Hi folks, first time poster and I apologize if all the questions I'm going to ask have been asked & answered before!

My teenage daughter is looking for a first car, and rather than having her drive around in some unsafe, used piece of junk we're going to help her buy a new one. Seriously looking at a 2012 Base Fit AT.

We went to a local dealer yesterday (central Ohio area), nice people, I bought a new CRV from them just last year. Looked at and test drove a Fit, first time I was ever in one.

Did a bit of preliminary pricing, deal seems OK, not going to sweat it over a few hundred bucks here or there.

My questions:

1. Very surprised at how long the nose is. I'm tall, but my wife and daughter are on the short side and neither can see the hood, much less the very front of the car. Is this a common reaction? Do people get used to this?

2. Just drove it around town, not on the freeway, I did notice just a bit of that "jittery", over-responsive feel that people talk about. Remember, this is for a young, first-time driver. Is it too jittery for her to handle?

3. What's with the battery? Literally looks like something you'd see on a toy electric car. Is there a thread specifically discussing this? Very worrisome to me.

4. I know that Honda is not the only manufacturer doing this, but I think that it's incredibly cheap not to include floor mats. Would it be out of line to suggest/demand that these be thrown into the deal?

Will probably have some more questions this week, TIA. - oldberkeley

 

Its nose is pretty short compared to other cars (although they lengthened it for the US market to increase the crumple zone for crash protection)

The slope of the hood makes it disappear from the front seats.

The result is you tend to park farther away from things than you need to. You get used to it.

Based on the demographics of this place, I'd say the Fit is OK for any age group/driving experience. Keep in mind it's not as safe as an Accord (video graphically depicting this is somewhere on this page...) but will cost less up front and be less to maintain and operate.

Lots of them. It seems to have too low reserve resulting in dead batteries after leaving the headlights on for short periods. However in normal use it performs OK. One other problem though is, as of now, there are few (one?) aftermarket batteries in that size (and it's more expensive than the Honda replacement). The replacement Honda batteries are $110.


I thought the 2012s had them? Yeah, when I got ready to drive off in my base 09 and saw no floor mats I asked, the dealer wanted $190 "installed."
They retail online for about $70 plus shipping. Here's a site that shows many of the dealer added options and has reasonable prices.

Everything is negotiable. If she likes the Sport (most kids do (heh, heh, heh)) its resale value is high enough compared to the Base to justify the extra cost. With the 2012's it's all cosmetic differences between the Base and the Sport (except for a stiffer rear suspension thanks to an extra anti-roll bar). Map and fog lights too.

Check edmunds and truecar.com for market prices. Dealers also inflate prices with administration fees they often refuse to remove (but will take off the asking price of the car, if you ask...

Good luck. Happy shopping...

 

Tough question you asked. I drive both a 2003 CR-V and a 2012 Fit Sport A/T. Recently, I was involved in two accidents with the CR-V, two months apart (after nearly 40 years being accident free). First, I rear ended a Honda Accord with my CR-V going 10 mph; then, hit a deer in the recently repaired CR-V going 55 mph. Cost was $4,500 and $5,600, respectively.

Bottom line: glad I was not driving the Fit, since the front end damage would have been much more extensive and the deer probably would have gone through the windshield due to the low slope of the front. I drive the Fit for economic reasons most of the time and the CR-V when the weather is bad (snow, for example) or for transporting my dog (the cargo area is completely lined).

If I had a child, I would look for a more solidly built car with a larger battery. That is just my opinion. I love the Fit.

 

I'm considering a Fit.

I have read a number of people describe a "white knuckle feeling" when driving the Fit on the highway in heavy winds. But I have heard that drivers get that feeling with a lot of small cars like the Chevy Sonic.

It does well in the crash tests BUT its still a small car. I was really considering a Chevy Sonic which has knee air bags but its a new unproven model.
1990-2010 Vehicle Search Results | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Consumer Reports gives it great reliability ratings and it has good resale/trade in value if you decide you don't like it.

I will probably buy a Fit but I'm very hesitant mostly because of safety with a small car.

The big draw with the Fit seems to be with all the cargo room it has and its supposedly fun to drive. Not sure if thats what your daughter really needs.

