Hello fellow Fit enthusiasts
We've owned both a 2007 and 2008 Fit Sport, still have the 2008 with 111,000 miles. These cars have been very reliable - I've done brakes, alternators, battery, etc., but no major repairs. Both manual transmissions. I've typically bought 2-3 year old small Hondas with about 30K miles and run them for 8 years or so. I've had the 2008 since Jan. 2010. We live on Martha's Vineyard and drive electric on the island, as we have a solar electric system. That car is mostly driven by my wife. The Fit has been our off-Island travel car, so it needs to be reliable. It gets little use on the island since I work at home and ride a bike most of the time for transportation. This has been the Fit's purpose. Its replacement will likely only get 5,000 miles/year of use.
So - I was thinking of trading the 2008 in on a late model Fit. Reading this forum makes me think that the Fit has perhaps gotten a lot less reliable and subject to some major and costly repairs. Consumer Reports gives the 2017 and 2019 model years a 5/5, and the 2018 a 4/5 reliability rating.

So - I'm looking for advice about:
- Is the 3rd Gen Fit still a very reliable car? How does it compare with the 2008?
- Are there critical recalls or other items that can be verified to avoid major $ repairs?
- Is there a reason to prefer the 6 speed vs. the CVT? The driving will be almost all highway, and the CVT appears to run the engine at substantially lower rpm (my biggest complaint with the 2008 is the under-gearing).
- Is CPO worth it for the long powertrain warranty?

Thanks SO much.

PS: living on an island means that car warranties are only useful in the event of major failure, because it costs me a day and $100 to get to a dealer.

 

I can only speak to my own experience. My very early 2015 Fit EX has been perfect. There were two recalls, but my car didn't need the work.

I'd love the manual, but it was CVT only when I got mine. I think this worked out, because we do local traffic 48 weeks and mostly interstates for a long trip.

The car has shy of 50K miles, and has been in every state east of Wyoming from our Florida base.

We love it.

 

My wife's '20 Fit is too new to be a reliable data point for you, but you're really better off looking at user survey results like consumer reports or J.D. Power anyway. J.D. Power has these surveys:

Initial Quality Study (problems in first three months of ownership, Google search for different years press releases)
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-initial-quality-study-iqs
https://www.jdpower.com/cars/2019/honda/fit - Choose different years on the website

Vehicle Dependability Study (problems during entire third year, Google search for different years press release)
https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...dability-study

I only skimmed some of the J.D. power info, but Honda overall does seem to be slipping in their ratings.

Also, like many cars today, the 3rd gen Fit has a direct injection engine. There is some concern about carbon buildup on the intake valves with all direct injection engines, possibly needing a costly carbon removal at 50K?/80K?/100K?/(never, who knows?) miles. But of course online forums can self-propagate a few reports of issues into something that sounds like a big problem. It's something you might want to research though.

 

I have owned all three generations. My favorite was the 2008 first gen and currently own a 2013 second gen and my least favorite is the 2015 third gen... I've had to replace the push button start and the axle seal in the 130k miles it has racked up. I do like the car a lot and it has a good bit of features for its class but it's not nearly as well built as the first two generations.

Your 2008 only has 112k miles, may I ask why you're trying to get rid of it? Those are very low miles. My 08 had 197k when it got totalled, but there was nothing wrong outside of coil packs, spark plugs, oil changes and regular maintenance.

 

Thanks so much for these links.
Interesting tidbits:
- Honda as a manufacturer has slipped to slightly below average.
- The Fit is the highest ranked small car in the dependability study
- The model year specific ratings 2017 - 2020 are Great Average Average Great. That's surprising to me - aren't they essentially the same car?

Consumer Reports rates the 2017 and 2019 model years as 5/5, and the 2018 at 4/5.
I see the direct injection issue raised. My sense for me it wouldn't be a big issue just because I'm aiming for a low mileage car to begin with, and it will likely see 5,000 miles/year or so.

 

That's a very good question. My answer is that owning Hondas for many years shows me that at the age/miles of this car there start to be failures that are just routine items - alternator, water pump, stuff like that - and since this car is a trip car away from home, those type of failures can ruin a week's vacation. In 2017 we visited Cape Breton, and up at the northeastern tip where we spent a week it wouldn't have been fun to have a breakdown. It's totally different in a day-to-day car at home, where we have another vehicle if one vehicle needs unexpected work performed.

