Pretty much what the title says. Just bought my VBP last weekend, it has 213k miles, solid running car. Looking to drive this 11 hours from New Haven, CT to Cincinnati, OH to my in laws in a couple of weeks. Never done a long distance road trip with a car of this mileage, so any insight would be appreciated.

 

If you don't know or are unsure of the service and maintenance of the vehicle, better to tackle everything. You can also weigh the cost of with how much time and ultimately money that you can afford by not doing anything. i.e. if you break down on the side of the highway, how much can you afford in terms of time waiting for a tow, getting another vehicle to continue your trip, getting the Fit serviced, etc.... I've done several cross country drives and even though I have CAA (Canadian Automobile Association, brother to your AAA), I hope to never use it so I have regular maintenance just in case.

 

I agree completely with the previous post. To expand it a bit:

Did you have the car inspected by a mechanic prior to purchase? Do you have service history records for the car?

If your answer is no to both of the questions above you have to assume that everything that should be done for a 200K car still needs to be done for your car. The manual has a maintenance section that outlines the schedule for service of all the major systems, but the summary is that at 200K everything needs to be done.

If I bought a 10+ year old car with 200K miles and no service history I would change the oil, change the transmission fluid, change the coolant, change the engine and cabin air filter, change the spark plugs, potentially change the coils, check the brake rotors/pads and flush and bleed the brakes, check the battery and alternator, check the tires for age/even wear/remaining lifespan, and check the suspension components (struts, shocks, springs, and bushings) for proper operation.

But that's not all! If your Fit has lived in the NE throughout its life I would carefully check the underbody and especially the drive axles for rust. You can find many posts here about drive axles breaking after rusting through under the rubber dampener. If you see bad rust on the exposed part of the drive axle it's likely to be much worse under the dampener, and you don't want it to break while you're flying down the interstate. In that case I would replace the axles (check to see if your vehicle falls under the TSB for axle replacement and you might get this done for free). The Fit motors also need valve adjustment over time (multiple times by 200K miles), which you may or may not want to tackle.

If that seems like a lot, it is. Unfortunately buying a (hopefully) cheap older car isn't really cheap. If you're not a DIY person, your best bet is to go to your trusted mechanic (I hope you have a trusted mechanic) and tell them that you're prepping for a long distance trip and see what they recommend. Don't be surprised if they recommend a lot of work.

Alternatively, if you're a gambler and/or have time and money to weather a break down on your trip, you might be totally fine with the basic pre-trip checks you would do with any car before any long drive: check all fluid levels, check brake operation, check your tires for tread depth and proper inflation, check your engine air filter and if necessary bang it on the fender a few times to knock the dust out, fill up the gas tank, and go.

I've known folks who rarely even open the hood on their car and yet it keeps going for years and years without a hiccup. I also see relatively new, shiny cars broken down on the side of the road all the time. You're lucky that the Fit is a generally reliable and durable car, but 200K miles over nearly 15 years is a lot of wear and tear.

 

To give an overview, the carfax shows that the routine maintenance was kept up throughout the car's entire life and the oil was changed right before the car was traded in and sent to auction. Throughout its life there are multiple reports of "recommended maintenance performed" but despite the lack of details it gives me a lot of confidence in the car knowing it was well taken care of. There is hardly any rust underneath despite being a New England car which was a major selling point for me. That being said, in terms of additional needed service, I'm not sure if anything major like the plugs, coil packs or valve adjustments were done. I can take a look after work. Luckily I do have AAA and have the top tier option. Sounds like I just need to nut and bolt check the suspension and make sure everything is tight.

 

Doing everything is not a bad idea. Start with tires and brakes, and check the suspension.

Good luck

 

Depends on how much you want to YOLO it. I bought a basket case for $600 and drove it 3000km immediately after only fixing what's acutely broken (throttle sensor wire, input shaft bearing) and it worked perfectly.

Months later, a few days before I was supposed to go on another trip, the alternator just died when I went to start the car. Zero prior warning. So yeah... you can and should do some preventative maintenance, but fluid changes won't really make a difference to you making the trip or not. But stuff like starter, alternator, coils, can just fail randomly at this sort of age mileage anyway.