[mountaindew]

Hi, all--


I'm seriously looking to buy a EX model, but after a test drive I'm concerned about the ground clearance. It seems very low and scrapes whenever pulling into and out of driveways.


Has anyone else experienced this?


Thanks!

 

[Mr. Natural]

I was concerned about that too, but so far no scraping. I’m interested in how it will handle snow with the low clearance too.

 

[mgldan]

By me there is a particularly steep hill, with a sharp edge, that nearly all cars take slowly. My Insight did scrape against it, underneath the front bumper. I ran my hand underneath and didn't feel anything different, so I think I got away with one.

That said, on smooth or even smooth-ish inclines, it's been fine.

 

[mountaindew]

For me, just pulling out of the dealer's lot it scraped. It was fine over the speed bumps I encounter on my commute, however, but it's still a concern because I have driveways that aren't very forgiving.


Is there any way around this? Is the Touring a bit higher? Maybe the Accord? This could be a deal breaker for me.

 

[KlumzyDriver]

4,400 miles, no scrapes.
A bigger concern of mine is to look out for those darned concrete bumpers when pulling head first into a parking spot. I've seen others get hung up or badly scrape the bottom front end of the car on these bumpers (certainly this is not unique to the Insight).

 

[sleewa]

For me, just pulling out of the dealer's lot it scraped. It was fine over the speed bumps I encounter on my commute, however, but it's still a concern because I have driveways that aren't very forgiving.


Is there any way around this? Is the Touring a bit higher? Maybe the Accord? This could be a deal breaker for me.

We live in a cul-de-sac and the driveway/sidewalk connects to the road by a sloped curb, and ALL of my cars (2010 Prius, 2013 Civic, 2017 Civic, 2019 Insight Touring) scrape. It's better if you approach the driveway at an angle so that the scraping is minimized. One of our neighbors has a rubber insert that fits into the gutter to raise the level to prevent scraping - but we haven't gone that far yet.

 

[mountaindew]

Thanks for all the input, everyone.


Driving the LX last night, I had no scrapes. This may be because I'm expecting issues and was able to compensate.


They didn't want me putting miles on the EX for a test drive, but I'm sure they'll both handle the same.


BTW...they told me as a Costco member, I get 15% off accessories and pay only $500 above invoice. Not a huge savings on either one, but it's something. I just hope it's not used against me when I try to deal.

 

[autotech]

Thanks for all the input, everyone.


Driving the LX last night, I had no scrapes. This may be because I'm expecting issues and was able to compensate.


They didn't want me putting miles on the EX for a test drive, but I'm sure they'll both handle the same.


BTW...they told me as a Costco member, I get 15% off accessories and pay only $500 above invoice. Not a huge savings on either one, but it's something. I just hope it's not used against me when I try to deal.

I never had problem with scraping, but I came from a much lower car with only 4.9” of ground clearance.

As for the deal, i got mine below invoice and mud guard + trunk tray at no charge without Costco thing your dealer mentioned. Depending on the dealers, they could way over charge on accessories. They could be charging 500% and then giving you 15% off from there. My dealer, for example, listed mud guard as $500 accessory.

 

[mgldan]

The Costco number is a good starting point, as the quote includes the destination fee, which is $895 on its own, and it typically has a base price lower than MSRP. But I got my OTD price down another $1500 from the first Costco affiliate I went to.

Just remember--there are Honda dealers everywhere, and all of them can sell you literally the exact same thing. There's no difference where you buy from! And you're talking about hundreds or thousands of dollars, so it's worth your time to scope out the best deal.

 

[Wolverine51]

Has anyone seen a "ground clearance" figure for the 2019 Insight ? That's missing from all sources I've looked at. Intentional ?

 

[Wolverine51]

Found answer on Honda Canada web site

For both Insight and Touring

no load 128.5 mm (5.06 in)

full load 109 mm (4.3 in)


On the low side ? Kind of

 

[Alex]

the ground clearance is slightly low in this car comparing with same class cars. It's not horrible, just be a little more careful with sudden ramps.

 

[insightfully]

For grins... I looked up the ground clearance for other Honda sedans as a comparison. The Civic, Insight and Clarity clearance are within 3/8" at no load, but are nearly identical when under load. The Accord has the highest clearance among the sedans.

19 Civic Sedan -- no load = 125 mm (4.92 in) -- full load 108 mm (4.25 in)
19 Insight Sedan -- no load = 128.5 mm (5.06 in) -- full load 109 mm (4.29 in)
19 Clarity Sedan -- no load = 134 mm (5.28 in) -- full load 110 mm (4.33 in)
19 Accord Sedan -- no load = 149 mm (5.87) -- full load 125 mm (4.92 in)

 

[Wolverine51]

I have owned a 2014 Civic LX Coupe and a 2016 Civic EX Sedan. I never scraped bottom on either car, but I am very careful about what I drive over

 

[AMCooper63]

The quick and dirty, 6" over all clearance with a front air dam with 4" clearance and two front tire air dams with 3.5" of clearance.

I fly rockets on a cattle ranch two hours away. I used to drive my 2005 Odyssey Touring on the ranch. It would drag in a couple places. Drag so hard that I bent the exhaust pipe right where it bends descending from the engine to go aft of the vehicle. It's ground clearance was 4.5". I noted that I scrape my replacement 2019 Insight Touring in more places than I used to scrape the Odyssey. So I measured clearance before I took the Insight to the ranch. Overall, the Insight's ground clearance is 6". More than my old Odyssey. Why does it seem to scrape more? Because across the front of the car, there is an air dam. This ridge of plastic is 4" off the ground and, in front of both front tires, there are more air dams that only have 3.5" of ground clearance. I decided I was not too worried about the air dams scraping. End result is that the Insight does better at traversing the cattle ranch than my old Odyssey did.