2009 Honda Fit: Smart(er)

@Kurt,

Beautiful picture BTW!

or...

for $19K, I'd pick up a nice new Ford Fusion S. I could haul around even more people in even more comfort than a Fit and still get 34mpg on the highway.

@brn,

Agree with you about Fusion. Fit is overpriced for sure. But if you happened to live in an urban area like Tokyo or Paris or San Fran, you'd be better off with a car the size of a Fit.

What was the average MPG for your trip?

I still don't get the Fit- it's loud and hideous to look at inside and out and I've never had trouble navigating a 190" plus long vehicle throughout my city (including parallel parking). The Fits that most people drive are automatics and they are slow as a slug in that form. The EPA mileage is not that great either for a car so small. Other than cargo room, I really don't see much appeal in this vehicle other than the fact that it's a Honda.

@rick

Each tank returned mpg in the low 30's.

If you wanted a good little city car and had $19k to spend, you'd probably buy a Smart.

I think you meant to say:

If you wanted a good little city car and have an IQ below 75 and had $19k to spend, you'd probably buy a Smart.

Just to keep it fair, the base Smart pure starts at $12,000 and the fairly well appointed Passion starts at $14,000. Even a fully optioned out Cabriolet is still under your hypothetical $19,000.

Several good choices depending on your priorities; you pays your money and you takes your pick.

For $21.9K I would buy your used G8GT over the Fit. Come on this car looks like an Aveo5, with its only redeeming feature is the Nav and for $100 you can buy a portable GPS.

On a long trip in a G8GT at over 70 mph, you get 27 mpg, the tradeoff in performance and ride comfort make owing a Fit seem just plain silly.

Sure was nice for the wife and I to carry home the 7'+ tall Christmas tree, some bedding plants, and leftover pizza inside the Fit on Saturday. In the same car we often transport 4 people in. And that I commute 50 miles a day in every other week and get 35+ mpg doing it. Not to mention it's actually engaging to drive. It's a hard combination to beat, regardless of the haters.

I see the haters have surfaced. The Fit is a great car for its intended purpose, enough said.

FYI you dont need to get a $19,000 Fit. they do come in trims that are less money. just dont expect a Navi or alloys.

low 30's sounds about right for a Fit.

what did you get around the highway?

I think I'd take an optioned-all-to-hell Fit for around $20k than a weaksauce stripper midsize of any other make. Great MPG, low cost of ownership, reliable, insane cargo capacity, sometimes even fun - I'd take it over a base Camry or Accord.

"I see the haters have surfaced. The Fit is a great car for its intended purpose, enough said."

Yep, and these same people don't even own the car and they spout off like they know what they're talking about. The Fit Sport with a manual trans is about $16,000. I really wish EVERY TIME the price of the car is mentioned they quote $19,000 which is for the Sport with automatic and navi. Do you freaking people know how rare that is? It's 4% of overall sales, quit with the $19,000 BS already!! That's like saying a BMW 3 series is a $55,000 car, yeah, if you load it up with every option under the sun. But saying $19,000 is just fuel for the haters to bash the car, even though 96% of Fit owners buy the Sport without navi, or even the base which is cheaper still. There is not a car in the segment of the Fit that can touch it, it is easily best in class. I bet it remains that way even when the Fiesta is released and the ridiculous hype over that car dies down. The Fit will still outsell that car four to one.

People who bash the car and don't own it will never understand the joy Fit owners get from their car. I could have EASILY afforded a car that cost twice as much as the Fit and I still chose my Fit, not because I had to but because I wanted to! 2009 Fit sport with navi and one year, 13,000 trouble free miles with the car; not a squeak or rattle to be heard.

hondacrua wrote: "I see the haters have surfaced. The Fit is a great car for its intended purpose, enough said."

You could say the same thing about the Smart Fortwo.

I've always really liked the Fit as a small family car or around town runabout. I looked at them when they first came out, and again two years ago when my wife was looking for a new car. Unfortunately, at 6'4, I'm just too big to make use of it.

wrinklebump: "insane cargo capacity"

Insane? Let's not go overboard. I parked next to a Fit yesterday and watched the lady load her stuff into the back of it. My smallish car has more usable cargo capacity (before you fold the seats down). If you fold the seats down in the Fit, my mid-sized suv has more cargo capacity with the seats up.

Don't get me wrong. I've nothing against the Fit. It seems like a good little car. It's just the way it gets praised often goes to the point of silly. If you'd said "good cargo capacity" I probably wouldn't have responded. :)

"There is not a car in the segment of the Fit that can touch it, it is easily best in class. I bet it remains that way even when the Fiesta is released and the ridiculous hype over that car dies down. The Fit will still outsell that car four to one."

Calm down...the Fit is just a car, not a martyr. Honda does not need your help, it has enough ad folks and lawyers to defend them. Just because someone does not like your car it does not equate to a personal attack on you. If your self worth is tied to your vehicle then you have some severe problems.

That being said, all of the tests I have seen show the Ford to be a superior driving machine. Not as good at interior packaging however. Oh Ford says it will have better MPGs as well. Hope that does not make you slit your wrists or anything.

" wrinklebump says:

10:15 PM, 12/ 1/09

I think I'd take an optioned-all-to-hell Fit for around $20k than a weaksauce stripper midsize of any other make. Great MPG, low cost of ownership, reliable, insane cargo capacity, sometimes even fun - I'd take it over a base Camry or Accord."

Tell me what is "stripper" about a Fusion S? Or "weaksauce" whatever that word means? Oh and reliable like the last LT Fit that the tranny fell out of?

~$19K depending on where you live will get you a Top trim Ford Focus Sedan. Virtually indestructible car or the Fit.

I'd take the Focus.

Good point ^^^^^^^

Where are the usual haters - mikeolan and cx7lover. I expect them to counter every positive post about the Fit with categorical pronouncements that it is absolutely positively the worst car ever made. And I could really use a lunchtime laugh. Perhaps they choked on the latest 10 Best issue of Car & Driver, where this positively horrible little car has made another appearance?

Bodyblue says: "Unfortunately, at 6'4, I'm just too big to make use of it (Honda fit)."

FYI-The front seat leg room of a Fit and a Chevy Suburban are identical.
Rear seat legroom of the Suburban has a .4" advantage.
Headroom measurements of both vehicles are within an inch of each other.
For shoulder rooom, Suburban does have a significant advantage.

However, your 6'4" argument does not hold water.

Choose a Focus over a Fit? Well, I got my afternoon laugh after all!

milt721, you can't compare those measurements when one vehicle has a very upright seating position and the other does not.

" milt721 says:

09:56 AM, 12/ 2/09

Bodyblue says: "Unfortunately, at 6'4, I'm just too big to make use of it (Honda fit)."

FYI-The front seat leg room of a Fit and a Chevy Suburban are identical.
Rear seat legroom of the Suburban has a .4" advantage.
Headroom measurements of both vehicles are within an inch of each other.
For shoulder rooom, Suburban does have a significant advantage.

However, your 6'4" argument does not hold water."

Ummm Milt721......That is not my post you quoted.