First off, I love my fit. I love it to pieces and look forward to many long years together. However it is not without flaws.

Here is a list of things that have annoyed me about the design so far. Most of them I noticed within the first week of driving. I apologize if there's already a thread like this somewhere.

1: There is a Huge fuel gauge on the right, much bigger than is needed. Other people have commented on the size of the fuel gauge. If they really wanted to make efficient use of that space, they would have put an engine temperature gauge within the same circle, opposite the fuel gauge. I hate having to rely on the cold engine 'idiot light'.

2: The miniature wiper on the right hand side. I don't care about its size, but the fact that I never seem to get a clean wipe. I put it down to the odd wiper symmetry. There's always a streak the little wiper leaves behind. Maybe once I replace the cheap? factory blades this will go away.

3: The center brake light. It's always right exactly in the way of where I'm trying to look behind me. If anything the center of the rear window should be arced upward because that's where the... road is. As distance increases the amount of view being obstructed by the center brake light increases significantly. Any kind of a hill doesn't help either.

4: The armrest. When I first test-drove an '08 the first thing out of my mouth was "Where's the armrest??". Now I have that armrest, but what... it's like 2 sizes too small. The best I can do it rest the edge in the crook of my elbow, otherwise known as the "funny bone". I'm not complaining because I have an armrest, it's a gift from the heavens, but it should be a few inches longer *and* an inch or two wider, and I am not a big man.

5: Telescopic steering. I love telescopic steering, but I drive with it maxed out all the time, and sometimes when I'm cruising and want to put my seat back a little more... I'm forced to stretch my arms to reach the steering wheel. What's the point of the seats reclining so much if you can't move the wheel closer? Telescopic steering needs to be increased by at least 50%.

6: Not enough places to put 'car junk'. I know there's a hidden compartment in the back seats, but I'm talking about up front. My lower glove is full of cd's, and my upper glove has receipts. The upper glove could stand to be a bit deeper, and the front of the center console should have a little door instead of being open. I keep thinking there should be another storage compartment somewhere in the center near the e-brake.

7. Next up is the CD player. When I first drove it I commented on how far I had to stretch to reach the controls, but I'm used of it by now. There's a couple things that bug me about the CD player. The first is that there's no pause button. If I have to take a phone call or something similar, I have to push power on the cd player to retain my song placement. The other thing that bugs me about the CD player, is when I push eject to put out a CD but am too distracted to change it, it pops it back in and starts playing. Doesn't it think I pushed eject for a reason? The way to remedy this is to pull the CD out an inch so it can't be grabbed back in. However, the player objects to this technique and experiences internal malfunctions, and tells me that I should consult the owners manual.

8. This could just be me, but the car seems to oversteer from what I'm used to. I love the tight turn radius at low speeds, but when cornering a little faster, I have to let off the wheel cause damn it takes that corner sharp.

9. The sun visor. The sun visors are very small, and the sun is very big. Other cars have extensors to block the sun, I have painted black dots. As much as I like painted black dots, they don't do much from blocking the sun between the visors. And from the side, my first road trip had me squinting one eye for 4 hours.

This list may be edited/updated as I think of more things. All in all I love this car, best I ever owned, no regrets.

 

You still use CDs?

 

Aye, a throwback from days gone by. I'm still in the process of converting all my cds into mp3s. At first I thought my USB would only work with an MP3 player. Just a few days ago I found out it works with my 32 GB USB drive, no special software, no proprietary drivers needed. All I have to do is plug it in... In a couple weeks I won't worry about the CD player anymore. But still, I might be speaking for someone else.

 

I still use the cd player too, gotta remember to try a flash drive!

#3- i have a 03 matrix, so ive gotten used to the dip in the view. Put a car seat back there, it almost totally eclipses the entire view on whichever side it is on.

#8- its the electric steering. I almost killed myself in my 06 Si, Zero real feedback.

#9- i would say the visor is normal size, our windshields however, ARE HUGE
But i agree, either way they dont work.

As for my gripes,

#1- no option to purchase the auto dimming mirror? Ugh

#2- automatic climate control. Steering wheel audio. i know, they were cut to put the fit at an attractive price point, but damn, the fact they are available elsewhere is such a ^&*@tease.

#3-The front cupholders, other than the ones that block the vents are useless for american size drinks. I mean, who buys the 20oz soda anymore when the 0ne liter is 10 cents more? Ditch the center console ones & let it be a little storage tray. To go along with it, the open slots in the door panels, why?

