Fit

[[JiF]AlbieDamned]

I got a new car a couple nights ago. I bought a bright blue 2007 Honda Fit. It's a 4 door hatchback (aka 5 door). It's actually pretty hard to get right now, but I lucked out. The dealer had one in stock that was exactly what I wanted (Sport trim level, manual, blue). The coolest thing is the multiple configurations you can get by folding the seats. As you would expect, the rear seat backs fold down (60-40), to give a big hatchback storage area. But the rear seat cushions can also fold up, giving a tall (50") storage area behind the front seat. And the front seats can recline all the way to horizontal. If you put the front passenger seat all the way down and fold down the rear seat backs, you can hold something over 7 feet long.

I traded in my 2004 Civic Coupe. There was nothing wrong with my Civic, and I'm sure I could have driven it for 10 years. But I never was crazy about it. When I bought it 3 years ago, I really needed a new car. My previous car was a hatchback, and I really wanted another hatchback, but nothing on the market at the time was to my liking. The most important qualities in a car to me are reliability and gas mileage, and the Civic certainly excelled in those areas. So I got the Civic sort of as a fallback option. But I missed the versatility of the hatchback. Then Honda came out with the Fit last year. Being a Honda it will certainly be reliable, and it gets in the low 30's mpg, same as my Civic did. (My wife has a 2004 Civic Hybrid, by the way. We're Honda people through and through). The transaction didn't cost me much at all. Fits are not terribly expensive, and my Civic still had excellent trade in value. The net difference was only about $4K. I plan to drive the Fit for a long long time.

So far after two days of commuting to work, I have two complaints. One, there is no enclosed center console, nor any enclosed storage at all save for the glove compartment. There's not even an enclosed place to hold coins. There's plenty of open storage (cup holders and a few miscellaneous bins), but no place to put anything you don't want seen. My second complaint is that the rear seat headrests obstruct my view out the rear view window. But I solved that problem pretty quickly by just taking them off. Also, I know I'm going to be annoyed by the small gas tank (11 gallon). My Civic had a 13 gallon tank. So with the Fit having roughly the same mpg, I'll have to fill up more often.

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

And people laughed at my Metro
Looks like a pretty nice little car. Should be able to get you to the Nor'Easter for about $50

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Looks like a pretty nice little car. Should be able to get you to the Nor'Easter for about $50

I just drove to DC to visit my son and his family. I filled the Camry up twice paying over $40 each time. So Albie has no excuse not to go.

[[JiF]Lonewolf]

It's a nice little toy if you like something that small. I have only seen one small car like that I would even think about buying for the gas mileage is a Plymouth Neon. My dads Neon gets in the upper 40's to low 50's mpg depending on if he runs the A/C or not. When we used it last year (which I'll never do again as I can't get out of it) we averaged 51.5 mpg when we went to St.Louis to pick up a family member and that was with the A/C on about half the time. Small cars like that are nice and I guess if I lived in the city I would probably own one but out here in the sticks its either pickups or SUVs for me.

We don't really see to many cars like that around here, I would say right off the top of my head in our town of 4500 people there is probably around 200 cars that size. Here you'll find mostly pickups (mid size and full) mini vans, SUVs and full size cars. I guess it all has to do with the type of industry in the area as around its mainly farming. Don't get me wrong, its a nice car and I hope you have all the luck in the world with it.

[[JiF]AlbieDamned]

Yeah, I live in the suburbs and commute into the city each day (about 20 miles each way). It's perfect in that role, as a commuter car. Plus with the hatchback and the cool folding seats, it gives me the flexibility to haul around stuff once in a while. Not as much as an SUV or a pickup of course, but good enough for my needs. What kills me is that in my suburban neighborhood, just about all our neighbors have SUV's. They have no real need for them, it's just a status thing. Everyone else has one, so they have to have one too. Also, people have the mistaken belief that they are taking their life in their hands if they drive anything smaller. You take your life in your hands every time you go on the roads, regardless of what you drive. Soccer moms with full size SUV's is just wrong, as is people commuting by themself (no carpool) to work in SUV's.

NOTE: The opinions expressed in this message are those of a confessed anti-SUV, whacko environmentalist liberal.

[[JiF]Stepovich]

Also, people have the mistaken belief that they are taking their life in their hands if they drive anything smaller. You take your life in your hands every time you go on the roads, regardless of what you drive. Soccer moms with full size SUV's is just wrong, as is people commuting by themself (no carpool) to work in SUV's.

My experience has been that, aside from the apparently dementia-inspired parking, that most of the "dangers of the road" revolve around suburban/city SUV drivers who appear to drive badly even when they aren't on their cell phones...which is rare.

Sore subject for me

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

I was on a Fire Department for a while and from what I saw the smaller cars may get totally crunched, but the people walk away just as much as the ones in big vehicles that don't give as much. I have see a young girl killed in a big old Buick from whacking the dash board on the passenger side with relatively minor damage to the car and have seen a drunk crawl out of an almost unrecognizable small car via the rear window. Maybe its because the small ones absorb a lot of shock.

Perhaps our Emergency Specialists and Law Enforcement members can enlighten us.

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

I like my Saturn

We had just traded in a 89 Geo Metro for a new 1997 Saturn SL. I was hesitant on buying a new car as the hassle of being pressured into a vehicle was one thing that upset me whenever I went into any other car dealership. I really enjoyed the courtesy that the Saturn company had, along with it's "friendly" salesman "no pressure" sales it offered. But the one thing that caught my eye was the safety standards that I found that the Saturn line of cars had that no other automobile could ever come close to. This is our story of how Saturn made the world of difference in our lives.

My daughter, Celeste and I were on our way to church on a very foggy morning on September 14, 1997. Celeste was in the front seat, as being a single parent, it was hard to reach for toys in the back seat! We were coming over a hill approaching a railroad crossing, when we saw a car waiting there and a train traveling along the tracks. To avoid hitting the car and pushing it into the train I went down the right side of the road into the ditch and hit the train head-on! We derailed 3 railroad cars and sent debris from my car for over a mile down the tracks.




We were both conscious throughout the rescue efforts as the rescue personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to remove me out of the car! I look back upon the accident and it is truly amazing that we sustained only minor injuries and walked away to tell about it. The sheriff at the scene said in all of his 30 years of professional career he had never seen someone survive such a devastating accident something like this. We survived due to seat belts, a car seat, and airbags on both the driver and passenger sides and the safety that the Saturn car was equipped to handle.

[[JiF]Mike]

I'm out in the sticks myself and am seeing more and more small cars. I bought a Honda Civic last year myself and absolutely love it! I was driving a full size GMC pickup that was killing me on gas. I did compromise though, I still have the pickup for use when needed. The Civic gets a rated 30mpg city and 40mpg highway and those numbers have been dead on for me so far. Now we are getting rid of our minivan and keeping the truck, we pretty much always use the civic and have more use for the truck than a van. I showed the link you left about the Honda Fit to my wife...now she wants one. lol

[[JiF]Mentat]

My Voyager smells like wet dogs.

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

And Step was worried about soccer mom's with cell phones in minivans
Beware Mentats in minivans with dogs and cameras

[[JiF]rIot]

Lol, driving while taking pictures, thats always safe!

[[JiF]Stepovich]

Given Mentat's dexterity with ex-packs...
I'd say that was a relatively safe maneuver

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

Zoom Zoom Zoom.