I'm all ears if folks here have a suggestion as to how this car could be worked on to boost the future reliability. I wouldn't be opposed to putting some serious $$$ into that if I had a lot of confidence it would prolong the terrific reliability I've had from this car.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

 

I understand your concern. If you have kept up with the maintenance you should have no issue with water pumps or alternators. Those are not common failures unless the car is subject to extreme conditions. I have never changed a water pump on my newer Hondas but I am very particular about running proper premixed Honda-spec blue coolant.and changing it every 50k miles or so. There is one thing that can leave you stranded in these cars without warning and that's a bad battery, the Fit has a pretty undersized battery and it has minimal reserves so you can easily run out a tired battery within a half hour if you're not careful.

Is your 08 a Sport model or Base? The base doesn't have cruise control so I can see that being annoying for long road trips.

I would consider leasing a vehicle for your use because you won't be putting a lot of miles and definitely not hitting the 10k/year mileage limit that's on most leases, you will also not have to worry about wear and tear. Plus some dealers will have maintenance covered for the duration of the lease. You could jump for any good lease deal and go for any make and model that you like because most newer cars will be pretty reliable within their lease period...even German cars lol.

 

It's an '08 Fit Sport and has Cruise. It has the usual Fit water leaks and hatchback that won't open periodically and I have to mess with it.
If I found a mechanic that would really go through the vehicle and hit all the potential trouble spots I'd do that. Anyone know a great Honda wrench in eastern MA?

 

I'm in Vegas but Eastern Massachusetts? You've got Tailored Chassis Solutions (TCS) over there who do excellent performance work and swaps on Honda's. Not sure if they do regular maintenance work but they know Honda Fits inside and out.

Mind posting some pics of your Fit?

 

I've gone through a similar thought process. We make several trips per year from Ohio to the east coast and the unlikely but highly inconvenient surprises that could happen on a long drive led us to replace our '09 Fit (125K) as the trip car. Plus we sometimes tow a small trailer, so a breakdown would require dealing with the trailer.

You can see JD Power's vehicle reliability results in more detail in the link below. You can choose different years and different car types. It looks like it was only the 2017 model year where the 3rd gen Fit was #1, but initial quality/reliability of the '20 was up from the two prior years which could be a good sign..

https://www.jdpower.com/Cars/Ratings/dependability/2019

FYI, we ended up with two new trip cars. A '20 Fit and a '20 Elantra GT (Europe-based design unrelated to the US-built Elantra sedan). The GT gets the trailer hitch. It has a conventional planetary automatic transmission and I just feel better with an old fashioned AT when heavily loaded or towing. Note that JD Power doesn't have data on the Elantra GT because not enough were sold. But the drivetrain is the same as the base Tuscon SUV.

 

If I understand the JD Power ratings, they are how many issues arose in the first year that a vehicle is sold. So I'm not sure how good of a predictor that is for longer term issues, although surely better than nothing.
Do I infer correctly that you were towing a small trailer with the Fit?

 

I've made an appointment for a week from now to have a mechanic who specializes in Hondas and Acuras go over the 2008, and identify any work that needs to be done. Maybe I'm keeping this car!

 

To FitTwit,
I understand your rationale for wanting to know if the latest generation Fit is a good replacement for your 2008. And as you stated you're looking for a used one. So, consider the followings:

• General dependability surveys are just that, general. It won't reflect the car you'll be buying. Therefore: maintenance history and your read of the owner (if you're buying from a private party) is paramount.
• Honda, in general, makes highly dependable cars.
• The early model year G3s likely carried some kinks (weak starter) that have since been worked out for the later model years (i.e. 2019-2020).
• Disclaimer: I've a 2020 bought late last year. 3600 miles on odo. No issues so far.
• It's true about the small battery size and its effects. When it comes time to change battery, I'll seriously consider an aftermarket one w/ higher capacity so long as it'll fit the car.
• The usual wisdom: buy the best model you can afford. Or better yet, I'm sure there are still some new ones you can buy at a discount as dealers are cleaning out inventory. You may have to look out of state. There really is little value gained buying, say, a 2017 with 20-30k miles on it for $5-6k less when a new one is $20k out the door (or a MY2018-19 w/ 3k on odo for $3k less +/-); especially when you are the kind the runs your vehicle until its wheels fall out. When you amortize the difference over your total years of ownership, it's immaterial.
• Just did a quick check on Autotrader. Nationwide there are still hundreds of new 2020 at inventory. Keep in mind dealer can swap cars if the one you want is not at your preferred Honda dealer.
• The beauty of buying new is you can throw about $1k +/- and get a Honda extended warranty (not aftermarket, but sold and honored by Honda and acceptable at dealerships nationwide [road trip car...]). We got ours extended to 80k miles for about $800. And yes, we tend to keep ours for a long time also.

