Hi guys,

My girlfriend needs a new (to us) car and I've been keeping an eye out for a Fit since I think it sounds like a good car for her / us. They're in really short supply in my area, but a few days ago one popped up that seems promising. It's a 2009 Honda Fit Sport automatic with 95,000 miles that appears to be for sale by a real private party (not a curbstoner) that they're asking $8,000 for. Based on the pricing info I've looked at I think that's a very reasonable starting point if the car is in good condition and ready to go (although it's a lot of money for us, and especially a huge outlay of cash).

If I look at the car, are they any particular trouble spots or issues that I should look out for with this model / year / mileage? I want to do the best I can checking it out myself and if it still looks good I'm going to have it checked out by a mechanic before buying, preferably a reputable Honda dealership.

After I typed this out I saw a couple threads asking for similar info, so after reading those I guess I need to find out about the lost motion spring (LMS) issue and check for radio antenna seal leakage. How much does it matter if the LMS recall has been done? It it hasn't would I be able to get it done for free at a Honda dealership? How much risk is involved -- if I take it for the recall could I find out there's a serious problem related to that that won't be fixed for free? If the antenna base hasn't leaked yet, what should I do, keep an eye on it, or proactively get it fixed / replaced? Is that a recall that Honda will fix for free?

How about scheduled maintenance that's coming up or that should've been done by now? (I couldn't find a normal maintenance schedule for this car.)

More info about the car:

They're supposed to be the original owner.

They say it's had no major accidents, but has had a bumper replaced due to a lane changing accident, and had a dent or ding in a front quarter panel (they think it happened in a parking lot) repaired at a body shop (I actually know of that body shop and I believe it has a good reputation).

They say it hasn't needed any major repairs.

It's supposed to have 4 tires less than 12 months old.

I asked about the higher than average mileage hoping to hear that it was mostly highway, but they said it's a combination of short trips to work, occasional highway drives to a different office, and taking their kids to private school and sporting activities all over the place. I asked what percentage they thought was highway and it was clear they hadn't thought about it already and were figuring it out right then. They said they estimate that it's 60% highway, but also that their normal drive to work is 6 miles each way.

I asked how well they'd followed the maintenance schedule and they said they hadn't followed a "regimented" service schedule -- they took it for oil changes and did whatever was suggested when they took it for yearly state inspections. I tried to look up the maintenance schedule for this car on Honda's site and couldn't find anything coherent. The info they had on Honda's site seemed to be referring to stuff the maintenance minder computer would eventually tell you to do, but without saying when it's supposed to happen. Is there an actual maintenance schedule for this car that I can see somewhere on the internet?

I asked how complete their service records are (hoping to hear that they have everything, since it's a 2009 one owner car) and they said they think they have most of the records, including the ones for anything they spent serious money on.

Also, I originally thought the 2nd generation started with 2007 model year, but then I saw info that I thought was saying it started with 2009 model year. Then this forum says it started in 2008. What was the first model year for the 2nd generation in the US?

Thanks!

 

Styling changed in 09. I have 117k on my fit sport and the only issue I've been having is my nav keeps breaking...

 

The LMS recall replaces springs in the valve train that if left unchanged may fail and damage the engine. The recall is in place as when this happens the car will stall; stalling is unsafe. As long as they haven't failed the recall work can be done. And as with any recall the manufacturer, Honda in this case, will pay for everything (they may try to sell you additional services). Remember though: you'll be without use of the car (they won't give you a loaner). The owners should have this record from the dealer; if not get it done right away.

With 95,000 miles the car is due for major maintenance in the next year. The valves will require inspection (about $300) and at the same time the spark plugs require changing (another $100). This service seems to be called for by the car's computer around 105K. The antenna base problem can be avoided by removing the mast before taking it through the car wash. Carwashes damage these; they don't fail on their own. The manual even advises to do this.

There is no maintenance schedule. Honda (and most manufacturers) have gone to onboard computers that monitor the car's use and advise when oil changes and other maintenance (transmission, valve adjustments etc) are required. This results in widely varying service schedules, not just "normal" and "severe service." Ask to see their service records. If this was performed at a dealer they should be able to get a print-out. If they did it themselves they should have records. If not, weigh this in your considerations of what to offer.

Check KBB and Edmunds for market prices. Remember these services provide the average of recent sales. The market for this generation Fits is lower this month due to the introduction of the next gen 2015s. Use this knowledge to your advantage.

Also the IIHS came out with a new test that the Fit did poorly in (as do most older model cars). This made a wave when the media got hold of it. This can help negotiate a lower price.

