I have lived in ohio my whole life, and winters here can get pretty harsh. sometimes i think they spread salt because they are bored. so i have decided to buy a truck to drive until spring. mostly because im paranoid to drive my fit (being the first new car ive ever bought). the problem i have is that i dont have a garage. I am trying to figure out the best way to winterize the thing and protect it from the elements. I have used car covers before with not so great results. They always end up tearing or leaving tiny scratches all over the car. i would of corse rather not spend a fortune, simply because i dont have a fortune to spend. just looking for any input or past experiences anyone has had to get some ideas. Thanks!

 

If you have no garage or have had bad luck with car covers because of scratches which they definitely do I would protect the paint with a good durable wax. Something like Collinite 845 would work great for 6 months. I would still drive it now and then if possible I mean the streets aren't covered in snow all the time. I will let the other members chime in about the battery and other components as I am not knowledgeable in that area.

 

if you put winter tires on the fit, it's almost like a lil 4x4.
I have the michelin xice2, really good!

just wax the car and store it, charge the battery every few months.
also dump a can of seafoam in the gas tank to keep the fuel from going bad

 

As mention before, it is probably better to make sure that you have a good wax coating on the Fit than to attempt to cover it with "something". When it is sitting outside, it will not be subjected to salt water.

I have a new 2012 Fit and put snow tires on it. It will drive a lot better in winter snow than a pickup.

 

Increase your tire pressure as well before you store it to keep the tires from flatspotting. Wax as everyone else suggests, but without real shelter, you'll always find a car will age quicker. Even in the summer - sun and elements do beat on a car.

The problem I had with the Fit in winter is the lack of weight - a couple of bodies in the hatch might fix things, but otherwise it doesn't dig in really good like a heavier car/truck would.

 

Ours on snow tires has never had a problem. It's been snow-plowing a few times, and the snows pulled it through. Most of the weight on this car is over the front wheels, so it digs in pretty well. The back end gets squirrely without snow tires at anything above 35-40 mph or so when there's just a dusting of snow on the ground. At least it did on stock tires.

 

Thanks for all the good advice. I put on a thick coat of wax and put crappy wheels and tires on it to sit for a while. now im gonna go buy the best car cover i can find and hopefully it holds up.

as far as the guys who said to put on some snow tires, i def agree. before i dumped mine i drove it in the snow a bit last year on the stock all seasons. and considering i used to be a huge jeep enthusiast, i was very surprised at how well the fit did in the snow. unfortunately now it is just too low and im too paranoid to drive it this year . i needed a bigger truck anyway (i was tired of pulling our race trailer with my buddies less than capable mazda pickup). Thanks again guys.

 

If there's a plug-in nearby, it'd be good to put a float charger on the battery. They aren't expensive and will keep it healthy.

edit: and put stabilizer (sta-bil brand?) in the gasoline and top it off so there's not a lot of room for condensate to form in the tank.

 

Wax it well and don't put it into deep storage. Over the next six months there's going to be many many days, if not weeks and months, when everything will be fine for driving the Fit. Shutting it down is about the worst thing you can do for it. It introduces all sorts of problems. The car cover is a bad idea. It's going to do fine, but the car underneath it isn't, necessarily, going to fair well.

Best thing is to drive it. I live in up-state NY and travel frequently to Maine. Winter's and the Fit are fine. A good set of all-season's [205/50/16 Conti DWS] or snow tires and the occasional run through the auto car wash take care of all your concerns.

 

yah, just get snow tires WS60's and the Fit will drive like a AWD with all-season tires.
it was like $550 shipped from tirerack.com with their black steel wheels package. talk to Alex x294.

imho the Fit is a very capable car for winter driving in snow with the right tires. my GE is outside 24/7 and driven. it's 3yrs old now driven through 3 snow seasons and has surface rust on the chassis but nothing to worry about as far as functionality.