Entertaining Thoughts of a Good Used Vechicle

[FinanceDude]

My aunt and uncle have one and love it. Great choice! I saw a Prius V in the parking lot next to me in maroon and man that car was sharp........

[easysurfer]

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Originally Posted by Calico Nice!! Enjoy it. Just don't tell all your friends and family how much it can hold, or you will find yourself on the receiving end of a lot of phone calls....."hey, you know that furniture/bicycle/lumber I bought? Want to help me get it home?"

Calico,

Thanks for the tip. My plan is to initially keep somewhat of a low profile and enjoy the car before volunteering to help out too much

The bicycle was one dealbreaker for me choosing the Fit. I got a small folding bicycle, but now (I haven't tried yet) I should be able to just flip up the back seats and put the bicycle there without any folding.

I do have one question you might answer for me. Do you just rely on the Fit's Maintenance Meter's codes for when to oil change and do other maintenance (inspect brakes, for example) or do you go by another schedule?

My old car was the old fashioned black and white on paper with all the maintenance tasks listed out.

Easysurfer

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Calico, Thanks for the tip. My plan is to initially keep somewhat of a low profile and enjoy the car before volunteering to help out too much The bicycle was one dealbreaker for me choosing the Fit. I got a small folding bicycle, but now (I haven't tried yet) I should be able to just flip up the back seats and put the bicycle there without any folding. I do have one question you might answer for me. Do you just rely on the Fit's Maintenance Meter's codes for when to oil change and do other maintenance (inspect brakes, for example) or do you go by another schedule? My old car was the old fashioned black and white on paper with all the maintenance tasks listed out. Easysurfer

I just follow the Fit's own maintenance recommendations.

Re: being drafted to help transport large/bulky items

When I first purchased the car, a lot of people remarked that "it doesn't look like it has much cargo room" (I did not have the seats folded down) and I found that it was best to just murmur "hmmmm" noncommittally. I certainly never try to disabuse people of this opinion - saves me lots of hot, humid, southern summer weekends spent carting around other people's stuff.

One of the main reasons I bought the car is because it can hold multiple dog and/or cat crates/carriers at the same time, and I plan to do more animal rescue volunteering after retirement.

[easysurfer]

Thanks again about the maintenance recommendations.

My sister also has a Fit (she let me test drive it a couple weeks ago). The main reason she got one is because she owns large dogs. We did exceed the size limits when I was over at her place not long ago as we assumed the Fit would carry a 4' x 4' piece of plywood, but no dice. We tried both laying the wood flat and with the magic seats up. She has a 2009 model year, but I don't know if a more current model would have worked. Good thing she also has a van and her hubby drove that to pick up the plywood.

[easysurfer]

Looks like Honda will have a Fit Hybrid (sort of) in 2014 for North America after all.

Honda To Launch Fit Hybrid To Compete With Toyota Prius c - HybridCars.com

But why Honda refuses to have a standard size Fit in the US to me is a head scratcher.

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Honda does not expect to build the hybrid version of the standard Fit five-door, but the U.S. is to receive hybrid versions of a Fit-based small crossover and sedan.

[Bestwifeever]

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Originally Posted by easysurfer I pulled the trigger today and traded in Old Yeller. I got myself a used 2012 Honda Fit, with almost 10K miles from Carmax.

Were there many "previously owned" Fits available? How much percentagewise cheaper was it than a brand new one?

Great choice, btw

[W2R]

Great choice, I agree! Of the options discussed, that is the car I would have selected (and the color I would have preferred, too). Hope you have fun with your new Fit.

[Larro Darro]

Congrats on the new car. We bought a 2005 Prius new. That was back when you had to get on a waiting list. We still love it. Has plenty of cargo room. One day at Sam's Club we bought three of the six foot shelving units. Back then there wasn't many Prius's around, and people would come up and look at it anyway. But there was a small crowd gathered around to watch us put the shelving in the back. It went in, along with all the other stuff one always buys at Sam's.

We take ours to the dealer for service and tire rotation every 4K miles, and have a very good relationship with them. Like when our chocolate lab chewed up the wiring harness, they could have sold us a new one for $2K+. Instead they did some patching and a lot of taping, and it only cost us $50.

Hope you enjoy the Fit as much as we have our car.

[easysurfer]

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Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Were there many "previously owned" Fits available? How much percentagewise cheaper was it than a brand new one? Great choice, btw

I was a bit surprised but there weren't many "previously owned" Fits available. The one I got, I had it transferred to the Carmax by me as I liked the color and wanted one without navigation (prefer to use my own portable GPS). My sister's FIT has navigation and to me that seemed more distracting than helpful. Maybe I just didn't get used to that navigation. I really didn't compare to a brand new one.

