Hi fitfreaks,

After having great fun with 2007 white US Fit 5-speed, I am now face with a decision on a new car. I am going to be staying in Brazil for a while and the local Honda here has the model City on special.

I was going to get a 2010 Fit (flex) and believe it or not, the price starts from $55k RS to $68k RS (That is about starting at $30k US..ouch!). The City is a bigger car. Coming from US, I know nothing about the City and heard about it in the late 90s from Japan. For the Honda guru out there, can you please give some advice?

Thanks.

- Tim

 

Hey Tim.
I live in Argentina and we get the brazilian City as well as the Fit. I have a '08 GD1 Fit (brazilian, except engine and gearbox, that were japanese until the new Fit came out, now it's all brazilian).

Besides the obvious differences, the City has longer wheelbase (about 2") and it only comes with 1.5 i-vtec engine so far. So it's not much more than a 3-volume Fit.
I'd recommend you to choose if you need the trunk or not, basically. I'd go for the Fit.

Neither car will have side nor courtain airbags. Don't expect VSA either. It seems security items are not that important down here :S

I hope this was helpful!
Cheers!

 

Hi Doryon,

Thanks for the information. I just learned from you that Brazil Fit are made in Brazil. I thought there were made in Japan. I also just got a sticker shock coming back from the dealers here in Brazil. I hope the price in Argentina is more reasonable. I still can't picture myself spending $55k RS on a FIT :) My brother-in-law told me to get used to it.

- Tim

 

Yeah, Brazil has the highest prices I've know...
We have a bit of luck about it (as brazilian and mexican cars aren't charged with a 35% tax we have for imports) and the Fit ranges from USD 16.800 to 22.900; wich it's still expensive given the lack of security equipment and some other details.

I'm not sure about brazilian laws, but if you were to live in Argentina, you can bring your car with you and register it with no problem. The catch is that you can't sell it for 2 years. At least that's how it works here... I have no idea how they do it in Brazil. Maybe it is easier there.

 

The GE Fit/Jazz is more aftermarket-friendly too. You might want to consider that, as the GM2 City isn't really JDM (as far as I know it's never been offered there) despite sharing a lot of its mechanicals with the GEs.

The GM2 City does have a LOT more space in the engine bay for modifications though. In some markets (China specifically) they throw in R18A 1.8L engines from the FA/FD Civics in there as stock.

Test-drove one not too long ago and it was quite fun. If anything the suspension on the GM Cities is even better-riding than an equivalent GE.

 

i LOVE the Fit Aria/City and wish Honda would offer it to us here in the USA... it reminds me of Civics before they bloated to the size of previous generation Accords :/

to the OP, i always thought that hatchbacks/wagons have been more practical than sedans. it's really convenient when the rear passenger seats can fold down into cargo mode and you can haul big items you normally couldn't with a sedan. but DAMN, $30k USdollars for a Fit is INSANE D:

 

GD3_Wagoon, I feel the same way about the pricing and walked out in shock. On top of that fog lights and a few items are "accessories".

I think we, Americans, are lucky to enjoy automobiles in such a low price. I am sure Europe and Far East are the same as in South America. It makes my lux. car purchase in US much easier.

I am going to take a closer look at the Fit and the City with my wife. With all the hills in Sao Paulo I am not sure I will take a manual. All my cars in US are manual - manual in US seems odd for most people but here, most cars are still in manual and auto is a "lux" item. The perception is very different.

 

The GM-chassis Cities weren't even sold in Japan for some reason...they would've made a nice continuation of the GD Cities/Fit Arias, not to mention they look a damn sight better. Imagine a 2nd-generation TSX or Euro/JDM Accord, shrunk to subcompact size to fit over GE Fit bones, and you won't be far off.

Here's a GM City with Modulo body bits.


Compare it with the JDM/Euro Accord...or the gen2 TSX to the US

 

I just can't justify spending over 30k USD on a Fit. My brother-in-law's friend has 2007 Fit (from an old guy) that has a whopping 300km. Yes, the car was hardly used and yet I still have to spend 36k RS (about 18k USD for it) to buy a 3 year old used car! Damn it!

So...I go from 2007 Fit Sport to 1.4 DSI (80 HP), no ABS, no side and passenger airbag, 14 inch tire, no fog lights..(essential it is a US base model with less)....sad, sad...

Does anyone of you know if I can fit the Cusco strut bar? Does it use drive-by-wire that I can reuse my Blitz Controller? And do you think the US Security and remote access module will work with the electronics in the Brazil fit? Please help as I am trying to reuse as much as my mod from US.

- Tim

 

Hi! I'm an italian citizen living in Brazil and I own a Honda Fit (FLEX 2008 version) since last year. I bought it with 20.000km, still under warranty and in perfect conditions. I paid about $ 22k (maybe I could have negotiated and still get a “better” price). It has double airbag, A.C. and ABS.
Car prices are high, essentially because brazilian market is a shit, even if it's improving quickly. You would be even more surprised if you needed any electronic equipment that is not “made in Brazil”, like a Mac…
My advice is to buy a used car, from a private if possible. You just have to take care not to be tricked and all that stuff that can happen here (try to inform yourself before, if you need any help or advice, you can ask me).
The advantage is that you can still sale your car in a couple of years without loosing many money (here cars don't devaluate as fast as in Europe, or the USA I guess). Moreover, if you buy your car in a cheapest locality (like, for example Curitiba) and then resell it in a smaller town, where prices are higher, you can reduce even more the money you loose.
I hope this can help you. If I were you, I would definitely never buy a new car here!

 

Hi again. I just read your last post. Take care with prices: there is an official list of prices for used cars in Brazil, where you can have an idea of how much you should pay for a second hand car. The milage is not important for them (don't ask me why), just the year, so you can get for about the same price a very used or very new car..
I paid R$ 36500 for my 2007/2008 Fit (and still overpaid it as I didn't negotiate, I learned I should have later).

Cheers, Alex

 

Here is the link:

http://www.fipe.org.br/web/index.asp...s/default.aspx