Fat guy in a Honda Fit

I think I pretty much made up my mind to buy a used Honda Fit. I pick Pete Gossett brain since he is owned two and swears by them. And I looked at the thread by Seth and it picked up some more input. But I'm curious to other members of The Hive experience.

My current family Fleet in streetable cars consist of swmbo Tahoe, my vintage 1996 Ford F250 and my Porsche 911 play toy. BMW wagon that served me well is gone. Wouldn't mind another one but I really don't need that much car. I'm looking for a knock around Town commuter car. I would really like a vintage Mini Cooper but that's not realistic. A Mini Cooper S modern version looks fun but I don't want the unreliability service nightmares. A Golf R would be fun but I really don't want to invest that much in something that's going to be used 10000 miles a year.

Due to physical constraints unfortunately I'm going to be looking at a automatic. Yeah yeah yeah I know but my dead left leg is not cooperating.

The 2009 to 2014 second generation Honda Fit seems to be my sweet spot. Slightly larger than the first generation but not quite as plush as the current generation. I figure a decent set of wheels and a little more aggressive Tire and maybe some sway bar work and performance shocks might make it a fun a little pocket rocket. And I used word rocket sparingly. What say Brain Trust?

I drove a first gen stick shift that belonged to a friend. I loved it! The engine had more pull than I expected. The fuel tank is tiny and hers ate a rear wheel bearing because we over loaded it and tore up the California coast. 

I loved it and looked for one after that trip but they were out of budget. Try one if you can as the auto might change the experience. I have no input there. 

Make sure you drive one with the auto; my only concern is that while it moves okay, the auto might sap some of the not-very-much that thing's putting out. I was favorably impressed with the manual first-gen one I test drove, though for our needs we decided it wasn't going to be what we wanted on longer trips. But around town it would have been great.

I liked the way it drove, and it's an amazing amount of usable space for something so small on the outside.

The Fit is a great little car. I had an ’07 with a manual and it was a great little around town buzz bomb. Nimble, engaging to drive, not powerful but the motor was happy to run. The chassis and dynamics are better than the motor.  Screams for a turbo or a K20 swap.  Even so, lots of smiles per mile. 38 mpg no matter how I drove it. State of the art in interior efficiency. Mine developed some annoying interior rattles about 50k miles in that I could never exorcise.  It’s also a surprisingly tough car - My son was driving it when he was struck broadside by a mid-size GM sedan doing about 50. The impact was centered on the passenger side rear door and was severe enough to collapse the unit body, buckling the floor downwards and the roof up. Air bags deployed and he walked away with a couple bruised ribs. Car was done but he was safe. A buddy bought the same car at about the same time and he has now crossed 300k on the original clutch and its still going strong. 

As long as you don’t ask it to be more than it is, its a very satisfying little car.

Yep, love 'em. Even the auto is a great appliance, and they just plain work. I hauled a 14' I-beam home in my '09.

Try one on and see. Everyone laughed when I said we were shopping Fiats but  I was the right combination of short by fat to be comfortable.  By nature it will be less peppy than the manual box but like you we didn’t have a choice and it served our needs fine.  

I'm fairly "large" in the "tall" sense and have VERY broad shoulders.  I found the various vintage Fits to be way more spacious inside than you would ever guess looking at them from the outside.  I was always looking at manuals, but did drive any early model with paddle shifters, which was sort of fun.  Don't expect DSG/Ferrari shift response, though.  The trans took paddle inputs as sort of a "suggestion".   I was looking at them when my Yaris fell in my lap at a price I couldn't refuse.

FWIW - a Yaris hatch is sort of like a Mini that doesn't require that you have a mechanic on retainer.  

I had an ‘07 Fit Sport Auto as a daily to use back and forth to work. I bought it with 180k on it and it ran like a top. I didn’t hesitate to drive it on a 400 mile trip without worry. My findings are the same as everyone else’s, it was a great little car with a huge amount of room inside. I sold,it to my niece who promptly totaled it(she walked away), but I miss it still. I should’ve just kept it but I decided to lease a cheap car for my daily commute which I regret. My wife and coworkers still tease me about how much I miss the Fit. I loved the way it looked with the snows on it.

