Hello,

Ive been on this forum off and on, but allow me to re-introduce myself.

I am the owner of a 2011 Honda Fit Base model which I drove off the lot new on May 31st 2011. As of this date I have put 65000 miles on it in the New York City area. I am an independent automobile appraiser and I use the fit to do my job. I look at 5-10 cars per day and I drive around in stop&go traffic sometimes in New York City. My driving is probably the most "severe service" the Honda Fit will ever see with several starts, stops each and every day and lots of miles.

The Honda Fit is by no means a fast vehicle as in 0 to 60 fast nor is it a top speed car, but it sure is manueverable. Its easy to change lanes and squeeze through tight spots. You can park it in spots which you cant with other cars. The steering wheel feedback and overall manueverability cannot be beat for the price you pay for the car. This is the ultimate city vehicle and thats what it was built for.

Overall, when I drive the Fit conservatively I get 32-35 mpg. However, if I drive it aggressively that easily falls to 27-29 mpg. The lowest gas mileage I got was 26 during the summer with the A/C going and very aggressive driving. The highest was 40+ mpg on cruise control at 55. At 53 miles per hour on cruise control seems like the speed with the best gas mileage and Ive seen about 48-50 mpg at that level. Right after Hurricane Sandy when gas became in short supply, I drove very conservatively and was able to achieve about 42 mpg...that is with driving it basically like a grandma. So high gas mileage can be done if you really need it.

The problems Ive had are the following:

- Exterior paint and dings- The paint is not as good as the Toyotas Ive had in the past. This paint is a bit thinner and seems to attract dings/chips more often. The design and low slung nature of the car makes it more vulnerable to dings/chips.

- The A/C fan speed control knob failed at about 15000 miles where it only worked on high. This wasnt a big deal because its a warranty item, but it annoyed me. This is a known issue I have read on the internet.

- The Tire Pressure sensor failing, but replaced under warranty.

- A loose plastic shield on the front which was fixed by the dealer for free.

- Brake pads/brake rotors/tires not lasting as long as the Toyota Solara I had previously. I started using Autozone ceramic brake pads and these do seem to last much longer then the Honda. I have had three sets of pads and three rotors on the car so far. The original Dunlop tires lasted about 25000 miles and replaced with Yokohama Envigor tires which seem to be doing very well.

- Interior items/switches wearing down. The window and cruise control switch seem to be wearing down. Ive never seen the switch wear away on the Toyota.

Thats about all the issues Ive had with my Honda Fit.

A word about maintenance:

- The Maintenance Minder will tell you to change the automatic transmission fluid at 60,000 miles. The manual is vague on whether to flush (Honda's definition of a flush is a 4 times drain&fill which replaces 97% of the fluid) or to drain and fill. At 35000 miles I noticed my tranny was not shifting as it was when I bought it. It just seemed like the shifts were too firm and noticable. I did a 4 times drain and fill with Honda DW1 fluid which brought back the shifting to stock form. What I do now is do a drain and fill every 7000 miles. Each drain and fill replaces 40% of the fluid.

- The manual states to change the brake fluid at 3 years. The reason is that moisture does get into the brake fluid over time. For safety purposes, you are best to change it at the 2 year interval and if you drive like me at the 1 year interval. This is just for safety to get rid of all the moisture which may have snuck its way in there.

- Honda brakes are crap. Look online and everyone states the pads on their Honda wear out too fast. I would just go with Autozone Durastop gold ceramic brakes. The rotors also tend to warp which is a known problem. Just get whatever rotors are at the autozone. Have the independent mechanic change them out. My mechanic charged me 100 dollars and I provided him with the rotors/pads.

- Look for coupons online before you go into the Honda dealership. My honda dealer will change my oil for $30 with a coupon.

- I use only pure synthetic oil in my Honda Fit. I buy the oil and provide it to the dealer to change. They charge me a nominal fee since I have a coupon and provide the oil. If you go to the dealer to get it changed, they will put in semi-synthetic oil. I dont want to get into a debate about which oil to use and why, but I have my own reasons for using full synthetic vs the semi-synthetic stuff the dealer uses. I put my car through hell and depend upon it daily for work so I like to use more premium oil.