95K sounds like a lot of miles but Hondas typically last 150K without being expensive to maintain and 250K or more without major problems. KBB shows this car in "Good" condition worth 8500 on a private sale. $8000 sounds pretty good. For comparison a new 2013 (there is no 2014 model in the States) Sport Auto are selling for around $16,000 right now.

 

Here are my thoughts in addition to "Steve244's" excellent advise:
- ya found a decent vehicle with very average yearly mileage for a Fit. Less than 100k for a 2009 is not high. Price is great assuming it has not been through any disaster. Could be the first owner, but to minimize that risk, get the VIN and purchase CARFAX.

- you won't have a problem sending any car of any make to a dealer and have recalls taken care. Its the law, so definitely no worries on this point.

- $8,000 is not chump change for anyone. A small investment ($100 to $200) to have the "peace of mind" is worthwhile. Strongly consider having a technical person give it a full inspection. Subcontracted AAA affiliates in your area could be a good start. At the very least, bring one of your friends who knows how to "look" at cars. This exercise should address your other concerns about maintenance, tires, etc...............

- If the car pans out and results in a purchase, don't stress about the past history. Start your ongoing maintenance schedule from there on.

- your assumption is correct!! US 2nd Gen Fits started in 2009.

Happy shopping and hope you land a nice FIT. Post pics!!!!

 

Here's my experience...I have a '09 Fit Sport MT, with right around 99k miles.

I traded in my '07 (first year of US Fit) for my '09 in August of '08, soon after the redesigned version came out in the US.

I had the LMS recall done, and have followed the maintenance minder pretty closely as far as oil change reminders, a bit less closely on some of the other services.

I am still using the original wipers (though I purchased the replacement inserts, just haven't installed them) and the original battery.

I changed out the rear shocks myself, as one was leaking. There is a spot on the door panels, right where your elbow would rest (both driver and passenger side) that tends to break under the cloth. I've had issues with the shift knob separating, but that wouldn't matter on your AT. I think I'm heading toward a clutch replacement, but haven't had that checked out yet. There are a few chips here and there on the paint (black), but nothing showing problems. One of my foglight lenses was cracked, probably within the first 3 months of ownership, but the light still works. All bulbs are original, and the only one out is my front right marker light, which I haven't bothered to replace. All lenses are still crystal clear. I had an issue in the first 1-2 year where the passenger automatic lock mechanism failed and was repaired under warranty. I had a similar issue happen with the trunk lock release. It stopped activating about a year ago - I took the access plate off and can manually put it into an "always locked" or "always unlocked but still sets off the alarm" mode.

I'm in south-central Texas, so no road salt (or ocean spray), high-heat, lots of sunlight. Probably around 60k of those miles were added when I was driving 140 miles a day to work, the rest is mixed driving. I'm on my 4th set of tires.

I plan on keeping my Fit until it starts to have more problems than I care to deal with - in other words, a long time. It's all paid off, so replacing the clutch should be my only expense other than gas/oil in the near future (and the 100k service).

 

FWIW I bought my wife an 09 Fit Sport Nav with about 98K miles on the odometer. Even thought it had high miles, I was not worried about anything going wrong with these cars (Hondas). Quite of few people on this forum have put this car to the test and have plenty of miles on them proving it is a good car.

I did make sure the lost motion spring recall was done by Honda which covers a major flaw with the motor. The dealership told me when they do the LMS inspection they do look at the timing chain. Not sure if that's 100% true but sounds logical.

Now at over 107K miles, I have changed the front brake pads along with all fluids changed out and ready to take it out on another road trip. The only issue I have noticed is the blower motor for the HVAC does squeak making the first fan speed annoying but works fine. I feel safe in it and my wife feels safe in it. Hope this helps.

 

Hi guys,

Thank you all very much for your replies, I sincerely appreciate it and I'm sorry for the crazy delay replying. Please don't take it as a lack of appreciation for your time and generosity. I want to give an extra thanks to @Steve244, @ROTTBOY, @nukeme70, and @crsexmex for the detail of your replies. I know it took your valuable time to write those and I'm really grateful.

The Fit that I posted about sold very fast, I didn't even get the chance to look at it. After that I ended up finding a great auto loan -- if I'd known about that earlier, I might've been poised to move sooner on the Fit. Shopping for a car was grueling (it's a tough market for used car buyers right now), but despite missing out on the Fit, and a subsequent Honda Accord, we ended up buying a car before the imminent demise of the old car. We got a 2008 Hyundai Sonata GLS 4-cylinder with about 61,000 miles for $7300, which I think is a decent value, even compared to the Fit, considering that it has 30,000 less miles. I'm still interested in the Fit for a future car.