#4- Cloth on the rear of the back seats & in the trunk. Come on, plastic!

#5- no 2nd trip mileage option? come on, i bet it cost more to make em leave it out! Useful for tracking when you swap tires for winter....etc

#6- Gas Guzzler!!! Just kidding. Overall, i love the car tons. I will give it HID's (a nice kit that works, with lenses, not that cheap ebay poo), some disk brakes, and hopefully a night dimming mirror. JDM tweaks when i can (squash air freshener for the win!!!!), but for now, i totally enjoy the fact that it cost me 18 bucks to fill my tank!!!!

 

The Fit oversteers? Yeah, it must be you!

I think the steering ratio is faster than your old car, and you're giving too much steering input.

 

Here are mine. I love my Fit too, these are just pet peeves:

1. Big armrest is not standard. I'd love to have an armrest that my passenger could use too, but there is no way i'm spending $200.

2. Black cloth. White dog hair and black interior don't go well together.

3. Cruise control and headlight gauges are distracting. These lights are much too prominent on the display. They clash with the other gauges.

4. CD player controls are a long reach.

5. Headlights are too dim.

these are all pretty minor issues.

 

I forgot about the seats, dog hair magnets!

 

I don't like the switch pod on the lower dash. Wack my knee sometimes when getting out.

 

I did that yesterday, hurt like a mofo. Why is it there?

 

to me #6 & #9 is big issue. i hate the sun. i am a vampire - a vampire w/ allergy means i need a big box of tissue nearby. no place for a standard box of Kleanex. also there should be more concealed storage for coins, receipts etc.

didn't notice the wiper thing - but then again i didn't drive that baby much. it's been "grounded" due to my lack of reason to drive (vampires fly...LOL).

initially i thought the black cloth is good at hiding dirt. now i know i was wrong. this stuff show more dirt than there is - if you didn't have dandruff before? now you do. ;-)

i don't care about armrest. my arms are skinny (they rest on their bones just fine). i do wish the back of hte rear seat as well as the truck floor is made from a heavy duty plastic material so we don't need to get extra liners etc.

also, cargo cover should be standard.

 

The only problem I have is the lack of a temp gauge--engine and exterior.

 

what the heck is it with people griping about "no pause" on the CD player???

Name a stock system in a car that HAS a pause function....

 

I couldn't name one. Also I have never known a cd player that does not suck the cd back in if you don't grab it in a certain amount of time.

 

if everyone else's car jumped off a bridge....

Would yours have to?

I'm used of aftermarket players, but I don't think that I can (or would want to) swap this one out.

 

To pause a CD, just hit the power switch. When you turn it back on, it resumes where it left off. Works like a pause switch for me.

 

I didn't even KNOW it had telescopic steering. This will make my longer drives SO much more comfortable!!

 

VSA-off is there on models with VSA.

 

Gripes? 1. The spare tire cover is made from tablet backing. Gotta' be careful what you set on it that it doesn't cave.
2. The carpets are cheapo. Look like something from a store display.
3. No Gauges.
4. Still no gauges
5. The upholstery manufactures lint.
6. No independent rear suspension. Current set up used to get flat floor.
7. Committe designed sunvisors. They never even sat in the car.
8. No seat height adjustment.
9. No splash guards for the sport other than cheapo flat generic type.
10. The air box designed by the same committe that designed the sunvisors.
I will make a CAI despite that dumb looking air duct thingie.
11. The condenser is naked in the lower air intake area. Have expanded
stainless on order to make a guard.
But all in all I love this little car! Just gotta' work out the bugs.

 

About there not being a pause button, what is the difference in hitting a button that says "pause" and a button that says "power" when they both do the exact same function. Both stop your track with one click, and resume said track with another click.

My biggest gripes so far have to do with the audio screen on the navi.

1. The text for song/album names doesn't wrap around, it just cuts it off if it's too long.

2. There is no bar that shows how long the current track is, and how much of the track has played.

 

The deal with the power/pause had me frustrated, too. Having done a good bit of interface design, I understand the frustration. It's because there should be a button labeled to do that thing! The problem is, the play button doesn't work (play/pause) because it has other functions assigned to it. It's just a matter of illogical and non-standard button behavior. The use of power for pause is not a logical assumption.