Officially out of bumper to bumper warranty.

Just another summary thread.

Jellybean was assembled in the last week of Dec 2014. I feared all the quality issues I read on this board. Thankfully, it's been pretty trouble free.

Why purchase?

I have arthritis in my left hip. Pushing most clutches is miserable. The Fit's clutch is light. Seat is high. No pain.

Amazingly enough, finding manual transmission cars is tough these days.

Pros

Little go cart. Nimble. Responsive. Fun to drive. Did one autocross. If it had 50 more ponies it would be a blast. No desire to do another one.

Electronics. Have the EX. It's basically less than half the price of my wife's Toyota (2013) and the Toyota's system is bogus in comparison.

Per the car's computer, the overall average fuel mileage is 40.8 mpg. I don't baby it. Yeah, I stopped the fuelly app in the signature block.

Overall. Quality is really pretty good for the entry level price. For an $18k car, no complaints on fit and finish and quality of materials. There are some that complain about these issues, but remember, it's not a $30k car. It has way more options for this price that one would expect.

Magic seats. Favorite option. Massive interior for it's size.

Some complain about the seats. I'm 6' 2" and 255 lb. They're fine for me. I do lots of long road trips (which is why the warranty is gone!)

Cons

Nothing new here.. the ratios on the 6 gear are too damn close. Rarely do all 6 get used. It's either 4th to 6th or around town even 3rd to 6th. I also have a 97 Jeep TJ with a 5 gear. Real fun not to be paying attention and go from 4th to reverse in it. Grrrrr.

Related. Buzzy. 3500 rpm on the interstate can be annoying. Why they didn't do a real 6th gear is unknown.

Lack of center arm rest.

Tiny gas tank. Nice to fill up for $15.. just have to do it too often.

Worries

It's had problems. They've "gone away". yeah.

A/C. First hot day, it was cycling and only blowing 55F on compressor, and 60F off compressor. Pissed, did 100 miles at 80-85 mph, and it fixed itself. It's a solid 45F now. Will it last?

Clutch. Would "hang up" in first gear, not fully release. Pumped the crap out of it and it's fine. Bubble?

Brake rotors. yeah. They're warped. But over a month or so, they're better (less feedback). Didn't get turned. At some point they'll get worse again.

Only time will tell.

Would I do again?

If I didn't want to spend money (sub $20k), in a heart beat. From my homework, there's not another sub $20k vehicle that's even close in options and fun.

If I wasn't so cheap... would still probably do it cause you can't really find manual transmission cars that aren't pony cars, or, have significant reliability issues (i.e. Ford's STs). Pony cars sit too low and it would hurt the hip. If Jeeps were total POS's I probably would have got a two door JK, but reliability is horrific on Jeeps.

So. Onward to the 100k mark. Just got new tires that should last that long (originally still had a fair amount of tread, just hydroplaned like mad).

Your mileage may vary.

 

I appreciate the write-up! I'm 6'1" and have no issues with leg room. The center armrest is more comfortable than I thought it would be considering the negative reviews I read. I have a '16 EX CVT with just over 4,000 miles.

I've never driven a manual transmission, except a brief test drive of an old Chevrolet S-10 truck down a dirt road when I was 17-18 years old. Boy, that was a dust filled, herky jerky experience! I constantly wonder how much more fun it would have been to drive a Fit with the six speed manual. I guess I'll never know.

 

"Why they didn't do a real 6th gear is unknown."


The answer is obvious. If they had "overgeared" sixth gear, people would be all over this forum whining and complaining about how "gutless" and "underpowered" the car is, how it won't climb hills in 6th gear, and so on. The gearing suits the car well, except that here really was no need for 6 speeds at all.


Fact is, even people who "like" to shift gears, don't like "having" to shift gears.

 

haha. wondered wat 36001 waz. congrats on ur now 'old' car.

 

The lack of armrest can be fixed if you want to get creative. I added a taller one and it helps on my daily 86 mile round trip commute.

 

I found the Fit looking for a hybrid. When I calculated the hybrid costs, I was never going to get the money back from the initial purchase.

The value for the dollar with the Fit, is staggering. No other car compares.

One note, people here really need to take a class in statistics. When you look at say one person's problem, and an issue with their car, it's meaningless. It might mean a lot to that person, but in the scale of production, it has no value.

It's a sad commentary on Americans and mathematics. The general population of the US is quite ignorant.

Enjoy your Fit.

 

2nd thru 5th gears are ok. 1st gear is a granny gear and too damn low. 6th gear is too close to 5th and needs to be just a little higher. I still need some sort of pedal extensions or grow longer legs. Do cars other than Hondas require complete depression of the clutch before they will start?

 

I agree that the 6 speed transmission seems more like a marketing decision than an engineering one.

My clutch doesn't have to be held to the floor for the car to start (although I usually do). The actuating point of the switch has a bit of adjustment possible. It sits in a threaded mount located by jam nuts and can be moved up or down.

 

Hit the nail right on the head!

 

He's right to a certain extent. I like shifting, but I hate to shift out of 1st as quickly as I do. 1st is too short. 2nd isn't a good gear to start off in.

It's just the opposite of the 1954 Plymouth I learned to drive in (yes, I'm that old). 1st was good, shifting to 2nd proved nothing, same same. 3rd was ok and the last one any way (3 on the tree). Only slightly more sophisticated than a stone axe.

 

I just built the wood frame that fits over the existing arm rest and adds height, length and width to the arm rest. My wife will now add padding and cover it with fabric. The forward support is a pillar that goes down into the little coin pocket (don't have heated seats). The width will allow my wife and I to use the arm rest at the same time. Will probably only use it on our trips to Texas when we cover 1,650 miles in 2 1/2 days.


My wife came up with the design out of Styrofoam. The front of the arm rest is tilted up so that the arm is supported - not just the elbow when your hand is on the steering wheel. This allows clearance to use the parking brake if needed although it is a little more awkward.

 

Post up pics of the finished product. We all like seeing stuff like that.

 

Good News! I just paid my 2012 Fit and things are okay. I was wondering if I could mod it or just wait to the next car to get what I want. The 2015 reliability reviews aren't the best, so in a year or two, they might have fixed the issues.

 

Many of the "reliability" issues of the 2015s are for early production out of Mexico and are posted by fan boys who appear to be anal retentive. Production after Nov. 2014 seem to be better. 2016 production are split between Japan (CVT transmission) and Mexico (6 speed manual.)

 

Now at about 20K. My 2015 EX CVT (Built in Mexico Nov 2014) has been great. I did have the splash shield fall halfway off during the first month or two. Otherwise, no issues and I really like the car.

 

Yeah, thumbs up for the mysterious thread title. I just had to click on it see what it was about.