I'm in a Fit over this

[SLO-BOB]

Those who know me have probably already figured out the weak title pun refers to a car purchase. But, there's so much more. Since early spring I've decided to reorganize my life. Not that it was a mess, but just needed some fine tuning and changes. Todd's (Nostatic) post about selling his 911 and devoting more time to the important things coincided with similar feelings I was having. So, I decided to sell off most of my toys. The pristine 964 was one of the first to go. When I bought it I thought it was too nice to actually drive. Stupid, I know, but that feeling never left me. I did drive it, but not very much. It pretty much sat under cover in my garage. Well, it's found a new, more suitable, home in a climate where it can be driven year around. I'm delighted to say I sold it to a Pelican member and overall great guy. Not long after the sale of the Porsche, I was filling up my Yukon XL wondering if I would have a permanent vacancy on one side of the garage. After the meter clicked passed $100 I reasoned that maybe a more fuel efficient car should be considered. Enter my new Honda Fit. I didn't really plan on it. I just "went to look". The dealer offered me a discount when everyone else seems to be charging markup. The monthly is less than the amount I'll be saving in gas per month, so it was a no brainer.

Anyway, I just wanted to say "Thanks!" for all the great times and advice. This is really such an excellent forum. Because I have found you all to be such a great group I'll probably check in now and then and continue the seek the wise advice that I know I can count on getting here. However, one of the things on my "list" was to severely reduce the amount of time I spend online - mainly on this forum. It's pretty addictive!

I'm off to live life!

Cheers!

[bivenator]

Enjoy the Fit. Check back often.

[pwd72s]

Do check back...no need to own a Porsche to hang here. I ought to know, right?

[Jims5543]

A Fit is a fun little car. There is a guy that Autocrosses one at the PCA events and he looks like he is having fun in it.

Throw some swaybars, shocks and spring on it with som eR-Compounds and you'll have a little go cart...... that gets 50 MPH t0 and from the event and probably 30 MPG at the event.

[GothingNC]

My brother picked up a white Fit Last year (5-speed) as his DD when the Carrera and 914 are slumbering in the car.

Loves the car and at the time stealership tried to add $1,000 to the sticker price.

MPG is pretty close to his Jetta TDI.

[azasadny]

Bob,
I hope you'll be back, you'll be missed.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

A Fit is a fun little car. There is a guy that Autocrosses one at the PCA events and he looks like he is having fun in it.

Throw some swaybars, shocks and spring on it with some R-Compounds and you'll have a little go cart...... that gets 50 MPG to and from the event and probably 30 MPG at the event.

Jim, I think his point was that he simply wants an appliance to get him from A to B.

[dd74]

Hmmm....you never know. I may be next. A guy has come by my house three times, offering to buy my 911, but at a very low price. And my Mountaineer is currently getting 14 mpg.

I might be ready to have a "Fit," or a reasonable turbo-diesel variant when the time comes.

[SLO-BOB]

1500 miles later and I still like the Fit. 37+ MPG and rides pretty well. Build quality seems good and there is waaaay more room inside than you would ever believe.

[pwd72s]

Welcome back, Bob...a thread you might find amusing is by Moses, looking for a car for his daughter:
Poll; Which car would you buy for under $20,000

[Zef]

Damn good choice man...

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by dd74

Hmmm....you never know. I may be next. A guy has come by my house three times, offering to buy my 911, but at a very low price. And my Mountaineer is currently getting 14 mpg.

I might be ready to have a "Fit," or a reasonable turbo-diesel variant when the time comes.

It's just a matter of doing the math. I am spending less now for the Fit plus fuel than for the gas alone in the Yukon XL. The Yukon, now worth a pack of smokes, sits in the garage until it's time to haul lots of people, things, or the boat. It's probably hard for you to imagine the joy of filling your tank (10.8 gal cap) for under $40 and having 300+ miles on the trip meter. Priceless.

I too, wanted something diesel. The Jetta sport wagon appealed to me, but the mileage wasn't high enough to offset the higher cost of diesel. Also the car is made in Mexico. The last VW I had from that facility was the worst pos I've ever owned so I won't repeat that mistake.

I had to be very adult about ths whole thing. It's very easy to reason out a WRX or Maxzdaspeed 3 especially after selling my Porsche. Decent mileage and quick cars. But, the fact is they get little better mileage than my Grand Caravan. Keep the focus when shopping for a gas miser.

