but that ugly view looking into the open hatch was a downer- floppy material bunched up, folded over in the cracks, and slits cut in it for odd metal hoops to stick through? For me, poor "fit and finish" back there was an indication of the overall quality of the car.

However, for pretty much the same invoice as the sport, the versa has traction control, less plastic, tan interior option, amazing espresso black color, moonroof, $1250 Rebate or 0% financing, and I think I would have become a big fan of the CVT. If the SL espresso/tan model we drove today had the moonroof package, I would probably be a Nissan owner. However, the 4 Nissan dealers around me don't have a single moonroof in stock.

It took my wife a while to warm to the fit, calling it a 'boy's car', and initially preferred the styling and extra packages the versa has to offer. However, our salesman Kris at Jay Wolfe Honda made a fantastic offer without one hint of BS, and I believe the wife and I are BOTH very satisfied Sport owners tonight. Factors that made me a Fit fan over the Versa: honda quality (I'm a 'Honda guy'), a deal to beat the great Nissan offer, 3 more safety stars, and that incredible hatch area's size, appearance, and function. Now that I have it home, I've found more to appreciate: the auto door locks, d-rings in the floor, bag hooks, and a cargo light. Also, something that caught my eye twice, but I didn't really think about it until the third time- the slim profile of the rear seat's headrests clear the backs of the front seats, when folding the rears flat (certainly a nit pick, yet something my 05' Legacy wagon overlooks- I have to take them out, then do something with them) Again, it came down to the fit and finish between the fit and versa.

I think Honda should add an interior trim option, and I don't understand why they don't have a moonroof option yet. Are they saving that feature for the hybrid or something?

Well, I'm glad the work is over, and now I get to enjoy the new car. I look forward to learning and contributing here, and "hello!" to you all.

Thansk again to Kris! I want all my friends and family to buy Hondas from you!

 

Well congratulations and enjoy your new GE! Welcome to the forum too.

 

Reason for no sunroof/moonroof option: It takes away from structural rigidity (spellcheck?) They have them in other countries, but not the U.S. for safety reasons. At least thats how it was explained to me.

 

That explanation was bogus. When a car has a sunroof/moonroof, yes it is slightly less rigid, but the area is reinforced to try and gain some of the rigidity back. It's not like they just cut out the sheet metal and throw in a roof.

It all comes down to $$$. For the Fit to remain competitive price wise in it's segment, that's one area they skimp, of which I too am disappointed. I myself wouldn't mind paying extra for the moonroof option, but I'm betting their market research of the North American market found the amount of customers actually willing to pay for it as an option, wouldn't justify the expense of offering it.

 

Like I said, thats how it was explained to me. Guess my trainer was wrong.

 

My explanation was no dig on you, but on whoever gave you that explanation. We all get bad info from time to time.

 

Welcome to to Fitfreak. I'm pretty sure that you made a good choice even if you went with the versa. I have not been in one nor have seen what the interior looks like and its features. I am just hooked to hatchback's because the extra space it gives is very useful. Base on the pictures that I've the dashboard of the versa is nice, the seats looks comfortble, it offers a refresh mode like what the GD3's have but I can tell that the rear seats do not fold flat like the Fit. To tell you that truth the rear seats and the refresh mode is my main reason for choosing the Fit. I was planning to buy the XD but when I fold the rear seat my heart changed and is already with the Fit.

 

Congrats and welcome to the group.
The first time you get to hit some twisties there will be no remnant of "did I make the right choice" This car is a blast to drive!
Plus, personally I would prefer Honda's reliability over Nissan's.
Enjoy.

 

I'm sure it's a bit of both reasons, and probably more.

And I'm also guessing that it is much more cost effective for Honda to offer standard packages (the expensive navi option is a joke, and I don't appreciate a safety feature being bundled in with something that expensive). I really enjoyed shopping for the right versa model in the right option packages... compared to the "this is it" for the fit. Honestly, if the fit had the optional packages and interior color options of the versa, the versa would have been no contest.

 

exactly! the rear seats and cargo area are brilliant in the fit.

And yeah, I'm sure I would have been satisfied with the versa initially, but I was doubting how much I would have liked 5+ years later. That's not a concern I have for the Fit.

 

thanks!

My friend used to own a ford festiva, and I used to love to dive that thing into corners and keep the rpm's high.
My fit had 200 miles on it when purchased- I'm really excited to put on the other 400 right away so I can start DRIVING it!!!

 

Good thing you escaped! Welcome to the land of the awesome.

 

i'm taking a shot and saying the rationale for a lack of sunroof is this:

with sunroof and navi that Fit would cost more than some Civics, plus that would worsen handling and fuel economy, however minutely

 

I'm surprised the NA model didn't come with a sunroof, almost every car there seems to have a sunroof standard or as an option. I don't get the fascination with sunroofs in the US and will always prefer not to have one. As Gbaby stated above, that excess overhead weight does nothing good for the car's CoG. Even in my Snisen, if I had decided to bring it to Japan versus selling, I was going to rip out the convertible and go with an Amuse hardtop to replace it and save like 40~50lbs overall.

Welcome aboard and may your Fit give you plenty of enjoyable miles.

 

Most people in the US don't want to put a sunroof on a tiny car. Just like most of them don't want manual transmissions. Also, Honda can't put a CVT in a Fit because then it would get better mileage than their hybrids and they wouldn't make as much money.

 

EDIT: Just came across another post of yours in which you know they do have a CVT equipped Fit. So I guess you meant just in North America? And the hybrids still get better mileage compared to the CVT equipped Fits.

 

Welcome to the forum. Be glad you opted for the Fit over the Versa for a few reasons. The Fit is a sportier ride than the versa and will be much more reliable. The QR used in the Versa has some known issues however not too big. Also, the CVT is NUMB as far as fun factor goes. It does produce some decent economy numbers but still... it's a sheer bore to drive. I had an altima 3.5SE CVT which was the sport model and had much better performance but I lost the enjoyment in driving when we bought that. The main reason I won't own another Nissan is because of Nissan financial, they are so behind the times and you cannot get any accurate info in a timely fashion. it took me 4 days to find out simply if payment had been received. Getting a refund for paying off the car took over a month. Honda financial has all of the info at their fingertips and when we were overcharged for install of the Hitch on our ridgeline (which we rolled into our end of lease purchase), honda had a check in our hands in 5 days.

Nissan makes decent cars, they make a GREAT V6 engine, they have AWFUL financial services and support.

~SB

 

Fits in other markets where people care more about mileage and less about power have CVT transmissions available and I have heard of them being *rated* at 40+ (when mated with a 1.3 DSi engine). I know it'd be close but some of those non-american market Fits could really go toe to toe against an insight.

 

except i imagine the 1.3 being the slowest car on the plant, i mean the 1.5 isn't exactly a beast.....even less than that would be dang slow

 

It wouldn't be as slow as you'd think when mated to a CVT. Don't forget it'd be able to access the engine's peak power at all times.