Ok so here's a little back story. I came into quite a bit of money when I was 19, so my first instinct was, after taking care of a few things, to buy my dream car. The guy I was dating at the time convinced me that a Scion tC was the perfect car for me. After doing some research (now that I look back, all I really did was check out pictures) I told my Dad this was the car for me and nothing was gonna change my mind...


Fast forward about 3 years, I no longer have the car and I'm in search of another one. I'm older and wiser nowI have my heart set on a Honda Fit, and after doing tons of REAL research on it, I'm convinced this is the car for me. The problem is, my Dad doesn't agree. He won't let go of the Scion debacle and won't even pretend to show interest whenever I bring up buying a Fit. Sooooooo...


I was wondering if I could get some longtime Fit owners to come in here are sing the praises of this great little car. I plan on sending this thread to my Dad so try to keep it clean and classy. I know this won't ultimately convince him, but I just want him to see I'm not the only one on Earth that thinks this is a good car.

Thanks in advance!!

 

what cars does your Dad counter with when you bring up the Fit? What kind of price range are we talking about? Long commute?

 

He wants me to consider a Rav4, which I was actually considering not too long ago before I started caring more about fuel consumption. I recently got into an accident so I guess he just wants me in something bigger.

Price range? I'm the one paying for it so he really doesn't have an opinion on that. Ideally I'd like to keep it under $12,000(I'm only considering private sellers for now).

At the moment I don't have a long commute but next spring I'll be attending school in the city, so I want something that's good on gas, is a breeze to park, and can haul a lot of stuff when I drive back and forth to and from my parents house.

 

It would be hard to sway just anyone into buying *insert car* by just anyone's opinion ... Unless that person is known to give solid and consistent info and/or is a team of car reviewers. Like Car and Driver for instance.

Here's a link to Car & Driver's 10 best list for 2013. 2013 10Best Cars – Feature – Car and Driver

Here's the link to the 2013 Fit review. 2013 10Best: Cars - 10Best Cars - Page 7 - Car and Driver

If you look there, you will see that the 2013 Fit is on that list. Along with the 2012 Fit for the 2012 list... and 2011... and 2010... and so on. Basically, ever since the Fit was introduced to the US market it has CONSISTENTLY made Car and Driver's 10 Best. And that's something that not many cars manufactures and models can do or have done. Along with that, the Fit is one of the best bang for your buck cars in terms of reliability, maintenance, and practicality.

I hope this little tidbit of info helps.

 

My Mom had a Rav4. At 64k miles we encountered issues all over, shakes/rattles/other assorted noises; passenger rear window refused to go down, passenger front door refused to lock, car just felt dangerous to drive (this is coming from someone who owned a 15 year old Dodge that was more colors than a painting by Jackson Pollock).

At that point, I'd had my Fit for just under a year (a 08 Base 5MT), my grandparents had had their 09 Sport 5AT for about 2 years; my Dad and I agreed the Rav4 needed to go, the repair costs were going to be more than the car was worth, 25 mpg from an I4 with a 5MT was not cutting it, etc.

So we set out on buying her a new car, we drove a few things:

2012 Scion tC
More fun to drive than a Fit however, the 6MT didn't feel very good, the MPG would not be as good, it lacked in storage space, more expensive, definitely not fun enough to warrant 3-4k more spent and the loss in MPG/rise in insurance costs, etc.

2013 Yaris 5 Door SE
Auto trans felt like junk (only setup on the lot), just incredibly boring to drive, quality didn't seem to be there, shortest test drive of the day.

2013 Prius C
I LOVED this car. Comfy, 50 mpg, bunch of cool displays, IMO good looking, etc. However, 2-3k more for 10 more mpg (at most), significantly less fun to drive, less comfortable (IMO), no manual trans option and more that could potentially go wrong? No thanks.

2012 Honda Insight
Almost exactly the same description as the Prius C. I'd choose this over the Prius though, just on aesthetics alone.

2012 Honda Fit Sport 5MT
Almost as fun to drive as tC. Best equipped/felt like best value, incredibly comfy (we've since done a trip from WI to CO in this, four grown adults (all but one over 6' tall) + one dog + all our things, zero complaints from anyone, even the puppy), 40+ MPG (I've averaged 36 in mixed city/hwy in my 1.5-2 years of ownership, she's at 42 or 43, these are both for manual transmission, auto will be lower), dirt cheap insurance (less to insure with comprehensive coverage than my 1999 Acura Integra LS), stupid amounts of storage, etc.