[mb911]

Allot has changed for you Bob since the turbo project! Good luck. I have done some that as well(sold the burb and bought an altima) but the p-car is staying no payments and is not loosing much money sitting there.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by SLO-BOB

It's just a matter of doing the math. I am spending less now for the Fit plus fuel than for the gas alone in the Yukon XL. The Yukon, now worth a pack of smokes, sits in the garage until it's time to haul lots of people, things, or the boat. It's probably hard for you to imagine the joy of filling your tank (10.8 gal cap) for under $40 and having 300+ miles on the trip meter. Priceless.

I too, wanted something diesel. The Jetta sport wagon appealed to me, but the mileage wasn't high enough to offset the higher cost of diesel. Also the car is made in Mexico. The last VW I had from that facility was the worst pos I've ever owned so I won't repeat that mistake.

I had to be very adult about ths whole thing. It's very easy to reason out a WRX or Maxzdaspeed 3 especially after selling my Porsche. Decent mileage and quick cars. But, the fact is they get little better mileage than my Grand Caravan. Keep the focus when shopping for a gas miser.

Great advice, Bob. I was also thinking - if I were to stick with gas-powered cars - of a Mini Cooper S or four-door GTi. Did you, or would you consider a Mini Cooper S or four-door VW GTi? I know the Fit probably has more interior space, and probably better mileage. But the performance factor does hold some importance for me.

[RWebb]

"The monthly is less than the amount I'll be saving in gas per month..."

Wow - I guess we'll see more and more of that.

[JavaBrewer]

Not trying to break up the party but did you figure in sales tax, yearly registration/taxes and monthly insurance? How do those affect your bottom line?

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by mb911

Allot has changed for you Bob since the turbo project! Good luck. I have done some that as well(sold the burb and bought an altima) but the p-car is staying no payments and is not loosing much money sitting there.

Lol - You got that right on all points Ben! The Porsche, unlike pretty much any car I've ever had, was like money in the bank. I kept the miles down and maintenance up so there was no change in value from my original purchase. My biggest problem with the car was it was too nice. I was more worried than happy to drive it. Stupid? Yes. I didn't give up on motorsports altogether. I changed venues and switched to motorcycles. Less space and investment not to mention better gas mileage!

PS - The dealer offered me $3500 for my Yukon XL. It now sits in my garage reserved for hauling people and things. The Altima is a good choice. What did you get for your 'Burb?

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

Not trying to break up the party but did you figure in sales tax, yearly registration/taxes and monthly insurance? How do those affect your bottom line?

David - you are right to factor those. For me it works if gas is near $4/gal. At that price I save about $400 a month on Yukon fuel. My total average outlay was well over $500. Now it's well under $200 on average - approximately a $400 difference. My Honda payments are $175, but I put $6k down. It may not work for everyone. If you put on less miles than I do, you are proably better off taking the hit at the pump if you don't care about your "carbon footprint". I put a ton of miles on and here in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, the taxes, registration, insurance, etc. aren't too bad. I also cut back from full coverage to liability only on the Yukon XL as it's value is under $5k - my cutoff point for full coverage. Obviously, had I disposed of the Yukon, I would be way ahead, but I still use it as a back up vehicle and hauling boats, bikes, people, etc which is worth something. One needs to factor the resale value of the Honda as well. It will hold it's value for a while. I'm pretty sure I could sell it for what I paid because there are waiting lists for the Fit, dealer mark-ups, and I just happened to get a discount. So, minus taxes and interest, I can recover much of the investment (relative to most cars - NOT my Porsche ) within the next 2 years should I choose to sell the car - which I doubt will happen.

[Macroni]

Same issue 12 MPG Discovery; DD candidates
Jetta TDI
Fit
Prius
2009 Fits are arriving and seem plentiful @ 17k for a sport w/ automatic

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by Macroni

Same issue 12 MPG Discovery; DD candidates
Jetta TDI
Fit
Prius
2009 Fits are arriving and seem plentiful @ 17k for a sport w/ automatic

Don't you need to use premium as well??

Those were my 3 choices as well. I had to stay focused on my intent - cheap transportation. The Prius is nice and bigger, but do a search on them. Some of them have issues such as traction control and fuel cell problems. The Jetta TDi was too pricey used and too junky new - made in Mexico. I had a terrible experience with Mexican VW build quality once before. Never again!

On top of that, neither worked for me when I did the math. Prius is too pricey and so is diesel.