How old is too old / what's too many miles?
 

I am looking for a second generation Honda Fit, ideally 2013-14, with hopefully not too many miles. My old 2007 car recently got totaled, and had only 125K miles on it. So I've been looking for a car with about that many miles on it, or less.

I just saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a Fit --in orange! That's actually the color I've been dreaming of. Here's the problem: it's got 175K miles on it and it's a 2009, only two years younger than my old car. They're selling it for $4000, and it's been listed for 9 weeks --perhaps because not everybody loves orange as I do ;-) The pictures look great, other than what appears to be a very small ding on the back bumper, which might just be a trick of the light. It's being sold at a dealership, not by a private seller. I do understand that I need to get it checked out before buying.

This is what I'm wondering... should I wait until I can find a 2013-4 with fewer miles? Or is this a good buy, worth checking out? Is a 15 year old car with 175K miles on it even worth considering?

Also, I've heard that as of 2012, the 2nd generation Fits got an upgrade. I don't know what got improved with that upgrade.

It all depends on the condition of the car you're looking at. A Fit can definitely survive well past 175K miles if it has been maintained properly and that maintenance continues in the future. If you can get a service history on the 2009, you'll have the information you need. If you can't get a service history, you can get small clues from the condition of the car, Very generally speaking, if someone takes the time to care for the exterior and interior of their car, they're (probably) going to be relatively diligent with maintenance.

In addition, you have to ask yourself a few questions:

1.) What are your needs with the car?
If you had your 2007 from new, you averaged something like 7500 miles per year. Will that continue or will you be driving less or more in the future? Extending from your mileage needs...

2.) How long do you want your next car to last?
If your answer is five years or 40-50K miles, then the 2009 is probably a good buy (assuming you confirm previous maintenance). If you're looking for a car for the next 15-20 years and 200K+ miles, you probably want to look for something different. But, you should also ask yourself...

3.) How willing are you to pay for maintenance (or DIY) on an older/high-mileage vehicle?
Generally speaking a 15-year-old car with 175K miles is going to have regular, ongoing maintenance needs. The longer you want to keep it or the more you want to drive it, the more maintenance you're going to be doing.

4.) What's your budget?
If you're looking at older, high-mileage vehicles because of a limited budget, then you will (generally) do better sticking with vehicles that have proven to be reliable over time. The downside of that is that reliable vehicles tend to hold their value a little better.

Thanks for this great advice.
I actually don't drive 7500 miles a year, no where near that. I work out of my home and I don't take long drives for vacation or to see family (they're all far away). I bought my previous car used (a 2007 Plymouth Vibe) in 2013, and it had a bit more than 1000K miles on it. In the 11 years I had it, I only put 20K miles on it. By your calculation, I would have put 82,500 miles on it.

I really don't drive that much.

I would like it to last more than 4-5 years, since I can't afford to keep replacing cars. Wondering whether a 2009 would need lots of expensive repairs, being an older car. My previous car never needed any maintenance at all in those 11 years, other than regular upkeep, replacing brake pads and repair from an accident. My budget is really tight, never bought a car new. Yes, there's a financial consideration about repair bills. That's why I always look for reliable cars --like the Fit.

The thing that's grabbing my eye, on an emotional level, is the fact that it's ORANGE. My favorite color! I had almost given up on ever seeing a Fit in that color.

You should definitely look at and test drive the 2009. Hopefully they have maintenance records, but regardless it would be worth getting an inspection from a mechanic you trust. Since you're in the Midwest, I would also do a careful rust inspection.

If you can confirm that the 2009 is in good working order and not rusted to bits, it should work for your needs for many years. The Fit is generally reliable, and based on what I read around here the 1st and 2nd generations have fewer potential big/expensive issues than the 3rd generation.

I also like the Orange but have only seen a few in person. I think it's the best color for representing the vibe of the Fit, although my Storm Silver Metallic 2010 better fits my low-key personality.

Nobody would ever accuse me of having a low-key personality ;-)
When I turned 60, ten years ago, I had a Tigger birthday party, where everyone wore orange and brought orange food (no Cheetos). I plan to have an equally big dance party when I turn 70 this summer!

If I told any friend that I'm looking at possibly buying an orange car, they'd all say "Well DUH. It's orange!!". When I bought my red Plymouth Vibe, I regretted the color almost immediately because it was just....dark red.

