hey all,

i'm in the market for a honda fit with less than 70k miles and that's less than $10k. this is my first car and i plan to use it to drive around the country alone for a year, visiting farms and hiking, etc. i'm a woman and i'll be traveling alone, so it's very important to me that i get a reliable car.

is there an age cap for what's reliable? is 2008 too old? anything else i should be aware of/keep in mind? i'm considering getting this fit and would appreciate any advice you all might have.

many thanks in advance!

 

You can get a first gen fit for around 5k. 100k miles or less is fine. The fit is very reliable. Then I would get a valve adjustment, examine all the motor mounts, then take it to the dealer for any recalls that haven't been done, and change all the fluids in the car just to be on the safe side. Then drive drive drive!

 

^You'll likely be spending more than 5k for a nice 2008.

That said, I'd have a mechanic go through the brakes/tires/fluids after purchase as a minimum and I'd recommend replacing the coil packs/spark plugs, just for peace of mind.

 

The ad doesn't say a whole lot, but it looks like a good deal. If it comes with the roof rack it's an even better deal, those can be quite expensive. If you don't need it you can sell it.
Also has some aftermarket wheels, which look good in the photos at least. Usually when people have nice wheels they have nice tires.

I paid $8900 for my 2007 Base, with 47k miles on it, and thought it was almost a bargin. In my experience it's hard to find a cheap Fit, they hold their value very well. I don't recall seeing one for $5000, and if I did it would have been very high miles or have been in an accident, etc.

If you want that car you should get it as quickly as possible, I was the first person to look at the one I bought, it had been on CL for less than a day. Don't do anything rash, if you miss it there'll be another one, but don't dilly-dally either.

 

I got a steal of a deal for my fit, I paid only $3500 for mine

 

hey all, thanks so much for your advice.

i got the carfax on the fit i posted a link to in my original post, and it shows that the car has three previous owners (1st owner had it for 10 months, 2nd for 8 mos, current for 4.5 yrs). a friend who's very into cars thinks that the # of owners increases it's risk for mechanical troubles down the road. any thoughts on that?

 

I don't know that I'd be too worried about the two early owners. Especially in NYC, people move to the city all the time; get a car, then either realize they didn't need it, or have to move and have to give it up.

I would say that city miles are going to take more of a toll than country/highway miles, and this car is obviously in the city. There are a lot of potholes, low speed driving, accelerating, braking such that, in my mind at least, I'd probably value this car the same as a car never driven in the city with 100k. He's asking right at kbb value for the car (midway between good and very good condition), so I would try to get him down on price on that account, as well as for the "bumper wear" if that looks significant.

Of more concern to me (and this is general to cars on craigslist) is that the description is very short and indicates to me that the seller might be a car flipper, which increases your likelihood that, due to a problem, someone sold the car cheap to the car flipper (or traded it in; car flipper bought it at auction). The car flipper has then expended as little money as possible to get the car to run right and not throw a check engine code on the test drive. Perhaps he is even selling "as-is" which would worry me more. Not that you should never buy from car flippers; just be VERY cautious and don't buy as-is. If you are indeed dealing with the person who drove it for the last 4 1/2 years, and/or not buying "as-is" that would reassure me some. In any case though, you should find a reputable local mechanic, and if you come to an agreement on the price of the car, make it contingent on that local mechanic looking over the car. Pay the mechanic for an hour of labor or something like that; it will be money well spent. Note that at this time of year, a heated garage is the only way to check AC. If they find problems, negotiate your agreed price down further.

Honestly, I wouldn't even worry too much about a Fit with higher miles on it. The're very reliable, and even when something does go wrong, the repairs are relatively affordable. I mean, even a DEALER can swap you in a used engine and the total price can be under $1600, so that's kind of your cap as far as what an unexpected repair could possibly run you. And all of the typical problems with these cars (the valve adjustment, coil packs, locks) are not incapacitating problems; they're "fix it when convenient" problems. Even if you got the Craigslist $3250 Fit in Bayport with 178k on it, I'd still take it around the country.

I'd agree with the other repair advice mentioned here if you're feeling cautious. If your pre-purchase inspection says things are OK, though, I wouldn't say that work is essential. Also check the locks and make sure they work well - occasionally they break down on this car. If they're bad or at all sticky (drivers side door will be worst), have someone install a 3rd party keyless entry system for a couple hundred bucks.

 

hi all,

thank you so much for your advice!

i ended up buying a 2009 honda fit sport with 44k miles for $8800. only one owner, lower mileage than normal for a 6 yo car, checked out well at the mechanic, and frequent oil changes, for whatever that's worth. it's black, shiny, and sitting in my driveway and i'm grinning just thinking about it.

i'll be keeping all your advice in mind when i take it to my regular mechanic.

 

Congrats on the purchase! That seems like a fair deal; the 09 is a little bit of a step up from the 07-08's (a little more power; a little better milage; fixed a couple of the reliability issues of the 07-08's) so it should be a good car to put a lot of miles on. To put the reliability into perspective, Truedelta.com says the 09's need 19 unexpected repairs per 100 cars on the road per year - I think that's the best in their database for an 09 (the 07 is 28 currently). So for a whole year of normal usage, you've got a less than 20% chance of needing any repair other than the predictable stuff like tires, the battery, brake pads, bulbs, oil changes, etc. Have a fun trip!