Power System warning message appeared on the dash. The vehicle lost power and went into park. While trying to get a safe place, the vehicle cut off again while other cars were behind me. Multiple indicator lights and messages began to cycle on the dash. The car would not go into neutral to be pushed. The car was towed to the dealership as it was inoperable. The problem has been reproduced at the dealership.
Honda Insight loss of power problems
20 of the 519 owner complaints about the Honda Insight describe sudden loss of power, most of them for the 2012 model year.
- owner complaints
- 20
- worst model year
- 2012
- typical mileage
- 78,000
By model year
- 20224
- 20211
- 20201
- 20191
- 20134
- 20124
- 20111
- 20011
- 20003
Often reported together
Oil consumption 6Check engine light 5Stalling 3Engine failure 3Adaptive cruise 2
Trouble codes mentioned
U12A5 1U1206 1U1205 1U1204 1U0418 1U0416 1U0401 1U012D 1U0122 1U0111 1
What owners say
This issue actually started in November of 2022. Driving down from the mountains the car started losing power. I took the car to the dealership on Monday. I was then advised that there was not an issue they could they could find. A few months later the car would not start. They replaced the battery and the issue was resolved (I don’t recall the exact month the battery was replaced). November 29,2025, I started my car and when I accelerated to about 30+ miles the car started to hesitate and it felt as if the car was going to stop. The check engine light came on and stayed on. I had over a half a tank of gas and temperature was around 28-30 degrees. I drove the car for about 2 miles to fill up to make the drive to my house. The distance is about 170 miles. Once the tank was full, I started up with no issues of shaking/hesitation/loss of power. Monday December 1,2025, Two days later. Started the car. Check engine light came on/car was vibrating/hesitation when giving gas. Drove to the dealership for them to check what the issue is. I noticed there are two other reported issues with the same/similar issue. At this moment, I’m waiting for the dealership to advise what the issue is/how to resolve the issue. It would be beneficial if service bulletins were added in the recall section. That could help fix problems faster and help make recalls faster.
While driving the electric steering (hybrid car) failed. Resultant unassisted steering was extremely difficult. Car was towed to dealer where service tech said rodent gnawed thru electrical cable with power loss ensuing.
Noticed decreased performance & frequent oil changes in 2015. At first, I did not know the weak engine performance was related to the oil consumption & was never offered diagnostic testing until May 2023 across multiple Honda shops in different states. With this, I was under the impression that my car was performing within normal limits. Finally in May 2023 the local Honda shop recommended the proper diagnostic test & told me about the known piston/oil consumption defect known to this model & the (expired) warranty extension that was associated with it. I returned end of Aug 2023 to get results of my oil consumption test, which was positive. At this time, they quoted me a repair cost (to change out the piston rings, gaskets, & spark plugs) but I had to defer due to the high cost. The service representative that day happened to be rude/dismissive & also did not tell me how urgent this repair is or what the consequences of not repairing could be. I have been driving my car in the local area/mainly on surface streets while waiting for the service manager to get back to me about appealing to Honda USA for a goodwill repair. In the interim, my car suddenly & randomly stopped working while on the road. Just started shuddering, engine lost power & could not go more than 10 mph. 4 engine lights came on (check emissions, steering, VSA, hill assist systems). No real warning beforehand, I had been living with this defect undiagnosed for years. I was fortunately on a small streets at night when there was no traffic, so I did not lose power with other cars around, but had this happened on a busy/fast road, it could have easily caused an accident.
I have owned my Honda Insight for almost 10 years now. I bought it because it has great MPG. But this year has been horrible for it. It suddenly lost power while I was driving on the highway. Luckily I was able to move over to the side, and traffic was not too heavy at the time. Checkered Flag Honda in Virginia Beach, VA performed a TSB on it, and again two months ago, stating the exact same repair to be done each time. Now, it is displaying the very same symptoms I took it in for the first time, AGAIN. I will be uploading those reciepts as soon as I can find them tomorrow. After looking online, it is very obvious that I am not the only one with this same problem that could possibly endanger drivers. Honda has failed for over 10 years to find the manufacturer defect in the 2010-2014 Honda Insights, and have been issuing repeated TSBs, with only minor deviations stating the same repair to be performed (details below). I confirmed in CarComplaints.com and InsightCentral.net, that Honda is indeed screwing people over on this. A compiled TSB history and detailed list are available in a shared excel file from my Google Drive here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lO7Z4vrtbtS9EzqW-PPwutNHTc4IPA2r/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=107278015992975669585&rtpof=true&sd=true My guess is this could end up being a class action Lawsuit, judging by the responses of some of these folks in the forums. If you have any possibility of helping us with this, please do. And God Bless. -[XXX], USN (ret.) INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Driving down highway at highway speed and car shot 52 failure codes. Car lost power and crawled to side of road. Nearly got rear ended multiple times trying to remove vehicle from roadway. Engine permanent codes U0111 U012D U0110 U12A5 U1206 U1205 Anti lock brakes permanent codes U040168 CAN Gateway Permanent codes U0029-00 Electric power train traction motor control module permanent code U1204 U12A5 U1205 U0100 U012D U1206 U0111 Electric power steering permanent codes U0416-68 Electric servo brake - permanent codes U0029-00 U0401-68 Integrated driver support system - permanent codes U0418-92 C0023-F0 U0100-F1 U0122-F1 U0100-00 C0031-62 C0034-62 C003A-62 U0416-68 Tire Pressure monitoring permanent codes U040168 OBDII Codes U1204 U12A5 U1205 U0100 U012D U1206 U0111 OBDII Permanent codes U1206 U12A5 U1205 U0111 U012D U0110 Over 41 codes documented and Honda says there is nothing wrong with the vehicle.
