I've been debating coming over to the fit family for a while now. I currently own a 2011 vw golf tdi and while I love it's power and torque I need a 4 door hatchback (mine's a two door) and something that'll be a bit less expensive to maintain overall. The fit is one of the top car choices for me because of it's reliability, utility features and good gas mileage. The TDI just doesn't make sense for me as I only work about 10 miles from my home. I've done a lot of research and been looking into all car brands to see what route I may go.

I'm wondering what other cars you guys cross shopped when coming to the conclusion of the fit.

 

Honestly? NONE! I knew the Fit offered what I expected from a car - so I bought it.

 

I considered several other cars before buying my Fit one week ago. Among those were the Ford Fiesta, Focus, F150, Chevy Spark, Sonic, Mazda 3, Toyota Matrix. I finally decided on the Fit for cargo capacity, price and fuel mileage. I don't have much need for passenger room so cargo was key. Which is why I was originally going to go F150 except lousy fuel mileage was a major negative.

 

i went to the Subaru dealer when the BRZ came out. I was told the waiting list is upto 4 months and I have to put a deposit. I had 5k cash on hand. Left, went straight to my neighborhood Honda Dealer and picked up a Fit.

 

A BRZ is a small two door vehicle that no one will fit in the back seats. Its nice looking but small, good choice going with a FIT.

 

yeah when i was in the Philippines, the Jazz always broke my neck. Figured i'd get one when i came back here.

 

I didn't cross shop many cars. I wanted a car that was fun to drive yet offered good utility. In my experience, the smaller the car the more fun it is, I'd rather have a small, agile car than a big high powered one, handling trumps power when it comes to pegging the fun-o-meter. I also wanted a wagon or hatch for the utility.

I'm a car enthusiast so I'd already read a good bit about the Fit over the years, and I knew it was considered the best and most fun of it's class, so I didn't look into the Versa or Mazda2 or others of that ilk very much. I know the Mazda2 is also supposed be a lot of fun to drive, but it lacks the Fits utility, plus they are a newer car so I couldn't find one for as cheap as the older Fit I ended up with - an '07. I considered the MINI, but a few visits to the forums reaffirmed my impression that they tend to be unreliable. VW makes some very appealing cars, but like all the other newer German cars have a poor reputation for reliability, so I didn't really look into those. I like Mazdas, so I test drove an older 3 wagon, but wasn't really thrilled by it. I looked for a Protege5, I'd heard they were great handlers and they're wagons, but it was hard to find a desireable one, and I didn't want to shop for months to find one since I'd never even driven one and wasn't sure if I'd like it.

I had an 06 Scion Xb right before I bought the Fit, and I'd really liked it. It looks different, but it's very similar to the Fit in overall dimensions, horsepower and weight. Like the Fit, it's everything most people need in a car, nothing more and nothing less. I figured that since I liked the Scion I'd like the Fit and I was right, I'm very happy with the Fit.

 

I shopped a Subaru Impreza, Mazda 3 and Kia Soul. Since I wasn't buying new, I couldn't find a 3 in good shape for a reasonable price and the Kia just didn't drive as well (I drove 3 or 4 including a new one) as the Fit did. Wife won't own anything from Ford (REALLY long story) so Fiesta and Focus were never on the list. I didn't like the Subaru Impreza as much when I drove it. For me, the bottom line was that I kept coming back to the Fit so it only made sense to buy it.

 

When I bought my 2007 Fit Sport MT in January of that year I also test drove a Nissan Versa hatchback and Mazda3. The latter got good reviews for its sporty nature, but I couldn't find a comfortable driving position and the Fit's combination of cargo capacity, economy, sportiness, and Honda reliability couldn't be beat.

Although I'll probably keep my Fit another couple years, it just turned 100k miles and I'm researching new cars just in case. In addtion to the new Fit, I'm also considering the new Golf, Mazda3, Focus Ecoboost, and Honda HR-V. The last two aren't available yet, though the Focus Ecoboost 3 cylinder should be soon. The HR-V will be a 2016 small crossover based on the Fit platform. It will have the magic seats and AWD will be available with the CVT (also has a 6 speed manual).

I'd really like the utility of the Subaru XV Crosstrek for Chicago winters and rough forest roads, but I'm not willing to accept 31mpg HWY.

 

Versa- Roomy, but apparently Nissan doesn't want to sell me one- if you wanted any nice features you had to get a CVT. Unfortunately, I enjoy driving.

Fiesta- Loved it, but pricier and not as roomy. I couldn't realistically put my dog in the back.

Sonic- Pricier and it's a Chevrolet, for God's sake. The first gen of that car sucked so much they had to change the name. I'm going to have this thing a long time and want it to keep working.

 

Prior to my first Fit, I was torn between EP3 (02-05) Civic Si, IS300, RX-8 and Fit.

I chose the Fit because it was the cheapest to own, had I not been a poor college student...I'd have bought the RX8, one of the best cars I've ever driven.

After I sold that Fit, I nearly bought a 98 Civic hatchback with B16A swap...I didn't because I didn't trust the previous owners' work.

I replaced it with a Fiesta and hated it shortly thereafter. At the time I purchased that I also considered the Scion tC, I chose against that because the clutch offered no feel and the price/financing was not desirable.

I traded the Fiesta for my 2012 Fit because I feel it is a superior car, in all regards other than fuel economy.

