hey guys, right now i drive a stock 1999 honda prelude 5spd. I plan to sell/trade in it and buy a fit (is it a stupid choice of me to trade prelude to fit? my prelude is totally stock and unmolested). I am in southern california. my questions are these:

1. how long did you wait for your fit? I'm asking the socal owners..and where did you purchase your fit at/ for what price? I want a FIT SPORT only...in white.

2. just to confirm...the fit doesnt come with a sunroof right? nor an option for it?

3. i know stick is pure fun when driving..but ive noticed my family members cannot even move my car out of the driveway when needed cuz they cant drive stick. so my question is this: is the 5AT reliable (which car also uses this tranny)? and is it MUCH slower than the 5spd? also...i know you get to control the gears via paddle shifter on the sport model but i hear it downshifts a lot by just a tiny press on gas pedal...is this true? because I dont want it to downshift all the time and waste gas.



Thanks for the help guys. My friend is also on this forum...so HUY..if you are reading this, shoot me an IM sometimes. thanks guys

 

pssh not a socalprelude member either!



good luck on white...they discontinued that color in 07

so i guess your luck with getting a brand new white fit is out of the question. and good luck finding a used white fit too!

the auto is slower then the manual...from my experiences.

and if your into gas saving then make sure you get a manual...we(manuals) get better gas mileage then the autos.

 

ugh...i didnt know that they didnt have white anymore! should i wait for the new fit? the new one is growing on me. and yes, i am on socalprelude.

 

From what I've seen the auto is about 2 seconds slower than the manual
0-60mph. (about 9sec in the M/T to about 11sec A/T) But if your buying a Fit you're not looking for speed anyway.

Not sure about how much it downshifts, but I'm guessing the gears are set up like the manual and at 65mph in fifth the RPMs are a little above 3000.

No, the 08's do not come in white or with a sunroof, and from what I hear the 09s while not have a sunroof either, at-least not here in the US. You will get an option for an in-dash Navi system, and upgraded interior in the 09s. And who knows maybe they'll come in white.

I got my Fit from Rancho Santa Margarita Honda. I owed 6 grand on my trade-in so the deal I got kinda blew. But, they were really nice. Also, taking it in for warranty work, like oil changes, takes about an hour and a half, so long as you call for an appointment.

Anyway, hope I helped a little!

 

thanks! youve been a good help. do u think the new one will be better? i really like the current one? what other color is good? i like the orange and the bright blue one...haha. what do you have? at or 5spd?

 

well i also want them to drive it from time to time since gas prices is so high..so i want them to just use the car on the weekend too if they want. i guess ill go through with auto. so hte paddle shifter is just like a manual where i have full control on when to upshift?

does the auto have better resale value than the stick one?

 

whats a reasonable price in buying a fit nowadays? im located in socal. also, in your honest opinion, do you think

1. it's smart of me to trade/sell my 99 prelude for a fit? (cuz my car cost me close to $70 for a full tank- premium required)

2. get current one or wait for next gen? I like both design.

which brings me to my second question:

1. how much is it for a FULL TANK of gas for the fit? it can use regular right?

2. and do you know where the new upcoming fit is made in? is it also 100% from japan?

thanks a lot man

 

it's a 1.5l so it has to shift (up and down) a lot, but it does this to conserve gas... not waste it. RPM's don't waste gas, an open throttle does. If you can pull a hill in 3rd using 15% throttle and it takes 50% throttle to pull the same hill at the same speed in 5th, then turning higher RPMs in a lower gear is the more fuel efficient option.

 

1. Fit takes 87 octane (AT gets better mpg at 65 MT gets better at 75-steeldog, I think it was steeldog.)
1a the tank is techinally 10.8 gallons but the reserve is aprxo 1 gal. ppl have gotten over 40mpg after breakin. or 30mpg. or 28. depends on the driver.
2. If you like both, do not think that the 09 is fugly, the 09 may be a better choice. here is a link on my reasoning for the 09. I listed a pro and con

 

Unfortunately, oh so true.

 

TW WILL be available for the Fit in 2009.

Tyler

 

If you want the best price for either the 08 or 09, email the dealer, don't go in. You get a much better price through the internet. Tell them exactly what you are looking for and ask for a price. Print the quote you receive and then take it to the dealer. (Some dealers will lie and say they have what you want just to get you in, and then try to get you into something else.)

As for cost per tank... The Fit hasn't cost more than $37 for a fill-up since I got it last September. I drive it hard and still get 280 miles out of each tank. (About 29mpg) And it's 87octane, no matter what anyone says 89 or 91 will not help MPG or performance.

I'm almost positive the 09 will be 100% from Japan. Apparently, White will be an option too. And although it's first year here, it's the second year for the new style which came out in Japan last year sometime, so I wouldn't worry too much about 1st generation bugs.

Oh, and if you can sell your Prelude privately you'll get more money than if you trade it in.

Also, I think the 09 will be about the same price as the 08, but the Sport comes with more options in 09 thus, the out-the-door price with ALL the options is higher in 09.

p.s. I drive the 5spd.

 

Depends if he wants it quickly or if he can wait. Dealers can't tax the trade-in. The extra $ he gets from selling the 'lude privately will go towards tax =(

 

what do you mean the dealer cant tax the trade in and if i sell privately it will go towards tax? cuz my lude right now is kbb worthed at almost $8,000

 

1) I didn't wait at all for my Fit. A dealer 20 miles from my house had exactly what I wanted on the lot, a Milano Red base model with 5MT. Bought it the same week.

2) No sunroof. You can add one aftermarket but I don't recommend that. 2009 may offer that as an option though.

3) The manual is faster and I am a big fan of the manual transmission but if you want a FAST car you aren't going to buy a Fit anyway. The automatic is more than adequate I think. I would say test drive both and see what you prefer. Manual transmissions as a rule are more reliable and simpler than automatics, but I'm sure that the automatic will be reliable for a long, long, long time. It's a Honda.

No matter which you choose it's going to be reliable and it will get good fuel mileage. I recommend you choose the transmission based on what is best for your needs and which one you like driving the most!

 

I would take your Prelude to your nearest CarMax and see what they will give you for it. It only takes 15 minutes to get an estimate and they will usually give you more than the dealer will on a trade, in fact they almost do give you more and it is a quick and easy process.

I love the current model, the extra 9 horsepower etc wasn't worth waiting for, for me. The timing was perfect since I needed a car and the current one is now available and the dealers aren't jacking the prices up anymore because they aren't ridiculously hard to get.

Waiting for the new one, getting a first model year that might be built somewhere other than Japan and dealing with arrogant Honda dealers who want to tack on $2000 to the MSRP for a hot product was not acceptable to me.

If you can afford to wait, or you are the kind of person who will suffer serious buyers remorse when the new XYZ super model comes out and has 2 more blinky lights than yours does then I would say you should wait. The i-VTEC motor should have a broader powerband and I expect the new car will have a softer/smoother ride. They may even offer us the CVT which really would be worth waiting for if you aren't planning on getting a stick shift.

 

wow. thanks man. appreciate your effort in answering my questions.

my friend is planning to trade in his 2006 Scion TC and get a fit with me. ...so you think we can get a good deal if we buy TWO at the same time? hahaha

ohh here's another thing. ive never driven a stick car that didnt have a dead pedal....how annoying is that? does your left foot get realllllly tired? esp on long trips? haha is there an aftermarket mod to add a dead pedal?