My car was parked safely on my driveway. I turn on the car and all the lights came on including power loss failure, collision mitigation, etc. I had to tow it to a dealer where they claimed it was rodent damage causing an electrical failure on Monday, 9/19/22. The car was towed on 9/20/22. I was then told I was unable to claim any warranty. The dealer charged me $640.00 for the repair. They claim the wire harness was chewed on which caused the system failure. I ended up having to pay out of pocket instead of using my $500 insurance to cover the damages. (Insurance said it would likely raise my rates next if I continuously put a claim). I thought--one time incident, bad luck. The dealership refused to take photos of the chewed wires, but I was able to fight to receive some parts indicating the damage (who knows if it was actually mine or some they kept off of some other Honda--see attached photo). Not even 24 hours after having my car repaired to normal, I turn on the car in the morning and the same issues came up. I towed it again! The dealership claimed the rodent chewed my car in the same spot, at the same area. Charged me an additional $224.00 to solder it back citing that they never seen this happen before. I find it convenient that no other vehicles on this street had issues with rodent damage. And the same area was bitten twice. Why would Honda create such an easily accessible route for rodents or a non-covered protected wire? As a consumer, I end up fronting the bill because neither the manufacturer nor the dealership, nor the insurance company (who would likely end up raising my rates) have to deal with a terrible design. Never had issues with other brands nor other older vehicles had this issue in the cul-de-sac. Dealership ended up having wrapping the harness, but this car is NEW & should have been protected and repaired by Honda to begin with. Online search revealed Honda used SOY BASED insulation which attracts rodents. Very unsatisfied with Honda.
It had problems with this car in the first 500 miles on Oct 31st 2021 while driving on Long Island Expressway in Nassau County, NY. I have proof. I took pictures of the dashboard while getting lots of error codes while driving and only had 500 miles on the car. I experience loss of power, loss of steering and brake failure while driving on the Long Island Expressway. I was lucky to be near an exit and I let the car roll away through the exit and I was able to pull over to the side of the service road of LIE. After an hour the car started. I didn't know then, but this car has had chewed up wires ever since I picked it up from the dealership in Pennsylvania( Honda Vinart of Emmaus, PA ). I observed exposed wires when I changed oil for the first time in December 2021. At that time, I thought it is a hybrid thing and didn't think much about it. I was driving with exposed wires this entire time! I could had had the brakes lock up or lose complete power while driving on the highway and cause a major accident. You can try to deflect he blame away from Honda manufacturer, but we all know it is your fault. On March 4th 2022, the Honda Insight barely started , engine knocking and sputtering. I towed it to the Staten Island Honda service (which estimated the damage at $7000 , but the warranty doesn't cover ) and they told me that a rodent finished the job Sunday night. The soy based harness on my 2022 Honda Insight attracts rodents. Why didn't the rodents attack my wife car that is parked right next to mine in the same driveway? I never had this type of problem with the other cars I owned in the past. I had owned dozens of cars and left them months parked in my driveway and they never attracted any rodents. This is a warranty issue and a safety issue . I could have been killed while driving with exposed wires. How do I even know, that other wires are also chewed? Can I trust this car to be reliable anymore? A $30,000 car that can be my death trap.
We purchased the vehicle on 1/23/21. On 2/4/21, I was driving in dobson, nc, when the power control unit (pcu) malfunctioned, leading to loss of power steering and brakes. When I started the car, the warning lights came on. I turned the car off and then restarted it without warning lights. I then backed out of the drive and started on my way. As I was descending a hill, the transmission shut off. I was able to coast to a stop with some braking. The car was towed to flow honda in winston-salem, nc, where they replaced the pcu. We picked up the car on 2/9/21. My wife was able to drive it from winston-salem to durham, nc without incident. She then drove on I-40 towards our home in raleigh, nc. While traveling on I-40 at 65 MPH, the pcu malfunctioned again, and the transmission stopped working. She was unable to accelerate, and the power steering and power braking would not function. She was able to coast over to the right lane from two lanes over and then coasted to the exit to safety. When the tow truck came to retrieve the vehicle, the car started but would not get out of park (it could shift into neutral but would revert to park when my foot was taken off the brake). The car was towed to crown honda of durham, where we purchased the vehicle.
On 21 oct 2020, was driving on the highway at steady speed using cruise control on level ground. Engine suddenly lost power. Limped off highway, unable to exceed 20 MPH. Erratic idle. Cel, check emissions and check vsa displayed on driver's information display. Occurred at 147523. Dealer recommended replacement of timing chain, tensioner and guides, all spark plugs, and new pistons and rings as a result of observing oil on spark plugs. Last oil change occurred at 140940 miles. I declined repairs as cost exceeded remaining value of car.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Honda Insight loss of power
Which Honda Insight years have sudden loss of power problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2012 (4 complaints), 2013 (4 complaints) and 2022 (4 complaints).
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