Wife and I bought a Fit last July. We had moved into a suburban house and so it was time to replace my CRV, which wasn't old, but was coming up on some substantial repairs and wasn't easily drivable by Wife (5MT). We needed one car which would be fun to drive, carry all our home-improvement stuff, be extremely reliable, and not depreciate very quickly while it sits in the driveway while we both train into work. Of course there is only one car in the American market which fits the bill and that was a 2012 Sport.

Dad loves the Fit. Every time I come by (literally!) he says, "Hey -- nice car!!" Takes it for a spin without any particular destination. Not the first time; he actually bought my old del Sol from me when I needed a bigger car. And he still has it, although it's really something of a penalty box to drive for more than 10 minutes.

Fast forward 8 months and Dad's Civic Hybrid is on its last legs. Only 115k miles, but intermittent IMA trouble codes (battery: $3000), a catalytic converter rusting off the car ($1300), and an AC compressor soon to go ($ .. please just stop). VERY frustrating to have a Honda go from new to near-scrap in 10 years, but that was the case.

I sort of tried to push Dad gently towards a Civic. Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 had no interest to Dad, and he drove all of them. There's plenty of content on the 2013 Civic LX, and of course Dad's an older gent at this point. He doesn't need cargo room; they have an Odyssey. EVEN I FIND the Fit somewhat uncomfortable, and I'm half his age. But the cars are very different and he made the decision quickly: Still prioritizes fun over comfort. Even at 64!

New 2013 Silver Sport in the family now. Dad says he thinks the Fit is the last of the "true Hondas" in terms of how it feels. His concession to getting old: the first AT in a long time, and remote start. Well, there's always the del Sol :P