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Comments
I wonder if your friends are likewise skittish about riding in many other popular cars like all the sporty convertibles (Miata, etc.), or if they're just giving you a hard time. When most people see a little convertible, all they want to do is go for a ride... and those offer much less protection than something like a Fit!
While I have only had the low angle of the headlights to be a problem once or twice, many people do live in areas that this could become a real nuisance, or even be dangerous. So, you FIX it. I don't know what it is like in the Fit since I haven't checked (I'll be sure to look tonight though), but in my last two cars you took a screwdriver and turned the adjuster one way to move them up and another way to move them down.
As for your friends, let them bask in their insecurities and when you go out with them, drive all by yourself. Know that three of your Fits use the same amount of gas as just one their "safe" Navigators, Escalades and H2s. What is funny is that my friends and coworkers (many who drive much larger cars like BMWs and Mercedes) have never mentioned anything about lack of safety...in fact they have been impressed with all the standard safety features.
If you really want to lose the money you spent in taxes, fees, and the immediate depreciation hit when you drove off the lot, just to not spend 20 seconds adjusting your headlights, have fun.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
But I had to laugh at the last sentence. I imagine a cop pulling you over, and your saying, "but officer, the blue light went out, I thought it was okay to speed!" :-)
Just took delivery of a Lunar Mist Base AT and thus far I'm very pleased... with all the lurking I've done on the forums I felt totally prepared and knew just what to expect - thanks!! I've got two questions for your collective knowledge:
1) What is that little circular cover on the outside of the front bumper on the passenger side? I popped it off and the cover is tethered to the car and serves to cover a threaded fitting of some sort... I didn't see any mention of it in the owner's manual so I'm wondering if anybody knows what this is.
2) Any idea what model number the radio in the Base Fit is? I wanted to install my own auxilary line-in and I know it can be done with 14-pin to RCA converters but I need to know the right model number before I buy. Any help/advice would be awesome.
Thanks again!
http://www.drivingtelevision.com/segmentviewer.php?episode=325
Nice to hear you are enjoying your car, hungarian83!
Video report shows front end of the blue Fit totaled, but with an officer able to open and close the driver's front door. The video also shows a 50 mph speed limit sign near entrance to tunnel. For a high speed accident, appears like passenger compartment relatively well maintained.
Video at:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/9470506/detail.html
I still like to accessory laser idea though!
Does the Honda Fit's interior light work like the Forester's?
Now, I don't know if the Subaru does this, but if you use the remote to unlock the door(s), and dilly-dally around too long, the doors will re-lock, on their own.
the rear seats, downfiring, like you see in the pickup
cabs. How much space is there between the bottom of the
rear seats and the floor? Can't do the sun roof. I have
a 2003 civic si, and when I pulled up to look at the Fit,
the sales guy, not having seen me get out of my car,
was going to bring me over to look at my car, thinking it
was a fit. One of the main reasons I am looking or trying to
get a fit is it is more utilitarian than the si. I am stereo
shopping for the Fit, Crutchfield & circuit city has it listed, ebay does not.
Jazz most reliable
Favorable.
"Honda's problem is in the USA, where the sudden increase in demand for small cars has meant a shortage of Jazz models. With high demand in both Asia and Europe for the car, the American operation is struggling to import enough examples, despite starting to take production from a Chinese Honda factory."
The Jazz is the European name for the Fit.
source: http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=101&id=1829
If anyone sees a US Fit at a dealership with a VIN starting with something other than J, I guess it would confirm it.
As hungarian pointed out, U.S.-only modifications to the Jazz to become the Fit mean that the Chinese ones will not be coming here for quite a while, if ever. Somehow, I don't think Honda will dare to sell a Chinese-built car in the U.S. for many a year yet. It can't afford anything too chancy in its biggest market by far, and word of something like that would get out quickly.
Fit availability is just ridiculous. I have given up trying to get a real test drive in one (I got a round-the-block drive recently in a car that was already sold, where the owner authorized it while they were doing paperwork), and if I NEEDED a car right away, as opposed to just wanting one, I would write it off the list.
My local dealer, which normally prides itself on "No dealer mark-up" (they have a little sticker that says that and goes on every car next to the Monroney sticker) has started adding a "pro pack" to every single Fit - $995 buys you that crappy plastic edging around the doors, special mats, and wheel locks. At $995, I figure they are making about an $800 profit on that AT LEAST. No dealer mark-up, my foot. :mad:
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'm waiting for my car to go to car heaven before replacing it ...
http://www.carheaven.ca/
Engine size on both is 1.5L, and though the Fit is 1 MPG higher on the EPA ratings than the xA, if I was that concerned with MPG I'd buy a hybrid. Warranties are the same.
The advantages of the Fit that I can determine are a lot more cargo space due to the magic seats. I can guess that the Fit handles better than the xA because it has a longer wheelbase and lower center of gravity, but there's no way for me to tell for sure because I haven't been able to drive one.
Quotes I've been getting on the Fit are $1100-$3500 more than the xA. I don't know if a Fit's extra cargo space is worth that much.
As gas goes higher and higher, those models will sell more and more slowly, while these ridiculous Fit waiting lists will just get longer.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I think for now Honda has lost many potential sales for the Fit, but that is because their supply is overwhelmed by demand. The economic tides have again turned in their favor (and that of companies like them -- Toyota, etc.) and it will take a while for their capacity to catch up. Remember that Honda's profit margins on Fits are not that high, and it takes a huge investment on their part to increase capacity.
I remember how the gas crisis of the 70's put Toyota, Honda, and Nissan on the map. They were all extremely minor players in the auto industry before then. When demand for their cars grew, they gradually increased their output to where they are today. Demand for their cars in 70's and 80's was initially due to their fuel-efficiency. But later American car buyers discovered that these Japanese cars were much better built than those made by our domestic car companies.
When I was looking to purchase my first new car in the early 80's, I remember how popular the Civic was. It was very much like the Fit - a high quality, fun to drive, economy car. In southern California where I lived at the time, the demand for Civics was extremely high. There were a lot more buyers than Civics and so not everyone got one. I also remember that dealers charged a premium for the Civic because of its popularity. Being a recent college grad then, I couldn't really afford to buy a Civic because of the premium so I had to settle for something else (a Nissan Sentra). But that didn't discourage me from looking at the Civic the next time around. In fact, my next 2 cars after that were Civics. They completely lived up to my expectations for quality, fuel-efficiency, and the fun factor.
If Honda continues to build quality cars that meet consumers' needs, those lost sales can easily become future loyal customers. I did!
For contrast, go to the general hatchback page. This lists all the cars with forums and the number of topics. The honda fit has swelled greatly to 55! while the next popular has half that many: Mazda 3 with 27, and Yaris with 25. What the hay?? If this many topics were necessary, then the other popular cars would have the same number. Instead, the average topics is only 8. 55 is not just excessive it is downright gross! For now, I am going to remove the Fit from my tracked groups. All those topics are wasting space on my monitor.
So... we have less than 100 discussions to cover the Fit... and the other site mentioned has over 1,700 threads to peck through each thread being a very narrow question. I'd call that having to scour - not here.
Bubba :shades: