So this car turns one year old on January 30th and after a year with the car I can say it has been flawless. Not a squeak, rattle, mechanical issue, electrical issue, or any other problem to be found. The car has started on the coldest days no problem, the navigation system has been incredibly reliable, and the car is still a blast to drive every day. I actually look forward to my morning commute because I get to drive my car and zip in and out of traffic, while the zombie like commuters whose caffeine hasn't kicked lumber along (I drink two cups of coffee before I leave the apartment, so I'm ready to go!).

The only other new car I have ever owned as problem free in the first year as my Fit was get this, a 2000 Ford V6 Mustang. It was a 5 speed manual transmission model purchased with 5 miles on the odometer (it still had the plastic covers on the seats when they pulled it up out of the back lot) and it had every option I could get with it back at that time. I'm telling you with my hand on a Bible, that car was flawless for the four years I owned it. I beat the crap out of that thing and it just came back for more. It wasn't the most refined car I've ever owned but damn if it didn't run like a Swiss watch.

The most unreliable new car I've ever owned was a 2004 VW Jetta (the car I traded my stang for). I had more problems in the first year of ownership than most people have over the life of their car. I got rid of it after a year and a half and swore I would never buy another VW again. They are great cars to drive, but for some reason, like most German cars they are plagued with issues: everything from electrical issues, transmission issues, to serious engine failure. That freaking car left me stranded in the middle of nowhere on a road trip because of a failed coil pack. The check engine light came on and all of a sudden that was it, it just died. That was a terrible night to say the least. That car like all of my cars was treated with great care and purchased with less than 10 miles on the odometer, and it didn't matter. Never, ever again for me with a VW or German cars in general: too unreliable and too expensive to repair compared to Japanese or American cars.

Anyway, I'm sure with proper care my Fit will be problem free as long as I choose to own it. I just posted a thread about a crazy buy offer I had on my car a week ago and after asking for opinions on what I should do, decided to keep it. I really do love the little car and it will take more than a $1,000 to part with it, especially now that manual trans/navi combo is no longer offered. This car is as rare as some exotic sports cars. Serious, there was only a limited run made back in October and November of 08 and that was it. The fact my car is so rare is all the more reason I'm going to hang on to it for as long as it will run. I'm thinking I'll get 10 years out of it easy.

Thanks for reading this long post, but like the rest of you I'm a Fit enthusiast, or even better, a Fit Freak!

 

count yourself lucky on the lack of squeaks and rattles.

 

I dont have any squeaks or rattles either.

 

same...but maybe mine is covered by the music blasting....idk

 

Mine just turned 1 yr old as well. Just took it to Detroit for the north american international auto show. 3 hrs there and back with my friend. Not a single squeak or rattle. Rolled 75mph all the way and got 36 mpg. Not too shabby.

 

waitin on FEB 5th...my one year anniversary with my GE8

 

I'm with you OP about VW. I'm currently driving a 2007 VW GTI. The car is amazing to drive;fast and solid, but already they have had to extend the warranty on the LED third brake light as it's part of the rear spoiler and there is no way to replace or fix it without BODYWORK!! They would have to rip off the spoiler to replace it then which will damage paint and have to repaint it as part of reattachment!?!. Coil packs are under recall (hasn't left me stranded yet, thankfully) and the engine has an issue with premature cam follower wear that will not replace until it's to far gone. If your under warranty, no problem, no charge, if not, you're SOL!

I can't wait until this lease is up next July and I can go back to Honda(previous cars were a '89 Civic Si and a '94 Civic Si Coupe)and get a Fit Sport.

 

Good luck Moniz, I feel your pain. Those 4-door GTI's are sweet little cars, but your experience is not unique. VW just can't seem to build a car that runs without problems. I'm sure there are some VW owners out there who would chime in and say their car never had an issue, but the vast majority of them have, and serious ones too. It's one thing to have an annoying rattle or something like that, it's another to have coil packs fail, premature cam follower wear (your issue), electrical system malfunctions, premature transmission failures (heard there are so some serious issues with the DGS transmissions) etc. If VW could build a car as reliable as a Honda they could own the market, but they've had way too many years to try and they fail, year after year. No more for me, ever.

Well hang in there until you can get out of your lease. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is coming from a Honda dealership.

