Honda Fit owners?

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EmmaOffshore

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#150774 2-Aug-2014 17:57

I've just started looking for a replacement car in the 6-8K range to replace a 1994 Toyota Caldina. For that price range a 2007 Honda Fit seems to tick enough of the boxes.

We use our current car pretty infrequently but occassional use it for longer trips or short trips when there's bad weather.

If you're a Honda Fit owner - what do you think of it? And any issues with CVT transmissions? I don't know if all autos have these?

Any other small car recommendations in a similar price range / age?

Thanks for your help,

Emma

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#1100763 2-Aug-2014 18:06

I bought my 2006 Honda Jazz NZ New from trademe a couple of years ago. It had travelled 85k KMs back then (up to 120k km now). Lovely car. Good ride. No such issues with CVT or anything. I do get shuddering of the car when I try to take off uphill - but this doesnt bother me too much. Expenses in the past 2 years that did come up were new battery at the beginning of this year (replacing the original), new tires for the front (replacing original I think?), new brake pads (replacing originals). Besides that, it passes WOFs all the time. I do regular serving (I get those standard service vouchers for 40 bucks from the daily deal sites).

Great car, low on fuel, good mileage - good for individual! Love the space and comfort of the car. Fits 2 large suitcases, 3 small carry bags, my soccer gear, my parents and myself on the way back from the airport with room to spare!!

EmmaOffshore

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#1100768 2-Aug-2014 18:15

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds a lot less expensive than our poor old high mileage Caldina ($3000 in maintenance in last year (ouch!!)

Andib

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#1100770 2-Aug-2014 18:17

EmmaOffshore: Thanks for the feedback. Sounds a lot less expensive than our poor old high mileage Caldina ($3000 in maintenance in last year (ouch!!)

I would say get rid of that car ASAP, For a 94 Toyota that's almost 3x it's worth yearly!!

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EmmaOffshore

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#1100772 2-Aug-2014 18:20

Andib:
EmmaOffshore: Thanks for the feedback. Sounds a lot less expensive than our poor old high mileage Caldina ($3000 in maintenance in last year (ouch!!)

I would say get rid of that car ASAP, For a 94 Toyota that's almost 3x it's worth yearly!!

Yep

lesson learnt. Especially with how little we've used it.

Jase2985

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#1100773 2-Aug-2014 18:21

I have a 2007 Jazz sport and my wife and i love it. heaps of space inside, and really cheap to run, currently sitting about 6.5L/100km so its also great on gas.

anything 2006 and 2007 had a slightly revised CVT to eliminate the issues that they had with the preface lift ones (the first ones). As long as you stick to the service schedule and use genuine fluid you cant really go wrong. havent had any issues with the car at all.

im due to take mine into Honda for its 100k service, but from what i have found parts are readily available and cheap enough

toyonut

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#1100791 2-Aug-2014 18:47

Yep, my parents have one and our shortlist for a new car is also a Jazz. Heaps of room inside, feels solid and gets great fuel economy. Even the 1.3 feels well matched to the car, doesn't struggle at all.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

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Dingbatt

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#1100845 2-Aug-2014 20:20

We are also looking at a similar purchase soon. Have you considered any other cars in this class? What made you pick the Fit/Jazz over the Mazda 2/Demio, Nissan Micra, Hyundai Getz, Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina or Toyota Echo/Yaris? Not questioning your preference, just trying to narrow the search down myself.
I have family members that are on their third Jazz, and they love them. They have never had problems with them. Mind you they are the ones that buy them new and flick them after three years.

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#1100853 2-Aug-2014 20:30

I bought my first Honda Jazz (Fit actually) 2004 just this week.

I have always eyed the thing when it first came out because
1) cheap to run
2) oodles of space
3) Honda meant to be reliable
but never bought one because of the high price until I saw a cheap one (I'm pretty sure due to the strong NZD and wayyy too many imports lying around)

It's now into its 3rd generation and is among the most popular small cars in terms of number on the road and resale price.

Anyway back to mine - I can't comment on reliability as only had it for 2 days. It has a CVT, it shudders a bit but no big deal. I didn't know it was a CVT!

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#1100860 2-Aug-2014 20:34

if you want luxury and don't want any space get the Polo
if you want RWD and don't want any space get the BMW 1
if you want Japanese and noisy and no space get the mazda
if you want to pay a lot of money for the least amount of kit get the Yaris
if you want style and no space get the Fiesta
if you want to be the smallest thing on the road get the micra
if you want to go against any thing normal get the Getz or the Barina
if you want to think you're sporty and hate space get the Swift
if you want the most practical small car money can buy get the Jazz

Jase2985

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#1100865 2-Aug-2014 20:47

joker97:
Anyway back to mine - I can't comment on reliability as only had it for 2 days. It has a CVT, it shudders a bit but no big deal. I didn't know it was a CVT!

throw some xado ex120 in it. should help somewhat

Dingbatt

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#1100866 2-Aug-2014 20:50

joker97: if you want luxury and don't want any space get the Polo
if you want RWD and don't want any space get the BMW 1
if you want Japanese and noisy and no space get the mazda
if you want to pay a lot of money for the least amount of kit get the Yaris
if you want style and no space get the Fiesta
if you want to be the smallest thing on the road get the micra
if you want to go against any thing normal get the Getz or the Barina
if you want to think you're sporty and hate space get the Swift
if you want the most practical small car money can buy get the Jazz

Nice summary. Thanks!

