My oldest daughter picked the 2015 Honda Fit in July of 2014 for her car purchase, and frankly could not be happier. She attends college in Knoxville, and we live in Nashville, so it provides her cheap transportation for trips home, along with the ability to get back and forth to work, between classes.

I never had any serious complaints with the "fit and finish" of the Fit, although I have read several threads others have started where it was a real issue.

Yesterday, we took delivery of my middle daughters new 2015 Toyota Prius 2, and one of the first things I noticed is how exacting the 'fit and finish" is on that car, compared to the Honda fit. We also noticed a rather large difference in the quality of the paint job between the two. The Fit is in Passion Berry Pearl, and the Prius is Barcelona Red. The Prius color has what appears to be a real depth to it, that the Honda color just does not share.

I don't know if it is the production plant (Japan vs. Mexico), the labor force, or the fact the 2015 Honda Fit was a first year production model, while the 2015 Toyota Prius is the last year of its third generation, so all the bugs have been worked out (fourth generation 2016 Toyota Prius coming soon to a dealer near you).

Either way, there is a difference between the two that is quite noticeable, and I was just wondering if anyone else had noticed a difference between the Fit and any other brands that are as noticeable as what we have found.

 

Well, the Fit is 5-7k less than a Prius and the GK was a noticeable step down in quality relative to the GE.

 

Aside from the quality of the paint finish, the real difference I see is not so much in the quality of the materials (the Prius has it's share of cheap components), but in how well they are put together on the Toyota.

If your comparing MSRP to MSRP, then your right about the price difference. Because the new 2016 Prius, representing a whole new generation and look, is waiting in the wings, our dealer has discounted the 2015 Prius (with the help of Toyota's current discount assistance, ending Nov2), to the tune of about $5,000.00 off MSRP.

I have not kept up with Honda Fit pricing as of late, but when we purchased ours in mid-2014, there were not many (if any), discounts available, so we ended up paying almost the same for both cars.

The 50mpg of the Prius certainly justifies a premium in price, so the fact current discounts are leveling the playing field somewhat, could not come at a better time for us.

I expect features and technology to represent a difference in pricing between cars. In this case however, it appears Toyota is simply doing a better job of constructing their car (quality control), than Honda is doing, at least in the case of the current Fit.

 

Your timing works to your advantage. An outgoing Prius model year, discounted, compared to the Honda Fit's supply constraint, MSRP, helped you. There have been many discussion about Honda's thin paint, as well as the Fit's very thin roof metal that dents if you lean on it with your arms.

If I could get a Prius for the same price as a Fit, I'd go for it.This assumes that both cars satisfies your driving needs. I wanted a hatch, and a manual.

The 2015 Consumer Reports Car Reliability Survey puts Lexus, Mazda and Toyota as the top 3, meaning Toyota is doing a stellar job. Honda dropped 4 spots to 8th, but so did a lot of other manufacturers. Declines were mostly attributed to unreliable transmissions (8-9 speed autos, CVTs, DCT) and hard to use infotainment systems.

 

That's where the GK suffers against the GD/GE. The previous generations were much better in that regard.

 

The problem is that I have no direct comparison between the prior generations and the GK. There appears to be a difference between the early production GKs and later. Vanguard's UT daughter's Fit was early production if she took possession in June 2014. My EX was produced in Dec 14 and I've had none of the quality problems presented by others here. The hatch interior is a constant irritant, but has not affected the performace.

Most likely the mileage difference between the Prius' 50 mpg and the Fit's 35+ mpg will "pay" for the Prius, especially here in TN with $ 2.999/gallon gasoline.

 

Actually, our 2015 Fit was built the first week of June 2014, just after they made the production change in the front bumper. We took possession in early July. We therefore missed the front bumper recall, but did receive the two most recent recalls.

When I think of early problematic production, I recall those who had terrible paint jobs, and doors that did not line up correctly. Those were real nightmare scenarios. Ours has tiny imperfections that you don't really notice until you have a car like my middle daughters new Prius, that so far appears to have no imperfections, to compare with.

We did own the 2008 base model, which we purchased new, and never had any problems that I can remember. The reason we purchased the 2015 is because my older daughter could not come to terms with a manual transmission, and with Knoxville having many hills, we decided to switch to the CVT and the 2015. She is much happier.

As for interior hatch disappointment, the Prius shares that same flimsy feeling that only an all weather cargo mat can help overcome.

The 50mpg is nice, although the Fit 35mpg is nothing to sneeze at. My wife is only getting 29mpg in her Mazda CX-5, and I remember my full size E-150 2000 Ford van, that on a good day would hit 14mpg.......

 

Apparently the entire instructional team from Japan was there when they built mine in April, 2014.
I've rented hundreds of cars from every conceivable company, and mine equals them all. Only my friend's new Scion iA blows them out of the water for quality (Mazda of course).

 

Scion is a Toyota brand.

 

The iA is a rebadged Mazda 2.

 

I'd love to try one of those kia rios some time. i heard they get close to out-performing the fit when equally modded

 

I don't usually comment much on looks but that is a nose and mouth only a mother can love. Frankly I'd consider a Mazda3 rather than this Scion/Mazda2. 1.5L engine with 102hp? But maybe the fit and finish is much better than the Honda Fit, and no CVT, just a regular and reliable automatic.

I liked the Kia Rio and especially the Hyundai Accent but their rear visibility is through a very small rear window. No backup camera, so we said no. The Accent drives very nicely.

 

While my wife and daughter test drove the Prius, I wondered around the Toyota showroom and looked at one of the Scion cars. I did not really look at the design, but rather the interesting colors they were using.

 

my '12 fit-sport (made in japan) has the fit and finish of my other assembled in japan cars which are 2x more in price. the '16 fit-ex (made in mexico) i bought for my wife is nowhere close. it is a 10ft car at best. i dont look at the '16 very closely for my health.

 

Open the driver's side door and you can see where it was assembled.

 

The first letter of the VIN tells the story.

 

........."j"........

 

I like the fit bit noise and unconfotable seats are a turn off. then I drive it and i si pretty humble and fun to drive.

It I didn't have this I would certainly go for a mazda 3 hatchback the 2.0 manual. Nice car, almost get the same as the fit but is nicer looking.

Whereas the prius it is nice but it is like all toyotas, boring to drive. And to pricy that if you do the math in 10 years you will be still better of in a fit. Unless you do it for the sake of the environment and all that bra bra bla.

Other ince cars are the mazda 2( i think it is not in sale in the USA) the new civic(OMG), hiunday elantra and kia forte.

So for me if you are not loving it the best best would be the mazda 3 hb 2.0 manual. Then the Kia forte.

Terrible cars you can not go bad with either one.

 

Normally, I would agree with your financial recovery estimate, but as I stated above, with the 2016 model on the horizon, and current discounts for the 2015 approaching $5,000 off MSRP, thereby placing the Prius price close to that of the Honda Fit EX, I find it to be a bargain.

Of course, what i think or want means nothing in this case, as it was the selection of my middle daughter, who has admired and wanted a Prius for as long as I can remember. She is happy, the price was right, and the gas mileage is phenomenal. Win, Win, Win.

 

The Prius is a pretty intriguing car and was the car of choice in my hypermiling club. Using proper techniques there was no problem eking out 80-100mpg.