I just replaced the rear strusts in my son's old '93 Toyota Celica and comparing to my '09 Fit Sport, I noticed that the Fit uses rear shocks instead of struts. Just curious if the older Fits were made this way. The shocks are easy to change but struts are no big deal either. Had to remove the back seat from the Celica but other than that it's 10 minutes out and 10 minutes in. The brake lines run through an indexed tab so they have to be disconnected. Only takes a few minutes to bleed them. Are there any advantages to struts over shocks? Of course the front end of the '09 Fit uses coil over struts. Kind of an odd mix as most I have seen use struts at both ends.
Next question, does anyone know if there are quality gauges ( volts,temp,oil press) in a modular mounting package? My '05 Element had XM Radio, Does the top line Fit have that option?

 

From what I know using shocks instead of struts is cheaper. XM radio is not available on the top line Fit.