[easysurfer]

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Originally Posted by W2R Great choice, I agree! Of the options discussed, that is the car I would have selected (and the color I would have preferred, too). Hope you have fun with your new Fit.

Thx. I just gave my Fit it's first "chore" today. I dropped off this large exercise bicycle (I did have to disassemble the handle bar) to Goodwill which I've been meaning to for a couple of years but didn't have a large enough car and family with vans always seemed too busy or were far away. But with the Fit, I simply lifted up the back magic seats which gave ample room. Success! .

[easysurfer]

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Originally Posted by Larro Darro Congrats on the new car. We bought a 2005 Prius new. That was back when you had to get on a waiting list. We still love it. Has plenty of cargo room. One day at Sam's Club we bought three of the six foot shelving units. Back then there wasn't many Prius's around, and people would come up and look at it anyway. But there was a small crowd gathered around to watch us put the shelving in the back. It went in, along with all the other stuff one always buys at Sam's. We take ours to the dealer for service and tire rotation every 4K miles, and have a very good relationship with them. Like when our chocolate lab chewed up the wiring harness, they could have sold us a new one for $2K+. Instead they did some patching and a lot of taping, and it only cost us $50. Hope you enjoy the Fit as much as we have our car.

Thanks. I like driving smaller cars and the garage that I park in is pretty tight so even the Prius is big in relation to the parking spaces. I know some Prius owners and they love their cars. If the regular Prius was a little smaller, I would have definitely considered that.

[Calico]

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Originally Posted by easysurfer I was a bit surprised but there weren't many "previously owned" Fits available. The one I got, I had it transferred to the Carmax by me as I liked the color and wanted one without navigation (prefer to use my own portable GPS). My sister's FIT has navigation and to me that seemed more distracting than helpful. Maybe I just didn't get used to that navigation. I really didn't compare to a brand new one.

I am not surprised by this. None of the people I know who own a Fit ever want to give it up (including me)! Sounds like you are already enjoying it.

[aaronc879]

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Originally Posted by Calico I am not surprised by this. None of the people I know who own a Fit ever want to give it up (including me)! Sounds like you are already enjoying it.

Calico, do you live in an area that gets snow? If so, does it get thru several inches of snow ok?

[Calico]

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Originally Posted by aaronc879 Calico, do you live in an area that gets snow? If so, does it get thru several inches of snow ok?

Sorry, I don't know how the Fit does in snow. I live in the south, and snow is a very rare event here. Maybe there are some Fit owners on the forum who live in northern climes......?

[Al in Ohio]

I love Honda's for their reliability, resale value and quality. Our local dealer service is also excellent. The fit seems like it could be a good next car candidate for me after another 5-6 years of running my CRV into the ground. What's the crash test rating on the Fit?

[easysurfer]

I did drive my Fit today and really enjoyed the flexability of the seat arrangements. Ended up driving over to a sister's place to help her install a shelf for a small air purifier. So I ended up folding one read seat down to fit a folding ladder. Then later I met another sister and her daughter to go shopping for the purifer and board for the shelf. No prob in the car, with 4 adults and one folded ladder.

Then before driving home, one sister gave me a couple decent sized bags to carry. But no prob. Instead of placing the bags on my back seat like my old car, I just flipped on seat up and placed the stuff on rear floor.

The seat configurations are what really sold me on the Fit.

It isn't the perfect car (what care really is on all factors?) but matches me nicely.

[Larro Darro]

Most cars have folding rear seats now, not just hatchbacks. We are shopping for a used 2013 Camry right now. We went to the dealer's to check them out. Even though it has a trunk, both rear seats fold down. Looked like you could put something pretty long in there.

Had pictures of a LE with 12K miles sent last night. Asking price of $22.5K. The online car deals have a 48 hour deadline, and I wasn't ready to pull the trigger yet.

[easysurfer]

Yes. Even the old Neon that I owned has a folding rear seats and I was able to fit the same ladder and a whole lot more with the seats down. Yet at the same time if I was to load the car up often, I'd prefer to have a hatchback.

A late friend of mine had a Kia Spectra with folding seats and we were able to cram a lot of stuff in that car, including a door (the trunk was open, but the door made it home okay).

[easysurfer]

I made a "major" but needed addition to my car today with cardboard and masking tape. My old previous car (I miss some of it's conveniences) had one of those plastic thingies on the driver's visor that slid out to block the sun from giving me a left sided only face tan.

So a little cardboard and masking tape and tada , all set. (Oh, I ended up using tape of both edges so the new cardboard shade won't slip out).

[REWahoo]

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Originally Posted by easysurfer So a little cardboard and masking tape and tada , all set. (Oh, I ended up using tape of both edges so the new cardboard shade won't slip out).

Very nice, but way too neat and tidy to make it to the big time..

There I Fixed It - Funny Bad Repairs