Good day FF! Been a long time lurker and now officially a Fit owner so I figured I'd make it official and register.

I've been on the hunt for a 5 speed GE8 for the past two months since my beloved 5-spd 99 EK hatchback was stolen in October after 6 years of ownership. Loved my Dark Amethyst Pearl hatchback, the way it drove, the roominess of the hatch, the ease of use/repair...list goes on and on. EK had 250K+ miles and just pulled the motor and rebuilt it this May. Then some jerk decided they needed it more than me . I needed to find something just as fun and practical to drive.

Anyways, I have a good friend with a GD and he told me the Fit was the next best thing. He has 160k+ on his GD and a coworker has a GD with over 200k+ miles. Needless to say, the Honda reliability was there. From there my search was on. Apparently no one in San Diego likes to drive manual and finding a manual to buy, let alone test drive was like finding a unicorn.

I ended up finding a 2012 Milano red base at the local dealer in manual so I went and test drove it immediately (btw this 5spd sold after being on the lot for 3 days). Once on the road I fell in love! The search continued to find either a Milano red or Taffeta White sport in manual.

This is what I ended up with after 2 months of waiting/searching I found one somewhat locally from another (now former) member of FF.

2013 Milano Red w/ 56k miles

• Mugen Short Shifter w/ extension/riser and titanium ball shifter (perfect height with arm rest)
• OEM Rear Cargo Cover
• OEM Arm Rest
• OEM Visors
• OEM Hood bra
• Fog light protector film
• LED lights throughout interior
• Pioneer AVH-P8400BH DVD unit W/ OEM Honda fit Navigation trim (need to get trim piece to fill gap around head unit)
• Swift Springs
• Progress Rear Sway Bar
• Rays Gram Lights 57dr (15x8 + 35) w/ rays locking lugs
• Kumho Ecsta ASTs 205/50/15
• OEM Sport alloys and OEM radio were included

Now I know the MR is one of the hardest colors to maintain, and one of the first things I noticed when I went to test drive it, was the bottom of the bumper under both fog lights was a little dull (picture attached). The previous owner had a full bra with a 60mile each way commute through the desert highway. I asked about the bottom half of the bra and he said he removed and threw it away because it didn't fit well. I theorize the bra + dirt + wind buffering/vibration = dull paint/clear coat. Need to get it detailed to see if it's salvageable or if it needs a respray or dip/wrap the whole car. I checked under the hood portion for similar damage, and the paint is perfectly fine under the hood portion of the bra, further increasing my belief that the poor fitment for the bumper bra caused the bumper dullness.

I also did notice a creak/clunk periodically from the rear driver side when going over a bump/pothole, and the owner said that was the Progress sway, which I have read sometimes they make that noise so I'll have to investigate more how to mitigate that sound.

Besides those two things, needing a detail and the stereo trim, the car is pristine and a blast to drive. In fact, I haven't even owned it 3 days and I've already added my first mod...Rays WR center caps. Totally completed the wheel look.

I do wish it was an inch or two lower to fill that wheel well gap as there is a 2-3 finger gap still. Swifts only lower an inch, but also the 205/50/15 (23") are an inch shorter than stock (24") so they more or less canceled each other out. Considering going to 205/55/15 (23.9") when these Kumho's are done to get the correct tire diameter.

Only mods I feel in my future are the VG Shark fin antenna, Clutch Delay delete, stereo trim, better than OEM floor mats, cargo tray and if it comes down to it, some new springs/struts or coilovers. These Swifts ride great though so who knows. I mention these mods...but we all know the nature of the beast, next thing I know a Supercharger is on the list or something lol.

Anyhow, hope to learn more from the forum and contribute as well. Any tips and tricks are welcome regarding the paint and the sway bar and anything for that matter.

I do participate on other forums such as 600rr.net and rccrawler.com. Also used to be very active on clubfrontier.org when I used to have a '06 Frontier Crew Cab. Feel free to drop me a PM

 

Nice find!

I also saw a red manual on CL the other day in San Diego and it disappeared quickly. However, upon research of the VIN, I found the auction photos and damage from being heavily vandalized. The seller did not list it as 'salvage', so I hope the buyer did some due diligence.

As for the faded red under the fogs, you may find that some Meguiar's speed glaze 80 (or equivalent) will bring back some shine. In my experience, the plastic bumper paint is always going to fade much quicker and will eventually need repaint or new clear coat. After years of looking at the faded spoiler on the '97 GS-R, I bought some 2 part clear coat spray and it looks as good as new now.

 

Nice list of parts on your new fit. Very cool little cars. Glad you finally got one and welcome to the forum brother!

 

Thanks guys. Yeah, I was fortunate to talk to this guy extensively about this car before biting the bullet. He's the original owner, was a former honda technician, kept all maintenance receipts and did literally most of the mods I had lined up. So it was a no brainer. I felt 56k was a lot of miles for a 2ish year old car, but its a honda...theres no such things as too many miles, 56k is just getting broken in.

As for the paint, I'm going to give it a good wash, clay and wax....or have someone do that if time doesn't allow me to. Hopefully that'll help bring back some of the shine.

So far I'm loving every minute behind the wheel. Such a spirited little car. =)

 

Oh man! Love the wheels! Want to trade for some bronze TE37's?

 

Thanks FamilyWagon! As much as I enjoy the TE37's I think I'm going to stick with these 57drs for a while. PM me some pics and specs anyways....may sway my mind lol.