Calling all Fit people

Seriously considering buying one of these little Hondas.

I don't buy new cars, and never have. Parents never have either. But these little cars have me teetering on the edge. I like Honda as a whole. The Fit checks all the boxes for me. Small, light, available with a proper transmission, bigly practical... Add in employee pricing at the local dealer and I may have another car payment soon... I'd jump on it yesterday but for the impending growth of my family from 3 to 4 and a bit of hesitation on spending more than my normal $1000 for a dd.

Anyway. I know that some of you have/had/drive these. Issues? Quirks? Likes/dislikes? 

Educate me. Sell me a car. Or don't. Ready, go!

As a first and second GEN owner these were two of the first brand new cars I have ever bought. you will not regret this decision! Fantastic cars that keep their value. And do offer a sporting drive for any dad

Bought a used first gen for my daughter, she hasn't been able to kill it yet and it's survived a rear end collision with a Ford Edge with not a lot of damage.  I'd buy another in a heartbeat, great little cars.

Watch Regular Car Reviews episode on them. Summarized, the first gens had some quality issues related to the rubber seals on windows and doors, and was later fixed but many remain with the issue. The second gen has none of those faults, so if you have the choice you should likely go for the second gen.

I haven't owned one, but have spent a considerable amount of time in them.

I'd absolutely recommend one, as long as your daily drive doesn't include a long highway commute.  They aren't the best long-distance cruisers, but for just about anything else they excel.  With the manual trans they are fun to drive--- much more so than the autos.    Hard to beat as a daily run-around.  

Speaking of which, I am likely inheriting my moms 2010/2011 that only has 40k miles on it and will likely be selling it (its an auto tho). I think it may be a sport and it has the alloy wheels. (Car is in Oregon)

In reply to Jaynen :

Looking new. And auto is a deal killer for me. The mrs. can tolerate them, grudgingly, but I can't.

That depends.  Is this a primary or secondary family hauler?

If primary, I would consider waiting until you experience life as a family of 4 to see if it would 'fit' your lifestyle still. While they do make the best use possible of the space they have available, to the point of having been called 'tardis like' before...They do still obeys the laws of physics, and there is ultimately no getting around the fact that it actually is still quite small overall.

If secondary, the family going from 3 to 4 is a reason to get it, and not the other way around.  In addition to modern safety, you won't find a car anywhere near the size that has more room for front seat occupants in front of a rear facing car seat than the 2015+ Fit.  Our 2nd gen has been great, but for the extra rear seat room alone, the existence of the 3rd gen trumps the 2nd gen for a family use. If you can swing the payments to go new, great.  If not, I wouldn't hesitate to go used (3rd gen) either.

In reply to Driven5 :

Secondary. She is a stay at home and drives an 11 camry that we upgraded to from a 93 accord for comfort and safety. I dd a single cab manual s10 that already won't hold all 3 of us. It is a good old truck but those same concerns and an impending need for more room have me on the market. 

The car I am planning on is my old Focus as soon as my mom has another car she can drive and can sell it back to me. 2005 zx3 with 147xxx on the ticker. Fun car and cheap but old and abused (thanks little brother). The Fit may be a better long term plan though. Cheap, fun, dad-mobile. And I like the looks besides.

In reply to barefootskater :

As Nike says: Just do it.

I rest my case.

barefootskater said:

I don't buy new cars, and never have. Parents never have either.

Why are you suddenly considering buying new?  Fits have been around a long time now. Plenty of them on the used market. Is there something special about the 2018 models? If they came with the 1.5 turbo that WOULD be tempting.

Totally came in here like "My wife's a fitness coach. Maybe I can help."

I will just always remember that when they came out one of the big mags tested them faster through the lane change or slalom than the contemporary corvette

In reply to barefootskater : Here is your chance to do a really adult thing.  Buy a long term transportation device.  

Yes you can spend $1000 or less on some old beater and with your time  and some money for the delayed maintenance maybe get a few months of your transportation needs met.   

But you need to keep money available to buy the future needed parts tires battery etc  a cheap car will require.  You won’t know how much which makes predicting future budgets impossible.  

