Climatologist vbmenu_register("postmenu_423630", true);
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Glendale, CA
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I was so underwhelmed by this car.

The hype around it has been outrageous. As a small car, it's pretty much OK.

I found its interior to be terribly choppy....disorganized, odd shapes, etc...not easy on the eyes.

The outside...it looks OK in some angles, pretty lousy in others. The rear wheels stuck inside the wheel well give it such a toyish look I can't quite get over it.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to possibly purchasing this car but it's totally out of the question now. Pretty disappointed.

But with all the suckers waiting in line to buy it full price and more, I'm glad I'm not in the rat race at least.
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Thank God for the Ignore Button!

 

@Climatologist:

Leaves more for those who appreciate them. Nothing wrong with disliking a car.

 

Can't take criticism well can you. Don't be so blind not to criticize a car...even if you like it.

 

thanks for the nice walkaround tyler!

as far as the dash goes, i like that they brought back the 3knob a/c controls, a la older civics.


as far as locked gloveboxes go, DON'T keep valuables in your car. simple as that.

sure they wont get your ish, but they have broken your window. that not victory.

if people can steal integras with crazy ass alarms, they WILL open your glove box.

 

all of your complaints can be directed at the gd3 as well.

if you didn't own or compare it to the old fit, its kinda useless imo.

 

any interior shots for the manual ge's?

 

I got to sit in an '09 at closing time when I was in Vancouver last week, no time for a test drive. Lots to like about this car, but one thing was nagging at me and I couldn't quite figure out what it was.

But after looking at the pics posted in this thread, now I know:

Where the hell is the temperature guage??

 

No gauge, just low and high temperature indicators.

 

Sounds like a pretty useless system to me. The standard guages on most cars are bad enough, but they at least give you a clue so that you may have the option of trend monitoring. A warning light on the other hand may warn you too early. or worse, too late.

 

Inadequate, maybe, but useless? You're saying you would disregard a lit temperature indicator? I think *I'd* find a use for it.

 

Nope, I wouldn't disregard it at all. The problem with warning lights is that by the time they warn you it's often too late. Hence the "useless" comment. If only we could count on them with the same confidence we could have with a guage. Time will tell.

BTW, I ordered my '09 Sport MT today. Black, with cargo tray, block heater and locking wheel lugs. Car is already en route from Japan.

 

Yeah, I got what you said the first time. It's a language thing, forget about it.

 

Already forgotten.

 

You can always get a Scanguage and set it to show water temp. I agree that it is kinda lame not to have it on there factory though...

 

As a mechanic...when I own a car, I want to be able to know what everything the car's doing all at one time. Especially gauges... I am trained to installed gauges into everything on what I work on and I have to properly diagnose a problem using gauges before i start tearing something apart and costing the customer tons of money that even I know I don't have. A temperature gauge in a car is a VERY important thing, but the gauges in the cars are almost as unpredictive as the warning lights. Chevrolet, for instance, has put temp and oil pressure gauges in vehicles for years that show temp and oil pressure, but unless you know what's "normal" is good to go. For instance the temp gauge on most chevys is 150 - 200- a hash for "about" 230 and overheat at 260... what does that mean to common people??? "Well, when I'm driving my car the needle points to the middle of the lines on the gauge, between the numbers..." THAT'S what people commonly call "normal", but in fact, it could be over heated or not...you have no way of really knowing, even with a gauge, because the manufacturer doesn't tell you what the engine's actual temperature is supposed to be stated "normal" in the owner's manual. Just like, commonly, the engine oil pressure isn't mentioned to what is normal even with the gauge installed either. People just know if the gauge doesn't move, that's bad, and if it sky-rockets. That's bad also. Ford's Gauges don't even have numbers on them!!! How in the heck does that work out????

Also, if you actually monitor engine behavior compared to an electric gauge signal...you might not notice a problem anyway. Most gauges aren't calibrated correctly anyway. I have a car at home that has a 3.1L GM engine in it, that the temp gauge on the dash is +40 on what the actual engine temp is. At 200 on the dash, my thermometer was showing 160 at the radiator and at the thermostat...

People get so used to everytime they get in their car to drive, it starts fine, it goes into the selected gear just fine, and runs fine so many more times than it has issues, that other than fuel and speed. They don't even look at the dash. So if something fails and light or gauge pegs out; they don't notice until it's too late already.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to clear some stuff up.

