1st Dec 2006, 19:17

My nephew and brother-in-law, twin car freaks, talked me into the Fit. Was going to go for the Yaris, but just didn't care for the truncated hatch model, and the not quite-Corolla 4-door. I sort of made up my mind I was going to stay in the "smooshed station wagon" category.

Considered the Scion 4-door hatch, but my car gurus hot on the Fit prevailed. Couldn't find one to even test drive way out in the Chicago suburbs (forget the hot demand city), but while driving home from work one evening, pulled up next to a Fit, which coincidentally and unbelievably, was being test driven from a dealership around the corner from my home. As it happened, these dealers were crooks, had jacked up the MSRP for a basic Fit to 22k. They were trying to hard sell me big-time. I escaped, but at least got the chance to drive the Fit -- which handled so very, very well.

Long story short, in calling around -- no way was I gonna pay more than the MSRP. I'm a girl, yes, but hardly a stupid one. Indeed, I would have liked to have paid less, but with demand being satisfied 3 and 4 months out, basic economics told me I would be lucky to pay MSRP. So I called around, and one dealer had a metallic blue sport model. One thing lead to another, and I drove away that night with the Fit at the price I expected.

So far: a great little car, which feels heavy and substantial. It's comfortable inside and looks sharp.

I was a little bugged by the lack of visibility. The back seat headrests are intrusive and the 92 Civic was wide open in the back, as I like to turn my head when changing lanes (never trust those passenger side mirrors).

I'd like better mileage too. I'm a very careful driver, and am averaging 27-30 in the city. But, go figure, it seems as if I do better filling the tank all the way up and get better numbers. The literature says the tank is 10.something, but I found it carries upwards of 12 gallons. Oh, and sometimes it sort of revs at stops, but that may just be a timing issue I need to have checked out.

Otherwise, a good car, which puts a smile on my face just looking at it, and knowing it's mine... and paid for.

3rd Dec 2006, 14:38

I am seriously considering buying a Fit, and I very much appreciate all of the valuable information being posted here, it is helping me along with my decision. I have been driving Toyota's for years, and am still very happy with them, but I just can't get this little Honda out of my head. I've always wanted a late 80's/early 90's Honda hatchback.

Now, this is the thing that is holding me back: I understand how good Honda's 4-cylinder motor is, but I make a 1200 mile round trip to visit family several times a year, and if this car runs @ 3900 rpm's at 80 mph, (manual model, as stated above), won't that surely shorten the life of the motor greatly, if I am making this trip often? Or am I just underestimating the Honda motor. I use nothing, but full synthetic Mobil oil, and do maintenance per the manual, if not more often. I truly enjoy driving, which is why I would only ever buy the standard shift. Any thoughts?

3rd Dec 2006, 15:48

To 19:17, are you sure that you are calculating you gas mileage correctly, specifically that you know the tank capacity? From what I have read, almost everyone is getting at least 36 mpg, and many get 40. Twenty seven sounds REALLY low; I can't imagine you could drive a Fit hard enough to make it use that much gas. I only ask because I may buy one, and I am trying to get a good idea of what kind of mileage these cars actually get. EPA estimates can be kind of "iffy".

6th Dec 2006, 19:18

To 21:00; thanks for posting the most informative comment I have read. I'm TRYING to find a Honda dealer that has an automatic model and a standard also, so that I can drive both, and it seems next to impossible! I drove an auto. a while ago, but need to drive them both in a short time frame to compare. How noisy was the engine in the standard at 3000 rpm's?

7th Dec 2006, 11:42

To the poster concerned about high rpm.

Honda's history is with motorcycles and it builds its cars the same way. Therefore, they often rev higher and have higher redlines than similar cars from other manufacturers.

So don't worry about high rpms. The car is SUPPOSED to do that!

15th Feb 2007, 19:33

As a motorcyclist myself, I must disagree with you. I personally have found Japanese high revving motorcycles, Honda or otherwise, to not really last past 40-60k miles without a major overhaul. So I would say steer clear of this car if it's engine is built like a Honda motorcycles. It's a proven fact that higher revving engines are more stressed than lower revving ones, therefore leading to a shorter lifespan.

15th Feb 2007, 21:06

My Honda Accord has spent a lot of its life reving as high 4-6,000 Rpms. Just tonight I rolled over to 250,000 miles and she still runs like a champ.

16th Feb 2007, 11:26

To 19:33.

I owned two Hondas in the early 1990's and went to the dealership's "Honda Clinic", a free seminar on the cars. The dealership started out their presentation stating that Honda cars are designed like their motorcycles, to be high revving and last a long time doing that. Now, yes, this may be dealership propaganda, but the fact is this was a NEW car clinic for cars under warranty, so why would the dealership tell people to destroy their cars?

My Civic Si went to 98,000 miles until a job relocation forced me to get rid of it, and I am an aggressive driver.

The only thing I don't like about this philosophy is the lack of torque in many models, although the Fit has a great balance.

19th Feb 2007, 14:26

High revving engines often have short strokes & bigger bores... at least from a motorcycle point of view. So actual piston travel per mile isn't as out of whack as high revs may indicate. But I don't know if the stroke in honda car engines is shorter than other cars. Me, I'm a featherfooter & would not push a car to do 80mph on a continuing basis. I love to get 50+MPG.

19th Feb 2007, 20:19

"...so why would the dealership tell people to destroy their cars?"

Same reason they tell you to change your oil every 7,000 miles. Because they want you to buy a new car in five years.

22nd Feb 2007, 09:53

But the problem is that there motorcycles really don't last all that long. So many people run there Honda's (both cars and motorcycles) at high rpm and speed and say they have no problems when the fact of the matter is that as I'm driving behind that same person I'm watching blue smoke come out of the exhaust every time they get on the gas hard.