Welcome.

It'll be kinda hard to find a white Fit with black interior for under $10k. The reason being is that they only made white for the GD chassis (see my signature) for only the 2007 model year and black interior was very rare for that color. The newer, current GE chassis has plenty of white models with black/gray interiors but it'll be hard to find one under $10k unless it has a ton of miles on it.

As for the Base and Sport, think of them this way...

The Base has the basic needs for transportation; you have no alarm, no keyless entry, no cruise control, basic 4-speaker audio system, no fog lights, and no Sport aero kit (lip kit and spoiler) as well as no alloy wheels. Just every thing you need to get from A to B in a cheap and reliable package. The Sport features more creature comfort items such as alarm, keyless entry, cruise, fog lights, and a 6-speaker system as well as a little eye candy such as alloys, aero kit, and steering mounted paddles for the A/Ts.

Some things can be easily swapped with the OEM variation depending on the part and chassis generation (like Sport lips/bumpers/wheels on Bases), some parts require drilling (hatch spoiler), and others either won't work as a plug and play mod or be cost effective (like retrofitting VSA into a Base). After market parts are the same way usually, bolting right on (intakes/exhausts/wheels) so long as they are for the same market spec Fit.

 

Hootie, thanks for your quick and helpful reply!

I didn't know the base was so...base! I will probably like the sport version - I can't stand not having keyless entry haha

Also, my first choice is white exterior. I'm not as picky on the inside and don't need a rare color combo. I would be fine with any of the interior colors. Alternate exterior colors would be silver or dark silver probably (sorry I don't know the official color names).

What are your thoughts on the GD vs GE chassis? Are there existing threads on this topic? I don't know much on either except GD is older and GE is current.

 

There should be several threads comparing the GD and GE chassis in the General Fit Talk sub-forum. One of which is titled The Great GD vs GE Debate I think.

As for my thoughts, I can't really say since I've never driven or rode in a GE. I do know that the GE is indeed larger (and heavier) than the GD both inside and out, has a harder OEM tire size to find for the alloys (people usually get 205/50R16s as a result), and offers full iPod integration with the audio system (opposed to the Auxiliary output in the GD).

Like said in my prior post, you can find plenty of white GEs as well as plenty of silver and black Fits of both chassis (no dark grays available till Polished Metal Metallic for 2011). Some other colors they may catch your eye for both chassis are Tidewater Blue or Blackberry Pearl both of which were offered in 2008 and discontinued for 2011 by the way.

Now for interiors, all the 2008 GDs have black interiors. 2007s select color/trim levels had either black or tan interior. For the GE, all Base models had gray interior and all Sports have black interior.

 

I'll try to find those debate threads. It doesn't sound like there was vast improvement from the GD to the GE. Some size and minor creature comfort updates at best. Being in a GD, how do the seats fit 4-5 adults? Comfortable or cramped?

I'm not a huge fan of those 2 colors you linked, but thanks. I might have to go with a white or silver. Wife is a not a fan of the red or blue, and I do not want a black car in TX.

Sounds like my price limitation will allow a GD silver sport. The GD white sport is rare, and the GE white sport may be too new still. Would you say that's an accurate assessment?

 

I would definitely agree with this assessment. To find a GE in that price range it would likely be a salvage title. Luckily silver is a VERY common color so I'm sure you'll come across many opportunities to purchase.

 

Thats a pretty legitimation assessment, you can find GDs on craigslist fairly often for around the 10 grand mark.

As for seating in a GD, I can sit comfortably with a little bit of leg room behind the driver's seat in my position (all the way back, very slight tilt) and I'm 6 foot even, 160 lbs.

I've had 3 mid-teen/adult passengers (5'5" to 5'11") a few times with me driving of course, the 2 in the back had plenty of room to move side to side but had little room to stretch out if they needed to like during a long ride. Having someone in the middle of the rear seat would be a bit of a squeeze but can be managed depending on how big they are.

 

Thanks for chiming in!

I did a crazedlist search and most of the GD sports $10k and under are silver. Here's a list of the ones I plan on contacting tomorrow (most expensive to least):

$10500 - 07 silver 32k miles; MT
$9900 - 09 black 32k miles; AT; BLUE TITLE
$8900 - 07 silver ?? miles; AT
$7900 - 08 silver 38k miles; AT/MT?
$7600 - 08 silver 59k miles; MT
$7200 - 07 silver 26k miles; MT; sounds too good to be true?

