While sitting in my Fit at the post office, looking through my mail, I heard a loud crunch on my passenger side. I looked up to see that the car next to me had flung their door into mine. Amazingly, when I got out to discuss it with the driver, she chose to deny that she had done anything. Finally, she admitted that perhaps her door hit mine, but it was the wind's fault - not hers. Amazing. Anyway, her insurance felt differently, and paid to have the door repaired ($500).

The Enterprise rental agency was onsite, and they said they would give me a Chevy Cobalt - which they claimed to be an intermediate car. I didn't care one way or the other. I can drive anything for two days. By the way, it was a 2009 with 5,000 miles on it.

So anyway, I jumped into the Cobalt, expecting a roomy intermediate car, and found that I had to squeeze my 6'1" body into a fairly tiny cabin. My head was about 1 inch from the roof, and I actually had to duck down my head to see out of the windshield. I thought that maybe the seat was adjusted high, but there was no downward adjustment available. The ride was harsh, the engine was loud and underpowered, and the fun factor was a whopping zero.

It was either an absolutely atrocious car, or I am so utterly spoiled by the Fit that everything else pales by comparison. The Cobalt can hardly be considered an intermediate car, but it is more expensive than the Fit, and is usually compared with cars in the Civic range.

When I finally got back into my Fit, it was like driving a Rolls by comparison. I do love this car.

 

It's funny, when I test-drove the Fit (don't get mine til Thurs) I thought it was specifically made for short people like me since it sits up so high and has such big windows. Apparently it's specifically made for tall people, too!

Sorry to hear the door got smooshed. Glad her insurance paid for it. How long til you get it back?

 

The room in this thing is amazing! I also have a BMW X3 SUV, and I have as much cabin & head room in the Fit, and almost as much carrying capacity. I've taken it on 3 different 1000 mile trips, and my butt hasn't gotten numb once! It's so comfortable, and so much fun to drive. I may even trade in the Beemer for a second one.

Anyway, the Fit was only in the shop for 1 1/2 days, so I've had it back for a few days already.

 

do you have a gd3 or ge8?

 

Yes, this car continues to astound, even me. Whenever someone asks me which car is better, a Civic, Accord or the Fit, I start to have a panic attack because I know I can never explain the Fit to someone who hasn't seen/driven it and understand it. It's a different car with different missions, so you can't compare it to a Civic.

But my answer is the Fit is just one of the best cars in the world. I keep dishing out the link to this article that says it best:

Honda Fit: Candidate for Best Car - WSJ.com

The Cobalt is not a nice car compared to its peers - rental quality, no passion or personality, ho-hum handling with a coarse unrefined engine. The Fit, well, it's phenomenal. So yeah, jumping from the Cobalt to the Fit would illicit that type of perception. Imagine if you had the Cobalt for 2 weeks instead of 2 days.

 

good post. i bought my ex-gf an '08 cobalt 4dr for $10k last year, so i know exactly what you mean. needless to say, i got rid of the gf and the cobalt

 

the colbalt is a piece of junk. Got one as a rental and it did not accelerate nor handle very well. Didn't help that it was gold/orange

 

Good God I absolutely hate people that fling their car doors open...

 

Would the side body moldings have helped at all or was it a serious hit?




That's one reason I hate parking in the big shopping parking lots, some people just have no sense flinging open doors without looking. Good thing her insurance paid for it. Damn though, $500 damage???? whoa.

The "wind"

 

yeah people need to HOLD ON TO THEIR DOORS while opening them

 

Notice this thread is in the GE8 section.

 

No, it wasn't a serious hit - the moldings probably would have helped. However, it was a loud enough crunch to startle me, and the car moved a bit. I was actually expecting the damage to be much worse.

 

I'm not sure how much the side molding would have helped since cars vary in dimensions. On some cars, the doors can hit below or over the side molding when swung open. I try to park as far away from other vehicles or give plenty of room for other cars next to me (it's a tiny car, how much more room do people want?).... but shit still happens.

 

Your story reminds me of something that just happened to my sister-in-law. She was in the Taco Bell drive through, and was handing the clerk her money for her order, when the car behind her in line rear-ended her, pushing her car forward. Well, the other driver swore up and down that my sister-in-law had backed into her! First, why the hell would she back up in a drive through (her car was in park at the time)? Second, the manager saw her car move forward, so the police knew who to believe at least. Some people...