I am currently driving a 1998 Honda Civic DX @ 138,000 miles. I bought it 7 years ago with 34,000 miles. Unfortunately it's getting worn down and I'm not in a good place to be stuck with a broken down car (who is really?).

A local official Honda dealer has a 2011 Honda Fit Sport, automatic, 65,000 miles. Only one owner, bought at the same dealer brand new and traded back in to that dealer on another car. I've seen the CarFax.

I'm really interested in a car that will last me between 7 and 10 years and still be in good shape overall. I just have no experience with the Fit and I was hooping some people could enlighten me a little on some of their quirks.

1. Where are the 2011's made? Is there a way to be 100% sure by the VIN?
2. Is one build site making better cars than another?
3. I've heard some Honda Fits have leaking issues around the rain gutters and some of the body panels. Is this a rare issue?
4. Other than routine maintenance, what is typically the biggest mechanical problem I can expect?
5. How well do the seats hold up? My Civic's 17 year old seats are that comfy anymore and I'd like a more comfortable lasting ride.
6. I've only had one test drive and the dealer was with me. I'd like to go for another drive alone so I can thoroughly check it out. Are there some things I should be really double-checking?
7. They are selling it for $11,800. Which seems fair for what I am getting, the car looks and drives like it's brand new.

I trust Honda's and I am pretty handy with a wrench, but I just dont want to walk into a bad car. I test drove a 2013 Honda Civic while I was there and WOW the interior/dash is WAY weird. I loved the Fit much better.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

1) Don't know? All the '15 ones are made in Mexico now.
2)I don't know what that means.
3)No issues on my '13 but in Socal it doesn't rain very often.
4) Haven't heard any common big issues yet, just stay on top of maintenance replace fluids and belts when need be.
5)Not too many people like the seats. A lot of people purchase Clazzio brand seat fitted seat covers.
6)A lot of people say the suspension is really stiff on the 09-11, so be wary of that. Otherwise the car isn't terribly fast at all, but its good on gas if you can find some open road.
7)If you could get it for around 10,000 that would be ideal. The car is going to be 5 years old.

The biggest issue people have with the fits, is them not understanding what they are purchasing. The modding scene for the ge8s is really small and you will have to do some serious digging and importing if you are into that. Additionally the 1.5 liter engine is small and honestly no bolt-ons can really do much to make it any better. There is forced induction options but they are expensive and require lots of work.

The fit is a great commuter car, something to have fun with driving to and from work/school. Its not a race car and its not a european luxury car. If you can accept that, then you will be happy with your purchase. I have seen time and time again people giving up getting frustrated because they didn't fully understand what type of car the fit is.

Cheers and best of luck.

 

2011's for the US market were made in Japan...I think maybe a couple different plants, but all in Japan. There aren't any particular plant-related quality problems I'm aware of.

Mechanically, they're pretty reliable. Probably the most common mechanical issues beyond regularly scheduled maintenance and expected wear items are coil packs that seem sometimes not the most robust and the occasional air conditioner condenser damaged form rocks etc. hitting it—it's rather exposed in front of the radiator. Many (including me) have wired a screen in back of the lower grille to prevent that—a gutter guard from a home improvement store works nicely.

I think the main water leakage problems are around the hatch door, and are fairly straightforward to fix. There are some threads here on that. I think (but I don't know) that it might be more prevalent on the older Fits; certainly I've had no problems whatsoever with my '12 with leaks. One or two people have also complained of leaks around the radio antenna, which is quite straightforward to reseal.

So far, my seats have held up fine. They aren't the world's most comfortable to begin with, but they don't leave me feeling beat up after a long drive either. I can't really say how well they'll hold up long-term; to some extent, that probably depends on whether a lightweight or heavy driver uses the car frequently.

Mr. Hollow made some very good observations about what the Fit is and what it isn't. It's a great all-purpose vehicle, and has a very adaptable interior (you can carry a lot of cargo, and various shapes of cargo, between the back seats folding down and flipping up). It is not a sports car, it isn't a luxury car, and it's okay but not great for long highway trips. The gas milage is quite good, particularly if you keep your speed somewhat reasonable (aerodynamically, it's somewhat of a brick). The steering is quite sensitive, sometimes to the point that some people find it tends towards wandering some. I've also heard some people complain about the headlights, but mine seem pretty decent.

On the whole, I'm quite happy with mine. I like the milage, the adaptability of the interior, and the general ergonomics of the controls. Probably my biggest complaint would be the overall gearing of the manual transmission—I'd rather it went higher, so it could cruise at lower RPMs (understanding that downshifting would more frequently be needed on hills on the highway). The automatic is a lot nicer than the manual in this regard.

If you regularly carry people in the back seat, make sure the space there is sufficient. It's comparatively decent, but being a small car it is somewhat limited both in width and legroom. (On the plus side, the back seats can recline a notch.)

 

Coming from a 99 Civic DX hatchback with 250k miles to my 2013 Fit sport w/ 5spd tran. I can tell you that if you enjoyed your Civic, that the Fit is a great replacement/update. The ergonomics of the dash/interior just make sense, seats are comfy, tons of interior space and still a fun car to drive just to mention a few things.