In case anyone is interested, the auto loan is through Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU). What's great about it is A) 1.24% APR and B) very favorable terms compared to other auto lenders I looked at (e.g. will finance a car up to 12 model years of age, no arbitrary mileage limit, will finance private party purchases). They have branches local to me which helped make it practical for a private party purchase because we were able to go into a branch to close the loan. I don't believe you have to live anywhere near any of their branches in order to get a loan through them though. However, you would need the leeway to be able to take more time to close the loan to get a private party deal done in that case. I don't work for DCU or anything, I'm just telling you guys about what we did. If I'd known this loan was an option when I saw the Fit, we might've ended up with that car.

Thank you very much for that info.


Oh, ok, thanks, I didn't know that. Regular car washes, especially during winter, is something I plan to start doing, so that would've been very important info.


Maybe that's has some advantages, but it sure doesn't help when you're trying to tell what expenses you're going to be in for when buying a used car.


Were you referring to the spark plugs and such?


Yeah, thank you, I was checking those plus Clearbook and occasionally NADA.


I just meant that it's higher than average (I consider 10-15k per year the range for average). But yeah, if the car appeared to be in good shape, the mileage wouldn't have scared me.


Yeah, thanks for posting that, I checked that too and I thought the asking price was good, assuming it was in good condition. I tried to look into new Fit prices at some point and I don't think I was seeing as good as 16k for a Sport Auto (even a 2013), but that sounds like a pretty good price if you can get it (and afford it).

I appreciate you going to the trouble of posting the KBB screenshot. By the way, I recommend being careful about what images you post online, even screenshots like that one (which contains, among other things, photos of cars). Search "stock image extortion" to see why I say this. I would've posted a link to a bit more specific search, but I'm wary of extortion / lawsuits. You may also want to query the copyright enforcement practices of Getty Images (the parent company of iStock [iStockPhoto.com] according to WikiPedia, by the way).


Yeah, as I mentioned I was just going by my opinion of 10-15k per year being the average range.

Yep, if it looked good I wasn't even going to try too hard to bargain, and I would've gotten a CarFax or Autocheck report before buying (and, more importantly, had it checked out by a mechanic).


Ok, thanks. I've never dealt with recall work before. I believe there are a couple of recalls that need to be taken care of on the Hyundai we bought, so I'll probably be getting my feet wet with that soon.


Yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't spend anywhere near that kind of money on a car without having a mechanic look at it. Since I have limited experience with shops in this area, I did end up choosing one that is AAA approved, for whatever that's worth, to get this Hyundai checked out. I'd never been there before and when I got there I noticed that they have a bunch of European makes listed on their window, so hopefully they know what they're doing with an Asian car.


Yeah, I figured at that age there's a limit to how badly they could have abused the car, e.g. in terms of neglecting scheduled (mindered?) maintenance. That's how I'm approaching this Hyundai too. For example, I don't think the previous owner had the coolant changed like it's supposed to be. I figure it's about 1 year over the time interval, but fortunately only about 2k over the mileage interval, so I'm going to get all that stuff up to snuff at relatively low mileage and then keep it that way.


Ok, thanks. It can be confusing when the US model years don't match up with model years for other countries. Why does this forum say 08-present. Is that because this generation of Fit began in 2008 model year in some international market? Or does it refer to the year they started being manufactured?


Thank you! I would've obliged on the pictures, but I don't suppose you guys want to see pictures of a Hyundai Sonata....


Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I'm not going to comment specifically on much of what you shared, but that kind of info is great, I appreciate hearing all of it.


That kind of seems like a lot of sets for that mileage. I guess if that's one of the more notable things you've had to spend money on, that's doing pretty good though.


That's great, that's what I was hoping for. I was figuring we might keep it for 5-7 years and about 60-84k more miles. Like I said, I'm still going to be thinking about buying one of these in the future.


Ironically one issue with the Hyundai we bought is that the fan is loud on the high speeds, 3 & 4. I have to try sticking a vacuum in there and see if it's just some debris.

Yes, thank you, that is helpful info. Sounds like it's been pretty trouble free for you.

Thank you all again. We didn't end up with the Fit (or a Fit), but I really appreciate your help. I was seriously interested in that car, and kept looking for Fits the whole rest of the time I was car shopping, but they were few and far between near me. There was actually a dealership that had almost the same exact car as the one I mentioned here, same year, color, transmission, trim (Sport), even within a few thousand miles on the odometer, that wanted $10k for it. At the time, about a month ago, CarFax showed it as having been on their lot for like 7 months. I emailed them asking how much better of a price they could offer, and never heard back. I just checked and it's still listed on their site.

