Hello fit freaks ! I am in the process of searching for a used car. At first I was going to get an 04 Corolla with 46,000 miles on it, but then I came across a 2012 fit. Now this fit is much newer than the Toyota but has 134000 miles on it. This seems like a lot of miles for four years of having a car. My question is, will the fit be worth it and reliable with that much mileage on it even though it's fairly new ?

 

I hope this Fit is going cheap with that amount of mileage. I'm sure its good until 200,000 miles, but from my experience crap don't start to happen with Hondas until after 100k. Make sure all maintenance have been done properly, i.e. valve adjustments, coils, and plugs.

although the corolla is kinda scary too with such low mileage for something more than 12 years old now.

 

Worth checking but you need to know more how that 2012 was maintained. Kinda high should give you at least 100k more quality miles.

 

I would say a Fit with those miles would be very reliable. Actually, you're probably better off buying Fits with lots of miles since they are so reliable. Your '12 books (private party) for like $7k, whereas if it only had 34,000 miles it would book for 11,700; $4700 more money. Look around these forums; given the sheer number of Fits out there, there are not a lot of people who end up spending that much repairing and maintaining their Fit (upgrading; that's another story. . .) And check out Trudelta data - they have the Fit as one of their most reliable cars, and they're relatively cheap to fix when they do have problems. Even an engine or transmission replacement can generally be done for $1500.

There are a lot of risk-averse people on this forum who drive Fits, so this is not a popular position - just read the paranoia about the airbag issue on some of these threads. But if you want to spend less on automotive expenses so you can spend money on other things in life, a cheap, high milage Fit is where its at.

Also note that the 12 Fit has ESC, so it will be a safer car.

Not to say the Corolla would be a bad car; as far as '04's a Corolla is probably as good as you'll get. In a salt-the-roads state repair and maintenance would definately be higher than for the Fit since you'd have brake lines, exhaust rust, fuel tank/lines rust, etc issues all coming down the pipe which happen even on low miles cars; ymmv in a warmer climate. If it's enough cheaper the Corolla could still be a good buy.

 

Chances are the Fit's miles are largely highway miles, which are comparatively easy on a car. (It's still a lot of miles, of course). The Corolla, on the other hand, could well have mostly short trips, which are comparatively harsh...but not much use overall.

Check the DOT date codes on the Corolla tires, and if they're older than maybe seven years or so, they should be replaced or at least inspected for cracking and dry rot by a qualified person (which generally would involve dismounting them to check the insides) regardless of the amount of tread left. The rubber in tires breaks down over time due mainly to heat, UV light, and ozone, and becomes brittle and weaker, eventually to the point of having a blowout.

I had a 2001 Chevy Prizm, a Corolla with a chevy badge on it, before my Fit. It was a decent car overall, reliable, and I think a little more comfortable than the Fit for cruising. They do tend to use oil as the engine ages, and of course running with too little oil is no good at all. The interior door handles also tended to get brittle and break, but they're a cheap and easy repair. The Fit is more fun to drive and has a much more adaptable interior and is vastly superior for carrying cargo.