Which Fit?

Sooo, weren't you also looking for a gastropod car that could carry a decent amount of people and stuff?

Isn't the challenge in October?  Doesn't the bus start running again in September?

Hmmmmm.

i really enjoyed thrashing around in town and on the road in my first gen manual sport.  No matter how hard i beat on it, it would avg over 30 mpg and you could put ALOT of tools and palletizer parts in it.  The only downside was bumping elbows with anyone past car seat age.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Yessssss...... but I really don't want an auto Fit for anything and my kid isn't interested in a manual. I've taught her to drive one, not her jam. Also, Mrs. Deuce and I have decided that we're looking for cars modern enough to have ESC as a safety feature and those cars are new enough to not be $Challenge price. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

And from what I've gleaned wider ax tires impact fuel mileage significantly FWIW.  

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Yessssss...... but I really don't want an auto Fit for anything and my kid isn't interested in a manual. I've taught her to drive one, not her jam. Also, Mrs. Deuce and I have decided that we're looking for cars modern enough to have ESC as a safety feature and those cars are new enough to not be $Challenge price. 

Check out the later model 2nd gens as mentioned above. You might be able to find a early 3rd gen in the same price range, the seats are a bit more comfortable than the 2nd gens and the rest of the interior is a step in the right direction. The only downside is that the 3rd gens are built in Mexico vs. 2nd gens built in Japan and there is some evidence of QC on build quality (misaligned doors, big panel gaps, etc) 

I have a 2008 Sport as my DD.

I don't know much about the newer ones, but can offer some input on the 07-08's:

-Water leaks. I've seen some owners have absolute nightmares with water leaks around the trunk seal or roof rails, but mine hasn't developed them there. The major one however, is water getting past the vapor barrier in the back doors. The first Spring I had mine it was real rainy while I parked it for a couple weeks and drove one of my fun cars instead. I went to drive the Fit and it was a damn pond on the inside. There's a fix on a site somewhere that involves covering some of the holes behind the barrier with foil HVAC tape and then re-sealing the vapor barrier. I did this on mine 4 years ago and other than what came from a poorly done windshield install, the car has been dry since.

-Over time, the hatch handle starts to get hard to operate and gets stuck in the open position if you don't push it back. I usually just bathe it in WD40 or white lithium every few months. A buddy of mine has the same issue with an EP3.

-Over the past couple of winters mine has started to noticeably corrode. There's a decent sized rust spot under the gas door, and more recently it's started to form where the rear quarter meets the bumper cover.

-The starter gets hung up for a second on a first start in below freezing weather. Sounds like when you hold the key too long. Mine's been doing it for the past 2 or 3 winters without giving me any trouble, other than odd reactions from passengers. The EP3 I mentioned above was doing the same thing, but stopped when the starter was replaced.

-Parts aren't always cheap, or easy to find used. I barely tapped a pole with the left front while backing out of a dark car port, which amazingly destroyed the color matched headlight, the fog light, fender, side skirt, some fender bracket and a whole lot of little clips that hold stuff on. I decided to forego making a claim and fix it myself. Because they were only sold for 2 years in the "GD" body in the US, used parts in the correct color are hard to track down and few and far between at local "U-pull" type places or on Car-parts.com. I ended having to source a lot of new stuff from Honda and it wasn't cheap.

Other than that stuff, mine has been pretty solid, especially after I put some snow tires on it. The interior is absolutely immaculate after 11 years and 177k, and it really never needs much other than oil changes.

That said, if I were to do it over again, I'd get a newer one with the 6-speed or something different entirely. While I'm good with getting around 30MPG around town, I've never been impressed with the Fit's highway MPG's. The thing is spinning close to 4k at 75MPH and I'm usually lucky to get closer to 35MPG. The tiny gas tank usually means more frequent stops on long road trips as well. My old Geo Prizm did way better.

As for an alternative, my Dad has a base model 2006 5speed Vibe that he's been DDing for a little over the last 6 years. It's not as fun to drive, but it has way more room and does a lot better on gas on the highway. It's also way cheaper to fix... if it ever needs to be... I think my Dad's has needed a set of front brake calipers at some point, and that's it... It's also aging better on the outside than my Fit, although I'm sure the standard Pontiac grey cladding hides some age.