Car and Driver recently did a long term write up. I'm sure if you surf their site, you'd easily find it.

Cliffs: crazy cheap to operate, 33ish mpg, generally well liked.

 

have three Sports in courier duty and 5 other cars (2 other brands) as well. The Fits are approaching 175K now. We've done the brakes and plugs at 100K and regular oil changes and tires...lots of tires! The tranny fluid gets a change every 30-40K.

The foglite design is stupid, the lenses always crack, we gave up on them. Very expensive to replace...they remain broken. No other issues. We don't use that 10% ethanol that is so big out here on the plains. As a result no probs with the emission systems, fuel pumps, O2 sensors, etc...

Some guys love to drive 'em, others loath them and refer to them as go-karts. We average 34 MPG's. We deal with lots of prairie winds and higher speed limits than more populated areas. Also, very cold in the winter (we have block heaters) and hot in the summer.

We go to the optional smaller tire for winter snow driving. From my tire guy:
On the 2007 Honda Fit Sport, OE is 195/55R15. We installed 185/60R15. Exact same height, 10 mm narrower. This size gives quieter ride; smoother ride; better traction on snow, ice, mud; and less money. Two good recommendations would be the Bridgestone Insignia (65k) for about $100/tire installed; or the Firestone FR710 (65k) for about same price. Both are quiet, smooth all season radials good for high-mile highway use.

The drivers notice an improvement and love 'em.

 

If you only need the housings/lenses, the jdm knockoff fog kits from Zeta or ebay fit according to other fitfreakers who've bought them. They are a lot cheaper too. Apparently the wiring and switch isn't worth a C++P.

See these threads for more:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...og-review.html
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...iring-wtf.html

 

...Look at some after-market overlays a while back. There was nothing for the Fit then, I suppose they have some now. Only thing is...they required me to repair (again) the original lights and then this film went over them.... That what your talking about?

 

No, for about $80, you can get the whole kit for a base fit - new housings, wiring, switch. The color won't match but the black housing looks great along side the grille IMHO. The housings are held in by one screw. Undo the screw, take out the damaged housing/lens, unplug the halogen, reverse steps to install the new housing/lens. If color is important, get them painted.

Much cheaper than the OEM replacement. Here's an example:

eBay Motors: 07-08 HONDA FIT JDM OEM CLEAR FOG LIGHTS LAMPS FOGLIGHT (item 310096508142 end time Nov-02-08 18:34:28 PST)

Zeta Products was selling a similar unit within the last 6 months. Some fitfreakers tried to use these to upgrade their base fit but the switch and wiring don't appear to be compatible with the US Fit as noted in the two links I put in my post above.

 

...but...there's about 5-6 mornings a year, during the dark, dank winter - that we'd actually use the lights. the guys push off the loading dock about 8:15 AM and are back by 3PM or so.

Also, we'll be replacing the cars this summer...hopefully.
They'll have about 250K on them by then, all depreciated, etc...

 

...the black housing would go good with the white car, kinda give it raccoon eyes! LOL

 

This is a huge topic, and there are thoughts on both side of the dino vs synth debate. The general idea behind synth is that it degrades less under high heat and shear conditions over time, retaining more of its lubricating properties as it ages than dino oil. This is an oversimplification, but is the general idea. Do some Googling on this subject and you could probably spend a couple years sitting in front of your computer learning about the subject. All I know is that when I worked at a VW-Audi dealer, the turbo cars and diesel cars all specified synthetic oil from the factory. These are engines that are more highly stressed than average. I personally believe that synth oil is probably better quality stuff in the long run, but if you change your oil and filter religiously and run dino juice you will probably, on average, be fine in most vehicles. Start running turbos and cooling hot bearings, or high compression diesels or turbo diesels, you start realizing some of the synth oil benefits more, i.e. less coking in turbo oil lines due to heat, etc. Big subject here, and this barely scratches the surface OF the surface. Do some Google searching, lots of interesting material and opinion.

 

Thanks for the info on tires! I am looking for a quieter tire once mine wear down.

It's great to hear about Fits as fleet cars. Are you planning to replace them with the new Fits, or go to something else?

 

The re-sedign of the '09 Matrix has it a hot item in our group. This vehicle is preferred for what we do, cargo space, long rides @ hiway speeds, etc...
We bought 3 new Matrix's this summer and everyone loves 'em. Even the Fit drivers. I go with what they want (to some degree) as they live in them. Also, the new Fit's may cost even more - I haven't researched it yet...& it's kinda early. The NEW Matrix gives us more bang for the buck. Having the plugs and front pads last until 200K is nice too. The Fits wore out at 100K, softer pads I guess...maybe no iridium tipped plugs?

