Common problems

Honda Insight common problems

What MOT testers find on the Honda Insight: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 34,023 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025. These figures cover cars first used 2009 or later. Earlier cars sold under the same name are not included.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 13 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=7,923)15.6

All cars at 13 years (n=6,612,160)17.0

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=7,923)25.8

All cars, same age (n=6,612,160)28.1

What stands out

No part area of the Honda Insight fails more than 1 point per 100 MOTs above all cars at 13 years old (n=7,923; all cars n=6,612,160).
Suspension fails are less common: 7.2 per 100 MOTs against 14.9 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 13 years: side/position light not working, on 5.2 per 100 MOTs (all cars 4.8).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 13.7 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 13 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Honda Insight at 13 years (n=7,923) against all cars at 13 years (n=6,612,160). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	15.6	17.0	16.8	10.8
Suspension	7.2	14.9	18.1	27.9
Brakes	6.2	9.1	25.4	25.0
Tyres	6.0	7.3	25.8	28.1
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.1	5.6	4.6	4.7
Body and structure	2.0	5.0	6.7	8.0
Steering	1.1	2.9	5.8	3.5
Seat belts and airbags	0.9	1.2	0.4	0.7
Road wheels	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.3
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	0.8	4.3	2.4	8.2
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.4	3.9	3.4

What testers fail most on the Insight at 13 years

Fail items on the Honda Insight at 13 years (n=7,923), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,612,160).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	5.2	4.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.1	2.1	£15 to £30 per blade
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.7	2.2	£18 to £86 per lamp
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	2.4	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.2	3.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	1.9	1.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.8	1.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	1.7	1.4	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	1.4	1.6	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	1.2	1.7

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 13 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Honda Insight at 13 years (n=7,923), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,612,160).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	13.7	18.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	12.8	10.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	10.1	9.1	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	10.1	7.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Headlamp: has a product on the lens but not seriously reducing light output	Lights and electrics	6.8	0.8	£28 to £98 per lamp (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.4	5.2
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt	Steering	4.4	0.7
Headlamp: lens slightly defective	Lights and electrics	4.0	0.9
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	3.9	4.0	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	3.8	3.3	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 13 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
10 years	2,401	11.7	3.4	4.5
11 years	3,826	14.8	4.8	5.2
12 years	6,343	15.7	6.4	6.2
13 years	7,923	15.6	7.2	6.2
14 years	6,621	17.3	8.3	7.6
15 years	4,851	17.9	9.7	7.8
16 years	2,058	17.4	9.9	7.7

Mileage

At 13 years, Honda Insight cars showing 30,000 to 60,000 miles failed 20.1% of MOTs (n=1,088); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 37.7% (n=1,909). For pass and fail rates by age, see Honda Insight MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Honda Insight, testers most often record side/position light not working; wipers not clearing screen; dipped headlight not working. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Honda Insight?

At 13 years, the age with the most MOT tests (7,923), the fail items testers record most often on the Honda Insight are side/position light not working (5.2 per 100 MOTs), wipers not clearing screen (3.1 per 100 MOTs), dipped headlight not working (2.7 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (13.7) and brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (12.8).

Which parts of the Honda Insight fail more often than on other cars?

None by more than 1 point per 100 MOTs at 13 years, compared with 6,612,160 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Honda Insight problems by area

Other Honda models

All Honda models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Honda Insight?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources