The headlights can be easily adjusted. Each has a silver "ratchet" looking screw in back of the light. Easily turned with a wrench. Elsewhere on this forum much is written about adjusting the headlights.

From another thread: "On my '16 EX-L Nav, I used a wrench on the left headlight to raise the light counterclockwise, as you stand in front and are looking at the car. And ALSO counterclockwise for the right front headlight, standing and looking the same way. Took quite a few turns. I do notice a difference."

 

My 2016 LX with manual transmission, delivered 12/30/2015, was made in Mexico.

Every 2016 FIT with manual transmission I have seen, either on dealers' lots or in online inventory listings comes from Mexico (3VIN).

And every 2016 LX and EX with CVT I have seen came from Japan (JVIN).

If there really are any 2016 FITs with manual transmission made in Japan, I'd like to hear about them!

 

again thanks to everyone for helping me out; looks like today is the day recalls are announced on fits...I originally was pretty set on buying a used one...guess I may get a second look today.

 

A late model used fit will be very close to the price of a new one, and considering the new ones have 1.9 Apr and loads of inventory, along with low gas prices there probably has never been a better time to buy new. Just my 2 cents.

 

well ultimately I went with another car. I test drove several cars (can't go on the highway now...okay so you're saying you don't want me to buy the car....) but it was limited....alll I know is.....and you'll understand this if you read the sales/promotional brochure.....I will be upset if I ever have to transfer a small tree.

 

furthermore since I'm such a nice guy if you want more insight to my decision and process feel free to post here. I owe thanks for everyone who replied. thank you all!!!

 

I'll bite. What did you buy, and why?

 

You are aware that there is a Civic 5-door hatch back coming out aren't you?

 

 

 

Honda Civic 5 door hatchback, release date ~2017 (correct me if you have a firm date). Any pricing released? In Canada, Civic Nation has been waiting for this release for over a decade.

High beltline will obscure rear window visibility, just like the Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio. I prefer the greenhouse design of the Fit.

 

I received some very low offers on the Fit. I called around and price wise I was down to two different dealers. I had already test driven two 2016 fits. The third test drive at the dealer of choice (assuming I didn't walk to a dealer with a matching offer) didn't go as well. Maybe it was just the particular one but it was very loud. The engine hum was just so noisy. I didn't really notice this in my first two test drives. Hard to say why it was so much louder than the first two test drives. I am unsure if the first two test drives had a trunk tray in...I would assume that would make it quieter though the hum was coming from the engine...the third test drive had only 4 miles on the car so maybe that was part of the issue...though I'd assume it would get louder over time at least after those initial miles. I do not recall how many miles were on the first test drive.

Anyway at that same dealer I test drove a Civic EX 2015. This dealer had matched my lowest fit offer and was at least competitive (though not leading) in my Civic offers. Driving them side by side....I just went with the Civic which was the car I had before. I really like the digital speed display. The cargo space on the fit would have been awesome...but who knows how much I'll use it.

If the fit was a bit quieter and had a digital display of the speed I'd be all over it. The windshield wipers struck me as rather cheap on the fit. Probably a minor issue, maybe a non-issue.

A big issue for me was the issues people have had with mexico's Fit production. Given the production of manuals in mexico I was a bit in fear of that tainting the resale value of the Fit. It was definitely a factor in my decision to buy.

In general I just liked driving the Civic a little bit more. It was more comfortable. I also feel that the right arm on the fit has nothing to rest on in the Fit. Not that I rest my arm all the time but there compartment could have been a little higher so I could rest my arm on it. The same may have been true of the left are for resting an arm on the Fit. The seat in the civic felt more comfortable than the fit.
I also am accustomed to the drink holders in the civic. I'm not a fan of having to reach past the shifter in the fit to grab my drink. A spill waiting to happen, god forbid it accidently shifts too.

Another major factor, and maybe this is because i was just in a car accident, was the crash test results. The civics scored better overall based on the test results I looked at. (see small front overlap?)

If I had my say on the redesign of some minor things in the fit. Raise up the center storage compartment between the seats and make it bigger in general for more junk such as gps ETC. Move the drink holders behind the shifter. Add a digital display similar to civic or at least have it as an option(see ford focus 2016?) Find where the most noise is entering the cabin and at least focus on eliminating that or at least have some honda production add-ons to make the ride a bit quieter. I don't see these things as a hard fix, course I've never engineered a car so who knows. Improving the crash test ratings would be nice.

For what is it worth I also test drove the Elentra and Focus. Both nice rides....I hope I didn't put too much stock in the ratings out of Consumer reports magazine!!! The ratings on the civic were great....and then I looked at the ratings of the ford Focus most notably reliability and consumer satisfaction which were pretty low. I also had several people say they have seen lots of problems with Ford so it was a bit word of mouth too. I really liked the Elentra but I really wanted a sun/moonroof which does not come stock in the elentra. The civic/fit lane watch camera was not something that was a must have but still is a nice feature. Given the fact the Elentra had basically the same price range as the fit/civic with less features (much less lane-watch, much more moonroof, and digital speed display) I had to go Civic/Fit. The crash ratings of the Elentra were similar to that of the Fit which again was beat out by the Civic's crash ratings anyway. If the Elentra were to be say two grand less ( cuase I'll need a grand to install a moonroof?) then I'd probably have gone elentra...I also like that the elentra had a MUTE BUTTON ON THE STEERING WHEEL (are you listening Honda?-no pun intended...okay maybe a little). Yes yes...I'm aware I guess I could just cycle through sources to one with no sound ...it's aminor detail I suppose. With all the push button options I hope I don't one day hit the engine button in a very poor unthinking attempt to turn off the stereo or something.


Going into this search I was pretty set on a used Fit and was stop-saled by a recall....course if that test drive went poorly(as it never happened) then who knows what would have happened next.

Weird thing though...read lots of complaints online about the stereo for the Fit...thing is the stereo (touch pad) for the civic is identical and while I'm positive some complaining must exist (I'll lead off if need be) I see almost no complaining for the civic. Wonder why that is.

Another thing on the honda cars...they have an HDMI input option but I guess this only works when the car is in park? why? Wouldn't this be a great way to display phones other than the iphone??? This is a whole other topic of course. I'm now considering looking for an iphone as my current phone is android. Anyone got some pointers on using these systems in the EX or LX models?

Speaking of the tablety touch screen....and this will be for the EX and EX-L people....there is so much glare on my Civic's screen with the sunroon open.....I can barely see the camera and forget about the stereo...perhaps I need to look into the brightness (I've only been driving the car a couple hours now), but the sun was barely out and I couldn't see the screen because of the glare. Anyone else have the problem? Again might be speaking too soon as I haven't played with too many setting yet.

 

A neighbour recently bought a 2015 Civic Ex CVT. She really likes it. Being the last year before the major remodel (2016) she got a solid car at a steep discount. I really cannot get used to the split screen of the Civic. To me it seems just...wrong.

The 2016 Civic is larger than the 2015, approaching the 2015 Accord. The Accord has correspondingly grown larger.

The right arm rest in the Fit is terrible, so bad that many people have bought an extra cushion and have just velcro'd it to the right arm rest. it is a valid complaint. I built my arm rest up to the proper height.

Between the Civic and the Fit, I wanted the versatility of the hatch. My last car was a sedan (Altima), and I often cursed that car's inability to load chairs, lumber and other odd items. Th Fit's tall mode is second to none. At least the Civic's rear seats fold down. Anyway the 2015 Civic is a well tested and received car in Canada. We are Civic Nation.