 

Doesn't hurt that one of the Service Advisors there is a long time friend from college, so I always get the straight goods on repairs and service..and the occasional discount! I still service the wife's Acura there(never completely abandoned Honda).

 

you're ight about the DSG on the VWs. i hear that even as recently as the 2009 jetta, there have been severe and dangerous issues with the DSG. many owners had to return them for service with only a few hundred miles on the OD. some of them failed in freeway traffic. it's too early to know for sure with the 2010 models but i read somewhere that VW extended the warranty to 10 years on the DSG models to make the customers feel better.

i'm in agreement with people here who say that if VW could only make a reliable car they would own a much larger share of the market. have you seen the 2010 golf TDI? that thing is awsome, but you just know that you better start filling the bank account for the future if you get one.

 

Fit owners living in a warm climate don't seem to have that problem.

 

No, we get those rattles too in sunny Manila. Some cars get the rattles early, some of them pretty late (as on mine - almost-five-year-old car just got its first few rattles last month).

You'd be surprised how early the dash rattles can start on some GEs here.

 

Mine is the DSG(2007) but no warranty extension so far. Apparently it's only the 2008-2009 that seem to be the problem because for those years, they had a different factory making the DSG components, which seems to be where the problem lies.

 

i'm glad your DSG is problem free because it really is a great idea for a transmission. if i were to buy a 2010, i would probably end up rolling the dice and getting one with a DSG, even with all of the problems. one guy over at the TDI forums had his DSG literally blow apart on him inside the gearbox. the VW forums are full of people with problems. compare that to the FIT forum, where the problems are few and most of the complaining comes from douche-waters who don't think that enough modders come here.

btw, in case you're interested, most people from your year didn't get the extended warranty until they phoned VWoA and asked for it. i don't know if it's a big issue to you or not but it might be worth a call or two if it is.

edit: i see you're from canada so not much point phoning VWoA

 

Doesn't matter to me since it's a lease and the warranty expires when the lease does, so back it goes and I'm coming back home to Honda and getting myself a Fit Sport. Sure it's no GTI, but It's not like I can really use all the power my GTI offers. Though I'm gonna miss the kick-in-the-pants torque of it. But I'll be honest, I find it more fun, revving the snot out of small Honda engines to get them up to speed. Man I used to love to do that with my old Civics!

Really at this point in my life, we'll be getting a minivan soon(a used Odyssey more than likely) since I have one child already and we're planning on another soon, and we cart around my mother in law around a lot since she stays with us about 60% of the time(no jokes, I actually like and get along famously with my mother in law) so needing the space and people carrying capacity, that will be the primary family/wife's vehicle. So all I really need is a small commuter car, but want something fun, somewhat spacious, and won't break the bank, initially cost wise, and long term, reliability/repair wise. The Fit Sport fits the bill perfectly for me.

 

Happy one year anniversary!

We have one VW and the Fit, of course. The Fit is the reliable road trip car. :-)

 

Lemon Aid has for years recommended against buying most VW products and for good reason. Meanwhile they still recommend most Hondas, including the Fit. This of course comes as no surprise, except maybe to a few unfortunate VW owners who've had their rides for only a few hours thus far.

My '09 Sport MT turned one year old on October 10th, 2009. It now has almost 60,000 kms on it. Starts easily even at minus 25C without the block heater plugged in, no squeaks or rattles yet, still has consistently excellent fuel economy and no performance issues.

But I have replaced the windshield once ($100 deductible, cost to insurance company was $1700), the 12V power adapter once at around 50,000 kms (under warranty, after leaving an electric cooler plugged into it all day) and the secondary temperature sensor in the bottom of the rad once at around 50,000 kms under warranty.

This last item *may* have been helped along by a particularly severe jolt last summer when I smoked a bottomless 5-ft wide by two ft across pothole near Halifax at 70 mph. That incident also bulged three of the four stock Dunlop tires. I replaced those with a set of Kuhmo 205-50-16s.

 

If you had done that in a VW you probably would have shorted out the entire electrical system.

 

LOL. Agreed!

 

Holy crap, that much for a windshield! Is their something you're not telling us? I've replaced windshields on my wife's Acura EL twice already(damn stone chips!) and both time out of pocket , it was just under $400.