2nd Gen Fit for DD?

About to bite the bullet on a 2010 Fit Sport manual (so hard to find). I've had one of these before but only had it for a few months and it was auto. Anyone of you guys own one long term? Anything to note? I rarely worked on them when I was a Honda tech so not totally familiar with them.

On the plus side - the one I test drove was a blast. Much better than the auto I owned, I forgot how much fun the VTEC noise is even out of a single cam. I enjoy engine noises and my '16 WRX doesn't provide many of those :(. Brakes, clutch, WOT seemed normal.

Down side - body and interior need some serious TLC but it's a one owner car with a tad few miles over 100k and can be had for less than $5k. Which I won't mind since it's going to be mainly used as a workhorse/daily beater.

Seem like a good deal?

Sounds like a great deal. I've had a 2013 manual for about 25k miles now and love it. I've heard from many 100k+ owners that as long as you stay on top of the 50k valve adjustments, you'll never need more than brakes/fluids/filters. And even then half the owners don't bother with the valves and do just fine.

They do have Takata airbags but, what are you gonna do, 75% of vehicles made in the last decade seem to have them...

I haven't seen one that cheap yet.

So what are the clues to weed out the Sport model out from the rest of the cars? (Just wondering...)

We've had ours over 7-years/175,000 miles. I think we're on our 6th set of tires, I've done the brakes once, all-4 shocks/struts once, the front struts/mounts only (because the mounts were shot), serpentine belt a couple times, had the valves adjusted once...that's everything I can think of.

The only problems have been a sticky liftgate handle & the radio doesn't always recognize our iPhones. It's not lead an easy life, yet has held up well, and somehow is not rusty at all.

I prefer the styling of the first generation Fit over the later ones. Other than that, I think they are great little cars.

noddaz wrote: So what are the clues to weed out the Sport model out from the rest of the cars? (Just wondering...)

Fog lights, alloy wheels, and a lift gate spoiler are the noticeable exterior features. Interior, if it's an auto it has radio controls on the steering wheel. It also has a darker cloth material than the base model.

And thanks for the info

I've got an early production '09 base model . Love it. I believe the s gets a rear sway bar the base doesn't have. Good luck.

DirtyBird222 wrote:

noddaz wrote: So what are the clues to weed out the Sport model out from the rest of the cars? (Just wondering...)

Fog lights, alloy wheels, and a lift gate spoiler are the noticeable exterior features. Interior, if it's an auto it has radio controls on the steering wheel. It also has a darker cloth material than the base model.

Manual transmission sport model gets cruise control (no cruise on base model), leather wrapped wheel, and audio controls on the steering wheel. 16inch alloy wheels (base is 15inch), a MUCH better looking front bumper and grill, fogs, side skirts, and a functional rear spoiler that actually improves gas mileage by 1-2 mpg.

clutchsmoke wrote:

DirtyBird222 wrote:

noddaz wrote: So what are the clues to weed out the Sport model out from the rest of the cars? (Just wondering...)

Fog lights, alloy wheels, and a lift gate spoiler are the noticeable exterior features. Interior, if it's an auto it has radio controls on the steering wheel. It also has a darker cloth material than the base model.

Manual transmission sport model gets cruise control (no cruise on base model), leather wrapped wheel, and audio controls on the steering wheel. 16inch alloy wheels (base is 15inch), a MUCH better looking front bumper and grill, fogs, side skirts, and a functional rear spoiler that actually improves gas mileage by 1-2 mpg.

Auto 2nd gen Sport also gets flappy-paddles. Those were fun for the first day or two, but I find it easier/more intuitive to force a shift with throttle modulation.

I looked at both gens of Fit when I was shopping. What ultimately kept me from buying was the gearing. Way too buzzy on the highway for road trip duty - something like 4000rpm at 80mph.

If that doesn't bug you, they're great cars.

petegossett wrote: We've had ours over 7-years/175,000 miles. I think we're on our 6th set of tires,

My 2011 Accord has 132,000 miles and I am on my 2nd set of tires. I rotated them last night and was thinking they last so long due to lack of any real horsepower. I might push these tires to 150,000 or do.