- The dealer and most every other mechanic will try to upsell you on stuff. Nevermind that. All you really need is an oil change. My Honda dealership tries to make me buy certain things like the A or B inspection, but I just tell them to change the oil and rotate the tires. I do all the changes on the tranny fluid which is very easy on this car. You dont need to raise the car to drain and fill the tranny. All the filters are easy to change. The brake fluid will be changed by the dealer because I am not going to mess with the brakes. Any other work is done by my independent mechanic and even then I really bargain with them. My gf got ripped off at a Honda dealer paying over 300 dollars when all she needed was the 30 dollar oil change. Listen to what they have to say but dont do anything until you can research it on the internet. The Honda is a maintenance free car and most of the time all it needs is an oil change, however, sometimes they may be right about changing certain things. So research on the internet and ask questions...read your car manual which is right most of the time. I just thought the ATF and brake fluid should be changed sooner. The ATF fluid should be totally flushed at 30,000 miles and the brake fluid at every two years. I have read about people on the internet having problems with the auto tranny so you should be anal about servicing the fluid. In fact, on this next oil change im going to do a 2 times drain and fill just to be certain as its getting to be a higher mileage car.

Driving in snow and weather- Havent had a lot of snow to really test it out in. There has been a few snow storms and it seemed to make it through very well. The traction control system is a MUST HAVE with this car and I believe it came standard with the 2011 model.

Its been a great car so far with little problems. It sure isnt a quiet Lexus or a fast Porsche, but it gets the job done with little drama and is somewhat sporty...

 

Better be careful. Using anything other than Honda parts will set some of the posters here into a blind rage. How dare you! Good and honest review. To claim that any Honda is anything less than perfect, or that a Honda dealer did anyone wrong. Look out!!!!

 

If you google "Honda Brake Pad Problems" you will find across all models everyone reports premature brake pad wear. The pads on Hondas are not long lasting ceramics from what I can tell. Luckily, the Autozone Duralast ceramic pads are about $60 and at Firestone they have their own ceramic brand which goes for about $70. Depending on where you go, you can get it changed out for $100.

On the Toyotas I have owned, the brake pads never seem to wear out or have problems. The transmission never seems to have a problem on a Toyota. However, Toyotas are not built to be sporty. They are built to be all out reliable and have the greatest gas mileage possible. Hondas are built to have some sporty edge to them. Unfortunately, sport does not translate to all out reliability or free of maintenance.

I got a Honda because Toyotas are boring cars and I got tired of them. So if you are looking for the most reliable maintenance free car on the market regardless of anything else get yourself a Toyota. However, if you need a little more sport in your life get a Honda. The Toyota Camry is a tank and will go to hell and back, but it is the new old man's car. The Honda Accord has edge and is sporty. It has nice looks and handles like a dream, but you have to go a little bit further with the maintenance. The Toyota Corolla is a tank and will go to hell and back. Most island nations use the Toyota Corolla because its the only car which will take the island conditions where all others seem to fall short. However, the Corolla is not enjoyable to drive, not stylish and people look at it like the "poor mans car". Corolla isnt a bad car, but its just boring like all Toyotas. The Honda Fit and the Honda Civic just look more stylish, more upscale and drive sporty. The Corolla is more of a driving appliance where as the Civic/Fit are more driver's cars.

The Honda Fit is still very reliable when compared with other cars, but like I said, I would make the changes discussed in this thread as far as maintenance. I would use a different pad and rotor. I would cut in half the atf fluid change time. I would cut the brake fluid change time by a year. I would use fully synthetic fluid. I would use different tires. I would watch the Honda dealership like a hawk and always insist on "I just want an oil change." If they try to upsell you, slow down and go to the internet. Discuss it first in a forum like this one and google it. Ask deeper questions of the dealership. 90% of the time you just need an oil change.

 

I have just shy of 50k on my '11 Fit Sport, drive a lot of highway, but drive in a spirited manner, and I still have PLENTY of life on my pads. I suspect I'll get around 100k out of them. Rotors are still true, too. I'm sure if you Google "[enter OEM here] brakes suck", you'll see results for anything. You're doing city driving, so I would suspect no matter what you drive for the OE pads and rotors to wear quickly...

It seems that you are becoming discouraged at the Fit with this latest review...

 

No Im not discouraged. Ive put 65000 miles on the Honda Fit which is 3-4 times the normal mileage most people put on their Fit in a year and did it through an urban environment. Most people will make 2-3 trips a day starting and stopping their car. I regularly start and stop my car at least 10 times a day. When you treat a car like that, any car, something is going to go wrong. All thats gone wrong were that air speed control knob and the TPMS sensor.

