I test drove the Rabbit before I drove the Fit and to say I was unimpressed would be an understatement. On paper, the Rabbit is great but the reality wasn't so great. The interior is very stark and not very inviting. It seemed much cheaper to me than a Jetta I looked at in the showroom which surprised me. The acceleration seemed adequate at best and the engine was very coarse and loud. Granted, the Fit can get loud under acceleration but it doesn't seem coarse. Bottom line was that I was disappointed and unimpressed.

Test driving the Fit immediately after the Rabbit, I was very impressed and fell in love with the handling, ride, comfort, and overall quality of the vehicle.

Regarding VW quality, I had a Jetta TDI for three years and 73K miles as a company car. I had multiple problems over those three years, including a recurring no start problem due to faulty harness, two bad starters, and various other minor electrical issues. Honda just plain makes a better quality vehicle and the Fit is better than the Rabbit.

 

i personally like the rabbit, but i will never buy a car other than japanese imports, unless its a BMW or Benz...other than that i wouldnt buy it...
but that dosent mean i dont like it..i think the car is a beast..i was just on VW's website on "build and price"..i fully loaded the baby and price still wasnt bad...i sometimes wish that honda would put more Horsepower into the car...thats one thing i HATE about the fit...but its still fun

 

the HP issue is pretty much with every Honda/Acura car sold. Their HP numbers tend to be up when the product is first released, but will go down as competitors scramble to up the ante with more power from their offerings. Makes you feel good buying a Honda, though, because you know there's more to the car than just straight-up HP.

As for the Rabbit, I've sat in on a test drive of one with a friend. it's not terribly bad, but not terribly good either. It reminded me of a Corolla with slightly better cargo room. Drives you from A to B, but that's it really.

 

its just the fact that the Fit is really weak in power...but handling is important as well which the fit has...damn i thought the rabbit would feel like a go-cart with more hp

 

In the states the smallest engine we get in the Golf/Rabbit is a 2.5L inline 5, other than that you have the GTI and I'm not sure about a current R32.

 

The rabbit was one of the cars we looked at before we ended up with our fit. I can sum up my impression of the rabbit in one word:

BORING!

The styling is bland inside and out, we didn't even bother test driving it after we sat in it at the VW dealership. The rabbit may have better hp, but the handling of the fit can't be beat. It has slalom numbers up there with full-on sport sedans that cost 3 or 4 times as much. I had an MR2 spider with full TRD suspension package and it was only a teency bit better handling than the fit (I miss that drop-top though :().

 

I test drove a Rabbit as well before buying the Fit. We also have an 06 Jetta 2.5 5 speed which I love driving, hence the reason I tested the Rabbit. The Rabbit I drove was an auto and it really sucked the power from the 2.5 unless you got on it hard. It just didn't do much for me in that configuration. Now that being said, that same engine in our Jetta is very nice to drive and it pulls really well as it has loads of torque. Night and day difference between the auto and the 5 speed.

As for the comparison to the Fit, they are 2 completely different cars IMO. The Jetta (I'll compare the Fit to the Jetta because that is what we have and the Rabbit is built on the same platform anyway) is heavier and it feels heavy, like it's bolted to the road. It's a nice solid ride, it handles well, it's dead quiet and it has a great interior. It's definitely not an entry level car. The doors and trunk alone are heavier than those on my truck. I think the Jetta is more comparable to the Accord and that's what we cross shopped it with.

The Fit is just a fun car to drive. It's more nimble, gets better mileage and also has a very nice interior. I find it's also easier to drive. The clutch is way lighter and way more forgiving than the Jetta. I guess I could sum it up by saying that in town I'd rather drive the Fit. For road trips, I'd rather drive the Jetta. The Rabbit was also slightly out of my optimal price range so that was going against it as well.

I think a better comparison would be the Fit and the City Golf (Canadian model . . . I don't think you can get them in the US). It's basically the last generation Golf with the 2.0 engine and it would be matched similar to the Fit in price. I honestly didn't like the interior so I didn't even drive one. For the market that the Fit is targeting, I think it's tough if not impossible to beat.

 

I don't even think you can really compare the rabbit to the Fit pricewise. Sure, the rabbit starts under $15k, but that's for a 2 door. The 4 door is over $17k at the lowest. I test drove a 4 door rabbit, and it just didn't have the same driving experience that the fit gave me.

 

Prior to the Ft, I owned 5 VW's. Each generation of the Golf/Jeta has been less fun (although a lot "nicer") than the previous. The Golf has a much nicer interior (upholstery, seats, stereo, etc). It's also smoother and quieter and has more overall space (the back seat is not as roomy as the Fit's but it has a lot more trunk space w/o folding the seats). The Golf is also a LOT heavier... more than enough to wipe the HP advantage, it's less nimble. The mileage isn't bad but nowhere near the Fit's. And then there's the "quality" issues... Japanse>American>European. Euro cars are not "low quality", they just have a different idea of what a car should be... they are more concerned with durability rather than reliability.
my 2 pennies worth...
Also, IMO, the Golf 5 would be more comparable to a Civic in terms of price, trim level, options, etc. (other than the hatchback issue...)

