Fit gp1 or insight or civic fd3

[Didula]

Hi,

Planing to get a hybrid.what is the best options from above three.

My major concerns are

Fuel economy : city14-15kml , highway 20kml would be enough  for me.

Comfort 

Reselling value

Reliability

[ramishkad]

Pretty sure this has been discussed before if you search. But here goes.

I have only driven the FD3 out of the above three (I own one and been using it since 2013) so i'd just comment on it.

Fuel: It won't do 14-15kmpl in city traffic. A realistic figure in Colombo heavy stop and go traffic would be 9-12kmpl. You'd get 13-15 if the traffic is free flowing and you are lucky. For outstation journeys it usually does 16-20kmpl. Highways around 22kmpl. The above figures are when driving WITHOUT fuel consumption in mind. Either way don't expect Aqua level fuel figures from this vehicle.

Comfort: Spacious interior, ample leg space and comfortable seats. Nothing to complain here. The driving experience is better than most hybrids I've driven.

Reselling value: No idea actually. Never tried to sell it. I've seen them go for various prices ranging from 3.3 million to 4.2 million.

Reliability: Check the hybrid battery usable capacity before buying. The only major problem you'd get in this vehicle is premature hybrid battery failure. The car would still run, but would be underpowered. Hybrid battery issues start coming when the car is sat parked for long periods of time. Don't buy the FD3 if you are not a heavy user. It's a good high mile runner. But not a good vehicle to have parked around with little use.

Edited May 19, 2017 by ramishkad

[matroska]

As  ramishkad said above - the Civic will be the more comfortable of the three but will not give you the fuel figures you expect. The Fit and Insight would give you something close to 14-15  : I'm  Using a GP1 it does 13-14 in heavy traffic (all depends on how you drive - i managed to get more during the fuel strike since i was intent on saving fuel) 

On the interior the fit and Insight are not in the league of the civic but no major complains. 

I like  the massive space in the fit and how much head space i get in the cabin. 

All 3  more or less have the same internals so the stuff in the above post regarding battery etc are valid for all 3  - make sure the CVT has been well maintained. Go for a car with service history. 

The fit is cheaper - so you usually get a newer car for a given budget . 

 

[Didula]

Thanks ramishkad n matroska for info.how is the reselling market, i will probably use my nxt one for 4yrs.so im afraid of 2nd hand market  of gp1 n insight.i dont think that  its not roo dificult to resell a civic  in SL even if it is a hybrid.but im afraid of fd3's battery issue.usually i dont travel in hevy traffic,its all about travelling rajagiriya to horana 6.30am and return agint at abt 3.00pm.can fd3 get 14kml in my traveling schedule ?

[ramishkad]

3 hours ago, Didula said:

Thanks ramishkad n matroska for info.how is the reselling market, i will probably use my nxt one for 4yrs.so im afraid of 2nd hand market  of gp1 n insight.i dont think that  its not roo dificult to resell a civic  in SL even if it is a hybrid.but im afraid of fd3's battery issue.usually i dont travel in hevy traffic,its all about travelling rajagiriya to horana 6.30am and return agint at abt 3.00pm.can fd3 get 14kml in my traveling schedule ?

Yeah it should do 14kmpl given the traffic is flowing. I used to travel from Maharagama to Dematagoda daily on non rush hours and my average was somewhere around 16kmpl as I remember. 

I really have no idea about the resale market. I wouldn't expect it to be high given the car is a hybrid. 

If you are getting a Civic, read this thread before buying one :

 

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by ramishkad

[ajm]

resel market is generally not good for used hybrids..

[alpha17]

I have only driven the GP1 so far.Car is good and I think Insight might be the best bet.I know a guy who bought an Insight on 2011 and sold in 2016 for the same price,even after doing nearly 150000km.When he imported that car, the odo had only 16000km.He did not have any issues.If u prefer to use the car heavily,hybrid might be the best option.

[Didula]

According to discussions fuel figures are ok for me.all three within  my pocket. What 's the most reliable  fd3,gp1 or insight.l like fd3's. if i can find  a good one i might  use it for years.. but if it is not reliable there an issue.I came across  previously  all fd3 threads.But still have no idea about the battery  issue.if i can get a one with newly  installed battery, can i use it 4,5 years without any issues?

Edited May 20, 2017 by Didula
For small correction

[The Stig]

17 hours ago, DhoRK said:

I have only driven the GP1 so far.Car is good and I think Insight might be the best bet.I know a guy who bought an Insight on 2011 and sold in 2016 for the same price,even after doing nearly 150000km.When he imported that car, the odo had only 16000km.He did not have any issues.If u prefer to use the car heavily,hybrid might be the best option.

