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Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

P

Probert

Registered User
My 1999 Honda Civic bit the dust or more accurately has a $1,500 to $2,000 repair that I am unwilling to pay for on a 12 year old car. I am trying to decide between another Civic and a Fit. Does anyone drive a Fit and can let me know how they like it? The high seat felt a little uncomfortable during the test drive but having driven my current Civic for 12 years I assume it is something that will take getting used to. I also am not sure how much I like the hatchback.

Basically the prices are close, the Fit is only about $700 less from the offers I've gotten One Civic offer is only a couple hundred dollars more, though I haven't been to the dealer so who knows how the internet price may change when I go their today. although I can get The Fit in a manual transmission, which I prefer, though the Civic's only seem available in automatic unless I go to a 2012 which will be more.

So any feedback pro or negative Fit would be appreciated, I've driven Civic's for the last 20 years so basically know what I am getting.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

focus or Fiesta?

Other than that, isn't the fit a large civic? Assuming you bought your Civic new, that means you keep cars a very long time. I seriously doubt that the minor differences you find that people have between them will outweigh if one is just more comfortable to live with. And by comfort, I'm not meaning plush or luxury, but focusing on your personal fit, that the car doesn't tweak any of you while you drive, and that you are not just tolerating it to keep it. You should really focus on the car you will like the best for a decade.

So, IMHO, the real question is- will you be happy in a Fit in 10 years and 150k miles under your rear end, or would you be happier in a Civic?

They are both good enough to bring it down to that, I think. one edit to add here- be honest- $700 spread out over 6 years in the worst finacning will be something like $1000 or so. Or $100/year. Or <$10/mo. very insigificant in the long run if you don't like a car.

(being biased, I would also ask the same questions with a fiesta and focus.... ;))
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

I think the Fits are a bit sportier than the Civics (Si model excluded). They definitely are a bit smaller (but that hatchback probably gives more usable space to lug stuff around), and I bet they get better mileage.

That said, I'm with Alfablue. After growing up with Hondas, I bought a Focus as a cash-strapped grad student. That was in '04 (05 model). There's nothing exciting about it. At all. But it has never so much as refused to start. It's cost me next to nothing to maintain, and it gets pretty good mileage. Now that Ford is letting us North Americans have the "good" Focus that Europeans have been getting, my next trip to the dealer may well be to Ford.
 
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Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

Mazdaspeed 3. ;)

I like the Civic, the Fit looks goofy as all hell to me. But, if you are going for practical usage and don't give a rip about aesthetics, the Fit might be the way to go.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

amherstblackbear said:
That said, I'm with Alfablue. After growing up with Hondas, I bought a Focus as a cash-strapped grad student. That was in '04 (05 model). There's nothing exciting about it. At all. But it has never so much as refused to start. It's cost me next to nothing to maintain, and it gets pretty good mileage. Now that Ford is letting us North Americans have the "good" Focus that Europeans have been getting, my next trip to the dealer may well be to Ford.
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This.

Give me the car that's plain as day, but bullet proof, every day of the week. Toyota built an empire on that principle.
 
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Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

I recently did a lot of homework ahead of buying a new car. I had a 2002 Civic which was great, so I looked at the new ones. The five-year cost of ownership was about 2.5% more for a Hyundai Sonata than a Civic if you can believe it. 2011 Hyundai's are awesome, 100k mile warranty, all the bells and whistles, and Consumer Reports gives them comparable quality to Honda/Toyota. So I suggest you look into that.

Either way, you are crazy not to use www.truecar.com to do your shopping. Use it to find a dealer and stick to the price. I saved $1k on both my recent cars thanks to those guys.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

state of hockey said:
Mazdaspeed 3. ;)

I like the Civic, the Fit looks goofy as all hell to me. But, if you are going for practical usage and don't give a rip about aesthetics, the Fit might be the way to go.
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I got a Civic, wife has a Mazda 3, so I'm getting a kick...
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

Rimbaud said:
Maybe he has his balls where they're suppose to be: In a scrotum, attached to his body just below his penile unit.
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I have those, too. I'm not saying go out and get a super-jacked up truck with a huge engine and monster tires. Just something that has more than hamsters running on wheels. :p
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

I ended up getting the Civic after soliciting a bunch of internet offers and some trips to dealers I did manage to get about $600 knocked off the initial quoted price so it ended up being only $100 or more than the offer they gave me for the Fit. I also got 0.9% financing which was nice but had to buy by the 30th. As for why I did not consider something more substantive my daily commute is a grand total of 8 miles round trip and other than the occasional trip to the grocery store my main trips on the weekend consist of driving 3/4 mile to the train station to ride into Manhattan. So spending a bunch of money on something that will look nice sitting in the parking spot at my apartment wasn't really a consideration.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

Probert said:
I ended up getting the Civic after soliciting a bunch of internet offers and some trips to dealers I did manage to get about $600 knocked off the initial quoted price so it ended up being only $100 or more than the offer they gave me for the Fit. I also got 0.9% financing which was nice but had to buy by the 30th. As for why I did not consider something more substantive my daily commute is a grand total of 8 miles round trip and other than the occasional trip to the grocery store my main trips on the weekend consist of driving 3/4 mile to the train station to ride into Manhattan. So spending a bunch of money on something that will look nice sitting in the parking spot at my apartment wasn't really a consideration.
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I have similar travel situations, and that's exactly why I decided on my gas-guzzling Jeep Wrangler 6-cyl 4.0 Sport. It zips around, has some power, and I don't usually take long drives, so I don't have the monster gas bills that others may have. "Balls" doesn't always mean pure speed. ;)
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

Congrats, you will be happy with it and if you keep the miles low like you say, the resale value will be awesome. If I were you I'd also be super happy to be done with car dealers for a while.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

unofan said:
I got a Civic, wife has a Mazda 3, so I'm getting a kick...
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I have a Mazda 3 as well. Love it. Except for the tires, this last winter was awful. Pretty lucky I only smacked one curb (glare ice, snow tires wouldn't have even helped) and only got stuck once, which was in the driveway. I'll be getting snows during the summer here.
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

SteveP said:
Being a Volvo guy, I'll put in my vote for the C30
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Sweet cars, but much like the Mini, the minute you start optioning out the car with equipment most are going to want on a car they get kinda spendy pretty quickly. Never bought a Mini or a Volvo so I don't know if dealers are willing to discount them much. Two of the cooler economy cars out there though. I'm with whoever mentioned the Focus...I've had very good luck with Fords I've owned...comes from a guy whose family owned a Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep store for nearly 70 years. :o
 
Re: Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

Brenthoven said:
I have those, too. I'm not saying go out and get a super-jacked up truck with a huge engine and monster tires. Just something that has more than hamsters running on wheels. :p
Click to expand...

And how much per month are you spending at the gas pump?
 
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