As for the brakes, the aftermarket ceramic brake pads did last a long time. In fact, these are lifetime brake pads where you get new pads if they dont last. However, what they dont tell you is the pads wear the rotors out...overheat the rotors. The Yokohama Envigor tires last twice as long as the stock Dunlops.

Ive owned Toyotas and put them through their paces. I can honestly say the Toyota is a tank. I drove the same way with a Toyota Solara and the OEM brakes never wore out and the tires lasted 65000 miles. However, Toyota is a boring stodgy car. The Crown Vic went out of production and so the old crowd is driving the Camry. That Toyota Solara I talk about developed rod knock at 205,000 miles despite frequent oil changes and maintenance so there are issues with Toyotas too.

What I am very confident about is that you could not put a Ford Focus or Chevrolet whatever..or a Nissan or Mazda through 65000 urban miles and get away with just a broken speed control knob and a tire pressure sensor.

As far as reliability and maintenance free is concerned Toyota takes the gold, but Honda isnt far behind with the Silver. As far as being a drivers car Honda beats Toyota. The Honda is a young persons car while the Toyota is for the older crowd.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, OP.

My 2009 Fit has 60K miles. I change the oil/ filter according to the minder (use full synthetic), change the air filter regularly (changed to a K&N filter), and the cabin filter. Do I need to do anything else?

 

my front brake pads on my 09 were gone at 33K. rear pads in the drums were fine.

 

The only thing I would do is to cut the maintenance schedule for the auto trans in half. Instead of flushing at 60,000 miles, do it at 30,000 miles. There are some people on here who even suggest doing it at 25,000 miles. All of the Honda dealers suggest 30,000 miles.

There are two services you can do to an auto trans which are a drain&fill which replaces 40% of the fluid or a 4 times drain and fill which replaces 97% of the fluid.

To make it easy on myself, I do a drain and fill every 7000 miles which will replace 97% of the fluid by the time it reaches 28,000 miles. Its very easy to do. You just stick a socket wrench on the bolt, loosen it and out goes the fluid. Use a big funnel and fill it up. Uses about 2.5 bottles. Be sure to fill it exactly to the mark on the dipstick.

My transmission was shifting funny before I changed the fluid. After a 4 times drain and fill it went back to shifting normal. When I changed the fluid I noticed the fluid was no longer red.

 

i dont think my dealer changed AT fluid during the 40K mile service. i dont really care if they did or not but i dont think it is necessary to change fluids so often unless one was having problems.

just follow the maintenance reminder.

 

For auto trans fluid you go by color and smell of the fluid. The original color of the fluid is a clear light red. When that color gets to dark red and is no longer clear it should be changed. Brown fluid is way past its time. If the fluid smells differently than the original it should be changed. You should also take into consideration how you drive and how the trans is shifting. Does the trans seem like it isn't shifting right? Do you really push your Fit? Do you drive in stop and go traffic or put a lot of mileage on? Another consideration is how long you plan on keeping the car. If you plan on selling it at 60k than there is no sense in doing any more maintenance than you have to.

Some people will find they need to change the trans fluid at 15000 while others will find they can change it at 30k or 60k. I feel 30k is a good benchmark. For most people that is about two years of driving and I wouldn't push a fluid which lubricates the trans past 2 years. Still 30000 miles might not be soon enough for some folks as they might push their Fit hard and so they may need it sooner. Someone who drives their Fit hard around Arizona in high heat or someone like myself who drives hard in NYC might need 15 to 20k intervals. I know on police cars trans fluid gets changed at 15000 miles.

Another fluid which should be looked at the same way is the brake fluid. The manual says three years but that is for a Fit which is put into regular service. A Fit which is driven under more severe circumstances will need it sooner. The reason why to change brake fluid is moisture getting into the fluid. Also the brake fluid should be clear. If its not clear there are contaminants inside it effecting the way the fluid works.

The engine oil on the other hand can be reliably changed at 7000 miles or when the minute minder says. Consumer Reports did extensive testing on oil using NYC cabs and they concluded that is the sweet spot. I use full synthetic which is a greater quality than the regular stuff so I'm certain it won't break down as easy.