In reply to rico750sxi_2 :

Like a baby Group B rally car!

All of these Grand testimonials suggest I might just have to look at a 2013 or 14 with low mileage and spend a few more bucks and have a forever car.

I have a 07 manual. Where are you going to spend most of your time driving it ? I find mine not enjoyable on the highway. I'll take the back roads if at all possible. I drive mine 80 miles a day. Biggest gripe I have is that's cold in the winter. My wife bought me one of those heater pads for the seat so that made it better. It's a fun little car and would be great if it had more power.

I make john brown look like a small guy... 6'3 and over 300#...  praportionally my legs are long and my torso is average... I've sat and drove one up and down a street once (was a friends)... 5spd... I didn't have time to really drive it... but I was plenty roomy for me... I'd spend some more time in one before buying but I would and was considering buying one at one point.

6'5" here and swmbo drive an '09 Fit auto. She got it new and it's at about 130k now. AC compressor clutch was the only unscheduled repair in ten years. Awesome little car. More space inside for people and things than in my Focus ST. AC is weak, ride is so-so on the highway, and there's a lot of road and wind noise. But it's comfy otherwise and ultra dependable. Handling is pretty zippy around town. The magic seats really are magic. One latch and they somehow collapse flat into the floor giving a HUGE, flat load area.

Loaded up to head to N. Ontario:

donalson said:

I make john brown look like a small guy... 

 

This is no easy task. 

I don't have personal experience, but my nephew's friend has a Fit.  My nephew is about 6'-2" and probably 300.  His friend is about 6'-4" and the same weight.  They both fit comfortably enough in it at the same time.

If the budget allows I would look at a 3rd gen. The extra 30 hp is great. Mine is great for running around and being fun to drive, but even with the extra power I can definitely feel the difference with a passenger or two. But I do like the looks of the 2nd gen cars better, in red, black or silver anyway.

On the fit forum, wasn’t there lots of problems reported with the Mexican built 3rd gen ? 

My my mom is original owner of gen 1. She has 393k miles as of last week. Aside from routine maintenance, all original. I prefer the look of gen 2 the best 

reminds me of my 1991 civic wagovan MT. That was a great car 

In reply to barefootskater :

Yeah...i like the second gen but im eyeballing the later models.  But a 2012 Sport came up for sale next town over with 90k miles.  One owner engineesr guy owns it.  Selling because hes tired of 3 insurance payments.  Asking $6000 but sounds flexible.  But its RED. We shall see.  

2012-13 Fit got cruise control as standard, you WILL want it if you do any sustained freeway driving. 

I'd go down that route. 

loved my 2013. 

only thing i'd suggest is pulling the interior and adding more sound deadening. that will make the car a lot nicer to own. 

Otherwise, low 30's on the freeway and high 20's-30mpg average i saw around Houston. 

aftermarket has lots of support. 

My parents have 130k miles and counting on their '08 base Fit and it has had basically no problems. IT's gotten 2 recalls for the driver window switch assembly. 

I am waiting for the day my dad doesn't want it anymore to turn it into a track toy. 

Is anyone else singing Fat Guy in a Honda Fit?

I had a 2012, and it was insanely practical, and handled alright for a tall hatch.  I’d recommend taking one for an extended test drive, though.  It was hard to get comfortable in it, and some people with back pain say the seats aggravated their back problems.  Others were just fine with the seats, though.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Yes, the first year or 2 of the 3rd gen were built in Mexico & had problems, but I believe they moved production back to Japan? I know it sounded like the problems got cleared up regardless. 

And yes, I’m very much to blame for talking O&F into Fit shopping. 

I autocross with a couple of people that race fits. One is pretty stock, does pretty well in HS. The other is a modified first gen, seriously quick. 

Oh, I know another guy who is closing in on 500,000 miles on his Fit. I don’t know what generation it is. I do know it’s only on its second clutch. 

I'm thinking about an update for my wife's Element. She loves it, but it's an '03 daily driver starting to show it's age. A Google of "Honda Fit vs Element Dog Hauler" turned up Woody's Fit vs Element Thread. Lots of great comments there about the Fit. I think I'm going to jump on the '09-'14 Fit bandwagon too.