Long story. I was a longtime Honda guy..Civics, Accords, a prelude, a CRV and an Odyssey (no partridge in a pear tree though). I hated the new CRV (2007+) and I didn't enjoy driving the Element. At the time (2009) I THOUGHT the Fit would be too small and bought an Escape 4WD V6.

Well, 3 years later I've had enough of Ford "quality" (2 transmissions in 40,000 miles among many other warranty claims) and my drive is now 3x what it was. I am reconsidering a Fit. My Stats:

-Wife, 2 kids aged 8 and 5, Golden Retriever
- The Mrs has a B200 Mercedes, a little bigger than a Golf and a good family car.
- I must have a stick shift and would buy the Sport (top of the line).
- I know what I said about Ford but I am also considering a Focus hatch, a Mazda 3 hatch, and a Golf.

Just want experienced owners thoughts on these items:

- Bike racks - I have a hitch rack for the Escape. Is this a practical option for carrying 4 bikes on a Fit?
- Cargo box and roof rack - We ski and would like the versatility of carrying the Box on the roof....how practical is this? How does it drive at 70mph carrying this type of load?
- Will the kids kill each other on a long trip in the backseat?

Thanks in advance ...will check back periodically (Those Escape-City.com people may hunt me down as a traitor....)

 

That sounds tight. It sucks, but you need a minivan.

 

No, I have room to Spare in the Escape. Had a Minivan and drove around a bunch of empty space.

My Wife's car is about the size of the Escape anyway...more car like, but similar interior dimensions. Actually they call it the "Tardis" (Dr Who) in Britain...bigger on the inside than the outside...kind of like a fit.

 

^
I'd rather die in a firey car crash.

I have two kids, they'll be fine in the back of the Fit, but all that hauling the Fit might not be a good idea. I'm sure you could get a rack and fit 2 bikes or the ski box and the car would be fine. I dunno about 4 bikes though.

Mazda 5? Those come in stick?

 

We can get Mazda 5 Sticks in Canada....a thought, but I did look at them 3 years ago and wasn't thrilled.

I've been driving my wife's car for the past 2 months...now that my commute is 35 miles each way instead of 10 i like the 4 cyl fuel economy....I want a CAR, not a van or a SUV. The Fit has always attracted me and I like go-cart type cars. My favourite car of all time was my 89 Civic Si hatch. BUT perhaps a Golf or Focus would give that much *more* space...the Mazda 3 is very cramped.

And the simple option of trade with my wife (6 mile commute) is not an option as she HATES my Escape...even though she talked me into buying it

We have a roof rack for my wife's car - a MB genuine accessory made by Thule, but you cannot get a US style hitch receiver for it, making a bike rack a roof only option which I don't like. We took her car on a 600 mile ski trip last month due to the crap quality of my Escape roof rack (one of the crossbars broke at the connection to the side rail...not covered under warranty )

 

That's why I won't let my wife get a dog.

Subaru WRX? Forester? Too bad they don't make WRX wagons anymore.

I hate to say that with all the stuff you want to haul around go-carts are probably not the best for your current life. The Fit is versitile, but only if you can fold the back seats down IMO, if you have passengers your screwed, there's not that much room in the cargo area.

 

The Fit has more space than the Golf or Focus.

 

I can only comment on the fact that I have a wife, 2 kids and a dachshund (lol) and we have taken may road trips in the fit all together. A roof rack with luggage attachments would have helped but we still made it with baggage, pillows, snacks, etc. all loaded in.

Wanderer---they don't make wrx wagons anymore? On their site they still allow you to build a wrx 5 door?

 

I appreciate the comments about needing a bigger car, but the truth is I don't. Us Canadians travel more like Europeans, and in Europe, the Focus, Jazz, Golf, etc are all considered family cars. I can rent a minivan once every couple of years if I need the space.

I'm not looking to justify it - I am moving from the Escape to a family hatch. Just enquiring more about if the Fit can handle the occasional bike rack or roof top box. 90% of the time it will be commuting or running around town with either just me, or me and the kids. I had a 2012 Focus hatch when my Escape was getting it's second tranny replacement and it was plenty big enough except that the rear seat leg room was very tight, even for my 8 year old.

As I said, a Mercedes B200 has served us on a few long vacations, including one from Toronto to Florida and back, with no issues or need for more space. We are keeping that car until the larger 2013 next generation B class arrives in the fall.

 

I will add that from what I've read...the leg room in the Fit surpasses that of the Focus.

 

In my opinion I think you would be able to carry everything , you need , but will not have any power to spare ,& may be forced to drive slower than ususal.

 

Um, lived in Ontario for 4 years (ok it was in the 70s). Lived in France for 4 years (90s). Live next to I75 today and see Ontario plates daily (especially in march/april). Canadians have embraced the yank dream of large US nameplate cars. Particularly Chrysler.

