Thinking of buying a first generation Fit. Is 200k miles too much?
 

Should I buy an older used car....is a common and often repeated question in so many automotive forums.
IMO....it's nearly unanswerable as a question.

It's hard enough, even if you can test drive and get hands on direct evaluation to "know" whether a high mileage vehicle is "worth it" let alone try to offer an opinion sight unseen.

My advice is know your budget, know prevailing costs for similar vehicles in your area, and go in with your eyes open. The more you can tangibly know about the condition, the better. But basically the truth is, all machines are victims of wear and usage.

I could be TOTALLY WRONG.
My opinion from the small amount of information here?
$3000 for a vehicle a decade old, and with 200K seems overpriced.
There is IMO no way to reach 200K and a decade or more of usage, without parts wearing out. That's NOT a death sentence, but it just means some level of repair and maintenance is probably here, or on the horizon.
At 200K, it would probably bother me more to hear that it's "all original" parts, because that means nothing has been replaced.

My guess is as a 1st generation Honda Fit, this is not a "show car" despite it looking good.

Personally I think I would pass.
But as I said, I could be wrong. Really the comparative base is what other Fits, or similar vehicles with similar mileage are going for in your area. $3000 seems high to me, given the age and mileage, but I'm not shopping in your area.

Core advice? If you decide to invest, try to find out as much about it's current condition as possible. Inspection and Carfax reports. But go in knowing what you are buying which would be a $3000 vehicle with 200k miles.
I would personally want to compare what $3000 might be able to get me if I cast my net/search wider.

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I'm biased because our 200k mile Fit is darn near perfect. The GD and GE Fit can easily go 400k+ miles. We've seen them here on these boards.

So, the question really is, what is one worth? That's a really tough question with too many variables.

Look under it, have the axles been replaced? If not thats going to go soon. Whats the service history? If its been worked at dealer all its life then go to www.mycarfax.com and enter the VIN. Its free
It will show you services that were done since day one. Only way it shows is if the show enters it online and dealers do enter it. I do this to any car im looking to buy. They you can enter your own DIY services to keep history going.

3000 is too much i think, more like 2k. Play the high mileage angle.

I saw many GD3 listed in LA/OC area with same mileage and same price; most of them are M/T and ... nobody wants them.

I bought my manual 08 fit base for about that price and it had over 200k on the clock. What made me decide to get it was the excellent service records. It had a great history. The coilpacks if they haven't been replaced are likely to go bad and I had an issue with mine where the AC button was sticky, and somehow that had taken out a relay and possibly even the front AC fan. I had to replace all of those parts to make it good again. The fan was under $100, the switch OEM was under $60. Relays are cheap.

If you buy any car and you aren't a mechanic pay to have a professional mechanic shop lift it and inspect. You will find a lot of very important issues by lifting a car and doing a physical inspection.


Am I happy with my Honda Fit, even though it's high mileage? Absolutely. It's fun to drive, great on gas, tiny so it fits in small spaces and I can carry all kinds of stuff. But it's still a basic economy car. It's the kind of car that you'll be driving and think about upgrading from.

Oh right, and STAY AWAY FROM ANY TOTALED OR WRITTEN OFF CAR. It will say so on the title, don't do it.