Motor Trend - USA (2020-06)

So we Googled the nearest

Honda dealership and used its

online booking tool to make

an appointment. We took the

first appointment on offer and

arrived just after 7:30 a.m., to a

clean, buzzing dealership that

looked ready to take in a lot of

incoming vehicles. Our mileage

when we dropped it off: 12,879,

or 958 miles past due for the A-1

service, as the gauge told us.

The service writer took down

our Insight’s VIN, checked the

odometer, and confirmed our

mileage without even looking

up. “OK, the A-1 service should

take an hour to 90 minutes.

W

e first took delivery
of our 2019 Honda
Insight back in
January 2019, and despite
some long road trips, a trip
to the test track, and using it
as a surf mobile, we have had
almost an entirely trouble-free
experience.
Somewhere around the
11,000-mile mark on the
odometer, the left-hand
gauge in the instrument cluster
started to ping us with alerts
that we were soon due for
service. Close to the 12,000-
mile mark, that message
changed to “past due.”

Will you be waiting, or can

we drop you off somewhere?”

she asked, handing us some

paperwork, eyes glued to her

computer. It was only when we

said we wanted an intermittent

dash creak investigated that

she looked up. We handed

the paperwork back, and she

noted the creak’s location

(passenger-side dashboard)

and conditions (when driving

over bumpy roads or when the

motor-generator kicks on).

Honda’s A-1 service is usually

the first on the maintenance

schedule. A-1 is shorthand:

“A” means oil change, and

“1” means they’ll check the

condition and pressure of

the tires and rotate them as

needed. Sounds about right for

the Insight’s first 12,000 miles.

The A-1 service was performed

with no surprises. As for the

dash squeak, the mechanics

couldn’t replicate it, but they

did notice the tires weren’t

properly inflated, which they

believed to be the problem.

Cost for the job, $96.05 with no

charge for the low-mileage test

drive to investigate the creak.

We noted that the mileage

hadn’t budged, so there was

certainly no joyriding—but

it also didn’t seem that the

technicians drove it much to

diagnose the dash squeak.

Could they have driven it under

a mile and decided that was

enough? Maybe. Suspicious of

such a quick fix, we drove the

car home over any rough patch

of pavement we could find.

Not a squeak or a creak from

the dash, so maybe it was just

underfilled tires.

“We asked the dealer to look into

a creaking dash. The alleged fix

turned out to be pretty simple.”

Ed Loh

Service life:

11 mo/1 2 ,879 mi • Avg Fuel Econ: 46.7 mpg

Avg CO2 0.48 lb/mi Energy cons 72 kW-hr/100 mi
Unresolved problems None Maintenance cost $96.05 (oil
change, tire rotation, inspection) Normal-wear cost $0
Base price $23,850 As-tested $25,390 EPA City/Hwy/Comb
Fuel Econ 55/49/52 mpg Real MPG 61.5/52.7/57.2 mpg

2019 Honda Insight