I will agree with DrewE that I wish the MT gearing was a little taller. Sure seems like I'm always at 4k or above compared to my EK which ran around 3k for the same speed. Granted, having such short gearing helps the 1.5L motor have a very spirited and fun feel to it.

 

I own a 2010 Fit Sport with 62,000 miles. I leased it new and decided to buy it when the lease was up. The car has been problem free for me. I have had zero mechanical issues with it. My wife and I both love it. The only criticism I have is it is a bit slow. Most of the time it is fine even on highways, but if you have to accelerate quickly you will be in trouble, so be careful when pulling out in front of cars or trucks.

Despite the lack of acceleration I find it to be a fun car to drive. My wife and I fight over it. She paints houses and likes to use it because she can pack everything she needs into this car and since she is only 5'2" she finds it much more manageable than a van when loading and unloading. In fact the rear opening is larger than the rear opening of our mini van.

I'm 6'2" 200lbs and I find the car comfortable. I've driven it across country twice and found it to be comfortable and very capable for long highway stints. I get around 34 mpg and oddly I get the best mileage when driving in hilly conditions.

If you can test drive it again I recommend accelerating hard so you know its limitations. Also at 60,000 miles the transmission fluid should have been changed. Check with the dealer to see if that was done. There are threads here on that issue. I did the drain and fill three times on mine a couple of weeks ago.

I have found the fit to be very low maintenance and economical. It's fun to drive and very roomy for carrying passengers or cargo of just about any kind.

 

They're great cars, I have a 2012 Sport 5MT with 57k miles on it.

If you're happy with it, its a good price. I'd aim for 10.5-11, but I negotiate for a living, so I'm more than willing to walk away from a price that's even a bit off.

[QUOTE=amzran;1328792I trust Honda's and I am pretty handy with a wrench, but I just dont want to walk into a bad car. I test drove a 2013 Honda Civic while I was there and WOW the interior/dash is WAY weird. I loved the Fit much better.

Thanks for any thoughts.[/QUOTE]

Good luck!

 

3. No leaks on mine
4. No mechanicals. 09-13 Fits are very reliable.
5. Seats are great on the Fit Sport. No signs of wear after 5 years and 63K. They are rock hard so make sure you like it.
7. You really want to pay nearly $12K for a 4 old year car with 65K miles when it was only $18,500 new?!?

My only major complaint is that the engine power is weak and so is the HVAC.

 

Don't hate a car company that makes a good product that looses less worth than the rate you're paying off the loan. You wouldn't ask that question if you were trading in your car. You'd the appreciate that it's a Honda because they're giving u thousands more on your trade the the guy with the Ford Fiesta same year and miles. It's a good deal to me.

 

Is this something that's easy to DIY?

 

There's risk in any used car.
But I owned a 2010 Honda Fit Sport and thought it was great. Really a great little car, which is why I bought a 2016.

My understanding is that yes, that would be made/assembled in Japan.
I don't think it was until 2015 that Honda started production in a newly opened plant in Mexico.

I never had any "leaking" around my rain gutter and I live where we get a lot of rain. The only issue I do remember was that The Fit DID seem to be designed in a way that if I opened the drivers door, from inside, on a day or time when rain was really coming down hard, it would dump a cascade of water down. If I was getting out, a couple of times it did dump it right on me. The solution however very simple, I learned to open the door a little, let the rain water dump...THEN get out. Waiting a second or two, solved that problem. But the first time or two it happened, it was "fun". I don't know why Honda seemed to of allowed that design flaw through.

It's been 3+ years since I owned my 2010, so I may of forgot some things. But in general I thought it was a great vehicle. Very versatile, and fun to drive.

 

This is so strange but I am almost in the exact same boat as you..except I just purchased my 1 previous owner 2011 Honda Fit Sport 5spd in White about 2 weeks ago. It has 119,000 KM / 73,000 Miles

My previous car was a 2004 Civic LX Coupe that I bought with 246,000 KM and it now has 324,000 KM. I also bought it 7 years ago! (I also had a 96 DX Hatch before)

1) The 2011 should be made in Japan. 2012+ Fits and up are made in China. To confirm, check the VIN, if it starts with J then it's Japan. If it starts with L then it's made in China.

I can't answer the rest of your questions but when I bought mine, I had 2 issues. (This was known before I purchased the car)

First issue:
The typical trunk latch being stuck due to corrosion as it is very exposed.
Solution: I used a combination of WD40 Rust Release, and then finally sprayed some PB Blaster and it literally freed up my latch within seconds. To prevent this from happening again, I sprayed Fluid Film all over the area to protect the spring. I shouldn't have this issue again.

Second issue:
HVAC blower motor only works on highest setting. From 2009 to 2011, they seemed to have a defective HVAC blower motor, (hopefully yours has been fixed). There was a TSB issued.
Solution:[/B]
Don't just replace the resistor with an OEM and not the blower.
I ended up finding a used HVAC blower from a 2012 Fit, confirmed via VIN # for $100 CAD. Brand new it sells or about $320 CAD.
I also purchased an OEM blower motor resistor which was about $33 CAD.

I will honestly say that the seats are definitely not as comfortable as my 2004 Civic but it's still pretty good. Overall I am very happy with my Fit

$11,800 seems quite a lot as I paid $5,500 CAD for mine. Keep in mind that I bought mine in "AS IS" condition with those 2 issues as stated above.

Good luck!