Hello everyone. I just got my 09 fit, new to me. I was looking at 2012 models but found this one with only 15k miles on it and was able to talk the dealer down to a price that I couldn't pass up. I've only had it for about a month now, just did some cheap mods so far. Some may like the look of it, while I know some will not. Either way, here it is.

This is the day I bought it:


This is after I added some black trim around the doors. It's hard to tell in the pics. I'm sure some will HATE the trim, but I like the black look:


I put the same trim around the hood and hatch, It's not a big contrast but I like it: Again, I like the look of the black to contrast all the orange on the car:




Here you can kinda see the trim on the hood and the doors together:


Here is after I PlastiDipped my wheels in black:


This shows the Black wheels with the black trim on the car, I like how this came out:



This is when I started installing the Clazzio seat covers, I love these things. They look loose here because This is before I finished tightening everything down:



Here is what the clazzio's look like with the black wheels. I love it.


Here is just a picture after I washed and waxed the Fit and Kawi today:

 

All I've done so far is strictly for Appearance purposes. I don't really know if I want to do anything mechanically because I love the Gas Mileage I've been getting (about 39mpg, about 85% highway mileage) and don't want to mess that up.

I spent about $15 doing the wheels. PlastiDip is amazing if you have never used it. It sprays on, and peels right off if you don't want to keep it on.

I spent about $18 doing the trim around the doors, hatch, and hood.

The Clazzio seat covers were about $300 shipped. They were well worth it.

Upcoming Ideas:
-Trailer Hitch for towing
-roof rack for bicycles/kayak.
-sunroof
-Changing the interior door panels from that ugly blue/black cloth to something else.
-maybe some kind of deflector/magnetic car bra/ 3m clear cover for the front......Have not decided on this, but I need something quick. It's getting dinged up pretty bad due to all the highway mileage. I dont know if the 3m clear cover will protect from the little rocks dinging it up..

 

The black trim reminds me of "cartoons" or graphic novels (aka comics). There are even some games that have been purposely using that effect.

Not bad in pictures (though I don't think I could ever drive with it).

 

Welcome! Great start.

If it were me... I'd drop it a little too.

 

Welcome fellow Tampa fit! Love it. Did you get the leather seat covers? They look really nice.

 

I was wondering about that. I gotta look into that more because I don't really know anything at all about doing that. I'd have to look into what all you need to do it, I hear there are several ways to do it. This is the first car I've ever had where that would an option.

 

Hahaha, I don't really know what you're talking about with the cartoons or comics....I don't read comics, but that is pretty funny.

 

I went with the vinyl. I've had leather in other cars and honestly, I can't really tell the difference. These cost less and require less maintenance. Leather is a better product of course, but I'm definitely happy with these.

 

Vinyl/pvc is the way to go on the seat covers for sure.

As far as lowering, new springs or coilovers will allow you to lower it. Springs are the cost effective method, coilovers will get you a better overall ride and adjust-ability in height.

If you truly are interested in lowering, I say go for it. Before I bought my fit, I hadn't really done any customization on my prior vehicles. I've learned a lot along the way and love the way my car has turned out. This forum is a great place for ideas and advice.

 

I saw a blue Fit with black door guards. IMO it looked hideous. I think it's much more acceptable for an orange Fit. I want to do only my hood and hatch.

Just wondering, what did you use for the trim?
How is the fitment for the hood and hatch?
Any leak issues with it on?
How about scratching the paint when you open the hatch?

 

Yea, I probably would not have done it with a blue car because blue and black do not contrast each other enough. My whole reasoning
was because I liked the contrast of black on orange.

As stupid as it sounds, most car lovers will probably freak out when I say this, but I actually got this stuff at wal-mart. You can find similar stuff at most car part places like advanced auto parts etc... There are probably better products out there, but this stuff works fine for what I wanted. It does not interfere with anything or touch anything other than the edge of the door, so there is no way for it to cause any leaks or anything like that. Since it only touches the part of the car you attach it to, there is no way for it to scratch other parts as it does not rub against anything.

It fits great, It was extremely easy to put on. If it fits loose, you can just pinch it to make it tighter and slide it back on. It's cheap too, so you can just try it out and if you don't like it take it off.

 

I buy generic car stuff from Walmart too.

The folks that refuse to buy from Walmart remind of the folks that hate Microsoft. They think its "the evil empire."

Meh.

 

Love that color on the Fit and the black wheels work well with that color. I'm on the fence about the rubber trim. On one hand, I see how it works as a color accent. On the other, it makes it look like he panels have significant gap. On the other other hand, the trim on the front of the hood on either side of the grill reminds me of an Integra.

 

Keep the wheels, lose the trim...IMHO.

 

Handsome Fit and handsome owner. Good job on finding cost-effective ways to customize your car. I noticed the black trim right away from your pictures. It does add a cool look. I've never liked that trim when done in chrome, but yours isn't half bad.

The seats look very nice. Do you think they make the car look like it came with leather seats or can you still tell that they're covers even after tightening them down?

The only change I would recommend is to remove the dealership stuff on the rear.

I have the 3M clear bra on my car. The clear bra was applied before I drove it off the lot and is now two years old. I can say that it has positives and negatives. On the positive side it appears to have resisted every rock ding thrown at it. Our roads are regularly have sand or gravel applied for six months and this all gets ground into a sticky mud in the spring that's very hard to remove. The 3M clear bra did a great job at actually holding this layer of dirt on itself. I had to use strong soap and elbow grease to remove it. After that you can end up with lines of dried wax that you have to carefully remove from the edges. I've seen cars that had this film removed and you can clearly see where it was, so if you get it, cover the entire hood.

Have you seen the center console that Honda has? It gives you a larger armrest and some covered storage. Doesn't look terribly difficult to install and runs about $180. I've seen people say that the aftermarket version isn't quite as well made.

Congrats on the new car! Have fun with it!