OK, new to the forum and getting a lot of good info. Seriously thinking about surprising my wife with a Fit when available. While she wants a nice small car with good gas milage, and we are both big Honda fans, I'm a little afraid the Fit maybe too small (we have one teenager and one pre-teen).

I realize the Matrix is bigger car/bigger engine, and a couple of grand more, but is it that much bigger? What about actual interior space?

I'm not a Mazda fan (no offense, so the Mazda3 is out). And would take the Fit over the Xa, so seems the only choice is to go a little bigger.

Thanks for all the information...

 

You'll get lots of answers here but,

Wait and see both the fit and matrix is what I say.
Most of us in the US only have a lot of static photos
and numbers on which to base our ideas.

We're all salivating over a mail-order bride so to speak.
Sight-unseen she's a 10 but until she arrives...well,
who the heck knows?

Our UK and aussie friends can help


PS: that's a really nice thing to do for your wife.

 

I hope that before you surprise your wife with a new car you will take her out for a few test drives and see which SHE likes. Choosing is half the fun and the car has to be the right Fit, sorry, fit, for her.

 

Loved the "mail order bride" ****ogy.

I wanted a Smart car until I actually rode in one-such a rough ride that it gave me a headache. Then I tested a Mazda3 and found I could hardly see the speedometer while driving. On paper they both seemed exactly what I wanted.

Personally, I would hate it if my husband bought me any car without my imput. But I would love it if he surprised me with a car I lusted after and had test driven.

How many men would want their wife to choose their car?

We are no different :-)

 

Hmm - that was a perfectly innocent literary term they censored on me.

 

Welcome to Google mainland China style.

 

Wow! Seems I'm getting more help on being married then getting a car! Been married nearly 17 years, but guess I can always learn!


1st the deal with me "surprising" her with a Car: The last car we bought new "and was for her" was a '95 Accord. She loved it and put 130,000+ miles on it before we gave it to a cousin. I then bought her a 2 year old Chevy Blazer with 10,000 miles on it, she knew about it, knew it was the "smart thing to get" but as you can imagine she has never really liked it (didn't like the size or quality but liked the storage, especially with groceries, son playing golf, etc)

Fast forward to today, son is about to start driving so figure he can drive the Blazer (still only has about 60,000 miles on it). Now that the kids are older she is starting to go back to work. So this car would be a true "urban" car. She actually wants a hybrid, but I'm not sold on them (unless I want to pop for an Accord Hybrid which don't want to spend that kind of money). There is a real chance in a year or two we would buy yet a 3rd car, so wanted to get a real value car this time.

She has mentioned to me liking the Scion's and Mini's. I was looking at the Xa, when I found out about the Fit. So while this is a surprise, I think it is a safe surprise. She wants some storage room, high gas mileage, something small, likes the Scion but is a huge Honda fan. I have little doubt that if I told her that Honda was making a car like the Scion she would want it. She simply doesn't know about the car.

I'm still looking and if I move away from the Fit, I likely will have her test drive some stuff. But I trust the Honda, is there really any way it is going to be "bad"? No, no way. I could very safely buy her another Accord and she would be happy. But neither of us like to spend lots on cars. Would rather travel with the kids, put the money in our house, etc.

Oh and burm, if my wife spent the time to research, try, buy and put the effort to surprise me with a car, I would be ecstatic! We have been married a log time and she knows me, as I know her. I'd feel very comfortable and even moved if she "went out and bought me a car".

 

No offense intended. I just meant that sometimes we don't know what is right for us until we actually drive it. My husband thought a Honda CR-V would suit his needs perfectly until he tried one and hated it. He ended up buying another new Accord. Both excellent Hondas but one just wasn't comfortable for him.

In our house, buying a new car is an exciting family activity. Ultimately, we select our own car regarless of what the others think :) We all like to have our say though.

My favourite car was a Volvo station wagon. While I was extremely proud of my new car at the time, the kids thought station wagons were uncool and always borrowed Dad's car.

 

Oh no offense was taken. You certainly bring up good points. However I think there is little doubt that an Accord is "more" car then the Fit in every way. I would hope that it had a better ride, more comfort, etc. To be perfectly honest, when I first starting thinking about cars, the Accord was where I was starting. I even did a little research on the Acura's and small BMW. Then I decided, I didn't want to spend $30,000 on a car. Then I thought at $20,000 could get an Accord, but then starting wondering how much more I could save. The Civic's got such good reviews I thought that would be perfect and save a few grand. But you can get a Camry for the price of a Civic which are at a premium right now. So now looking at the Camry and Fit as my main two choices. Every other car is "more car" then the Fit, there is no comparison to the Fit. However, neither the wife or I like spending money on cars. Of course she (and I) would prefer the Accord over the Fit. But with the $6,000 saving we could take several nice vacations, update our house, etc. etc. Heck would be a start for yet another car that we will likely want in a year or two.

Both of us like cars, but in the end, to us, they are just a tool to help us through our everyday life. We both want quality, fit and finish and good gas mileage.

 

Personally, I am really hoping to fall in love with the Fit. It sounds ideal for people like your wife and myself. Sounds like we have pretty much the same priorities and lifestyle.