Each of these is the sport model. I'm not opposed to driving MT, just prefer AT in case the wife needs to use it. Thoughts on these cars?

 

Could have had damage repaired... that usually brings down the value, and then of course M/T's are less expensive. Then consider base/sport and options. I'd buy from a private party too, unless you have something to trade in.

 

All of them have sport. They may or may not have additional options from the sport standard, but I would not know. The ads are not very descriptive. I'll definitely do more research on these tomorrow, as I have no trade-in and will prefer buying private rather than be yanked around by a salesman.

Any idea what the premium is for AT over MT?

 

Two things to consider...

1. Manuals yield great MPGs around town/city driving not so much for interstate or higher speed roads due to their gearing. If you do a ton of driving and have highway MPGs in mind, go A/T. If not, go M/T and teach the wife how to drive stick. (Totally joking about the teaching ) To give you an idea of the gearing difference, two GDs are in 5th gear at 80 MPH. The M/T is in VTEC at around 4000 RPMs while the A/T is not in VTEC at around 3000 RPMs.

2. For 2008 and newer year models, they have TPMS sensors in the wheels. These are recommended and reset when you get new tires or install them in different wheels (not installing them causes the TMPS light to show). If a sensor is damaged from tire removal for example, the replacement will cost around $55 if I recall correctly + reset fee.

 

The mileage is not going to be a deal killer for me. My driving probably fits the AT better though. I drive to Austin from Georgetown on the I-35 at least once per week and that more than makes up for the city driving I do throughout the week. Now that I think about it, I will probably only consider AT. Having said that, if the $7200 Fit is sport and nothing wrong with it, I'll probably have to buy that on principle, and then just change my wife's Accord to another Fit

Do TPMS sensors go out often? Easy to repair/install DIY?

 

I don't know the average life of a TPMS sensor for the 2008 and up Fits; in fact, I don't think anyone else really knows on the forum yet. But replacement may be simple other than not having the tool to reset them with. Let me find a video showing the installation of the sensor or TPMS for the Fit in general.

 

Guys, thank you so much for your help and responsiveness! I already feel like part of the group here

I'm going to sleep and will continue my research tomorrow. Thanks again! Truly appreciated

 

YouTube - Episode #85 - Honda Fit TPMS Sensors in Older Wheels

^ There is a video about the TPMS sensors...

From 0:33 to 0:36 and again from 1:18 to 1:34 shows one of the most common ways a TPMS sensor is broken (during bead breaking). Now, looking at TPMS sensor at 1:56 you can see that it has a cap that screws onto it and tightens it against the drop zone of the wheel which can be seen at 2:02 till 2:25.

 

That looks like a great DIY youtube channel and I'm not worried about the TPMS cost of repair.

 

07 Fits dont have to worry about TPMS. Silly technology.

 

^^^ My '08 neither. I pulled the dash and put some electrical tape over the light. Easy fix


Besides, TPMS is for women (or lazy men) who cause accidents because they drive with under-flated tires.

 

^^ Agreed, TPMS just one more thing to pay for when it finally breaks or have to rebuild and/or transfer when swapping tires/wheels.

On a similar note, these US auto mandates are become a bit much. They are trying to make the car "as safe as possible" for people who drive careless/recklessly or can't well drive at all at the expense of people who know how to maintain their car and maintain car control.

One example is TPMS. TPMS isn't so bad especially if you do a lot of cross country driving to places with drastic elevation changes but it is still no substitute for not checking your tire pressure once a month or more frequently. Some people don't even check their tire pressure until the flat tire light shows (and I do know a couple).

Another example is stability control. Great safety net for helping recover in a sudden under or over-steer situation but again some people depend on that system way too much. People often are either coming way too hot (fast) into a turn hoping that the car sticks or they're giving too much throttle and/or brake input through a turn.

 

That stupid light on my wife's Forester comes on every time there is a large drop in the temperature.. It happened a few days ago so I bumped the pressure 3.5 lbs over the recommended amount... I am very happy that my wife likes a firm riding car and I can get away with doing it this way...I think that getting her long wool seat covers that are like sitting on a cloud was a good investment or she might feel differently.

 

in that old oem stuff no one needs pile is there an M/T intake?