Was he using it to travel to the moon and back on a daily basis ? 150,000 in 5 years ?

[ajm]

lol,which fool paid over 3million for a 5year old hybrid with 150k on the clock? Did he do a battery check or maybe he thought it runs on water ?

[Davy]

150K within 5 years is 30K per year. So an average of 80Km per day. Quite possible for someone travelling around 50Km to work (one way and assuming 260 working days per year). I know many people driving from Colombo to Katunayake on the expressway and a couple who do daily trips on the southern expressway. Probably not a common occurrence, but it is quite possible.

[ramishkad]

51 minutes ago, Davy said:

150K within 5 years is 30K per year. So an average of 80Km per day. Quite possible for someone travelling around 50Km to work (one way and assuming 260 working days per year). I know many people driving from Colombo to Katunayake on the expressway and a couple who do daily trips on the southern expressway. Probably not a common occurrence, but it is quite possible.

When I was travelling between Kandy and Colombo every weekend plus about 30km daily urban travel, I used to do 25000km per year. So it's quite possible. 

6 hours ago, ajm said:

lol,which fool paid over 3million for a 5year old hybrid with 150k on the clock? Did he do a battery check or maybe he thought it runs on water ?

A hybrid battery costs about 5lakhs. I'm sure whoever sold it marketed by saying even if the buyer had to replace the battery the price would still be beneficial for him after the recent tax hikes etc.

 

On 5/20/2017 at 9:12 AM, Didula said:

According to discussions fuel figures are ok for me.all three within  my pocket. What 's the most reliable  fd3,gp1 or insight.l like fd3's. if i can find  a good one i might  use it for years.. but if it is not reliable there an issue.I came across  previously  all fd3 threads.But still have no idea about the battery  issue.if i can get a one with newly  installed battery, can i use it 4,5 years without any issues?

As I said earlier, I can only comment about the FD3. I havent had any major issues with it after about 4 years of heavy use. My current hybrid battery has around 70000 km on the clock and 3 years of use and I should be able to use it for about 1.5 years from what I understand. So my guess is you shouldn't have any issues if you get a vehicle with a genuine new battery and update the correct software for it. If you are buying a vehicle with a bad battery. reduce the battery cost from the price and do the replacement yourself. Hybrid batteries are there from Rs. 350000 upwards. Getting one from Honda through agents will cost around 5 lakhs. There are also Chinese batteries for around 250000 but I'd stay away from them.

[Didula]

6 hours ago, ramishkad said:

When I was travelling between Kandy and Colombo every weekend plus about 30km daily urban travel, I used to do 25000km per year. So it's quite possible. 

A hybrid battery costs about 5lakhs. I'm sure whoever sold it marketed by saying even if the buyer had to replace the battery the price would still be beneficial for him after the recent tax hikes etc.

 

As I said earlier, I can only comment about the FD3. I havent had any major issues with it after about 4 years of heavy use. My current hybrid battery has around 70000 km on the clock and 3 years of use and I should be able to use it for about 1.5 years from what I understand. So my guess is you shouldn't have any issues if you get a vehicle with a genuine new battery and update the correct software for it. If you are buying a vehicle with a bad battery. reduce the battery cost from the price and do the replacement yourself. Hybrid batteries are there from Rs. 350000 upwards. Getting one from Honda through agents will cost around 5 lakhs. There are also Chinese batteries for around 250000 but I'd stay away from them.

thanks for the info Ramiskd, I'd probably go with a fd3 if i find a carefully maintained one.

[alpha17]

17 hours ago, The Stig said:

Was he using it to travel to the moon and back on a daily basis ? 150,000 in 5 years ?

He is an engineer in slt.He bought the car and rented it to slt.He used it as his company vehicle.He drove the car himself.Also the car was well maintained.

[alpha17]

7 hours ago, ramishkad said:

A hybrid battery costs about 5lakhs. I'm sure whoever sold it marketed by saying even if the buyer had to replace the battery the price would still be beneficial for him after the recent tax hikes etc.

Yeah,I too agree with you.When the owner went abroad for a schol for 3 months,he gave it to one of his friend to do the selling,who is a real "loke kala wathura beepu dial".He also brings down cars from japan.He sold the car.Problem solved.

[ajm]

7 hours ago, ramishkad said:

I'm sure whoever sold it marketed by saying even if the buyer had to replace the battery the price would still be beneficial for him after the recent tax hikes etc.

and the poor guy thought it will be same as a new vehicle after just changing the battery. Never thinking about other depreciation parts like motor generator,inverter ?