I am shopping for my first car. Im one of those who live downtown and a dont really need a car since parking its more annoying to park and maintain than just take the subway to go to works.

However im about to change town for a new job, where not having a car is very restrictive.

The fit sport really interest me, but I am afraid that a cheap hybrid model will come down the line in 2 years and makes most of the high end fuel sippers obsolete.

Rumors says that honda will release a hybrid option for less than 20k , 2k more than non hybrid, as early as late 2010. Thus buying a new fit sport seem risky and resell price is likely to drop.

However I need the car sooner than 2010.

 

The Fit's resale value kind of slips a bit. Honda already has a Hybrid Insight and the regular Civic rivals it for gas mileage. Although in city driving the Insight probably beats it. I bought a Nissan Altima Hybrid and get 35mpg in urban/city/rural mix driving. In the city, I'm getting almost 40mpg and the car is pretty big and normal. Tons of power.

 

Comparing Edmunds.com "true cost to own" for the 2007 Honda Civic EX and Civic Hybrid, the Hybrid is only slightly less expensive to own. After 5 years the Hybrid only saves you $1,000; that's $16 a month. The cost factors in fuel, depreciation, repairs/maintenance, and financing. Granted it's for the US market, but I think we're pretty similar.

Edmunds calculates greater depreciation on the Civic Hybrid than they do the EX. I think this is due to the higher up front cost and lifespan of the batteries, or at least the public's perception of their longevity. This eats up most of the savings on fuel.

You need a car now, you like the Fit. Get it and rest easy. If they come out with a Hybrid it won't affect the values of your car that much (or at all) and wouldn't save you that much money.

If a hybrid Fit were available when I bought mine I probably would have gotten the hybrid based on my fear that gasoline will go up a lot in the next 5 years, and the bragging rights it would give me at the gas pump, but that's not very rational.

 

The Fit hybrid is not being released to the US, at least not initially.

OTOH, the CR-Z Hybrid should be released in Q3 or Q4 2010.

CR-Z Hybrid Sports Coupe Concept - Official Honda Web Site

 

The hybrid Fit will test the foreign shores before it is offered to the US. The Fit is a great car and I would not trade it for anything else right now. Ok unless it was red and came with a rearing horse on the front emblem.LOL!

Cat :x

 

Many people do not want hybrids. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

I wonder if folks don' want them, or can't afford the higher cost?

That said, get a used GD3 now and worry about the future when it comes. I fully expect to still be driving my Fit ten years from now.

 

im not very fluent with hybrids, but most of the time they have 2 key weaknesses...
1 being they are usually more expensive vs normal gasoline powered version so you'll have to drive it much longer to recover the initial cost vs just driving a gas version.

2 being battery takes up quite a bit of cargo space... would kinda defeat the
purpose for me if i can't carry

 

Thanks for your input, but I guess nobody know the awnser except if you had tapped Honda executives staff meetings.

If somebody know one, can you pay him few bottle of sake and 2-3 geisha so we could know what they have in mind ?

I guess ill have to live with it.

 

The Civic Hybrid has been out for several years, and it doesn't seem to have killed demand for gas engine Civics. I see the Fit Hybrid (if there is to be one) as another choice, not the end of the gas engined Fit. The reasons for this have already been explained in this thread.

 

Thats a good point and I'm just stating my point of view on the subject, but many people I talk with in my part of town do not want a hybrid but a more efficient gas engine.

 

I don't get the concern about the gas Fit becoming obsolete? As long as you can get gas (and hybrid cars require gas!) the gas Fit will never be "obsolete".

 

Exactly! And, strange as it may seem, not all of us want the extra complexity of the hybrid.

 

Yup I'd venture to say the majority of consumers agree with this

 

I thought the Insight IS the Fit Hybrid. It sure looks and feels like it's just a variant of the same car.
If they used the standard Fit profile, it would be a bit pinched on space I'd imagine, due to the necessary sacrifice of space to the battery. Better to either put a longer rear on it to compensate (Insight) or make it a 2 seater (CR-Z).

 

"Obsolete" is too strong a word IMO, especially in today's economic climate.

Are you willing to pay more for what is essentially the same car but with a more complicated powertrain? There's a proportion of people who are willing to do so, and yet there's also a number of people who won't bite.

Given that some US people already think the plain-vanilla non-hybrid GE8 Fit costs too much for what it is, I wonder how the popular reaction to a Fit Hybrid would be when it's launched in the Americas...

 

If they do launch a Fit Hybrid, it would be downmarket from the Insight, right? The starting invoice price on a base model Insight is $18,688, while a loaded Fit is 18,421... Since the Insight already shares so much with the Fit, I don't see how it wouldn't cannibalize sales either upwards (from the Insight) or downwards (from the Fit). The tiny gap between invoice and MSRP in the Fit makes me think that there's not much room in the profit margins.

 

If you like the car and it runs well for you, and Honda continues to provide parts for service, then what in the world does "obsolete" mean anyway?

Nov '09 we just junked a '92 Plymouth Voyager 5-speed stick minivan with over 200K on the odo. It had been "obsolete" for many years..! -But we continued to use it and enjoy it right up until it no longer became economically feasible!

With cars, there's really no such thing as obsolete! Outdated maybe. A big old gas hog maybe. Not worth repairing anymore maybe. A rusted out ratter maybe. -But never "obsolete.."!