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EmmaOffshore

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#1100867 2-Aug-2014 20:50

Dingbatt: We are also looking at a similar purchase soon. Have you considered any other cars in this class? What made you pick the Fit/Jazz over the Mazda 2/Demio, Nissan Micra, Hyundai Getz, Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina or Toyota Echo/Yaris? Not questioning your preference, just trying to narrow the search down myself.
I have family members that are on their third Jazz, and they love them. They have never had problems with them. Mind you they are the ones that buy them new and flick them after three years.

Hi Dingbatt,

We have only started researching today and were originally considering a Demio but saw a few of the other models in a car yard and online.

We have infrequent use, and more likely to use long distance rather than short (don't commute to work, supermarket or regular chores, so just day trips across town and short car based holidays etc really).

It looks like you could almost fit two bikes into the back of the Fit/Jazz without disassembly, which appeals, as does the really good fuel efficiency (best of the ones we looked at).

Of the others we've researched:
- Nissan Tiida - reports of not great handling
- Mitsubishi Colt had significant blind spots, especially when turning right at round abouts (!)
- Suzuki Swift could only fit a pram in if the seats were down (we don't have kids currently but don't want to have to buy another car if we have one in the next few years.)
- Space for the Demio also looked good, but again it sounded like it wouldn't be so good for those longer rides.

Quite liked the look of the Fit compared to some of the others in the same price bracket and seems like lots of happy customers.

Emma

Dingbatt

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#1100884 2-Aug-2014 20:59

EmmaOffshore:
Dingbatt: We are also looking at a similar purchase soon. Have you considered any other cars in this class? What made you pick the Fit/Jazz over the Mazda 2/Demio, Nissan Micra, Hyundai Getz, Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina or Toyota Echo/Yaris? Not questioning your preference, just trying to narrow the search down myself.
I have family members that are on their third Jazz, and they love them. They have never had problems with them. Mind you they are the ones that buy them new and flick them after three years.

Hi Dingbatt,

We have only started researching today and were originally considering a Demio but saw a few of the other models in a car yard and online.

We have infrequent use, and more likely to use long distance rather than short (don't commute to work, supermarket or regular chores, so just day trips across town and short car based holidays etc really).

It looks like you could almost fit two bikes into the back of the Fit/Jazz without disassembly, which appeals, as does the really good fuel efficiency (best of the ones we looked at).

Of the others we've researched:
- Nissan Tiida - reports of not great handling
- Mitsubishi Colt had significant blind spots, especially when turning right at round abouts (!)
- Suzuki Swift could only fit a pram in if the seats were down (we don't have kids currently but don't want to have to buy another car if we have one in the next few years.)
- Space for the Demio also looked good, but again it sounded like it wouldn't be so good for those longer rides.

Quite liked the look of the Fit compared to some of the others in the same price bracket and seems like lots of happy customers.

Emma

Thanks Emma. I had discounted the Colt because of the reliability issues that Mitsubishi had in the mid noughties, didn't realize they had visibility problems as well.
So far I haven't heard much bad said about the Jazz, however I have threatened to buy a Nissan Cube since my 17 year old son is going to be one of the drivers. And I can't see how it will be possible to look cool in a Cube.

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#1100902 2-Aug-2014 21:50

I have an 04 Honda fit, just over 100k's on the clock. Bought 2 years ago.

We had the dreaded shuddering, but after getting the clutch plate fixed ($700) it was actually as good as new. Next oil change is 30 thousand k's away. A known fault with the early ones, but relatively cheap to fix.

Sitting on 16.7km/l for the 1.3l model. Very nice handling, here in chch you really feel the road thanks to the very tight suspension, but the trade-off is a ridiculous amount of space in the car, having seen the tiida and swift, the space totally won out, I can easily fit stuff most people need trailers for!

Btw, the fit= Japanese model, jazz= international. Biggest differences are fit needs an fm band expander and they have the reverse beep, jazz cars don't!

Edit: forgot to mention even the entry level models are relatively really safe cars thanks to air bags and crumple zones. And I've recently found out fits a child's car seat easy as.

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#1100905 2-Aug-2014 22:00

Just a word about safety. In a crash the heavier thing always wins.

The NCAP stars are strictly tested on low speed and simple collision.

Say one sided front collision at 60kph.

That equates to a head on crash with both cars going at 30kph (30 + 30=60).

If you crash at 70kph (say travelling at 100 and emergency brake for 0.5 secs) with the other car at 70 that is a 140k collision.

If the other car is twice your weight you will get nearly the entire force. Airbags or not won't do squat.

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