Four people, four bikes, and a full-size dog will overload the Fit. But if you don't mind looking like an Eastern European refugee go for it!

 

I honestly think its too much for a fit.

Fit can only handle people and a little baggage or lots of baggage and one or 2 people (driver included)

If its just around town without the bikes and roof rack, you should be so so - depending on the size of the dog.

Myself I typically move myself, 2 kids and GF around the city, without issues, and a medium costco trip

 

Well, to me this is a wagon:


Not really a wagon:


But I guess they're similar. To me it's kinda like calling the Fit a wagon... Is it? Kinda I guess.

 

Coming from someone who has had a Golf, the Fit has more room, and is definitely more versatile. Not to mention, it costs less to maintain and is more reliable. That being said, you could carry everyone plus the dog if you didn't use the cargo cover or have much of anything to haul in the trunk. No way would I put 4 bikes on a hitch mount; You'll definitely want to go for the roof rack in that instance, but remember that you're limited to, what, 150 lbs on a roof rack..? Hauling all of your luggage in there can quickly add up to that, but bikes will be absolutely no problem. Just get wide bars and mount two bikes on the outside if necessary, and then you can even put luggage in the center if you have a narrow box. Like chevron mentioned, it will not accelerate well, but I'm sure you're aware of that.

I love my fit, but in your situation I, personally, would like something a bit larger and more of a true wagon rather than a micro wagon. There aren't many wagons out there these days, unfortunately, but Acura makes the TSX wagon, which is a good car, but more money... much more, haha. A Subaru Forester or Outback would probably be my choice for what you're going for, even though they're nothing like go-carts, haha.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

The Fit should be fine for the most part, commute alone or with kids.

When you're fully loaded (your wife, kids, dog, baggage and roof box), the Fit will struggle. While on my road trip I had to drive a couple of hours near Beaumont, TX with my uncle and two cousins (4 adults) in the Fit along with my road trip stuff. Acceleration definitely felt bogged down.

But, you're not a one car family, and shouldn't use the car as such (ie, everything).

Like, I said, the Fit should handle most things just fine. And if you find yourself wanting more room and power on the rare occasion, you have your wife's MB to switch to for the time being. Or get a rental as you said.

That said, it really boils down to which do you like? Mazda, Focus or Fit. Incidentally, the Mazda3 and Focus are technically in another class from the Fit. The Mazda and Ford competing version of the Fit (ie, same class), are more of the Mazda2 and Fiesta hatch.

Again, don't view the Fit as a do-everything car, its a do-most-things car. And because you have multiple cars, you don't need a do-everything car.

 

We highly considered the Mazda5, 3, and Scion Xb instead of the Fit because they came in manual transmission and because of the extra space for longer road trips. We also have a Euro-centric attitude when it comes to the size of car needed and we then came to the conclusion that even though it's smaller, the Fit will be fine for most of our smaller road trips and that 95% of the time it was gonna be a city commuter car anyways. The gas savings, long term resale / reliability, and fun driving dynamics was worth it.

We don't have kids and a dog, but our Fit was fine carting around 5 adults in town with decent power. On a recent long road trip, we did end up renting a larger vehicle, but our long term savings with the Fit could easily pay for an occasional rental...

 

I don't understand why everyone is saying it won't work. It will haul 2 kids, a dog, and crap on top just as well as the other small cars he's looking at. He's got a set of cars, he's telling you to pick. Of course, if everyone had 30k to shit, a tsx wagon, wrx blablabla would be fantastic. But he's not asking you guys to tell him the car he needs, he's asking if a fit can carry shit on top. It can. 4 bikes? What does 4 bikes weight? Remember, 2 are for kids, 70-80lbs? No problem. Remember in Europe, they aren't as sue happy, all the weights and limits are higher there. Example:: my 07 element tow rating was 1500lbs here, 5k in Europe. Same car.

I say it will work perfect for what you need. Good gas milage, reliable. Occasionally haul wife, 2 kids, a dog, and some bikes, or skis, or a roof carrier. Whatever. Do it

 

Touchy, touchy...

 

- Bike racks - I have a hitch rack for the Escape. Is this a practical option for carrying 4 bikes on a Fit?

I've never considered putting 4 bikes on a hitch mount rack in the back of my Fit. I think it would sway alot and with the car being so light, I would assume it woud have a negative effect on the handling. Driving the Fit is bad enough during windy days...

- We ski and would like the versatility of carrying the Box on the roof....how practical is this? How does it drive at 70mph carrying this type of load?

My friend has a 2007 Fit fitted with a rooftop Thule rack. It is very noisy and just killed the MPG even with the rack empty. I think she said that it was around a 20% hit in highway MPG (rack empty). Also, the car had no reserve power with two bikes on top driving on a windy day.