But for the very small car segment I do not think you will find a safer car. Please correct me here.

 

I can confirm my 2012 sport had front and rear floor mats. I'm not sure about the 2012 base?

 

190 is installed like you said.. they have to cut open the carpet to set to archer in it.. I asked them about the armrest when i purchase my 2012.. they were asking 445 installed... I was like F*** this. I bought it from a friend who works at honda for 186 and installed myself..

 

2012 base does not come with mats.

But I hear the Honda mats are pretty bad, so I'd recommend weathertech

 

Hey oldberkeley, you had a couple x2 questions . Welcome aboard! Here's a thread of a mom who went through the same process. Thought you might be interested:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...ml#post1046326

The nose - just takes getting used to. Just share with your daughter the finer points of driving "technique".

Jittery - Well it's a short wheelbase car and yes a bit jittery compared to a Corolla or an Elantra (my experience) but not a deal-breaker.

Battery - Steve244 already covered it. It's Honda Fit-sized. Some compare it to a lawn mower or motorcycle battery. Yes, cheaper at the dealer than auto parts stores.

Floor mats - Depends on your negotiation skills... You can always try and all they can say is 'No". I won't sweat it. Just me. Many aftermarket cheap ones out there that will serve the same purpose, unless you're one who'll lose sleep over it.

Good luck!

 

I have weather tech digital. Great stuff. If u looking to buy OEM floor mat. I can sell u mine. It's brand new. Bought the car last Thursday

 

Regarding the nose:
Yes, it is a surprise that it is so short. But there is nothing wrong with that, if anything it is safer to have extra margin of error in front of you.
If this is your daughter's first car, then potentially you have a future problem in that if she drives a different car with a "standard" hood length, and end up bumping things here and there since she isn't used to a longer car. Nothing wrong with the FiT itself, but something to keep in mind and to warn her about when driving other cars.

Regarding jittery driving, young people have faster reflexes than us, unless she herself is nervous about driving and doesn't feel safe driving it. Replace tires if she feels unsafe.
Although everyone thinks their progeny are angels, the statistics show that the concerns should be about judgement/decisions/distractions rather then jitteriness or anything about the vehicle. Luckily less power (compared to other cars) means less chance for the car to get away from her from accidentally mixing up the pedals for example.

Battery I wouldn't be concerned about. Small engine, needs less battery to startup. If you search here, you'll find some people who griped about battery problems, but if you go to any car forum you see griping in about the same percentage. If you do have battery problems, it's more likely luck of the draw, or user error (left the lights on), not because the battery is overly undersized. That being said, one thing is the FiT does not have auto-off headlights, it will chime at you to let you know when you pull the key though.

Floormats, other people have commented already, mats are not rocket science. Get aftermarket (weathertech for allweather, or get custom made for carpet) from the internet if you don't want to haggle with Honda (which are just your ave. floormats). If there are no floor mats, at my dealer, they put in some paper ones for you to drive off with. But, now since it's into interior and aestehetics you maybe better off discussing with your daughter and let her choose.

 

I am 23 and this is my first "new" car. I am very impressed with the Fit. The fuel mileage and safety are very solid and the car will retain good resale value. You can get some interest rates on the Fit through Honda. I pay 310 a month with .9 APR. As far as the battery goes you can always replace it. Just my 2 cents

 

I would buy my kid a Fit for the following reasons...cheap to maintain, cheap to operate, highest resale value of any make, and most importantly extremely reliable. I also like to think that it starts them out in the right direction. Instead of driving an ill handling, over powered land yacht, they can fine tune their driving skills. Of course I'm an extremist because like my parents and my wife's parents did with us, his first car will be a manual.

As for the battery, it is tiny, but our '08 still has the original battery and has never failed to start. Yuasa's are very high quality batteries.

My biggest concern with the Fit for a young driver is more cosmetic. They are very easy to damage. If another car touches the Fit, it will leave a mark/ding. If a friend sits on the hood, it might cave in. If she's not careful, she will scrape the front lower valance.