 

Most of us here are out the assist anyone no matter what they end up with. We would prefer Fits, but when an opportunity arises which is "too good to be true", ya must take advantage of that.

Looks like you did so, with the Sonata. The urgency dictated that you had too. Your gonna enjoy driving her for many years to come with proper maintenance.

Its satisfying to read that our collective opinions guided you into your latest purchase. Now its time to enjoy!!! Good luck, and yes, do post at least one pic so we all know.

 

Actually just oil changes. Plugs aren't due until after 100K by the maintenance minder (and anecdotal accounts).

100+K miles is the only major maintenance. Less than that it's just consumables (brakes/tires) and oil changes. It would be interesting to see service records just the same. Well kept records are a great selling point. No records may reduce the value of the car.

Appreciate your concern... It's good advice: don't lift photos online and post them online, especially if they have "Getty Images" attribution. They scan websites for matching images they own and will come after whoever registered the URL for the website.

I think a screen grab of a website is fair use, especially as it helps advertise their service, whether it's price guidelines or Hondas. Kelly might disagree.

 

Yeah, the old car (1999 Camry) was on death's door, so we couldn't wait indefinitely to pick and choose what to get. That's why it was such a bummer when that Fit got away, but we got lucky enough and got the Sonata before the old car died. The Camry was already struggling, but the day we bought the Sonata we dropped it off where we live and the seller rode with us to the credit union in the Camry to complete the deal. On the way there, I noticed for the first time that the check engine light had come on in the Camry. I don't know how much longer it'll live (and the Sonata has replaced it as a daily driver), but the CEL certainly wasn't a good sign and came at an interesting time.


Yeah, I hope so. We really weren't tuned in to scheduled maintenance before, and I think we were lucky the Camry did so well (15 years and about 218,000 miles) without being better maintained. So I'm going to try to stay on top of the scheduled maintenance with this Sonata and hope it lasts as well as the Camry did (although I think from now on I'd like to try to own cars during the 5-12 years old range, as a general guideline).

Well, that's what I came here to do, but now I see that I can't upload attachments. So I guess I'll have to figure out some image hosting service.



Oh, ok. Both the person that had the Fit and the person with the Sonata were the original owners as far as I know, and they were both more wishy washy about the scheduled maintenance than I expected. Oil changes are the only things they both seemed to be pretty confident about having had done, and I think that's about all there are records for on the Sonata (I never saw the Fit's).


Oh, ok. So with that Fit we would've been coming up on about $400 of scheduled maintenance, but then presumably been done for a while. I don't remember for sure, but I think I was expecting to need to do the coolant soon if they hadn't done it recently.

Yeah, I agree. Here's a summary of my car shopping experience though:

• Very limited supply of cars sold by actual private parties (resulting in high prices too).
• Decent cars selling very quickly.
• It was like pulling teeth just to try to find out if people have had their timing belts changed, let alone other maintenance. I gravitated as much as possible to timing chain cars (like the Fit and the Sonata).
• I think I'm competing with other buyers that are very undiscriminating.

So in practice I don't think bad records are hurting sellers very much right now.


In this case I wouldn't so much be worried about Kelly as a third party like Getty. If I'm looking at a Kelly web page that includes photos, for all I know they licensed those photos from Getty, or iStock (owned by Getty I believe), or some other rights holder who doesn't recognize a right to reproduce them in a screenshot.

 

Ok, here are some photos. I believe the color is called Silver Blue. It's a nice color.

 

[QUOTE=nukeme70;1234846]Here's my experience...I have a '09 Fit Sport MT, with right around 99k miles

I'm in south-central Texas, so no road salt (or ocean spray), high-heat, lots of sunlight. Probably around 60k of those miles were added when I was driving 140 miles a day to work, the rest is mixed driving. I'm on my 4th set of tires.

Hi Scott,

I have family that lives in College Station. I may move there in a year or so. Do you use the local Honda dealer for anything? You think it's a good dealer? Just curious. I thought his prices were a little high.

Whoop!

 

[QUOTE=siguy;1245631]Howdy!

I think I've had my oil changed there once, and that was it. I still travel into Houston occasionally, so anything I need I just use Honda of Spring, where I bought the car.

Sorry I can't really give a plus or minus to Allen Honda here in BCS - good luck, and welcome to the neighborhood!