I went to the new car show in Phoenix yesterday. Hopefully, I'll be buying a new car in 2007, so this gave me a chance to really check out the Fit and it's rivals. They only had one Fit at the show, that burnt orange color, with auto trans. One salesperson told me that Superstition Springs Honda (in the east valley) had a couple of Fits. Anyhoo, this was the first chance I'd had to sit in the car and see how it looked in person.

The things that made an impression on me were: the Fit is smaller than I thought it was. Interior space is good, but compared to all the other cars in this catagory, there didn't seem to be that much difference (with the exception of the Scion Xb, which seemed to me to be bigger inside). The Accent 2 door hatch was smaller inside, as was the Scion Xa, but the Kia Rio 4 door hatch seemed to be about the same, as did the Versa, etc. They didn't have a Toyota Yaris hatch, so I couldn't compare it. They did have a Suzuki SX4, which isn't really too much bigger than the Fit. I guess you could call it a competitor of the Fit, although it might be in a mini-mini SUV catagory. The "Chevy" Aveo was only available as a 4 door sedan, complete with fake wood trim (argh). I even looked at the Mini for yuks and grins.

Of all the cars that I looked at, I liked the interior layout of the Fit the best. Liked the way the guages were layed out, interior space, etc. One thing that surprised me was the way the guages in the Fit are recessed. I couldn't tell that from photos I've seen. My question to Fit owners would be is it hard to see the guages in the daytime? Almost reminded me of the guages in the Mazda3, which are are really deep and hard to see. Also noticed that the Fit has thick windshield pillars. I guess they do that in order to mount the outside mirrors, but I felt that in driving, those would be blind spots. There'd be something in the road and those pillars would keep you from seeing it. Any comments on that? The last thing would be the way the hood slopes. You can't see where the front of the car is. I suppose you'd get used to that, but has that caused anyone any problems? BTW, noticed the same things in the Honda Civic. It has thicker pillars, sloping hood, and the dash would really take some getting used to. The speedo seemed too far away from the tach. (It didn't look that way in photos I'd seen of it.) Just my 2 cents.

It was interesting comparing the various cars, and you notice little things, like how big the steering wheel feels (or how small); the way the dash is laid out, and the way the instruments are placed. Some cars have the speedo and the tach next to one another, some have them on opposite sides with the gas & temp guages in the middle, etc etc etc. All those things add up to if the car is appealing to you or not.

One car that I really loved was the Mazda5 van. This thing is like a Fit on steroids. Has the same general shape body wise as the Fit. I really liked the interior. Seating was very comfortable (I'm 5'9", slight gut...OK, slightly bigger gut) and the steering wheel was within reach. It has twin sliding doors on the back (hello Honda!) and is just a nice, smaller than normal van. Two things that hinder it are the engine (2.4 liter 4, 160 HP, which is just not enough for 3000 lbs), and it the dash lights are yellow-green in color. Blue, gimme blue! heh Other than that, I liked that van. Don't know about Mazda quality as compared to Honda & Toyota, but it was a nice little van.

So, I did get to see the Fit and it's rivals and I think that will go a long way in helping me to making a choice. None of these cars were really bad choices, except maybe the Aveo (which makes the Fit look big). All had nice interiors; some looked a bit cheap due to hard plastics and what not. The Fit had a nice interior; was easy to sit in; no problems with steering wheel being too far away; easy to see the guages. Oh, one last thing. One car I am considering is (gasp) the Toyota Corolla. I discovered that it weighs about the same as the Fit and has a better power to weight ratio, so gets about the same gas mileage and has more power. Bland looking outside but has a nice interior and is comfortable. OK, that's enough. Sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to give my impressions to all of you.

 

you should use paragraphs. it's hard to read that.

 

OK< I fixed it. :)

 

One other thing to remember is that when purchasing any one of the competitors there are so many different "packasges" to go with. The Fit Sport comes standard with pretty much EVERYTHING... including all the safety equipment. Some companies do not even offer the side curtain airbags on their cars. (sorry thats the salesman coming out of me lol)

 

So true! Toyota is infamous for making you buy a "package" to get what you want, or having to order safety items as options. I know you sell these cars, so I'll be honest with you as to what is making me back off the Fit. I live in Phoenix, and it's hot in the summer, like miserable hot. My '86 Civic Si had basically the same size engine as the Fit, altho only 91 HP. It was white (great color for Phoenix) but that little engine just could not cool down the car in the summer. If I was driving facing the sun, forget it. I'm thinking that this will be the same thing with the Fit. It just has a little engine and it's not gonna be real cool in the summer, even with white paint and tinted windows. I'm also leery of the problems the Fit has that I'm seeing reported on this site (especially paint) and I'm wondering what would happen if I bought the car then starting having problems with it. I really want my next car to last a long time, because I just can't afford to buy a new car every 5 years. That's one reason I'm leaning toward the Corolla, cuz it has that "bullet proof" reputation, even tho it's not much to look at. My heart is with the Fit, cuz I love the way it looks and it's the kind of car that I like, but.....

 

The main complaint I had with the fit is bad rear visibility. I love everything.

The guages are not hard to read. There's that huge "umbrella" to keep things in the dark. The guages are GORGEOUS at night.

the mazda van does look like a fit,but the back is ugly. The front looks really good. Its as if they spent time architecturing the front and procrastinated the backside.

 

the only pain issues are the corners where the bumper meets the fender,but that is easy to prevent. Also the AC thing. I live in the Socal desert and it gets into 110s The AC keeps it pretty cool with my experience. Actually i even get cold with it on. And mind you iwill only use AC when it is EXTREMELY hot outside.

 

The guages are not only shaded by the "umbrella" mentioned above on the dash, but they are also partially illuminated in the day time!

 

Good point Gettinafit. I have no problems at all seeing the gauges day or night. They work great either way. And at night, so damn sexy looking.

 

I've had my Fit for 1 month now..picked up in salt lake enroute to AZ where live in winter. It's a great little car. Drove 900 miles with 400#cargo @avg 75-80 mph, about 40 mpg. Buy the Sport model..I ordered Standard with manual transmission. Surprise! Doesn't come that way and has no cruise control..a real bummer for long trips. Having problem with front end cyclic vibration felt in steerwheel most noticeable @75 mph...quite objectionable; cause not found yet....Still a fun car; hope I don't have to give back to them...

 

Hiya Cecil. So, you live down in Sorry Vista, huh? heh heh That's what we call it to be onry. My sister used to live there. I bought my Honda Civic Si there at Hacienda Honda from my former bro-in-law, who was a salesman at that dealership. Anyhoo, I sure hope you get that vibration fixed. You shouldn't be having any problems at 75 with it. Hope it's a good car for you. Maybe you could have dealer install a cruise control??