A mechanic told me the Fit and Prius are some of the most reliable cars that he barely sees in his shop. From what I’ve seen in marketplace most Fits for sale around $4k are Salvaged. Just make sure to check. So many salvaged Fits and from my last accident I can see why. These cars buckle like cardboard. The other guy barely had a dent on his rear bumper. My car totaled. Lol.

thanks for the tip!

If you like orange, I’d recommend a 2012 fit. The orange on the 2012 is a bit more vibrant than the 2009 orange.

I KNOW!! That is a gorgeous orange.

In my opinion, you are getting into a project buying any car after about 15-20 years old. It doesn't matter how well it has been maintained up to that point as the plastic and rubber will be getting brittle and harder respectively. I'm a single owner of a 2009 with 115,000 miles. Oil changes have been with quality full synthetic and quality oil filters every 5000 miles. I do every bit of maintenance on time.

Still, there are some issues. The roof leaked, so I had to pull off all the roof trim and replace all of the seam sealer. All of the window seals fell apart in the sun, so $200-something later and those are back. My engine is using some oil between oil changes. I can't find any leaks, and there is no smoke, but it probably uses one-third of a quart every 5000 miles. That's most likely just old valve seals. Maybe one day I'll try some AT-205 if it ever gets to using more. The struts are starting to allow tire rub on extreme turning, so that's $500 for decent replacements. The clutch still isn't slipping, but that will probably need a little TLC in the next few years. Most people don't adjust their valves, so plan on doing that and replacing the valve cover gasket. Front sway bar end links have been replaced for clunking. Plastic clips have broken on the air filter housing. The headlight housings have seen every refurb product and eventually been replaced. Ever since a couple of years ago when the governement decided to fight tire imports and the inflation crisis hit, tires are very expensive. A good set can cost $500 even for the Fit's little tires.

None of this is complaining. This is by far the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned, but just know that once about 15 years or 150,000 miles pops up, there's going to be a lot that might need to be freshened up if you don't want it to turn into a pile of shit. The Fit is a very simple car, and it's a decent learning platform to learn how to buy an older car and "baseline" it back to OE condition. It's always good to put a couple thousand aside when buying a used vehicle for the possibility of struts, rotors, brake pads, fluid flushes, tires, spark plugs, valve adjustment, valve cover gasket, air filter, cabin air filter, etc.

When I was younger with more time and less money, I'd buy higher milage vehicles and put in more time maintaining them. Now that I'm older and command a good wage, I realized the sweet spot for me buying used is somewhere between 1 month and 8 years old depending on the car model and markets. An 8 year old car still has 7 years left before the old car failures really start happening, and an average driver will drive about 100K miles in that time. At that point, it is good to evaluate if you love the car and are willing to restore it piece by piece if necessary, or whether you want to sell it to a kid that needs a cheaper vehicle and do the cycle over again.

thanks so much for this very detailed comment. I really appreciate you chiming in!

I bought my Fit when it was time to retire my 21yo daily driver, bought new (3 miles on the clock). 21 years of road salt, mud, rain, sun,... After a while fixing things becomes an adventure as plastic clips break from age and headliners and plastic panels start to discolor or warp. Around here you can make the rust demon arrive later but you cannot prevent his appearance forever. Parts availability gets to be an issue, especially body and interior bits. You have to make do with third-party or used parts, and, since that model has been discontinued for 16 years, the vast majority of the used parts were showing their age, too. And stuff you never thought you'd have to replace, like A/C compressors or wiper motors, suddenly show up on the fix list. Given the specialized tools most cars need these days for some of those jobs, it does get to be a project.

I wasn't up for it. Beyond the continuing technical instruction, I wanted some of the features that have been around on cars for more than a decade now. Didn't hurt that the Fit almost certainly passes more crash tests than my old DD. As unhappy as I was to put on the yoke of debt, it was time. At least I'm still very happy with my Fit. Not sure I'll get 14 more years out of this car. But maybe I won't want to, either.

I bought a well maintained 09 sport for $2800 that has 197K on it. The reason for the low price is it was rear ended, not bad but the hatch and bumper was bent and replaced. It runs really nice and doesn't burn any oil. I'm just trying to do the routine maintenance to keep it alive for another 100k

Good luck.