I hope that helps.

We didn't drive any Hyundais/Kias/Chevrolets/Dodges/Chryslers/VW's after having HORRIBLE issues with them in the past. Only reason we didn't bother with the Ford Fiesta/Focus/Mazda 2 was my Dad and I's mutual dislike of the non-ST models.

Evidence of the previous post:

 

Thank you very much for mentioning your issues with your Mom's Rav4! I had actually seen a lot of different complaints on the older models, which was what I was considering getting.

About the Scion's low MPG and high insurance rates, yeah...that was something I didn't even think about when I bought it. I was young and dumb, and all I saw was a sexy car at a cheap price. So you can see why my Dad still doesn't trust me to make a decision like this.

 

Fit insurance isn't low, check with your insurance company before trying to convince him.

It's a mini-SUV, very practical. Bring one home for a weekend test drive (most dealers will let you take a used one for extended periods). Let him try it.

 

I pay $608 for six months and im a 23 year old male with two speeding tickets.

 

I pay $248 every six months and I'm 21.

I paid $350+ for a 99 Integra with less coverage.

 

Full coverage? Low deductible?

 

I'm a male with a clean driving record and pay 650$ a year with 150$ vandalism and 300$ collision deductibles.

Everybody has a different perspective when it comes to cars. Some want power, others want comfort, others want something practical. You really have to determine what needs you have and find the car that meets your needs.

I'm a professional musician so I'm always throwing guitars, amps, drums, stands on my back seat. I don't have kids so I only very rarely take passengers in my rear seats. With the fit I have many options with how to configure it so I can haul all the gear I need and a girlfriend or bandmate riding shotgun! It was very economical to buy and I haven't seen my mechanic in so long I might send him a postcard.

I gather by your post that you are young and a student so you will most likely do at least 80% of your driving alone or with a single passenger. Also, the Fit is an OUTSTANDING city car. It is super easy to park and you can just zip through traffic with relatively peppy acceleration. If I lived in the burbs and had to take the highway for 12 hours + a week I probably would go for something more powerful, like an accord maybe. The Fit is acceptable on the highway but I wouldn't say its a great highway car.

Unless you mainly do highway driving with 4 passengers I would say with confidence that the honda fit will perfectly meet your needs and keep money in your (or your dad's) pocket. It's good on gas, reliable, very cheap to maintain and holds its value well. If ever you really didn't like it, it would probably be easy to sell, it's a pretty popular car (at least in my area).

 

Comprehensive (have a loan on the car at the moment)

Slightly above average deductible, nothing crazy.
Good student, good driver discounts.

 

Fit is great at both of these things though.

If anything, highway driving is where the Fit's relative lack of power is least apparent. Holding speed is easy, accelerating is tough for a slow car, so if you're chilling at 55-80 mph, the car isn't really working much harder than another car. Revs are slightly higher but its not all that loud and their fairly stable, etc.

 

Quick question, if you are over 18 and paying for the car your self why does it matter what your dad thinks of the car? If you want it get it. Over time your dad will see why the Fit is such a great little car the

 

Exactly... My dad thinks I should have gotten a 5 series instead of my fit. He called it a ugly space shuttle but I got it anyway and I'm happy with it.

 

Living at home = Dad's opinion carries significant weight?

That's how it works for me, and I'm glad it does. Dude has kept me from selling the Fit or trading it in on an FRS about 15 times.

I don't want to live with that debt haha.

 

lol ...It's cheaper to keep her.

 

Basically this^, and I'm gonna be under his insurance until I move out on my own. So I'm hearing different things about the Fit being expensive to insure. Anyone else wanna gimme some info on that?

 

Call your insurance agent. That's the only way you'll know.

 

I checked with mine and they said I probably drive it more than the other vehicles I own, pu and mh but I think high insurance is due to mine is a sport, and other drivers of it must crash a lot as they have high rates. Not due to me, 73 last car drove 15 yrs and no claims on any vehicles. When you do have an accident they find it easy to total it, cost of repairs are high.

If you want to get the most stuff from point a to point b at the lowest price the Fit will do it, gas mileage at about 37 ave., they hold their value I was going to get a used one and new costs about the same. I did have to modify mine to be comfortable, seat, armrest, gas pedal, dead pedal for resting left foot on trips, interior lighting to led, but for all problems I found solutions to them on this forum.