...but I have some questions. Please help!

I'm looking at the 2013 Sport AT (maybe base, but leaning Sport right now)

Does anyone else have trouble seeing the front of the car? How do you deal with this for parking, etc?
Do you adjust to the huge dash? (for reference I'm coming from a 97 Honda CR-V)
How do you feel about stopping distances?
Does the car fog up/defog easily? This is my only real complaint about my current car.
Anything else I should know about?

I'm hoping another test drive will answer some of these (the first one was terrible — the salesman was sick and apathetic), but any insight you could provide would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sit up straight and i doubt you'll have any sight problems.

 

One thing that could be done is to raise the seats by installing washers under the seat brackets. Of course you may need to purchase longer bolts to allow for the installed washers.

I did this Mod in my Mini to change the seat angle and it worked great.

Also, you may want to rent a Fit for a while just to test it out . . . . . . . . . .

 

I sat up straight, I leaned forward, I moved the seat forward/back ... nothing. And I'm 5'4"! That's an average height! Unfortunately, this might be a deal breaker.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Renting one for a day seems like a good investment since I hope to have this car for a long time.

 

You have never driven a car where you could see the front of the car. You have driven one where you could see the top of the hood, and the front of the car was ~2 ft in front of that. Now you'll have a car where you can see the back of the hood and the front of the car is ~4ft in front of that.

Seriously, you'll get used to it. Yes, the car doesn't stop with the bit you can see. Remember where the front is, don't be an idiot (no reason to think you are) and you'll have no problem.

These days, you'll struggle to find anything except an SUV where you see the hood stretch out in front of you. And your 15 year old CRV probably doesn't get 38mpg. Such is life ...
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The rest:
The dash is big. Does that affect any part of the driving or ownership experience? I can't think of anything, except, possibly, you can store stuff on it (but not on the airbag; very important).
Stopping distance is fine, and you can check the specs but I can almost guarantee it's better than a 97 CRV; but it isn't the absolute shortest stopper. Most mass market cars now have low rolling resistance tires for fuel economy and that kills stopping distance; you'll need a performance car if you want sticky stock tires. Then you'll get 19mpg.
Car fogs up due to big windshield; defogs just as quickly. The climate control is, in general, a little underpowered.

Anything else:
Many people complain about the seats. Or they love them. Make sure you're the second category before you buy the car rather than determining after that you're actually number one. I think that's the number one complaint. Or that people aren't getting 40mpg. It's not rated at 40mpg, so see what it's rated at and expect that; you may easily beat it.
If you had a bad salesman or dealer experience, go elsewhere. It's going to make your opinion of the car unpleasant based on factors that won't be there if you owned the car. I drove a car with an unpleasant sales lady. If I hadn't already known what I wanted, I would have nixed the Fit. And I did NOT buy the car from that dealer. She called me once a week for two months. Very annoying.

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I had a CRV before this. I prefer smaller cars, getting good fuel economy, and having it be fun to drive. I also like having modern safety equipment wrapped around me now. It's even just as comfortable (or to put another way, just as not-that-comfortable). Although it has a little less max cargo space, the space it does have is a more useful shape and I generally carry just as much. On the other hand, the CRV had more ground clearance; I could park up on mounds of ice in the winter; and people get out of your way when you appear to be obliviously driving an SUV. But since I switched, you can see which I preferred. I do miss the CRV, certainly, but I am quite happy with the switch.

Hope that helps, enjoy

 

I agree with the points that fugisawa made. Few points to add:

It's true that you can't see the front of the car, but I think this makes parking easier. After a week or so, you'll learn where the front of the car is. If necessary, get out once and take a look at how close you are to the car in front. Same with the back end. Don't let this be a deal breaker for you.

Dash - you'll get used to it. I don't notice it anymore. In the summer sun it can cause some minor reflections, but probably mostly a function of what you clean the dash with.

Fogging up - yes, but nothing major. I haven noticed that the back windows fog up quicker than the front ones if I turn the fan off. A few minutes after turning the fan on I'm good again.

Hope this helps...

 

@fujisawa and @scott_fit Thanks! I figured this was mostly in the "things you get used to" category, but it helps to hear it from someone who actually owns the car, plus I wanted to know if anyone had a solution. I do plan on going to a different dealer based on my bad experience. I LOVE my CR-V, but it's time.

