The manual is so much fun, and it enjoys a good thrashing.

 

Thank you to everyone who replied to my query! Your generous advice was much appreciated, esp. the person moving from a 2005 Civic EX to a 2016 Fit (as the 2005 Civic Ex M/T was also my previous car). In the end, I figured I had some choices, most of which were mixed together:

+ buy a car out of state, even though Mass makes this a huge headache for various reasons
+ buy a car without a sunroof I really wanted, and some technology/features I really wanted (LX instead of EX, since EX was impossible to get MT), largely for the reason that Honda's tech doesn't work well & that's all that's available
+ buy a car in a color I don't like (yes, color is important to me)

OR

+ buy a car w/a transmission I don't want (ie. CVT)

I was about to spend $20K, and I was NOT happy with any of these choices. So I went and tested a Mazda3 hatch, of which each dealer seems to have at least 1 in manual. Mazda3s cost a lot more, but there's more flexiblity in the pricing (as some sagacious person here pointed out). I intended to rule the car out, but I LOVED how it drove, and the gearbox, and the features. Sure, there's no "magic seat" (which I wanted for my 2 dogs) and it's smaller inside... but...

A week later, and yesterday, after 12 weeks of hunting, I brought home - from a Mass dealer 10 miles away - my "soul red metallic" Mazda3 itouring. I paid 20,300 for the car w/haggling/incentives, $22227 OTD with the dealer fees here ($495!) and license and 6.25% MA taxes. For my extra $2500, I bought a very reliable car (CR rates it in #4 in this year's lineup, just below Toyota and ABOVE Honda) with a beautiful, quality interior, a lovely, joyous gearbox (none of this revving at 3.5 in 6 doing 70, as was reported with FIT), great mileage (29/40/36, I averaged 36 in mixed city driving today), blind spot monitors, rear cross traffic, integrated turn indicators, auto lights/wipers, 6 speaker Bose system, lovely "entertainment center" with voice commands, optional nav system (for $400 extra), daul climate control, keyless entry... and prob. more. Seats fold almost true flat and interior is 47 cubic feet.

I am delighted at my purchase. Sad to leave Honda, but truth be told, they are not making their cars for M/T drivers, and the features they offer lack luster and don't seem -as sad as it makes me to say it - as reliable as in the old days!

Thanks again for all your advice. And yes, I am a woman (yes, I get the feeling the MT crowd is mostly male, so I'm forgiving of the error).

Jennifer in Boston, no longer a Honda driver

 

Congrats on the Mazda3 Hatch. It is a great car. I rented one last summer and was one of the few cars I was sorry to return. Mazda has had a checkered past for some reliability issues, specifically rusting, and the car is significantly more expensive, but they have a classy product with better quality than the Honda Fit. It also seemed that the dealers had stock in a wide variety of variations, unlike Honda.

The Mazda3 is a great car to drive. It handles much crisper than the Fit, and is faster than the Fit, but because the engine is larger the gas mileage is not as good. There are tradeoffs we do when comparing any two cars.

With a 2-3 month delay for a Honda Fit manual shift, the Mazda3 Hatch is my top manual shift recommendation.

 

Given your choices, you did well. Certainly one of the current vehicles I would seriously consider too. The Mazda 3 hatch is a very decent looking car and has some nice features for the price and a manual transmission to boot! Enjoy!

 

Good for you! I'm glad you didn't let a brand get in the way of getting the car you wanted. If Honda refuses to sell you one, they don't deserve your business.