I made up a post like this on HT and the replies I got weren't too insightful. So I'll ask the same question here: Do you think the Fit will become the next Civic, Integra or Accord - In other words, will it be the next car people will want to modify and essentially become a thief magnet? I'm just a little paranoid because my civic got stolen two days ago and I'm skeptical in purchasing another great, reliable, gas efficient Honda.

I want to hear what other Honda Fit enthusiasts and prospective owners have to say.

 

Anything with mods and made by Honda will be a target. If the Fit becomes the new car to mod, modded ones are going to be tempting to car theives.

Depends on the quality of the factory anti theft features.

 

b17gsr has a good point, maybe more a little more relevant than my 2¢:

First of all, I am very sorry to hear that your car was stolen. I cannot imagine what you are feeling because I have never had anything of that importance stolen from me, but I can imagine it goes beyond the physical loss.

Concerning the Honda Fit becoming a thief magnet, I will not deny that there will be Fit's stolen, that is a given. To the extent of it becoming a target of car thieves, it may make the top ten list, but I believe it would be at the bottom of the top ten list.

There are people here that think the Fit is the manifestation of the best car ever built, but in reality, it is a B-segment sub-compact that Americans traditionally shied away from. With the rise in fuel costs, this segment will no doubt become more popular.

Relative to what b17gsr has already said, my advice would be to buy the Sport Fit which comes with a security system with remote entry, or install your own car alarm. This may come across as a no-brainer but I also believe in garaging my vehicle every night. I don't know where your car was stolen from, but if I did not have a garage, I would acquire housing which offered that option.

 

Yeah, a garage is key. A must have.

BTW to the op: What mods did you have on your civic? Was it a flashy car?

 

I agree 100%

Losing my car didn't suprise me much nor did it anger me. It just made me think twice before I get another compact gas saving Honda.

But I definitely plan on getting an alarm if I still decide to get the Fit.

My car was just lowered on some bronze wheels. It was super clean though and the orignal red paint was niiice. The thiefs just got an old 165k mile stock motor though Suckas

 

double post

 

Maybe, depends how popular the Fit is. The best deterent is a two way alarm system and a garage. I might get the two way alarm system but fortunately I have at least a two car garage. Too bad the Fit won't be allowed to use it.

On the flipside, do you think the Fit will become the next big thing for ricers wanting to ghetto-rice their cars? I just hope that the Fit's seat rails and bolts are not compatible with the S2000 seats, like the Civic, Accord, Integra are. Nationwide, hundreds of S2000 owners have had their seats stolen that end up in a ghetto fabulous rice mobile. I would hate to see S2000 seats in a Fit.

 

People will customize the Fit as they wish. You usually don't hear about riced out cars getting jacked, so they dont have to worry. Its the people who want to put quality jdm parts on their ride who have to worry about theft.

I'll have to try and clear out room in my garage during the night and park it close to the entrance of my work during the day + get a nice alarm. Leave my Fit alone punks!

 

If anyone's going to be scared about my fit getting stolen, it will be my insurance company. Are you not going to carry insurance?

 

Insurance wont be paying for modifications done to a car unless you got receipts to back up each and every one of them. My philosophy on this has always been the same regardless of what car you own. Do as little on the outside of the car as possible because the exterior is the number 1 attraction to anyone whether its a thief looking to steal your car or a cop looking to give you a ticket for something stupid that could have easily been avoided.

Rarely will a thief suspect your car is modified unless thats what you wanna portray to him by having decals, added or imported emblems, body kit's, big bling bling wheels. To me stuff like this is common sense, the ratio of cars with exterior modifications getting stolen compared to cars that arent modified on the exterior is probably 3 to 1 if not more.

Your best bet in any situation is get a good alarm if your not completely satisfied with the stock keyless entry alarm. Obiviously get a good insurance policy and just think twice about what your doing when it comes to the exterior. Like I said that is the first thing anyone see's when they see your car, chances are if they see a stockish looking outside, they wont suspect anything under the hood or aywhere else.

 

Theft=Popularity

Fit's theft rate will be entirely dependant on sales..The more popular the easier to sell parts

All of the top 3 stolen Honda's are the Accord, Civic and Integra..you do the math

Thiefs want cars who's parts are easy to sell and have a large base of customers. A lot easier to sell a camry airbag vs a porsche

 

I did the math, and Honda plans on selling 30,000 Fits by the end of 06 and 50,000 Fits each following year. I think I'll get the base model and head over to best buy to pick up the most reliable alarm they have. Park it in public areas where I can keep an eye on it while working, and try to make room in my garage.

 

Is it compulsory in the Unisted Sates for all new cars to be fitted with a factory immobiliser?

It costs the manufacturer very little to fit a standards approved immobiliser eg. A$20-A$30 as opposed to retro fitting A$100.

This has all but stopped professionaql car theft of newer vehicles in Australia. One drawback is the rise in carjackings (nowhere near the level of the US) because the car is too hard to steal otherwise. Another common ploy is the breaking into houses to steal the car keys.

Immobilisers aren't noise makers/alarms which everyone ignores anyway. Everyone has a wally across the road who has a dodgey alarm that goes off every day who if their car was ever actually stolen noone would notice as a consequence.

Best protection is vehicle tracking systems. These continue to fall in price. If a car is stolen it can be recovered quickly.

 

One of several reasons I dont mod my cars.

Azanon

 

This is no ITR, DC5R, or Brand New Si.... I would say if people didn't steal the Insight I doubt this one will be in the Top 10 either. It is a Honda so it raises it up on the list, but the Brand New Si will be at the top of the list I'm sure.

 

You think the brand new Si will be above the ITR? Is the new Si harder to steal or will thiefs have it figured out quickly?

 

Honda models with the performance motors are the big targets. I agree, the Civic Si will be getting stripped of it's motor and brakes, and will be found on a souped up Fit.

 

Barely anyone can get their hands on a brand new Si... Hard to buy rasies the theft rate...

 

Curious about what theft protection measures others have taken. We have the Sport MT, which comes with its own theft system, and we keep it in a carport off the street (best we can do given our apt building). Have others taken additional steps to secure their cars, and with what rationale did you do that?

 

I have mine garaged, after market alarm. shock sensors etc.

There's really only a handful of FITs that are modded. I dont know about your area, but I only know of 2 other people in my area(DC METRO) that have modded fits. everyone else are just older folks wanting to save gas. I'm sure the Fit will be ok and won't be a TOP contender in being on the most wanted list. Oh and dont put all those stickers on your car. Your pretty much telling everyone whats on your car.....
When you take it to a place to install i.e. best buy, dont use ur real address.

just some tips..