The 3rd generation Honda FITs are getting long in the tooth. What do you plan to replace yours with since they're no longer available in North America?

 

that's a good question. my Fit is a'19 with a 6 speed and if i can get 12- 16 years out of it like my last 2 Hondas there will probably not be anything similar , at least not with a stick. . . or that small and light.
i'd like to keep it simple , if that's possible. maybe someone will build a small minivan type vehicle, as the Mazda5. that would be ideal. a lot can happen in 10 years

 

Take good care of your Fit, because there won't be anything as good on 2030's. That's mainly due to the legislation.

 

My 2015 Fit got totaled September 2025 by a drunk driver and I replaced it with a 2025 Ridgeline. A completely different vehicle that I'm enjoying immensely.

 

i'm thinking my next car, whenever that will be , will be a little more rugged . as much as i love the Fit, i'm always worried about banging it up. used to drive a Dodge work van back in the day and
never worried about little dings. maybe it'll be time to go back to that mindset. and the extra utility is a plus

 

When I bought the Fit it was because I was going to be moving and my commute would be 80+ miles daily round-trip. I've moved since and now it's 35 miles daily round-trip and I WFH 2 days a week so I don't need the great gas mileage any longer. Before it got totaled in September, I had drives 4500 miles last year.

I do miss being able to fill up the car for approximately $20 lol

 

We're in the same situation with our 2013 Gen2 Fit that's nearing 160,000 Miles. It still runs well, but it won't last forever and we want to have some candidates in mind so as to not be in a state of panic if the Fit has an expensive failure. So far, the Honda HR-V, Kia Seltos and Mazda CX-30 are on the list.

All have real spare tires, an increasingly rarity in new cars. The CX-30 gains points with its real geared (auto) transmission instead of a CVT which appear in most everything these days. The HR-V and lower trim Seltos models retain multi-port fuel injection rather than direct injection, eliminating the need for intake valve cleaning in the future. We also find the modest screen sizes of appeal in these models, though all screens seem excessively large and distracting in new models. In any case, it's hard to find much of anything in showrooms these days that we find genuinely attractive.

I wish I could rewind the clock 20 years.

 

Ha, that is nice.. I rolled into Costco this morning on the way to work with the compy showing 335 miles driven and zero range for the last couple miles. Filled it up (9.5 gal), and it was just a little over $21. My commute is around 72 miles a day Monday through Friday, so the good mileage is why I got my Fit (2019 EX CVT). I can generally get closer to 350-360 on a tank, but it always drops in the Winter a little.

I haven't thought too much about what I'd get after my Fit.. it has just under 120k on the odometer, so it's got plenty of life in it still. I did buy a used 2017 Leaf a couple years ago for our 16 yo daughter, and it's been a great car for learning about EVs in general. Lucked out with the battery warranty on it too.. they replaced the 30kWh with a new 40kWh 4 months after we bought it.

Since owning the Leaf, I have thought a little about getting an EV after my Fit. I don't know what the cost difference would be in gas vs electricity, but I'm sure I could measure that on the Leaf and get some kind of an idea. And I know that EVs generally do better with around town as opposed to freeway driving, but a lot of newer EVs have plenty of range. And I could always plug in with a L1 charger here at my office if needed during the day. Anyway, like I said, I don't expect the Fit to go anywhere for a while. And there could be many other options by the time I'm ready, so I'll wait and see.

 

my Fit averages 35 MPG mixed driving , don't know what ICE auto will match that. i like the cx-30 size wise and the auto trans as opposed to the CVT. maybe in 10 years they'll have perfected the CVT. i wouldn't buy one currently if i was in the market for a car, been driving a stick since the late '70s . it's good for the long haul.

 

I have a '13 MT. I don't think we're going to see any more manual transmissions on little hatchbacks. I could be wrong.

Replace the Fit? How about a Mazda 2 or Mazda 3 if it came with manual transmission?