 

Too Funny I've being robbed 5 times in the last 10 years---and every time I was robbed the glove box was opened and the times it was locked---they were ripped open and the vandals always made a mess of the dash---so I say no to locked glove boxes and if I had one again I would never use it.

 

.. . .. . . . . . . . .

 

Ha! I'd say there is middle ground here... locked might save you certain walk by smash and grab situations, but otherwise, is it worth the valuables inside to have to replace/repair your dash board if they have the time to rip the thing apart? Heh heh...

 

I'm thinking of buying one of these and actually test drove one yesterday. I previously test drove a Jetta wagon (TDI) and will look at some other competitors. To put it in perspective, I currently drive either a 2002 Honda Odyssey or a 2006 MINI Cooper S. I drove a Fit Sport with manual transmission. The Fit would either replace the Odyssey or the old Volvo we leave out in the street. If the Volvo (manual transmission) goes, we'll get a Fit with a manual transmission. If the Odyssey goes, we'll probably spring for the automatic.

The Fit is well put together and has lots of well-thought out details. It does not have the same quality feel as the Odyssey. No mystery there as the Odyssey costs twice as much, weight lots more, and has a 3.5 liter V6.

I'm 6'2" and the Fit works OK. It's annoying that the seat does not adjust up and down; I'd like to lower it a bit. The rear view mirror is in my line of sight (I'm long in the waist and sit tall) though it does adjust vertically a bit. That said, the seats are comfortable enough and the car actually passed the self-behind-self test (adjust the front seat for yourself, then see if you can sit comfortably behind it). I think the magic seats and storage in general is awesome--it's a real selling point for the car. Cloth seats have always bugged me, and the Fit is no exception. These seats will look awful after the first spill from one of the abundant cup holders. I do not expect leather at this price point, but I would much rather have something like the "Leatherette" MINI uses or the "VW-Tex" of VW.

Clutch feel and take up is fine, if unremarkable. Steering is pretty good though there is an annoying dead spot in the middle that seemed particularly bad around 30-40 mph. Acceleration is OK but has nothing on the MINI Cooper S. If you've ever driven a real driver's car, the Fit will not leave you thinking it's a sporty car, not even the "Sport" version. The car seems undergeared and freeway speeds (I only got up to about 65 mph) had the thing winding out--I can't imagine it would be lots of fun on a long highway trip because it feels and sounds like it's really working hard. You can almost hear the engine begging for either a sixth gear or a better ratio. Maybe the reason people get good mileage in their Fits is because the abusive sound and feeling at high speed convinces them to drive at the legal limit or below. We've happily taken the Odyssey on trips of thousands of miles (and the Volvo as well); the Fit would not be a good choice for a cross-country road trip. This may not influence our decision because we see it mostly as a city car for local use.

The controls are thoughtfully laid out, the stereo (I didn't test the one that comes with the NAV system) is certainly good enough for this price point. The Fit Sport is pretty well optioned, though making me pony up for a useless (to me) NAV system to get the VSA I find to be a useful safety option really bugs me. Ditto with the steering-wheel mounted audio controls which I also classify as a safety item. I understand why manufacturers bundle options, but I'd rather they bundled them in functional groups. Oh well.

The Jetta TDI wagon I drove last week was more convincing from a driver's perspective. Where the Japanese excel in attention to detail, the German attention to ergonomics beats it hands down. The Jetta had a much better shifter (six-speed) and much torque, which is to be expected with a diesel. I found headroom worse in the Jetta and rear-seat passengers will definitely prefer the Fit. The driver's seat in the Jetta is definitely superior. This is not a fair comparison because the Jetta TDI I drove cost almost $5,000 more than the Fit I drove--I'd probably choose the Fit over the Jetta anyway.

Another car we're looking at include the Subaru Outback (well equipped for only a couple thousand more than the Fit), though the poor mpg bothers me more than the occasional advantage of all-wheel-drive.

Anyway, I liked the Fit Sport and may end up buying one in a few months. It's a nice car.

 

Geez, I didn't know it does not come with a temp gauge. That could be important to me. With a gauge, you can tell if the engine is running a little hot or cool, which could help you figure out if you have a stuck thermostat or something. A warning light may be too late. At least it has a tach. A lot of cars don't nowadays, and I'm starting to think that no tach could be a deal breaker for me. I was just happy to find out that the '09 Fit has a spare tire.