How Many Miles Is Too Many?
 

Hi guys, i have an old BMW X3 that has been a money pit and looking for a new car. Heard a lot of good things about the Fit and looking at it. Three Questions:

1) How is Fit as a Family Car ---namely for two car seats in the back--kids two and four.

2) How doe it handle in the snow? I live in Boston and drive twenty miles in traffic to work so i need something that can handle some inclement weather.

3) I found a 2010 Fit with 140K miles for $4200. Is that a decent price and will it last with that many miles? Looks like it is in good shape but I drive about 12K miles a year so need something that won't break down.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks

The back seats may be a bit crowded front-to-back for child seats—or, put another way, you may not be able to slide your front seat back as far as you'd like, which in turn depends on your build (especially your leg length). I'd suggest test fitting your child seats before buying. There's a pretty good chance it will be fine.

The Fit does decently in snow, about like most other smallish front wheel drive cars. With good tires, it's limited mainly by the ground clearance; but if there's that much snow, you probably don't want to be out on the road anyway. With not good tires, of course, it's not very good in the snow.

As for the milage and price, I am not particularly well informed. With that disclaimer, at 140K miles, I'd expect one should be able to get a good many more if it's been well maintained and is in good condition. I would check to make sure there isn't excessive rust, given the part of the country we live in.

How Many Miles Is Too Many?
 

You'll have to ask my attorney. :D

My '09 Fit Sport required only routine maintenance until about 150k miles. At 152k a heat shield rusted out and fell off. Now at 156k the ac compressor has gone out (a $900 repair with aftermarket parts). If you buy at 142k and drive 12k a year, you'll be able to go a year without major repairs, if that car is like mine. Something else to consider is that the ac compressor, if it had seized up, would have left me at the side of the road, as the serpentine belt also drives the alternator. It didn't; I was able to drive 30 miles with awful noises coming from under the hood. But it could have, and with a family in the car you don't want to be left at the side of the road.

3- 4 member family is perfect. 5 members is crowded.


As for high Milage I don't buy used so not sure but anything over 50k is pretty used imo

i'm pushing 50k on my 13. i don't think it is anywhere near "pretty used"

I think the Fits will go over 200,000 miles, but as the car ages you will have to do repair work. Depends how much $ you wanna put into the car. You might think about a slightly newer car with around 60,000 miles on it. If you are a Vet, look at USAA web site for used cars. I bought my 2013 Fit thru them & got a good deal.

1: Space: it's a small car no 2 ways about it. It does have a surprisingly roomy back seat considering. LOTS of cargo space with magic seats

2: I live in the BC interior. Ever seen highway through hell? I live about 3 hours from there, the crazy days you see on the show is average here. I live about half way up a streep mountain. I drive a Fit. Again it's a small 2WD hatchback. No 2 ways about it. Because of where the gas tank is due to the magic seats (under the driver and passenger) it does very well. I was impressed the first winter. It is low and I do scrape quite a lot in the winter. Of course we generally have 3 feet of snow in our yard as a minimum all winter.

3: My old 93' Honda accord had 400k km (250k miles) with next to no major work. My fit is 2.5 years old, with 45k miles, just did brakes for the first time, and about 4 oil changes in total. Brand new basically.

Any higher end manufacturer will be a money pit, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus ect. Expensive gas, expensive work on it, expensive tires, and less reliable. There are exceptions, but they will still be more expensive.

I am at 100K miles on my 2010. I fully expect this car to go into the 300k range easily. My 98' accord had several repairs by this point and the Fit has had zero, and it is currently sitting at 298K. $4200 is a really good price and don't think you could go wrong there.