 

With great power, comes great responsibi....oh wait thats from Spiderman. How about this, with a German car like VW, comes greater costs when something breaks. :p :D Not bagging on VW, I like the cars, just not the maintenance costs. But then again I am also one of those guys that drives a car for years until it starts falling apart. If you are one of the lease hounds or one of the new car every 5 years or less types, then maintenance shouldnt affect you as much.

 

So, I'm trading my 2002 Jetta 1.8T on my shiny new Fit. I LOVE my Jetta, but it hurts me sometimes. It has needed some maintenance that a Honda of its age and mileage (106K) could go without, like a new wheel bearing for instance. The Jetta never handeled as well as I would have liked, but it was good enough and the ride is pleasant. I have always enjoyed that I can stretch 3rd gear to about 95mph - I know the Fit will never be able to compete in the top-end department. Of course, the selling price of the Fit is about $10K less than my Jetta was, so I can't really expect them to be competing products.

Some of you have mentioned the available VW options - this is really where VW shines in my eyes. For instance, my Jetta came with 4 available engines, 3 trannys, 5 interior options, etc... Some people casually dismiss other car companies or get angry that competing products for their own car are even made. I find this to be narrow-minded and myopic. The Golf/Rabbit is a great little car and always has been.

Just my $.02
Paulson

 

GTI built in Germany...Rabbit in Mexico. This year rabbit gets a HP bump to 170...if that's all you need. They load them up to sell them...Honda doesn't need to add fluff. Fit better all the way around. I would much rather have MPG's and handling than more HP's and straightline acceleration.

 

I drove the new Rabbit along with last years Golf side by side. The new Rabbit was much nicer and zippier than the outgoing Golf was, but I prefer the Fit over either.

 

Rabbits are built in Germany, not Mexico.. MKIV Golf's in Brazil.. I'm definitely leaning towards the fit... I work for Audi and currently drive an A3 and could get a decent deal on a Rabbit, however, for what I need right now the Fit makes more sense... The rabbit IS faster/safer/more standard features... but even with my biased opinion of VW/Audi I've always been a Honda fan.. and the fun factor is definitely there on a Fit

 

You will be fixing your VW Rabbit. If you can't fix it yourself, it will cost you. I still have my Jetta -- I really do like it when it's not broken. I still cruise vwvortex.com forums from time to time.

Good news is for the next (Mk6?) generation, VW/Audi is supposedly aiming to lower the complexity of the vehicles (boosting reliability). It takes something like 2.5x the construction effort for a VW compared to the competition. We'll see, I'm certainly not buying rev 1 whenever it arrives.

VW 2.5L (5-cyl) is a gas pig and uninspiring. The 200HP 2.0T is awesome and chipable to 250HP (and better mpg than the slower 2.5L motor!!), but either way it's going to have problems.

Had VW been reliable I would have a 4-door GTI right now -- but my previous VW was a nightmare! The Fit is okay -- I feel like it is "simple" transporation compared to a mid-level VW vehicle, but of course that is reflected in the lower price of the Fit. VW's are a bit heavier giving them a nicer cruise down the freeway (I spend a lot of time on the freeway). I feel like the Fit is the reliable and smart choice, but the motor leaves me desiring a tad more freeway merging power. I am day-dreaming about the JR super-charger kit, but that's a chunk of change...

I wouldn't touch the current VW Rabbit with a 10-foot pole though. I'd buy a Chevy Aveo hatchback before that.

 

:( Please don't.

The Rabbits are nice looking, but never really got my attention i guess. Glad to hear it wasn't something I passed up regretfully.

 

Hehheh yah I think the Aveo is a bit ugly and uninspiring, but anything beats having the vdub towed into the repair shop 3 times a year. I'd buy a Matrix/Vibe or Focus before the Aveo for sure.

 

My 2000 TDI Jetta with 158K miles never left me stranded. It was a base model with no power windows ( a plus for this car). I serviced the car myself and had to spend $250 for the vag-com. The intake manifold and EGR have been cleaned out, 2 timing belt replacements, glow plug harness replacement, brake pads. My main reasons for replacing the VW with a Honda was that the Fit is more fun to drive and I will expect to have to perform less maintanence. I want to save my wrenching for the toys. If you want a solid car that feels like a tank and gets almost unbeatable fuel economy then the 1999-2003 TDIs are worth looking at. It will require more maintanence than the Honda but less than any BMW I've ever heard of. Too bad VW doesn't have light nimble cars like the old Rabbit GTIs any more.

 

Because the power windows like to fall down into the doors. :D (true!)

Yah, my friend with a TDI Jetta -- good point, his engine was fine too. (It was in an accident though and got rid of it.) The 40k mile timing belt was a hassle though.

 

No issues whatsoever with our 06 Jetta after a year of ownership and roughly 13,000 miles. It's been absolutely rock solid and it's a REALLY nice car to drive :)