 

I see that as a positive? Since it's only the young driver that cares about the cosmetics anyway, has no functional or safety impact so the parent shouldn't worry. Better they learn about dings on this relatively inexpensive car, so when they get a more expensive car, the fastidiousness to watch out for dings and so on will carry over.
Let them save up and spend their money to pay for any ding repair/car washes if they want their car to look nice for their friends or whatever.

It's like the family sitcom trope of the student having to take care of an egg for a month to understand what caring for a real baby might be like.

 

It looks like your questions have all been answered, so I would say this is probably the point in the thread where we all start giving out our own opinions. I, of course, am no exception.

I adore my 2012 Fit Sport, I believe it is one of the best all around cars available today. You can read hundreds of threads on this site for evidence of that.

However, if I were putting my daughter on the road for the first time, if would not go with a Fit. The Fit is a safe car, for sure, but I would rather have my child driving around in something with more mass. Something awful could happen at any time, and that would be enough to make me go out and get something at least the size of a CR-V, even if it had to be a year or two from new in order to fit in the budget. I would look for something that weighs 3200 pounds or more, and has an elevated driving position. Stability control is a big plus.

I might suggest giving her your CR-V and getting yourself something else. That is exactly what my parents did...Dad got a Lexus and I got 'ol Bessy the Buick.

 

I agree with this. And it might be true for all of us.

 

What a wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable forum!

The floor mats are such a minor issue that I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. I chatted a bit on the phone yesterday with my salesperson (someone who moved over from the service department) and he said that as someone who has bought a few cars from the dealership they certainly wouldn't want to lose my business over something so minor, and that he's sure we could "work something out." No biggie.

He also said--speaking as an experienced mechanic--that the battery has more than enough cranking power to start the car for many years. Yes, it will run down faster than a normal-sized battery if the lights are left on, but that's just a question of being careful. Again, no biggie.

It looks like our decision is really coming down to a few more important, safety-related issues.

For a shorter person, the seating position combined with a longer nose could be a safety issue. I'm not 100% sure of this, but I have to consider the possibility. I'm wondering if some sort of thin "seat cushion" would help?

Here's my main worry, and I suppose it's a combination of two factors.

First, while I realize that the jittery or over-responsive feel of the Fit is certainly not due to any specific Honda design or construction flaw, and that it's an inherent problem/quality of any and every small car with this profile, it remains a concern, especially for the parent of a new driver.

Second, as some have pointed out, the Fit just doesn't have a lot of mass. It is what it is: a small, light, economy car. I'm trying to weigh the advantage of this when it comes to her learning how to drive (having her trying to pilot around some big boat just seems like we'd be making the whole challenging process even more difficult) against the obvious disadvantages.

The size/weight thing is worrisome.

I'm going over to a local VW dealer this afternoon just to look at what they offer (Jetta, Beetle, Golf in that ascending order?)

I'm still reading back in this forum--great and interesting info--and will continue to appreciate any further comments. Thanks!

 

My wife is 5'2'' and she finds our Fit to be completely comfortable to drive. The one thing she commented on is all the visibility she has in the Fit. This was very important to her when considering any vehicle.

I was in a involved in a minor accident with our brand new 2012. Someone decided to run a stop sign. I believe the damage could have been much worse if it weren't for the Fit's responsive handling allowing me to swerve and avoid much of the impact. I also think it took the hit well, though it wasn't a major impact. I didn't feel unsafe in the Fit.

Best of luck on your search!

 

Most Fit owners would point to this as a plus! I think it might be tiring on a long trip (I've only taken mine a few hours away). As a commuter car it's fine.

More expensive cars have variable ratio steering. When the steering wheel is at the centered position, a movement of the steering wheel results in less movement of the wheels; as the steering wheel is moved farther the wheels change direction more in response.

There's no getting around physics.

I like VWs but they have a decided disadvantage in terms of maintenance costs and reliability.

Be sure to look at accords/civics too. The 4cyl accords are reasonably priced and the coups are not stodgy.

 

I'd put my vote in for a Civic or Focus. My family has only gotten rid of two cars before they had significant mileage due to reliability issues...a 1978 MGB and a 2001 Jetta.

 

From Civic's brag page:

Makes me want some.