After I wrecked my Sentra in 2021, I needed a car fairly quickly for work. I rented a late-model Civic for a few days and shopped around. The Civic was a decent car, but the visibility was horrible. And it was just too big for me, for what I needed; mainly a commuter car for myself. A Fit, though, fit. It was usually just going to be me in the car, but a Fit seats four comfortably when needed (but with not much luggage space for long trips). My bike fits in it, which has been an issue with other small cars. I loved the visibility and economy. And it’s a Honda, so it would be reliable. Having owned Hondas, I was leaning towards them anyway.
I skipped a manual, having had two knee replacements in the last few years. Plus, my wife can’t drive them, so an auto is much more flexible for us. I’m not too influenced by color options, so I chose the Fit that otherwise fit my needs the best and ended up with a 2013 in black.
At the dealer.
At first it was my commuter, as intended, and did well at that. We also took a couple of trips, just the three of us, and it was okay for that, too. But a fourth, or rather their luggage, would have bulked it out. And probably slowed it down. Somewhat relevant: I’ve found that turning the AC off makes more of a difference on this car than on others I’ve had, though most of those have also been small cars.
Then I retired early, and took over school chores from my wife. Now I commute, in pre-morning-rush-hour light traffic and again at 3pm, through downtown to my daughter’s school. Plus, I volunteer there some, and run her to dance class, etc. Still gets 30mpg, mainly around town.
During school hours, I sometimes ride my bike, and it fits inside (without the kid), or on a bike rack that easily attaches to the hatch. I’ve also carried small furniture, and of course garden and house project supplies. It’s not big, but uses its volume well.
Not sure why I took this picture. Maybe for the stickers, the two on the hatch being aviation ones, and this was taken at an airshow.
I have had several tire issues with this car, which aren’t the Fit’s fault. When I got it, I soon noticed that it was skittish in the rain; very touchy, uncomfortably so. The tires on it were in decent shape, but I got good new ones, and the difference was night and day. It felt very solid afterward. I have had several tires that had to be plugged from running over nails, etc. Even a fork, once. And a couple of years ago I was on the crosstown highway and saw the car in front of me swerve. I swerved too, but not quickly enough, and ran over the pallet that he had hit. Three or four of us pulled over with flats, in rush hour traffic. The police showed up within a few minutes and told us to stay in our cars, and that they would have crews coming to change our tires! I felt bad sitting around, but they insisted on doing it for our safety. When I went to the tire shop, it turned out another tire had been seriously damaged as well.
Waiting on new tires.
No other major issues, knocking frantically on the nearest wood. It’s a good car all around, and I try to stay on top of preventive maintenance. I don’t do much work on cars myself anymore; I pretty much just do filters now. When I was younger and in better shape physically, though less so financially, I did plenty of things on my cars (with a lot of help from friends). And of course I had older cars, leaning VW more than Honda, so they needed more work. But, with bad knees and an iffy back, I can’t crouch or bend or slither underneath like I used to. And I can (usually) afford to have a pro do it. If I had a lift, well, I’d do more.
I have two very minor gripes about the car. First, the windows fog easily, so proper HVAC control is essential. It’ll handle one person’s moisture fairly well, but with two or three in any sort of wet weather, it’s a pain. Also, there are no rain channels, so rain (or windshield washer fluid pushed by the wipers) pours in and right down onto the electrical switches on the door… I cured that by getting those fancy plastic window deflectors.
Another occasional issue is losing it in parking lots. Or rather, finding another black Fit. Once, I was leaving the grocery store with my mom. I had her get in the car while I put the groceries in the back. I walked the cart to the corral. I came back and opened the driver’s side door, and realized Mom wasn’t there. I worried for a second that she had fallen on the other side of the car. And then noticed that the car was strangely clean inside… It wasn’t mine. They hadn’t locked their door and I hadn’t quite walked back far enough.
Another issue: parking ticket from paying at the wrong meter. Paid into this one, but mine is out of shot to the right, said the cop. I missed the arrow. Someone got free parking.
Another time, I came out from a restaurant and noticed another black Fit, same generation, parked beside mine. Cool! As I got closer, the lady in the other one rolled her window down and said “Twinsies!” She had been waiting for me to come out, to talk about our cars. She told me about the Facebook Fit owner’s group, and asked if I knew about the secret compartment, “Handy for a gun or money or drugs.” She was a character and very enthusiastic about Fits. The compartment indeed exists. I won’t tell you where; wouldn’t be a secret then.
All in all, it’s a great car, for what it is: small, economical, reliable, space-efficient. It’s what I need, and not a lot more.
I thought this would be black and white, but when it arrived, it was just black. Oh well, that makes it look more classy, right?
Related CC reading
CC Long Term: 2007 Honda Fit Sport – Ten Years Of Keeping Fit (by J P Cavanaugh)
2007 Honda Sport Fit – Chapter 24, And Now For Something Completely Different (by J P Cavanaugh)
COAL Update (Part 1): 2007 Honda Fit – Out With The Old (by J P Cavanaugh)
I’ve know a few who had a Fit and they all loved it. I now have a 2021 HR-V which is based on the Fit. At least it has the magic seats which are handy. Seats are uncomfortable for me and a few other nits.
An old friend whom I reconnected with recently after almost 30 years has become a Fit fan. He’s on about his 3rd or maybe 5th one; he drives a lot and tend to buy a new car every 100k miles. He uses it for work – he’s a house painter and can fit all his tools and supplies including ladders inside. He refuses to use a roof rack, and when not working it carries his bike, or skiis, again inside. He lives in an area with mountains and real winters, and says that with Blizzaks it can go anywhere.
Wow! I haven’t loaded it or pushed its limits that much, but it does more than I expected.
