Honda Insight: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Honda Insight: 8 model years scored from 336 NHTSA owner complaints and 47 recall campaigns. Worst year 2019, best year 2014.
Honda Insight: which years to avoid
Across 8 scored model years the Honda Insight ranges from 31/100 in 2019 to 86/100 in 2014 — a 55-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy an Insight at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Forward Collision Avoidance (17 of them).
Avoid: 2019 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
How the Insight changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2014
Mean score 77/100, about 3 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (72 complaints). 27 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2020–2022
Mean score 72/100, about 6 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Forward Collision Avoidance more than anything else (34 complaints). 12 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2014 (score 86). Worst: 2019 (score 31, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 69 | CAUTION | $2,352 | 32 | 3 |
| 2021 | 78 | BUY | $2,485 | 25 | 3 |
| 2020 | 68 | CAUTION | $2,628 | 31 | 6 |
| 2019 | 31 | AVOID | $2,936 | 98 | 8 |
| 2014 | 86 | BUY | $3,728 | 5 | 3 |
| 2013 | 74 | BUY | $3,876 | 45 | 6 |
| 2012 | 72 | BUY | $4,030 | 59 | 8 |
| 2011 | 77 | BUY | $4,142 | 41 | 10 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Insight, through the years →
Insight sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Insight on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Honda Insight
Across every Insight model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine78 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Air Bags53 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Forward Collision Avoidance51 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Radar or camera module replacement and calibration$780–$2,160
- Unknown Or Other38 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Electrical System37 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Service Brakes27 complaints across all Insight years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Honda Insight years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2019 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2019 is the weakest at 31/100, with its complaints concentrated in Forward Collision Avoidance.
What are the best Honda Insight years to buy?
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2014 at 86/100, on 5 complaints and 3 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Honda Insight problem?
78 of the complaints filed against the Insight across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04