Good luck. Keep us posted. Below is our EX. Love it.

 

@mdude - Your advice is good, the used cars aren't much less than the new ones. I don't seem to be finding the Sport model new in New England at the moment though. I'm curious on your EX, how much does the sunroof reduce the interior height? The reason I am so enamored of the Fit is that I can put a couple of bikes in there vertically with the front wheels off, and still have space for a bunch of luggage and a small dog :-)

The other thing the sunroof makes me think of is that Fits are known to have significant leak problems - our two have - and another hole in the roof seems like a questionable idea :-)

Thanks!!

 

No sunroof leaks that I can detect; have driven the car under heavy rain and multiple hand washes.
I'm 6ft and have no issues w/ headroom.
My take is the earlier 3rd Gen models might have some issues here and there but they're mostly tended to by MY2019 and 2020.
Chat rooms like these are good forums to familiarize oneself w/ a model's strength and weakness, but I'd hesitate to extrapolate a certain weak point to the full production volume of any given make/model; and keep in mind folks w/ no issues tend not to post.
Manual sport models might be hard to find, while there're no lack of EXs and LXs around. Don't know how much the modern safety features (i.e. Honda Sensing) meant for you, but Sport is not so equipped. You've to move up to EX or EX-L.

 

We've driven through multiple tropical storms, and zero leaks through the sunroof or elsewhere.

 

Seattle driver here, not too many places get more consistent rain. No leaks, but my car has no sunroof.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the fuel injectors yet- if you look around on the forum you will find a few people who have had them go bad, and get stuck with sometimes significant, sometimes outrageous repair bills to have them replaced, since they only come as a set. It looks to me like there are a lot more people talking about how bad it would be if it happens than people who have actually gone through the problem, though, and I've seen no sign of injector failure. 2015 bought used with 60k miles, something around 100k now. The outrageous side of the repair bills seem to come from dealerships, but obviously I can't speak from experience.

There is no recall on the injectors, and I don't think anyone has reported symptoms before they actually start throwing misfire codes, so not really anything to look for. Not having them replaced already doesn't mean they're going to inevitably fail.

Starter problems sound more common than they ought to be, sometimes people report that they're solved by replacing the start button, but mine is a manual with key ignition and I still had to replace the starter. Actually, that's the only real failure I've had so far, which makes it the most reliable car I've owned.

 

I went from a 2002 GD1 to a GK3 in 2019. The big improvement is the level of noise in the cabin especially at high speed and especially with winter tires fitted. I find that a huge benefit. I think the handling is a bit better ie flawless and the car feels (and is) a little bigger especially for people in the back seats. The engine is not as likable and smooth as the GD1 engine but it is at least 10% more economical. I've kind of grown to like the sound it makes when asked to work a bit but it took a while. It also seemed to loosen up and rev more freely after 5,000 km or so. We get adaptive cruise control here and I think it is great - takes a good chunk of the work out of long trips.

Overall, I am happy with the car and getting happier with it over time. I think it was like that with the GD1. At first I thought it was fine but nothing special but over time I really grew to like it.

 

Thank you all for your assistance. On Monday I will take the Fit to a mechanic who specializes in Honda and have it assessed. Then I'll decide whether to keep it, and if needed do whatever preventive maintenance might ensure continued reliability, or trade up for a much newer model. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be Sport models new in my area. I'd like Apple Carplay and I don't want the EX with the sunroof, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!

 

This might be slightly blasphemous - I would also suggest looking into a Civic hatchback since you are doing limited off-island driving. Not as versatile/spacious from a cargo perspective as the Fit, but I am cross-shopping between the Civic hatch and the Fit now and really like the amenities on the Civic not offered on the fit (dual-zone automatic climate for example).