 

I’m not sure if your question was ever answered. :)

My take on the Matrix is that it is a miniaturised van. It seems to be designed to carry more than just 5 passengers. That extra space is great if you need it for cargo, but I don’t. I expect that the space in the Fit will be sufficient. It helps that the Fit has a standard 60/40-split rear seat, for those times when I need to carry 3 passengers and cargo.

One thing I’ve found confusing when comparing the Matrix to other cars is its advertised mileage. The numbers, in Canada at least, seems to be overly optimistic for a car of its size. They are still very good (my Dad drives one), but I would try and find some ‘real world’ numbers before comparing mileage figures.

 

Thanks that is some good information. Well it appears the Fit is plenty big for trips to the store, the hold the kids back packs from school, my sons golf clubs, etc. That is what I'm looking for, so should be fine.

 

You and your wife really should sit in the Matrix. I rejected it as a choice because of the awkward driving position. The steering wheel is too far away when the pedals are at the right distance for a lot of people. The Matrix forums mention this again and again. It's the same driving position as the Corolla. The other problem I had is the chrome-edged instruments. I don't want to be squinting through the sunlight reflected off the chrome trying to read the guages. The Fit discussions from Asia, Australia, and Europe talk about a much better driving position and the dash pictures look much better. Still waiting to sit in one though! :)

 

Yesterday I test drove a Matrix and found it extremely awkward for a petite person like myself to drive. The one thing I loved about it was the all wheel drive, something I have never had before. The Matrix handled really nicely on unplowed, snowy roads.

The Mazda3 was really comfortable for me and has a lot more luxury for the same price. The only thing I didn't like about the 3 was the hard to read speedometer guage. It was far worse for me than the Matrix in this respect.
Anyone else who has driven a 3 got any comments on this?

 

I havent driven a Mazda 3 but if given the choice between that and the Matrix, I would take the 3 without thinking twice about it. The shape of the car overall is much sportier, sits lower with more aggressive styling. Definitely looks like it would handle much better then the Matrix stock vs. stock. As for the hard to read speedo, that is a very small factor and if that was the only thing holding me back then that isnt much at all, I would still get it.

I built a 3 on Mazda's site a few weeks back with the options I wanted and it came to be over 20k so its not technically the cheapest car in its class but probably one of the most sportiest and luxurious as far as its interior goes.

 

I didn't drive in one, but sat in a Matrix. Very unimpressive. Just seemed "odd" for some reason.

I'm not a huge Mazda fan (no offense), and it does look like to get one similar in features to the Fit Sport is more money. Think if I go more money then the Fit Sport, I'll move over to something more conventional like the '06 Camry.

 

You cant compare a Mazda 3 and Fit, they are not in the same class of car not just price wise but size wise. The Matrix and the Fit arent in the same class either, the Matrix is bigger in size and the starting price is higher then the cheapest base model Fit. Currently the only cars that are in the Fit's class in terms of price and size are the Scion Xa, Xb also because its small enough and is roughly in the same price range. Kia also has a sub-compact currently in the market, I forget the model name. Then there is the Chevy Aveo and the upoming Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa, any other cars besides those mentioned have no right to be compared to a car thats not in its class. The same way you dont compare a Ferrari to a Corvette, there performance characteristics might not be that off from one another but because the price gap is so huge, its not a fair comparison.

Not saying the Matrix and Fit's price gap is anywhere near that of a Ferrari and a Corvette but nevertheless they are not in the same class of cars. Someone who has the budget of the Fit shouldnt even be looking at cars in a higher class because obviously they are gonna cost more, they might offer more depending on the car but dont ever expect to get a car bigger then the Fit for the same price as the Fit.

 

Good points but I wasn't trying to compare them to each other so much as to what car to buy. I totally agree, the Xa is closest to the fit and wife mentioned she liked the Scion's and Mini's. Being a Honda fan, there is no doubt if I stick to these really small cars, I will go with the Fit. The question was if there was something just slightly bigger (even if slightly more money) that I should consider. But so far, like I said, if I don't go Fit, I'll go more conventional like the Camry. And yes of course I know the Camry and Fit don't belong in the same class. But don't care, I'm looking for a car I want to buy, use, regardless of class.

(BTW I only eliminated the Civic's as due to their popularity they are at a premium, and I don't think I want to go the $20,500 or so for an Accord - but maybe. The 2006 Camry's are a good buy since the '07 is redesigned.)

In fact, I'm trying to pick a car in every $$ class from under $15,000 to just over $30,000 so that once I'm ready to buy and really decide how much I want to spend, I can move quickly.

 

I had signed up for information on the Fit from the Honda site. I got an e-mail today mentioning the Fit will be available April 20! Dang, not sure I can wait that long for a car. I should be working out of town through the end of the month though so it will be close....I was really counting on early April however...

 

2nd thoughts on the Fit...

Today I drove a Scion Xa. Neat car...fun...fun...fun....BUT,

I live in Dallas Texas where the National Car of Texas is a Suburban! Everyone here drives a truck, and not any truck...a small truck here is the F-150!

The entire time I was driving I felt like I was in a go cart while everyone else was in a full sized car! I felt like I was always looking up to the other cars bumpers! This is no knock on the fit of course, but any of these subcompacts. And the Xa interior seemed to have the room we would like, but the car itself is just so small...compared to what I was driving around!

Maybe I should stick to something more conventional like the Camry/Accord....I really liked the idea of huge gas mileage, fun, etc.