Send a message to our troups
Operation Dear Abby gives you a chance to thank the
brave men and women of our military. Agree or disagree with
why they are in harms way, they need to know we appreciate them.
'09 Fit
The wife finally put her foot down and demanded a new car. I asked her about her requirements in a new car and came up with the Honda Fit as the best option. Unfortunately, the Fit is not sold in the US with many of the options she as come to expect like leather seats, Homelink, blue tooth, and four wheel disk brakes. I didn't know how she would react to this inexpensive little car so I selected a small sample of other cars that were more traditional and were equipped closer to what she was used to. To my surprise, she was smitten with the Fit. Every car I showed her after it just didn't measure up. The lesson here is the importance of determining the key features the primary driver requires. If you get those right, other features do not matter as much. The Fit was a mixed bag for me. While I appreciated the low sticker price, it replaced our convertible, a car I fell in love with for the drop top, rock solid reliability, and efficiency.
I began shopping for the Fit through a couple buying services. None of them beat the sticker price. Eventually I found Miller Honda. We struck a deal that was pretty close to what many sites list as the invoice price. They were great to deal with. On the phone I had asked for a color my wife thought she would like. Once she saw it in person, she asked for a different color. That didn't throw them off their game at all. We were cash buyers so we were out the door in a couple hours despite the car having to be cleaned. The amount of paperwork required to buy a car is just oppressive.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
Review
Economy So far we are averaging 35 MPG. This is not quite what my wife expected but she spends so much time at highway speeds this seems reasonable. We'll see if the mileage improves once the engine is broken in.
Reliability So far there have been no issues but it has only been two months and 6K miles.
Performance The engine is definitely over matched by the heavy little car. They really need a turbo version. The paddle shifted automatic is best left in drive as it does a good job of selecting ratios and the manual shifting is slow. The brakes are under sized and who uses rear drums in the 21st century? A brake upgrade is on the shopping list. The handling is otherwise superb. The car reminds me of my MINI in the way it can be rotated easily. It delivers a nice ride that is not harsh but is firm enough to inspire confidence.
Function - This car is the definition of packaging efficiency. We have been using it for errands that would usually require my Ram such as Sams Club and the home improvement store. The upholstery has not faired well in fending off dog hair. There are seat covers in its future.
Toys We didn't get the navigation system and that may have been a mistake. It was not on Sulah's wish list and she doubted she would use it but she has regretted it a couple of times. Honda doesn't offer many options and that is a shame. We would have loaded the car up as it is a bit tiring on long trips.
Overall This is a great little car that suffers from being in a market that limits small cars to inexpensive appliances. It is hard to say if it would be more comfortable on long trips with better seats and more toys but they couldn't hurt.
top
Honda Floormats
We chose the Honda rubber floor mats. After a coffee spill, I'm wishing we would have bought something more substantial.
;)
;)
;)
;)
