Don't tie me to a stake yet but, I'm looking into a Honda Fit.

camopaint0707 said:

honda fit is the greatest car ever

.....For what it is! 
Fixed it for you!

I just bought one. Working on getting the neglected issues resolved. So far it's been easy to work on. 

rustybugkiller said:

camopaint0707 said:

honda fit is the greatest car ever

.....For what it is! 
Fixed it for you!

when they came out? I'll agree. But 2011 there where better, nicer options available. Sure, they had the flippy floppy seats and gas tank under the driver (which sounds SUPER safe lol) but they're kinda crude.

So right now it's narrowed down to 2 Fits.

An 2008 with 200k miles, Florida 2 owner car for 5k, or a 2012 manual with 138k miles from Washington that was a 1 owner vehicle for 7k (though it's been for sale for 4 months so I can wiggle room to 5500-6000).

We've had a total of 2 1st-gens, 2 2nd gens & 1 3rd gen in the family, and still have a 2008, 2009 & 2015. 
 

It's one car where I don't find the manual enjoyable at all, between the lack of feel between both the clutch & the shifter. Other than that I absolutely love them. We just got back the 09 from our oldest daughter that we'd bought brand new. It still runs & drives great with 233k on it & the interior has held up well.

I prefer the 2nd gen cars best, but the 3rd gen is a little more solid, has a bit more torque & the connectivity with current phones is nice. Conversely, the 1st gen cars are a little more crude, though still really good cars. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

In my defense, I'm not exactly buying a manual Honda Fit to be sporty, more so less moving parts to fail. I enjoy an automatic more in traffic but realize that long term a manual will give less grief.

In reply to ExcessKuma :

I'm not sure the manual in the 2nd gen has a longer life than the automatic? I suspect with the CVT in the 3rd gen that could be true though. 

I'm on my second Fit (17 and an 07 before). Both manuals and fun to drive. They haul more than look like they would. I've had no issues between the two I've had. Yes its at 4k on the highway at 75-80 mph. My biggest gripe with these cars is the ground clearance. I've scraped more than I'd like to and sheared the plastic undercarriage more than once. If I do keep this Fit, I am looking into a small lift kit. There are actually a couple companies that do make them. 

Welp, I bought one.

Its a 2007 Vivid Blue Pearl Sport model with the manual. Checked the carfax, has nearly 50 service records since new, was dealer maintained from 2007 all the way up to 2019. I keep grinning like an idiot while driving it. Now to start modifying it.

I hope you'll do a build thread.

TIL that my 08 Honda fit sport rims are a hot target for racers!

Protip: You can buy brand new carpet from the dealer for around $300. Carpet on the 1st gen more closely resembled boat flooring. Because of the flippy back seats, you really only have to remove the front seats in order to do a full replacement. 

calteg said:

Protip: You can buy brand new carpet from the dealer for around $300. Carpet on the 1st gen more closely resembled boat flooring. Because of the flippy back seats, you really only have to remove the front seats in order to do a full replacement. 

Seriously?  Threadbare doesn't begin to describe the carpet on my Fit.  Looked everywhere for replacement and thought about just DIYing it.  Had no idea you could still get it from the dealer.

-Rob

In reply to calteg :

Believe it or not the carpet is in pretty good condition so I don't need to replace that. However I do need a replacement front bumper cover in Vivid Blue Pearl, which luckily one just popped up in LKQ in Daytona that I'm going to go snag sometime this week.

Bumping this thread to ask if a second gen is worth a premium over the first gen. shopping for my girlfriend so reliability and safety are the main concerns

In reply to gixxeropa :

I think the 2nd gen has a little bit better sound deadening and a slightly better interior. AFAIK the drivetrain and chassis are identical between the first two generations. 

Fun Fit Fact #2: Oil changes require less than 4 quarts 

Picked up a 2009 fit with all the options and dealer serviced all it's life. Seemed nice to drive but I haven't gotten a chance to wring it out without them salesperson in the back

Parts cost is much much lower on the second gen.  I asked my parts manager because he used to run our honda dealer's parts department.   He said both are rock solid and never had to go nuts with orders for them so no real problems.   He did say however the first gen parts tend to be more expensive., he gave me an example of a key he ordered for a tech that had one and his cost was $800 lol.  Overall he said both gen cars were never a problem and the second gen just got some updated trim and looks.

(I want to mid-mount a V8 in one.....)

In reply to RonnieFnD :

well they gave us 3 keys for some reason so at least we shouldn't have to worry about getting new keys either way

When we were FIT shopping (in 2014), I found the 2nd gen felt cheaper than the 1st gen. This worked out well as we didn't have to spend as much since we were now looking at older cars. The '08 we wound up with has been absolutely fantastic. Just clicked over 150K with only bare basic maintenance required all these years.

I've had a first gen (07) and just traded in a newer one (17) and best upgrade I had done on both was adding a rear sway bar.