The Fits have been very good and reliable...it's just that the Matrix is all those things, costs less and has a TON of space for hauling freight!

 

I still prefer the look of the Fit, but you base your business on your fleet, so....have to give you props for knowing what works or doesn't work. How does the Hyundai compare, and have you considered Maza 5s? Or are they a little too large?

And, I have to say, I NEVER see a Matrix in white but I LIKE! That's some dark tint you have on the windows. Looks hot.

 

...thing about the Hyundai. Really its too small for what we do - the business has out grown it in a year! It's now in backup duty and has 130K (its an '07). Backup means that when another goes in for service that can't be done in 2 hrs., we use the backup. An example would be new windshields, they take a little longer as do tire changes w/ 4-wheel alignments. We go thru about 2 windshields a yr./per car.

No one told me I was to change the timing belt at 60K! It was VERY cheap to purchase, compared to the Fits and Trixies. However, the timing belts is like a 500.oo repair! Anyway, at 126K the belt snapped and we found out that not only is there a belt (the others have chains) but its an interference engine too. That means you can bend valves when the belt breaks the repair get really $$$.

We got lucky and only needed the belt. They did some other work while they were there, like a serpinetine belt and we got out of it for 600.00. So, I figure I'm still ahead...towing was free, we have AAA-plus.

Fit and finish can't match the Honda/Toyota products and the drivetrain feels a tad crude. The gas mileage matches the Trixie, but should be better...you'd think.

 

I do high miles, about 30K/year. Bought my '08 5MT Fit in May and it has 15K miles on it now. Just finished doing the second oil change / tire rotation. I'll be thrilled if it goes 200K with no major issues.

Very interested in hearing what kind of price a Fit with 250K miles will bring!

It's interesting to hear about the Fit fleet cars on the Northern Plains. It's a city car at heart, and as such I imagine high speed highway use was pretty low on the list of qualities the engineers focused on. It's nice to hear that they are doing a passable job but not surprising to hear that the Matrix may be a better car for that kind of use.

 

...a cargo space issue...not reliability!

The Trixies have brought around $ 5,000.00 at trade in. The book says they should be worth more, but we know how books are! I suspect the Fit's will be similar. Many folks know we service these units well and we have buyers waiting at the dealer to buy these cars as we trade them. Many are friends of mine, so I get to see how they do in their next life as well. They haven't let anyone down!

We got rid of 2 (2003) Corolla's a few yrs. back. That's when we still operated w/ 4-dr. sedans. Those 2 are doing great and I know one was given to a college-age girl that has been hard on it.

 

they are not exactly the same height, but pretty close:

195*0.55= 107.25mm
185*0.60= 111.00mm

your gearing will be 1.3% taller amongst other things

 

Why do you (they) like the Matrix better for long rides @ highway speeds? MPG? Comfort?

How does the MPG compare between the two?

Thanks.

 

we probably wear those few mm's off in three weeks, the way we go thru tires!

 

The Fit is a rougher ride and is more fatiguing on long trips at high-speed. Especially in the constant high prairie winds we experience. The steering is less forgiving and you feel the road more in the Fit.

The gas mileage in the Fit is usually a tad better. There are differences between the drivers & all, buit I have one guy that can routinely get 36 in the Fit. Again, with our winds and higher speed limits...that's good. The difference bwtween the 2 cars is probably about 2 MPG's ~ again...it's more the driver and the wind that day than anything else.

All that said, the biggest difference is that the Matrix will hold more freight and is easier to load/unload that freight as well.

The one bad thing about loading the new (09's) Matrix is that they added a lip to the rear deck. The older body style was flat in and great for heavier boxes, etc...the Fit has that lip too.

Please remember, my youngest driver is 55 yrs. old!!

 

Jake696 -- thanks for the info. I'm close to getting a '09 Fit Sport AT, and wondered about real world differences between the Fit and Matrix.... If I were a delivery person, Matrix probably sounds better, but for what I do, I'm still leaning Fit (30 minute commute to work, erands around town, ....)

 

The Fit has an after market center console available...unless the new ones have that now? That was one thing that we found annoying, if you're a "leaner" and like that arm rest in the center.