 

We were shopping used cars. My first choice was a first-gen Mazda3. It was hard to find one that wasn't on its way to becoming a rustbucket, and I'm done with rusty cars.

The wife was pushing towards a Subaru Forester, and they were available and fairly cheap, but I got spooked by stories of failing head gaskets and the resulting repair bills.

The last thing to get crossed off the list was a Mazda2. I test drove one and really liked it. If it had some way to manually shift the (automatic) transmission it would have been neck and neck with the Fit. I loved tossing it around an empty parking lot on the test drive. But when I came back with the wife she drove it and absolutely did not like it.

 

The small car field is bigger and better than ever. The good news is that small cars are no longer the penalty boxes they once were. The bad news is that there are so many good choices. It's impossible to decide.


This was my first new car and we looked at everything on the market. Seriously, it took weeks of weekend test drives, going over pricing, reading reviews, and getting opinions from friends/family before deciding. Part of the curse of being a car fanatic is that we all know the bad and good of each car, and that issue(s) stands out to us. I wish we could just say "I want the blue car because it's pretty"


Anyway, we looked at essentially every car out there and were many of the same ones you looked at. Here is where they stood:


Chevrolet Sonic: We really liked this car. It had almost as much room as the Fit, felt solid, had funky style, handled well, and was peppy enough. However, we couldn't find one in a fun color in manual, and to be honest, our family has been burned by GM too many times to go back yet. Too bad


Hyundai Elantra GT: Had an eye catching look, the interior felt upscale, was very roomy front and back, thoughtful features, and was good value. However, the manual gearbox was a clunky, manuals were hard to find in the base model, and the steering did feel somewhat numb


Mazda 2: It had zippy handling and was adorable. Otherwise, it feel wheezy, had poor fuel economy for its size, cheap and nasty inside, cramped, and to get the cruise meant get the Touring model which was $17k, way too much for its compromises


Mitsubishi Mirage: Surprisingly, I loved this car. There was something about the utter simplicity and honest nature of it. The three cylinder proved to be fun, it has a lot of standard equipment and the ES trim had a lot of rare equipment for this class, it was roomy, very fuel efficient, great warranty, and strangely enough, fun to drive in its way. But the nearest Mitsu dealer was 25 miles away, the handling was sloppy, and the car did feel cheap in some ways. Besides, my mother would refuse to ride in it


Nissan Versa Note: Almost identical to the Fit in interior room, amazing space, decent handling, and nice manual. But felt cheap and nasty inside, no cruise with the manual available, and once again, horribly cheap inside.


Nissan Cube: I actually liked the style (unlike the Soul, if you're gonna go weird, go all the way), enough headroom to wear a bowler hat, 360 visibility, and very comfortable. However, cargo space and utility was a let down, felt chintzy inside and for $18k with a manual, it was pricey


Subaru Impreza: Really an all around good car. Very impressive handling, lots of room, versatile, and easy to use controls. However, it was at the high end of the budget, looked bland inside and outside, and we didn't need AWD in LA


Toyota Yaris: Different looking, decent room, and..... Otherwise, it didn't drive great, had no personality, and the interior was an annoying mix of shapes with no theme.


Ford Fiesta: Oh I wanted to like this car. It looks sexy (especially in green envy), the best handling car by far, quiet and smooth at all speeds, good fuel economy, and just feels refined. But my rear passengers better not have had knees, reliability ratings were a concern, and the car didn't want to acknowledge the existence of my elbows as there was no where to place them on the door panel. I loved driving this car, but everyone, especially my husband, hated riding in it. Enough said


Kia Soul: The roominess of this car was amazing. Surprisingly fun to drive and the base model is a great value. However, I couldn't get over the looks, there's no spare tire, and cruise control cannot be had with the manual


Kia Rio: Decent looking. But overall, felt cheap, no spare, the interior was bland, and like the Soul, no cruise with the manual without going to the pricey SX. This car didn't impress at all




And then it came down to three choices:


The Hyundai Accent we loved the style, front seat room was immense (the rear wasn't too bad either), trunk space was good, the manual shifted nicely, the engine was robust, simple controls, good warranty, and a nice solid feel. But rear visibility was bad, there was no spare tire, and availability in manual was tricky


Ford Focus: Fun to drive, nice style, high tech (if not overdone) interior, nice materials and build, great transmission, perfect handling, solid, great value, and good fuel economy. But that huge console rubbed our knees the wrong way, tight back seat space, no fun color choices, and questionable reliability


Honda Fit: Unbelievable interior room, small easy to park size, all of the features we wanted were on the base, manuals were easy to find, good fuel economy, nice shifter, secure handling, and we were just comfortable in it. We didn't like the interior noise, it felt a little sluggish, and to be honest, never been a fan of the Honda brand.


Ultimately, the Accent checked the most boxes, but the nearest one that matched our needs was over 200 miles away, while the others were nearby. We kept it in mind and looked closer to home. We looked at the Focus which had $4000 in rebates at the time and was amazing value, being almost $2k less than the Fit. But we couldn't get comfortable with that wide console. Looked at the Fit, and it was much better.


It came down to discussion over a lunch, and the Fit was the winner between it and the Focus. The Accent, although our top choice, was just too far to drive to when the Fit was literally around the corner and we were exhausted.


Hope that helps with your decision making and how we narrowed our choices down

 

In 2010, when I bought my Fit, nothing came close for the value in this subcompact class