HONDA INSIGHT · model year

2002 HONDA INSIGHT

12 NHTSA complaints, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 2002HONDAINSIGHT carries 12 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.

Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2002 INSIGHT is exterior lighting with 5 filings, followed by tires (1) and exterior lighting:headlights:high/low beam dimmer switch (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.

NHTSA currently has 77 investigation files overlapping the 2002 INSIGHT, and 9 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.

12
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

12 filings

Crashes Reported

0 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
EXTERIOR LIGHTING5
TIRES1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:HIGH/LOW BEAM DIMMER SWITCH1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:SWITCH1
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS1

Recalls (1)

04V08600024/02/2004

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE LOW-BEAM TERMINAL ON THE HEAD LIGHT WIRE HARNESS CAN OVERHEAT AND COULD CAUSE THE LOW BEAMS TO FAIL WITHOUT WARNING.

Recent Complaints

20160107EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE WIRING HARNESS MELTED AND CAUSED THE LOW BEAM FAILURE AND THAT THE LIGHT SWITCH AND CONNECTOR WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 278,000.

Mileage: 278,000

20140725EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 50 MPH, THE VEHICLE LOSS EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR LIGHTING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER BUT WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 04V086000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING). THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 104,000.

Mileage: 104,000

20130328EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHENEVER THE HEADLIGHTS WERE ACTIVATED THEY WOULD FAIL INTERMITTENTLY AT UNKNOWN, INTERVALS AT RANDOM.. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION AND THEY STATED THAT THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED BUT PROVIDED NO ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 95,000. UPDATED 4/26/13 *CN THE CONSUMER STATED HE EXPERIENCED THE SAME FAILURE, AS STATED IN THE RECALL. HOWEVER, HIS VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER WAS NOT INCLUDED. UPDATED 05/01/13

Mileage: 95,000

20111206EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH WITH THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ACTIVATED WHEN THEY SUDDENLY FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. IMMEDIATELY, THE HIGH BEAMS WERE ACTIVATED. THE CONTACT REPLACED BOTH LOW BEAM BULBS AND THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THERE WAS A RECALL UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V086000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS). THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED AND THEY BOTH INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNAVAILABLE.

20101229EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH, THE LOW BEAM SWITCH BURNED OUT. THE CONTACT SMELLED A BURNING ODOR WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS BLEW OUT. THE DEALER STATE THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL 04V086000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING: HEADLIGHTS). THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER WHO VERIFIED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL AND OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 99,678. UPDATED 03/03/11 *BF UPDATED 03/07/11

Mileage: 99,678

20081103EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA INSIGHT. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH AT NIGHT, THE HIGH BEAMS WERE ACTIVATED. WHEN THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO ACTIVATE THE LOW BEAM LIGHTS, THEY COMPLETELY DIMMED. THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO HER RESIDENCE AND HER HUSBAND REPLACED THE BULBS AND CHECKED THE RELAY. HER HUSBAND THOUGHT THAT THE RELAYS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED; HOWEVER, WHEN THE DEALER INSPECTED THE VEHICLE, THEY STATED THAT THE RELAYS WERE NOT DEFECTIVE. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND THEY STATED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL; HOWEVER, HER VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED. THEY ALSO STATED THAT THEY WOULD REIMBURSE HER IF ANOTHER RECALL WAS OPENED AND WAS RELATED TO HER VIN. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 104,565 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 104,321. UPDATED 11-25-08 *BF THE SWTICH ON THE STEERING COLUMN WAS REPLACED. UPDATED 11/26/08. *JB

Mileage: 104,321

20080617ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

WHEN MEASURED WITH A TRIFIELD METER, THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD (EMF) IMPACTING THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER ARE DANGEROUSLY HIGH. THE DRIVER IS RECEIVING UP TO 135 MILLIGAUSS (MG) AT THE HIP, AND UP TO 100 MG IN THE UPPER TORSO AND HEAD AREA. (UNDER 10 MG IS CONSIDERED SAFE.) SEE HTTP://CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/AUTOMOTIVE/HONDA_INSIGHT.HTML. *TR

20080205EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:SWITCH

WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY MY LOW BEAMS WENT OUT... SMOKE WAS COMING OUT FROM THE STEERING WHEEL... CONDUCTED RESEARCH AND FOUND THIS RECALL: ID 04V086000 FROM FEB, 24 2004. CALLED HONDA AND THEY MENTIONED THAT THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THIS ISSUE. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IT HAPPENS TO ME. FIRST TIME I TOOK IT TO A REGULAR MECHANIC THAT REPLACED THE SWITCH... THIS TIME I AM ALSO PAYING FOR IT. I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE HARNESS... *TR

Mileage: 900,000

20080205POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

CAR STARTED JUDDERING AND LOOSING POWER. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER BECAUSE THERE WAS A "JUDDER RECALL". AFTER GETTING THE CAR BACK, TRANSMISSION IS NOT WORKING CORRECTLY. CONTACTED AMERICAN HONDA AND THEY MENTIONED TO ME THAT THE FLYWHEEL HAD GREASE AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. AMERICAN HONDA DENIED MY CLAIM TO GET THIS COVERED. CVT TRANSMISSION IS SKIPPING, JUDDERING AND FAILS TO DELIVER POWER CORRECTLY. *TR

Mileage: 87,000

20031002ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY

BATTERY IS DISCHARGING WITHIN 18 HOURS OF DRIVING. THE MANUAL/INSTRUCTION BOOKLET DOES NOT ALLOW THE CONSUMER TO UNDERSTAND THE LIMIT OF DRIVING DISTANCE WHEN TRAVELING LONG DISTANCES. THIS IS A GAS OPERATED VEHICLE.*AK

20020709EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:HIGH/LOW BEAM DIMMER SWITCH

WHILE DRIVING HEADLGHTS WENT COMPLETLY OUT.*AK THE LOW BEAM HEAD LIGHTS FAILED COMPLETELY WHILE THE CONSUMER WAS DRIVING. THE CONSUMER REPLACED A DIMMER SWITCH AT HIS OWN EXPENSE. *YH

20011115TIRES

TIRE BLEW OUT FOR NO APPARENT REASON AFTER ONLY 3 WEEKS OF DRIVING. *AK

Compare 2002HONDAINSIGHT to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations 9 Open

View all investigations

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT have?
The 2002 HONDA INSIGHT has 12 NHTSA complaints, 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
Are there any recalls for the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT?
Yes, the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT has 1 recall(s). The most common affected component is EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS. Recalls are issued by NHTSA and manufacturers must provide a free remedy.
What are the most common problems with the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT?
The most-complained component for the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT is EXTERIOR LIGHTING with 5 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include TIRES and EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:HIGH/LOW BEAM DIMMER SWITCH.
Is the 2002 HONDA INSIGHT safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.