Or you can sign on the dotted line and for the next few years your budget is fixed.  That will improve your credit score and make buying a house possible. 

Rent will increase.  Renting and trying to save for a down payment is really hard made impossible if your transportation budget is all over the map.  

In reply to frenchyd :

Actually it was something you wrote in another thread that really got me thinking of buying new. I sat down and did some math, and I found that just to own a car I have spent a little under $1200usd/year. Not to operate (insurance, fuel) and not to repair or modify. Not including consumables like tires and oil changes and such. Just to own. So if I buy a $15k car and drive it for at least 12 years it really does make sense. 

In reply to 2002maniac:

Considering new because recently everything I've touched has been so full of previous owner *neglect* or incompetence that I am more than a little sour. Today was the first time I have ever sent a car to the JY and all I feel is relief. Also because I can get a really good deal new, and have a warranty, and something I know all history on and not have any worries about driving for the next 15 years trouble free.

We bought one new in 2008, best car purchase we ever made I think. My wife still drives the heck out of it 160,000 miles and 10 years later. Ours does leak water into the hatch recently, gotta get that fixed, but as mentioned 09+ models don't.

Mechanically they're cockroaches. Ours has seen us through her last college days to now shuttling around a 3 and 6 year old. No problems fitting anything we want.

My only annoyances with it are that it's a much better city car than freeway. It doesn't like crosswinds, and the engine is very buzzy at the 80 mph my wife averages. And the seats are fine for an hour or two but after that they get uncomfortable for taller folks. 

Do it. Buy it new, you won't regret it.

Haven't driven a 3rd gen. I own a manual second gen sport and can confirm that a highway cruiser it is not. When the stock 185 width eco tires were finally worn out I put continental DWS 205s on it and that helped the highway handling a surprising amount by making it more stable and less darty.

Everything else it does well. Extremely practical. I wish the throttle calibration on mine was better. Owned it since January 2014 and I still get odd not smooth shifts when driving it. In 52,000 miles all I've done is change the oil every 4-5k, changed the transmission fluid, and slapped tires on it.

I have yet to see a used fit of any generation at our dealership. That should tell you that people love them.

Jaynen said:

Speaking of which, I am likely inheriting my moms 2010/2011 that only has 40k miles on it and will likely be selling it (its an auto tho). I think it may be a sport and it has the alloy wheels. (Car is in Oregon)

Is it silver? If so that sounds like mine. I had a 2011 Honda fit sport in pelican silver. It was a sport auto I painted the calipers read and the wheels flat black but those may have been replaced by a dealership or an owner and it had around 30,000 miles when I got rid of it. If it is, it was a fantastically well taken care of vehicle by me. I was OCD about the whole ownership.

The only reason I traded it in was that I had my eyes on a new crosstrek because we live in Central Oregon

Jaynen said:

Speaking of which, I am likely inheriting my moms 2010/2011 that only has 40k miles on it and will likely be selling it (its an auto tho). I think it may be a sport and it has the alloy wheels. (Car is in Oregon)

How many miles & how much?

Did the second gen get the Magic Seats?

In reply to stanger_missle :

Yes, and they’re even better than the 1st gen - you don’t have to remove the head rests to fold them down. The 2nd gen is about 6” longer overall, and it seems like most of that room is in the back seat area. 

Have you driven one yet?

I may be the only one who has a problem with this, but I thought the forward-side visibility was pretty bad in the 2nd gen that I drove. The A-pillars were in the way of pedestrians, and I felt unsafe driving it in an urban environment. Maybe people get used to it.

It was terrible with the auto too, definitely hold out for a manual. 

In reply to CyberEric :

Test drive tomorrow. Manual. Auto is a bad word in my world. It is the only manual car on the whole Honda lot currently. Sad stuff, but that is the world we live in. The car is a sport, which has wheels I do not like, trim I don't care about and a sport badge. It also has a 18k price tag which is too much. But if it drives well and the GM is willing to give me the deal he keeps telling me he will on a car I order, then I might order a lesser trim (all I really want is alloy wheels and a pedal for my left hoof). I know what base models sell for, and have my number in my head, so if they can get me the right car, well, we'll see.