Hello!

I知 currently saving up to buy a 1st gen Fit that I壇 like to eventually turn into a track car. I知 pretty new to this space, so the plan is to learn as I go with this car. I致e also only ever bought cars from dealerships before, so private sales are new territory for me.

I知 curious what you all look for when browsing listings. What mileage would you consider acceptable? Would you always have a mechanic inspect it before buying? Are there certain years within the 1st gen that are more desirable or worth holding out for?

I知 also trying to get a better sense of budget. Right now I知 aiming for around $5k max, but ideally less. Part of the appeal of the Fit is keeping costs low while I learn, so I知 trying to be realistic about what I can get in that range.

This wouldn稚 be my daily driver, if that makes a difference.

Bonus question: What would you spend your first $1000 on after acquiring the car? Assuming there are no issues besides normal wear and tear.

 

Assuming all maintenance is up to snuff, wheels and tires and brakes however I'd go over it with a fine tooth comb first and make any repairs or maintenance needed first.

As a general thing, unless I KNOW the vacuum lines and coolant lines on a car are new, on an older vehicle, I like to swap them all out for silicon ones, they will outlast the car and so it's cheap insurance, to not have a coolant line bust at the worst time or weird vacuum leaks to chase. IF all maintenance is done, and I highly doubt it, few normal people ever change their brake fluid, power steering fluid, transmission gear oil/ATF, rear diff or transfer case gear oil (where applicable) or even coolant, so for a track car, I'd change all fluids. Definitely the ATF/gear oil (depending on manual or auto), coolant (use the Honda stuff), I'd recommend adding Redline Water Wetter, the product breaks the surface tension of the coolant (like soap does, just without the suds) adds another lubricant and anti corrosion additive as well. For track track you 100% should change brake fluid and pads.

P.S. the Redline Water Wetter, helps the coolant system transfer heat. Dropped the temp on one of my vehicles in the summer 7*F doing absolutely nothing else. These car's don't typically have cooling issues but still, doesn't hurt and it's not expensive.