Hi all, new member here.

I've been driving a big stupid van for the last 20 years, and it's time for a smaller car that gets better mileage.

After looking around a bit, I think I've decided on the Fit.
I'm currently living in Bend, Oregon and there aren't many Fits at the dealers here, but there are some in Portland and Salem, so in the next couple of weeks will be checking some out.

Now for some questions:

I plan on buying used, to keep those payments down, but am not sure about what the mileage cap should be. I trust the Honda brand, but offhand, am thinking I don't want to buy anything with more than 75k miles on it.

I've read about the difference between the Sport and the base, it sounds like mostly trim. I'm assuming the cargo space is the same?

Does anybody know what year or model first had the backup camera? I know I can have them installed aftermarket, but was curious. I've seen some listed as having a Nav, system, didn't know if that was only the Sport, or if they started in a specific year.

I've also read that the Fit can't tow anything, so pulling a tiny camper is out. Has anybody tried camping in their Fit? Can you remove the front passenger seat?

Since they're front wheel drive, do they do ok in snow?

Thanks!

 

Its got a 1.5 liter engine that makes less HP than any 1500 CC motorcycle, you can pull a tiny trailer (IE some of the really light home-made tear drops, but you have to allow for the side effects. Its a light car that the wind easily over-powers in cros winds, Mine is an 07 sport, it has a rear sway bar as part of the sport package FWIW>.

I'd honestly never buy an OEM nav system, they go out of style too quick and the upkeep on maps can be a killer, I'd go Kenwood Head unit with nav or if your an adventurer do one of the Android full feature units. THe early ones (07 to early 09) are less refined, but lighter, the later ones have more gadgets., I'd read a lot on here just to get the feel before you jump. THis would never be my ONly car, always a second car.. But thats just me..

 

Sport and base are pretty much all trim fru-fru. The sport (at least in the second generation) had upgraded anti-roll bars, which would be about the only thing to affect handling. They also had alloy wheels, but I don't think the difference in weight or tire size is enough to make a significant difference, though I may be wrong there.

The cargo space is identical.

I think the third generation is where the backup camera came, at least on some trim levels. I'm not sure it's really all that necessary for the Fit, at least compared to some other vehicles.

Honda USA says the Fit can't tow anything. Honda Europe says the Jazz can tow up to about 2000 pounds, and they're essentially the same car. Interesting, isn't it? There are aftermarket hitches available, generally limited to 2000 pounds, and it can be made to work if one is careful and sane about things. If you get an automatic, a transmission fluid cooler would be a very good idea if towing much. I've thought it would be fun to pull a little Scamp or similar trailer, but I suspect it would not be so fun in actual practice, particularly if there's much of a crosswind. A fairly light pop-up of some sort would likely be more manageable (less air resistance all around).

Mine does decently in snow, assuming decent tires. Naturally you do run out of ground clearance at some point, and no vehicle does very well in snow that's deep enough to prevent the wheels from contacting the ground.

 

I was thinking in the size range of one of the Motorcycle Popups as well. They weigh about 300 lbs, and sleep 2. You can get in to a small teardrop (~800 lbs) for about 5K or build one for about 2K.

Fit wouldn't be my choice if I was PLANNING on towing, or at least planning on doing it a lot.. But I could make something small work, the Auto has a way better chance of surviving towing stuff, the manuals are designed with pretty small gears and they will get hot. But a nice big setrab cooler and a gauge for tranny temp would be first on the list, with a nice big filter just to bump the capacity for fluid a bit. .

 

i have the 2007 base. there isnt a difference really between the base and sport, it mostly indeed is just trim. i live in canada and it works fine for me in the snow but the bumper is close to the ground so beware on that one. the visibility is fantastic so installing a backup camera is in my opinion, useless.

 

What's a setrab cooler?

I've been thinking of getting a hitch and small (very) trailer.... And a roof rack. My annual August trip, I need more cargo capacity.

 

Setrab is a brand of nice plate style oil coolers for engine or transmission oil, they come in various sizes.

Its hard to over-cool an automatic transmission.. They typically run very close to max temp on the fluid..

 

How critical would that be? How expensive is it to get and hire someone to install it? (gahhh such a noob and ignoranti)

I wouldn't be doing super hilly, but mostly highway, and it's about a 120 mile trip...