A wonderful write-up, thanks for sharing your experiences. Learned a lot! If only the industry would create a small car that was as safe and roomy as a big car, and that served most rather than all daily needs.
No mention of the terrible CVT transmission which Honda put in the Fit in 2012 or so.
The FIT CVT transmission was reliable though.
The 2016-2022 HRV was based on the Honda Fit.
It too had remarkable room inside for a small vehicle.
Also totally gutless but terrific fuel economy.
However, the HRV 2016-2022 CVT transmission has a really high failure rate. Rivaling Nissan CVT failure rates.
A mates daughter has one of these but exJDM badged Jazz, theres a goo you can get that fixes the tranny apply it ever six months or when it just stops working, I saw one die in traffic it was accelerating past me from a light and just rolled to a stop apparently thats what they do and theres a snake oil cure that works. Ive only just graduated to automatic cars knees are shot, you could not give a me CVT car .
I haven’t had any issues, knock on nearest chunk of wood.
For what it is, it handles and accelerates (with the AC off) pretty well. Never felt nervous on the highway, as I have with other compacts.
The Fit was packaged very well and was invariably the class leader for all the years it was in production. That ‘magic’ fold-into-the-floor rear seat offered an insane amount of cargo carrying ability for such a small car. The trade-off was a smallish gas tank which limited range somewhat.
With that said, the transmission was something of a failure. Besides the fragile CVT, top gear for the 5-speed was too low and the Fit tended to be ‘buzzy’ on the highway. And, then, when Honda decided to go with a 6-speed manual, bizarrely, they left sixth gear exactly the same as fifth gear for the 5-speed. I guess the logic was more sprightly performance around town, but the Fit really needed a higher sixth gear more to lower engine revs at highway speeds.
My current car is six speed auto it will not select top gear below 80kmh the manual function is an illusion you can shift it to top gear it will change down in manual mode, I tow a caravan with it towing speed is 90 so Ive had a few arguements about what gear to use and where and lost every single time, but the tranny is over engineered to begin with its torque limit is 40nm more than the car produces and Japanese from Aisin Warner and the best automatic Ive ever driven.
I can really feel the difference when I put on the a/c in my ’05 xB. If I’m on a two lane highway and am waiting to pass someone, I will sometimes turn off the a/c. It makes a difference.
I’d be surprised if it didn’t have a WOT compressor cut out strategy. Ford used it back in the late 80’s with a separate relay to open the A/C circuit when the PCM sensed Wide Open Throttle.
That’s a distinct possibility.
I always turn it off now when passing. Wish there was a button on the steering wheel for that. It makes more difference in the Fit than in other cars I’ve driven. Less power to begin with, I guess (though the Foxes were close.)
I loved my 07, but could never generate enthusiasm for the styling of later models. I also would have liked taller gearing for the highway, but the ratios on the 5-auto in my car were perfect up to 50-55 mph.
I have a 2015, which seems to be a near-twin to yours. It lives with my son while he’s at graduate school, and from all accounts is a robust little car. We in fact inherited it from my mother-in-law as it was her last set of wheels. She (proudly) secured one with virtually no options (“no need to take all of that stuff that they’re just trying to RIP YOU OFF by selling you”), so it’s a very very basic model. It has the CVT, and a radio. And that’s about it.
My main beef with the car are that it is just so very light weight. Every bump in the road sounds like I’m flexing an empty beer can with a dent in it. Also, over its life 3 out of 4 wheels have managed to become totally destroyed by going over potholes (even the steel wheels seem a thinner gauge of steel than most other cars I’ve had). It’s just altogether a weak feeling car, construction-wise. The flimsy plastic on the rear hatch and the subsequent rusting of the rear hatch release is particularly annoying. Then again, it gets terrific gas mileage (close to 40 mpg in day to day driving), and will hold 80mph on the highway (albeit being a bit buzzy). I need not ask for more. Nor does my son who drives it around a city and several times a year on the 6 hour ride along I-90 from his home to mine.
I don’t find the CVT to be problematic.
I recently had it for a week driving it around in circles across NY state during my Car SAG bike duties on the annual Erie Canal bike trip. It was fine. Didn’t use much gas, and could hold 2 bikes inside. It absolutely has the best interior space management of any car that I’ve owned/had.
These were good cars from people I knew who owned them. When I was doing flooring measurements, I drove my 01 Ranger and one of the other men bought a Fit. I think it was a 2012. Anyway, he bragged on how well it drove and how great his gas mileage was. Then one day, we met in the office to turn in all of the details (measurements) we’d done. He was telling the boss and I that there was one detail that would require someone else to do. Why? Because it was in a suburb of Detroit and the mom and daughter asked if the Honda was his. When he said yes, they told him to leave and send someone back with “an American car”
People can be so ridiculous. Apparently my Ranger was OK and they let me do the measurements.
My Toyota Ractis is completely unaffected by AC – it’s pathetically slow with it off, and the same pathetically slow with it on. AC also does not affect fuel consumption.
Meanwhile my Mitsubishi Outlander gets noticeably worse fuel economy with AC on, and that’s with a 2.4L engine. Also, my old 4 cylinder Mitsubishi Magna had noticeably worse overtaking ability with the AC on.
In conclusion – I have no no conclusion, but I hypothesize that Toyota use more efficient AC compressors.
YMMV
Hereabouts, where the past tense of “fit” is “fitted”, and this Honda, a Jazz, we’d say “the nice Jazz fitted”, but there, you could say, what with that very stylish black and those diamond-cut wheels, “the phat Fit fit.” (Which sounds a little like a misfire, but I digress).
Really good cars, so sensible for so many actual commuting and carrying purposes, all with a touch of Honda verve. Perhaps, ideally, not as a CVT, but still passable with one.