 

thanks for the post...

got about 63k on my '10 Sport M/T, just been preventative stuff to date... flushed the tranny fluid @ 38k, replaced filters (cabin/air/oil, etc...) fluids (tranny/clutch/brake/engine) and thats about it... still on original pads but also have the benefit of engine braking so not surprised they've lasted longer than some of you folk with A/Ts, though i'll probably have to replace here in the next 6 months.

i guess you can say my Fit has gone through the normal paces, maybe just a lot more of them, is all... daily commutes around 35-45 mi one way, usually cruising around 73-77 mph (around 3.75k rpms) frequent road trips, urban driving in LA, etc... but ive also made a point to not wring it out when possible as well...

keeps on trucking... looking forward to another uneventful 60k+ miles!

 

i'll throw in some timing tips.

Given, that OP has changed 3brake changes over 65miles, that's a nice interval there. Just have the brake fluid changed when you change the brakepads. I agree that my OEM front pads wore quickly. My case maybe special though, wear was uneven, and left front outside pad wore down to the noise indicator at 21k, whereas the right side pads had more pad left.

Given that OP is using syn. oil, maintenance minder will be at 7.5k or higher.
Just do a D/F on the ATF when you do your oil change. If your car is not under severe service, skip this to every other oil change or every 3rd, and i think that will be just as good too

 

Why does the breakdown of the red dye indicate that its time for a change? That dye doesn't aid in lubrication or anything else other than marking transmission fluid as transmission fluid.

 

I've gone 33k on my '12 base. Original pads are fine. But I drive mostly freeway, so that probably explains why.

 

Ask anyone who works with transmissions. It is a known fact that if your transmission fluid starts to look another color than what it was originally than its time for a change. If the fluid color is brown or smelling burnt like a BBQ than it is way way past due.

The only color that fluid should be is light red. If its a dark dark red time for a change...brown and you need to change that fluid a lot sooner...

 

Lots of "known facts" aren't.

Again, why do I care that the dye has gone off? Its not a calibrated wear indicator. That's like saying that any oil that's dark is die for a change, even though it still has plenty of capacity for holding contaminates as a UOA will show.

 

I've gone almost 53k on my Fit, still on original pads. Aside from my 11k male road trip, most of the miles are short hop food deliveries.

The OP likes to make statements of "facts," without anything to back it up. The real reason the OP doesn't post here often is because he (or she) runs and hides when people start to bust him on that. Then thinks people have forgotten when he does come back.

 

I am an expert on automobiles. I have worked at car dealerships in the service department. I have worked at a Toyota dealership, a Buick dealership, a few bodyshops and at insurance companies. Right now I am an independent appraiser who drives around inspecting cars all day long. I have ALL of the ASE certifications one can have right here on my wall.

Dont take my word for it but go ahead and google "ATF Fluid color". Then call any Honda dealership service department or any mechanic in town and ask them. Every one I have talked to says to change the fluid at 30,000 miles which goes against the factory advice of 60,000 miles. They are not telling you that to upsell you, but because its a known fact out there in the world of mechanics.

Some transmissions are different, but the majority need that change at 30,000 miles. The people at the factory work at the factory, but the people at the dealership have to put up with real world conditions. Im not sold on everything the dealership tells me and I know what they tell others because I have worked there, but I do know the transmission needs more care than any other part of the vehicle.

Yeah, pretty much if I am telling you your car needs something than its a fact. Im not certain how much more experience you want someone to have before you start believing them. For the last 30+ years, I have been looking at cars, working on cars, selling repairs, etc. My entire life has revolved around cars.

 

and yeah...right after I get off of here...Im waiting on my Garmin GPS to update with new maps...I am going to go look at some cars and thats what I do all day long. There has not been one day in the last 30 years where I was not under a hood, under a car, looking at a car, etc.

 

A bit of googling turns up the fact that the redness in ATF is from a dye used to differentiate ATF from other fluids. Loss of redness is an indication that the dye used to make the ATF red has broken down, but because it wasn't designed to break down in a predictable way, it doesn't indicate anything else about the fluid.

Claiming to have worked on cars for a long time doesn't build your case that you have magic eyes that can read the condition of the chemicals in ATF. Lots of mechanics still go with the 3000 mile oil change, it's certainly a "known fact" out there. Of course, chemical analysis and modern engineering makes that known fact wrong.

I totally get that automobile engineers screwed the pooch on their previous recommendations of 100,000 mile or lifetime ATF. But I just don't see the evidence that 30,000 mile changes are more right than 60,000, and your arguments from authority don't really come from a place of authority.