 

Agreed and very sad. Surprisingly, the 2026 Mazda 3 Hatchback FWD 2.5 S Premium can still be had with a 6-Speed stick. Our 2013 Fit is our older kid's car. My wife and I both drive manual VWs, hers a 2017 Golf and mine a 2021 GTI. VW decided it was smart to kill the manual in these beginning in 2025, even though the North American take rate on the manual was 50%.

 

Good to know about the Mazda. Most unfortunately it starts at $31,450, so bad news for those of us who demand a manual transmission, emphasizing that the days of cheap manuals in base cars are over.




https://www.mazdausa.com/shopping-to...26M3H/26M3H25S

 

The number of new vehicles available for <$30K is even smaller than the number of vehicles still available with a manual transmission.

Luckily, used cars will always be available. Budget in a couple hundred dollars for tools and a service manual and you're good to go.

 

i paid around 17k for my '19 Fit 6mt , the last old school Honda. i guess those days are gone. the Mazda hatchback is pretty but you can't see out of it. almost like sitting in a Camaro

 

Good news here in Canada. We've just signed a deal with the Chinese to allow 49,000 electric cars per year into this country starting in March. Now that quantity is a drop in the bucket but it will almost certainly increase in the years ahead and make available lower priced cars not currently available. Only disadvantage is these are electric but we're headed in that direction anyways. It is expected that the Chinese companies will build factories in Canada over time.

 

The missus was looking for a car recently, and I researched the Mazda 2 as a contender.

I was reading reviews on Edmunds and one person mentioned that OEM parts for the Mazda 2 were considerably more expensive than he anticipated, and that he wished he wouldn't have bought the car without researching it first.

That kept the Mazda 2 out of the lineup for us. The missus got a Chevy Trax, btw.

 

Just have to move on to a sports car. GR86 or BRZ.

 

I recently rented a car while on vacation and was randomly given a Subaru Crosstrek. I really liked it because it gave me a driving experience reminiscent of my CVT FIT. I do mostly urban driving, so a smaller car makes for easy maneuvering in parking lots and on narrow roads. So, for me, size matters. By the numbers, I was surprised to see the Crosstrek is smaller than the HRV. And, after driving the rental for a week, so many of the the things that feel "cheap" on the FIT have a higher quality on the Crosstrek.

_________FIT___Crosstrek___HRV
length___160" _____176"____180"
width ____67"_______71"____73"
height ___60"_______63"_____64"

Crosstrek___$26k - $34k
HRV_______$27k - $30k

(too bad this forum doesn't have a fixed-width font for charting numbers)

 

I tried a 2016 Mazda 3 and it was okay. I live in Canada so traction control will kick in frequently and the one I tried made a rattle when it engages. I think there is some kind of flywheel that detects when you are getting wheel spin. The fit and finish was very meh compared to the Honda Fit. The Fit is much smaller but the front cabin feels much bigger. I think the roof is simply higher. For example, the shift knob gear diagram plaque commonly falls off over time; if seen that on Subarus also. I’ve seen Fits with 200k miles with the shift knob rubber all worn but the knob is still there and the cap doesn’t fall off.

the rear shocks on that year Mazda 3 had an incredibly dumb dual mounting studs. Of course, the studs get all crusty over time and if you snap one when removing the nut, you have to go through the inside of the car, remove interior trim and drill a hole through body and fit a bolt through. Soo dumb; these frequently snap in rusty environments and the you are SOL. Mazda’s of this vintage also tend to rust to shit. Things like the anti sway bar are probably replaceable but coils, tie rods, end links… everything would just rust out pretty quickly.

i think the newest Mazda 3s look nice and are available in MT. I think 2017 and on generation is better quality and Toyota had more influence on the manufacturing. Probably less rust prone and I think they came to their senses and changed the rear shock mounting system. I’m a total Honda fanboy so take my opinion with a grain of salt but I’ve tried to like other brands and just keep coming back. Toyota is great but I find their interiors to be lacking unless you get a premium package and I often don’t like the stock steering and suspension tuning compared to Honda. I only drive MT but if I were to buy an automatic, I would definitely consider Toyota for their good Aisin transmissions.

 

Modern ICE autos? Depressingly few. Any good-condition '88-00 Civic auto will beat that unless driven aggressively.