You guys average 30,000 miles a set?

In reply to Datsun310Guy:

Continental DWS has been our go-to set(with the exception of once when they weren't available), and a couple times it was either replace them before winter or suffer with less tread, which I'm not willing to gamble on. I know their treadwear is somewhat low. The Kumhos I had in between sucked so bad in snow that I replaced them in less than a year.

The current set is about 2-years old. Without it seeing snow I'm not quite as worried. Also, SWMBO and I are both pretty hard on tires.

A second gen fit was the first new car I ever purchased. It did its job well and never caused me an issue. My commute lacks highway driving. On the highway it was a little loud and slow but it still returns good mileage. The car is also useful with all the interior space. Actually came in second in h stock a year in my scca region. Some of the competition would make fun of the guys losing to the fit.

EvanR wrote: I looked at both gens of Fit when I was shopping. What ultimately kept me from buying was the gearing. Way too buzzy on the highway for road trip duty - something like 4000rpm at 80mph. If that doesn't bug you, they're great cars.

This is 100% correct. We take my gf's 2010 corolla when going on longer distance drives. Which is sad because the fit is better in all other aspects.

Datsun310Guy wrote:

petegossett wrote: We've had ours over 7-years/175,000 miles. I think we're on our 6th set of tires,

My 2011 Accord has 132,000 miles and I am on my 2nd set of tires. I rotated them last night and was thinking they last so long due to lack of any real horsepower. I might push these tires to 150,000 or do. You guys average 30,000 miles a set?

The stock tires lasted me maybe 20,000. Hated them. All suburban driving. I prefer to maintain momentum

If you have a 2010 model check to make sure the lost motion recall has been performed. Other than that my 2011 has been incredible. I call it my Swiss Army knife. It can do nearly anything. It has helped us move four different houses. It hauls yard items like bedrock and mulch and shovels and rakes. Highest mpg I've gotten was 59mpg. Yep. But that was with the Eco tires. I swapped to wider 205/50-16 for performance and they were cheaper. I averaged 37mph before them. I now average 35.5mpg. Not a big loss in my book. The performance is great. Gas tank is in the middle, so throttle lift is real. It's what makes the fit a real rally contender. Rally suspension is out there. Basically no performance mods. I mean, they do exist, but they dont help AT ALL! I'm serious. The electronic throttle body doesn't even open up past 80%, even if you give it 100% pedal. And every time you try increase airflow into the motor, the ecu defeats you and dials back the throttle. There is no win here. You can turbo it. The ecu will defeat it too, but you will gain something around 35-40hp. Beyond that, Hondata refuses to make an ecu for us. It's why I bought my Celica. A car that can be tuned and modified.

In reply to Trackmouse:

KTuner actually stepped in where Hondata failed and now offers a tuning setup for the GE8.

http://www.hamotorsports.com/ktuner-flash-fit.html

http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-engine-modifications-motor-swaps-ecu-tuning/86764-ktuner-ecu-reflash.html

Hey is this the Desmond from fit freak?

In reply to Trackmouse:

Nope, just a coincidence I think. I'm basically only on FitFreak for the classifieds.

That's rad dude. I got out of the fit game about a year after buying the car, my first gen fit had the same issues. I can't tell if that ref lash can be done on a sport auto transmission equipped car though....

Man some great info in here! I actually think this will be a great support car for our chump team as well. I've been driving Civic Sis with 4.76 final ratios for a long time so the high rpm highway driving doesn't bother me much. Pick the car up monday, needs a new battery and key fob so I talked them into replacing those for me. Glad there is some tuning software out for it as well.

The bad news is my wife wants a new Pilot which means I'd have to get rid of my WRX in exchange for that and her lease is up as well so we need a family truckster. Test drove a Forester XT today and a new Pilot. FXT was all smiles. Pilot hit all the marks for a family though.

SWMBO loves her 08 Fit. I glad to hear there is some sort of a re-flash available since I will likely inherit this car in a few years.

I love the exterior styling of the 1st gen; but, the interior is much better in the 2nd. 10 cup holders is choice.