Hey guys! As the title says had a stroke of bad luck and on the same day that 2 of my friends totaled their cars, I also totaled mine (They come in threes, right?)

So I'm looking at about 3300 from Insurance and a bit of my own money for my new car. In my price range I managed to find an automatic 07 Fit Sport with about 150k miles. Checked the vehicle history and it has never been in an accident or anything, and the seller says he has a stack of all maintenance records he will show me when we meet up this week.

Anything in particular I should look out for when I test drive the car? Anything else I should know?

Thank you in advance

 

First things I'd check: Plug replacement by 100K, coilpack replacement by 120K, and at least one valve lash adjust (two would be nice) at 150K. If those haven't been done, they should be first on your to-do list when you take possession.

If the plugs haven't been done, don't cheap out on new ones, get the original iridium Denso or NGKs.

If the coilpacks haven't been done, don't cheap out on new ones, get the original Hitachis, part number ends in 0053.

Both plugs and coilpacks are well within the realm of the home mechanic. You'll need a 10mm hex and a socket wrench with an extension and spark plug socket (I like the magnetic ones).

Valve lash adjust is not beyond the realm of a home mechanic, but you'll have to pull the front of the engine to get to them. Really should be done every 60K on these engines. If you don't want to do it yourself, expect to pay anywhere between $200-400 at a shop, mostly because of the time involved. A bent feeler gauge comes in mighty handy unless you like scraping up your knuckles.

 

Hey that sounds pretty good. The car is cheap enough I should have a few hundred bucks left over so I can definitely do the plugs and coilpacks easily (minus it being like 0 degrees out right now, ewww), and the Valve lash sounds like something I wouldn't mind paying a shop for.

Thank you for the help! Hope to join this community officially (as in, owning my own Fit) soon!

 

just fyi I joined this group six months ago when I bought a used 08 Fit LX for 4 grand, with 110k on it. With the instruction from this group and another fit group I plan to do the valves, spark plugs, and coils in the spring. They were not done when I bought the car, and the car runs great. My starter is beginning to go, and I will likely replace it in the Spring too. Congrats, the Fit is a great little car.

 

sorry for your troubles, but I thought I'd mention that you really are taking a hit on the overall size and comfort going from a Accord to a first generation Fit. Have you spent much time in the Fit? It is an absolutely outstanding car, but is really meant for urban driving. I wouldn't take a long trip in one voluntarily. Bargainguy nailed it: if all those maintenance items were done in/around the 100,000 mile mark, you are likely good for 60,000 more miles without any large maintenance issues. I sympathize on your need to spend only what you got for insurance, but make sure you are fully prepared for driving a smaller car like the first generation Fit.

 

Yea I know that I'm downgrading as far as like... Ride comfort goes, but you gotta make do with what you got, funds-wise. I was actually looking at a Scion XB (newer gen) and was supposed to get the VIN number from the guy an hour ago so I could double check all was good, but he hasn't sent it to me so I may end up with the Fit regardless.

 

I went from an Accord, to a Mazda 3, to a first gen Fit, and I'm not looking back. The 1988 Accord was an absolutely fantastic car in every way. The Mazda MT was fun to drive and as sure footed as the Accord, but it ate a bit too much gas for my liking. The Fit is a veritable gas sipper, great in the city and parking, and while it doesn't have the comfort of the Accord or the sure footedness of either the Accord or Mazda on the highway, it is plenty fine, and I love it.

 

Welp, looks like I won't be joining the ranks of you guys.

Asked the guy sunday, monday, and tuesday what time Wednesday works best to meet to no response. Finally Tuesday night he says "You said Wednesday lol" ...

Says any time after 10 works. So I message him around time asking for his address so I can head his way.

Says he works till 5. I say okay and ask for his address again.

5 comes around and I ask him for his address so I can head his way. 5:30 he finally responds that he just got off work and it's gonna be 45 minutes till he gets home.

I again ask for his address so that I can head his way (it's about 45 min from where I am to the city he's in) so that I dont have to wait forever. Message is read within a few minutes but 20 minutes later no response.

TL;DR Don't list your car on Craigslist if you're not actually trying to sell it.
I hate people that waste my time.

Nice place you have here though, hope whatever car I end up with has a great community like you guys do.

 

Sorry for your troubles. All I can say is, there are a lot of first generation Fits for sale by owner out there, now that the 3rd generation is in full production. If you want one, you'll get it. I normally talk to any craigslist seller of cars over the phone to see if they are full of it, or are an actual legitimate seller who can answer tough questions about their car. The first Fit I tried to buy via CL was a bust as well. I took a train 2.5 hours away only to take the train home empty handed (obviously). The owner sincerely did not know there was water ponding underneath his back seats as a result of the waterproofing plastic being compromised, and he sincerely did not know that there was water ponding underneath the spare tire due to a structural defect near the upper right hatch hinge. I knew of all these things due to the fine people on this site. When the second CL Fit came around, I spoke at length to the owner over the phone. He liked me, and wanted to sell it to me knowing I would take car of his "baby." He fended off two dealers, allowing me the 3 hours to drive to his location. I hope you find another one, even though I do know you can find some early model Accords and Camrys with high miles that can be had for a song as well. Good luck.

 

Here's my story.... back when I was a Jr in High school I inherited my parents 92 honda accord. I totalled the accord in 08. Then I bought a Honda fit 08 (same as 07)...

I still have the fit and it has 190k miles on the odometer and the car still feels peppy fast. But then again I been recently just now modding the car out, after driving the car stock for over 8 years. Love this car to pieces... I can afford a nice euro car but I can't seem to let this Fit go...

Happy hunting! Cheers!

 

I like what BurntZ and weenee wrote, and I have a similar story to BurntZ. I bought my car used from online. The first one I went to see had a little dent in the body, and I wanted to get back to him the next day. The next day it was sold. The next one I went to see the seller texted me when I was halfway to his place, halfway through a one hour trip. He texted me to tell me it just sold. The third one is the one I bought. I saw the ad at 1130 at night, it had been posted 15 minutes earlier. I emailed the guy immediately, asked him if I could see it the next morning, and asked where he lived. He wrote me the next morning, told me where he lived, and told me he could show it to me that evening. I told him I was working in the evening, could I come over right now. He said ok. He lived 15 minutes from me. I bought it after a ten minute test drive. I love this car.

 

I bought an 07 Fit Sport with about 155k last spring (may 2015). Clutch was burnt out when I bought it so I paid 800 bucks to fix it and nothing has gone wrong since then (other than a broken windshield). The car is great on gas and the only work I've done to it has been oil changes (car now has 210k). Its kind of loud on the highway and not the most comfortable on longer drives but I honestly love this car. So much cargo space and I love it for camping trips. I live in the Toronto, Canada area and I was kinda worried about ground clearance in the snow but its surprisingly good in the snow for such a small car. Overall I'd say one of the best used cars on the road for the money.

 

Yes, it is essential that you call an owner on the phone and make some sort of connection with them, ultimately convincing them that you will dutifully take care of their "pride and joy." Dealers are trolling craigslist every minute of the day looking for bargains that they can scoop up and resell for $3000 higher after washing and vacuuming (their idea of detailing). Once you make a positive connection, I find that most owners will be glad to give you the necessary time to come, see, drive and buy. Remind them that they probably have already been to a dealer and been insulted and low balled. Why would they want to just turn it over to the same "class" of people who will make a killing on their car.
As radioarno and I know, the Fit is bulletproof, and hard to screw up. They are one of the few cars that are worth driving or flying to get a used one.