not including roadtax + insurance),

Honda City costs per year : 10000(loan) + 960(fuel) + 600(servicing) = RM11560 per year

Honda Insight costs per year : 11000(loan) + 720(fuel) + 400(servicing) + 1000(battery, 5K/5 years) = RM 13120 per year

Difference : RM1560 per year

Bear in mind this is just a rough estimation....

So what do you guys think?
Is it worth the leap to hybrid, cost wise?
Or is it worth the extra cost to help the environment?

 

[DanzEterna]

i heard if your battery system short circuit, to replace the whole system costs rm30k, not sure is it true anot......or maybe just rumours.....if i had a choce, i would go for insight.

 

[rydell]

you must be a frequent traveller if u are owning a hybrid...plus city also needs battery replacement

 

[Bad boy]

Perhaps some Civic hybrid owners can share some pros and cons?

Will have a better picture this way though.

Insight looks cool..

 

[aalto]

you must be a frequent traveller if u are owning a hybrid...plus city also needs battery replacement

City uses normal battery,RM150 only......say replace every 2 years....about RM75 per year only...

 

[rydell]

traveling 800km/month makes me wonder how near is your workplace...???
eventually i am considering a hybrid as i travel averaging 2500km/month, can you please do the math for me and is it wise for me to get one???

after all, we also need to see the value depreciation between both models, if insight 2nd hand value fetch higher than city, i think the insight wins

 

[arturo]

also dont forget hybrids are more for town drivings with a lot of start stops. hiway driving would depend more on the petrol motor which defeats the purpose.

Danz...civic hybrid's battery pack replacements are priced at about RM12k n if u buy from authorised honda dealer, can get 15% discount n since honda said they will bring prices even further down for the insight battery packs...maybe about RM7-8k per pack. question is...can u save up to 8k in petrol usage n justify having to "maybe" change your battery after 5 or so years?

also another thing...toyota claims that a taxi driver in aussie has used his battery till 500k km and only changed then cos of low voltage reading...

my vote would go to a diesel compact. the golf tdi beat the prius' FC FYI...

 

[aalto]

traveling 800km/month makes me wonder how near is your workplace...???
eventually i am considering a hybrid as i travel averaging 2500km/month, can you please do the math for me and is it wise for me to get one???

after all, we also need to see the value depreciation between both models, if insight 2nd hand value fetch higher than city, i think the insight wins

800km/month is for a distance to work around 10 km (one way).....I based it on my wife's approx monthly average...bcoz if i would to get a new car she'd be using it...

My average is also around 2500km/month also.....so to calculate that :

Honda City (20km/L) : 125L/per month~RM 250 (RON 95)
Honda Insight (26km/L): 96L/per month~ RM 192 (RON 95)

My current car (B16A@ 13km/L) : 192L per month~RM384(RON 95)

Honda Insight savings :
About RM 60 saving per month against Honda City
About RM 192 saving per month against B16A

 

[arturo]

but aalto...city or insight more fun to drive compared to yr b16a?

wait u tekan minyak but no power u tekan more...in the end...use more petrol than yr b16a...

 

[aalto]

but aalto...city or insight more fun to drive compared to yr b16a?

wait u tekan minyak but no power u tekan more...in the end...use more petrol than yr b16a...

Thats why (if decide to buy city or insight) my wife will be driving it...hehe

I'll just borrow it at end of month when "tengah sengkek".....haha

 

[DanzEterna]

arturo...
if like that i buy HONDA ex5 la hehe......

i like the prius tho...but its kinda expensive compared to insight.

 

[arturo]

danz...buy ex5...cabut engine. set throttle at 80-90%% then connect to a 12wheeler truck head alternator...connect to a bank of 6 24volt truck battery, then throw away yr engine n plonk in a high tourque electric motor...quarantee u'll save more than a prius.

**some assembly required**

i very interested in the range extender exora loh...future of hybrids maybe? mana leo ni? if he were here sure a lot of tech questions can discuss with him regarding "range extender" vehicles.

alto...i think if u buying for wife...the insight will make her happier. centre of attention mah. everybody has a city.a hybrid is still considered unique here

 

[TitanRev]

I don't think the Insight battery will kong exactly after 5 years gua....

 

[shiroitenshi]

cost effectiveness.
Considering those cars will never be bought cash, then they should be 100K+

One thing is that our road tax is low already for 1.6L below, hybrid is like what? free? (lol.. dreaming)

If measuring cost effectiveness, then calculate trip to work and back per day using public transport then consider doing that for 5/7/9 years.. does it hit 100K?

Extra cost for saving environment wise.. hmm... Just like those companies in Malaysia pledging to go green, and seeing their logistics department truck/lorry fleet that have to 'kawtim' to pass smog test?

half a decade old lorries running on the road won't help matters much.

If truly want to go green, then find a way to not need to drive car so much. But kinda impossible because the higher paying jobs all require some form of travel, no?

 

[aalto]

Shiro:

Using public transport would certainly be greener....the problem is time, access & reliability. I go to work from ptjaya to shah alam (about 50km one way)...by car it takes about 45mins, by kommuter it would take almost 2 hours!....i can ride my bicycle that distance in less than 2 hours..huhu...so really got no choice other than finding work nearby or ride a motorbike...

For the time being hybrids wont really make much impact to the environment untill its fully implemented to at least 50% of all vehicles...but you gotta start someday right?....

Maybe its not much but at least its a start in the right direction..

 

[TitanRev]

aalto, I just read the news from NST today. Report from Toyota USA states that the Prius battery from 97 Prius is still running until now. How true is that I can't confirmed...

 

[arrowhead]

hmmm...good comparison... im also considering for an insight..

 

[JDM_Car]

this a good info, I'm still curious how the maintenance schedule woudl be and the cost for hybrid Honda Insight, when honda announce the OTR price 98k , I keep searching info on hybrid. I want to trade my 3 years civic and see how much honda will take it. I heard the first batch of Insight will be available in Feb next year, and the good news is CBU. Hmmmm....

and of coz the mugen version of insight keep poisoning me indefinitely ...

http://www.autogaragenews.com/wp-content/uploads/Honda/hondainsight.jpg

 

[shiroitenshi]

Shiro:

Using public transport would certainly be greener....the problem is time, access & reliability. I go to work from ptjaya to shah alam (about 50km one way)...by car it takes about 45mins, by kommuter it would take almost 2 hours!....i can ride my bicycle that distance in less than 2 hours..huhu...so really got no choice other than finding work nearby or ride a motorbike...

For the time being hybrids wont really make much impact to the environment untill its fully implemented to at least 50% of all vehicles...but you gotta start someday right?....

Maybe its not much but at least its a start in the right direction..

You're right, have to start somewhere. But for me, the biggest potential for change is always the big companies. Notice the no plastic bags rule? much more effective than asking people to start going green without incentive.

Actually I disagree about the public transports being greener, look at the bus exhaust also can get watery eyes already. What I meant was it being more cost effective, since the post is about cost effectiveness.

Actually theres a lot of things that can be improved than just exhaust gas emissions, the landfills piling up also contribute to gas pollution, as they are burnt or degrade (like batteries) releasing poisonous gasses in the air.

Notice what happens if you separate your garbage here.. it's simply thrown into the same bin in the end. So much for individual effort.

As for hybrids, there should be a tax relief for people to go green, this is a great way for making early adopters of green technology more motivated in going green as new technology always has a higher entry fee. But then again, I'm not the government, and these kinds of suggestion has probably been discussed and KIV'ed before.

 

[TitanRev]

JDM car, I think the Insight will be from Japan a this moment