A former owner of an 06 Civic, S2k and Integra(s).

I am planning to change my 06 Civic and considered these two.
2010 Insight (CVT) = $16,988
2011 Fit Sport (Manuel) = $17,488

I test drove an 2010 Insight (Auto) and a 2011 Honda Fit (Manuel).
Last night and both got me pretty good. I test drove a Fit before but the manuel made it fun.

I am pretty much torn between the two even after research, driving, etc...
How economy is right now... Insight be nicer, and being a 2010. I don't believe the battery be bad anytime soon, however.

I also like the Fit Sport in Manuel, I believe the MPG on the Fit be better then my Civic auto (not much but better).

What do you all thing? Please not be biased, I know both cars just still can't decide and NO, I can't buy both! lol~ Any owners here or have driven both cars and can give some thoughts, insights for me to consider?

Also, I am married and have step kids but its primarily my wife and I so passenger room is not an issue.

It comes down to mpg vs cargo and well features... maintenance, safety...

BTW... I live in TX so how are the A/Cs?

 

Have you considered the Prius C? If that were in the mix when I was buying in 2010, I would have given it a test run. I looked at the Insight, but didn't care for the design & was more interested in cargo capacity.

 

I have looked at the Prius C, however... its over my budget and honestly, the interior quality was not that great compared to the Honda's.

 

Coming from my household, where I own a 2012 fit sport, and my parents own a 2012 Insight ex, they are 2 completely different cars (even though they are built on the same platform) You have do decide what you want. If you want something that gets awesome (40-50mpg) gas mileage, go with the insight. If you want something more fun to drive, that gets good gas mileage, but not as good (30-40 mpg) get the fit.

Ive driven both, and will say while I like the insight, it just isnt fun to drive. Its your typical hybrid. Great on gas, but completely lacking the fun to drive factor. You also have to think, if you go with anything below 2012, you will pretty much have no rear seat headroom. They changed it for the 2012 where they added a couple of inches of space. The insight is a very nice car for the price though.

The fit, on the otherhand is completely different. It has alot more pep, and is alot more fun to drive. Your gas mileage wont be as good, but its still very cheap to fill up, and mileage is still pretty good. The fit also has alot more people and cargo room in it. but it is not a hybrid.

Coming from a person who was in your shoes around february (i was torn between buying a new crz, civic coupe, insight and fit) I would really think about what you need the car for and take it from there. I chose the fit because often times I haul alot of stuff, and it was the easiest car to get my stuff in. And for the price, you get alot for your money.

 

I looked at the Prius C, not the Insight. Wanted good fuel mileage, low cost, hatchback, and fun to drive. Just hard to find a car that fills these requirements. What turn me off on the hybrids was the CVT. I really wanted a manual transmission in a small car to increase the fun to drive factor when you consider the lower hp.

I also looked at the Elantra Touring which you can usually get heavily discounted but the fuel mileage of 30mpg highway was a turn off. I had a Corolla before and it is hard to go backwards on mpg.

As far as A/C I have not had a problem at first it was not the greatest but seem to improve maybe a breakin period but, I am in the Northeast not quite the same as Texas.

 

Well, it is just on occasions we have our step kids *every other weekend* so it doesn't matter in terms of cargo room but you are right on one thing. Fit has more cargo while having more fun! This is a plus for me being the primary 24/7 driver of it. I would say everything is better except mpg but over the long run... it seems the Fit is best choice in exception to my wife not liking the fact it is standard. I guess, I'll have to teach or re-teach her... I am probably going to set on the FIT since its only a marginal difference in my opinion but more fun and sounding fun.

 

If you go for the fit, I'd budget in some cash for a good tint job. Tx sun means it'll be hot because of the greenhouse. The AC can take a while to get going.

 

I would say go for the fit. The maintenance cost will be much lower over the life of the vehicle. Probably enough to make up for the slight difference in price, and MPG.

 

Want to say... I am now an official owner of a 2011 TW Fit
Want to thank you for all your Q&A, insight and help!

 

I would get the Fit. Not just because I like mine, but I question Honda's commitment to the Insight. It isn't selling well, and neither is the CR-Z. You might get stuck with an orphan...and that is not good.

 

@OP: I like my fit but being that I have a heavy foot... I only get 26mpg average. If I have to get a good mileage car... I'll look into a TDI.

 

The one thing is it a 2011 or 2012 Fit you are looking at?

 

My daughter and husband are big Honda fans, loved their old Civic, Accord & Odyssey so they bought a used Civic hybrid. They are not happy with it & are considering a used Prius. Have to admit the Toyota technology on hybrids is far superior to Honda's. My Fit gets almost as good mpg as their hybrid Civic. To me the Insight looks like a cheap copy of the Prius.

 

I purchased the 2011 and so far its nice except someone dinged my passenger or scratched a bit. Fortunately, I used the Scratch X and it helped a good 90%.

 

FWIW, I've managed to average 48mpg in my 2012 Fit manual doing a bit of hypermilling.

Driving more "normally" I'll get 43 without much effort.

Not paying attention at all and stepping on the gas I'll get 37-38. My commute is rolling country roads, mostly 40-50 MPH speed limits, and this seems to be where the Fit thrives.

The Fit will definitely give you great gas mileage if you know how to work that gear shift.

 

How do you get 26 MPG out of a 90HP 4 banger?

 

I assume the Prius has better fuel economy?

I'd take the fit on the principle that an insight is a Hybrid. Don't like the idea of likely dealer service exclusivity.

If I were to do the Hybrid thing is be more interested in a crz than an insight.

I've had more than a few mechanics tell me CVT's aren't that great either.

 

For me: heavy AC use, exclusively short trip stop and go drive, etc. It's unusual for me to put more than 10 miles on the odometer in a round trip. That automatically kills fuel economy. There's very few times in my normal driving where I'm not either accelerating or decelerating. If I drove longer distances, I'm sure my fuel economy would be much better; but that's why I bought an inexpensive econobox. I don't drive enough to justify owning something more expensive.

 

driving over 20mph on IL eway is being conservative and like I said... I have a heavy right foot. I don't baby the fit. I'm a spirited driver (never reckless like weaving thru other cars tho). having a 90 or 100 hp really don't matter much to me as I don't let that dictate my driving habit.

 

Your foot must weight two tons. I would get 27MPG combined consistently out of the Altima I traded in, and that had a 260HP V6 that I'd floor just about every stoplight. If I got 26 out of this car, I'd have to wonder what was wrong with it mechanically.