 

I'm 5'9" and can't see the nose! I could park my old 25' long '88 Lincoln Towncar better than I do the Fit!

After you hit a few stationary objects, you'll start to get the idea as to how close you are!

 

most modern cars nowadays has a poor driver visibility and feels cramped, especially if you're coming from a 90s car (i came from a '94 mirage). i'm guessing its both for style and aerodynamic purposes.

for me, the fit has one of the best driver's visibility in the segment. it'll take a little time to get used to the huge dashboard (well a lot of modern cars have huge dashboards too), but it's actually quite easy to move around with and park.

 

I'm 6'4" (and yes, I Fit!) however, I noticed the sharp hood drop off immediately. As best I can determine (having read a couple of articles)this is due primarily to increasingly stringent European & Asian pedestrian safety requirements. You'll want to be careful around high curbs, and parking blocks. Since the Fit is so short, I generally find that it is easy to stop a couple feet back in the parking space, after all, it's not like your back end will be protruding into the traffic lane!!

'12 VBP Sport 5MT w/minor appearance & comfort mods!!

 

The hood slant down quite quickly so you cant see the hood per say but you can gauge how far it is. it give it that sporty look. the dash works fine for me, I actually love the dash and the color it emits. Stopping distance is good, but i think it changes from driving style. I like to coast alot rather than keeping my foot on the pedal (brings the MPG up). I also like to use the shift paddle to down shift sometimes to slow down before applying the breaks. IDK what you been doing int he car to cause it from foggin up.. but i am sure it'll fog up it any car.. key is to vent or have AC on since the reason for fogging is the temp diff between inside and out.. good luck i think its a nice buy! i love mine.

 

The front of the car is so short it's almost a non issue, you can usually see the running lights reflected in the car in front of you if your depth perception is really poor, that helps. You could get a parking pole too

Breaking distance is adequate but i'd say the brakes are far from outstanding out of the box, initial bite is not so awesome, but i've never actually had to panic stop with the Fit in the few years i've owned it.

I got used to the dash being so big, it's good to play board games on.

Car fogs up easily, mine's a 2010, I blame it on poor insulation, but the defoggers work fast.

 

My wife and I just brought our new Fit home tonight, I'll write that up sometime. But we both said we want to practice with that front end. So, get out the plastic garbage can and see how close you are to it. Practice, practice! That is what we will be doing EARLY Saturday morning, lol! I'm not worried about it in the least, I have done similar things with every vehicle I have purchased.

To set your mind at ease, I have a big Ford E250 work van that I cannot see the front and I'm nearly 6 ft tall. And that front bumper must be close to 2 feet above the ground what with the heavy duty suspension. So yeah, I practiced on that one too.

As far as ventilation, you have hit on a family squabble. My wife does not like the air blowing past her face, and I need the air blowing past my face. She turns the fan to "zero" and I get in and everything fogs up in a few minutes, must be my metabolism :-) I say, leave the fan on at least "1" all the time, adjust the temperature to feel comfortable, and never use the "recycle air" knob unless you need it for few minutes for faster heat or faster cool down. You will never have fogging problems, that is the "flow through ventilation" design they came up with about 20 years ago in cars. If you live with snow and ice, you drag alot of frozen moisture into your car, and the constant flow through ventilation will help to keep that evaporated. Oh yeah, make sure you don't have stuff in the back that blocks the out flow vents to complete the "flow through". Ahem, do the Fits have the vents visible in the back, don't know yet, just brought it home

 

what are outflow vents and where are they normally located?

 

I had a Subaru and when I opened the rear hatch and looked down at the base of where the hatch latches, I could see vent slots in the plastic. That is where the air exited the vehicle. It enters the vehicle at the dash vents and flows to the back. I have not looked at the Fit yet, I would expect to find something similar at the back of the interior.

If you always have your blower on a minimum of "1" you will have a natural flow of air through your vehicle and will help to dry out any moisture you have dragged in (snow, rain) or moisture that you breathe out of your lungs.

Ha, I do remember when I would drive by a paper mill plant (strong odors), that is when I would move the lever to the "recirculate" position, and it does help. You will still get the odors in, but much less. And don't forget to move that lever back to "inflow" or your car will steam up easily and often.