Photo : Rob Ristuccia

The Fit is gone. Long live the Fit.

Every once in a while, the perfect car for your situation comes along, so you buy it and hold on to it for almost a decade before you decide you’ve outgrown it and want to move on to something a little bit more “grown up”. That’s exactly what happened to my family in late 2010 when we suddenly realized that we were going to need a second car.




We wanted something under $20,000 with a combined fuel mileage estimate of at least 30 MPG and a built-in navigation system. (Recall that this was 2010, before widely available navigation on phones. Also recall that I live in New Jersey, where the roadways were designed by maniacs so trying to navigate unfamiliar routes is hugely simplified by the presence of some electronic guidance.) The car also had to come from a manufacturer with good quality and durability ratings since my car-buying modus operandi is to buy a car and keep it for as long as I can.



This left us with really only two choices from the sub-compact category: Honda Fit and Scion xA. After a pair of test drives, we were the proud owners of a light-blue 2010 Honda Fit S. (The “S” presumably stood for “Sport,” which we can all agree is a subjective concept.) It was a big moment for me. It was the first time I had ever bought a new car. It left the dealer’s lot with 30 miles on the odometer.




I could run down the specs on my Fit, but that seems irrelevant now. Honda has since released a newer generation of this car (and will released the fourth generation of the Fit in Japan this year ) , so who really cares how much torque a 10-year-old version had? Suffice it to say that, also consistent with my car-buying MO, it was a top-of-the-line version of an inexpensive car. That means it had the larger wheels, paddle shifters for the 5-speed automatic transmission, and a screen in the dash with navigation.



Small car, big truck, unnecessary HDR Photo : Rob Ristuccia


A few weeks after bringing it home , I would add a center armrest and cargo cover, b oth OEM parts from Honda . As you could imagine, the cargo cover was very simple to install. The armrest, on the other hand, turned into the perfect illustration of what happens when ham-fisted amateurs try to work on cars.



You see, installation of the armrest required changing the bracket between the seats that held the parking brake handle in place. In the process of doing so, I dropped a bolt which rolled under the carpet and was lost forever. Undeterred, I drove to my local hardware store and bought one replacement bolt, which I also dropped under the carpet. So I drove back to my local hardware store and rage-purchased five bolts, none of which I dropped so presumably four of them are still in a drawer in my basement somewhere . Anyway, my Fit probably never got the mileage it should have since it was always carrying the extra weight of those two lost bolts under the carpet.




So anyway, what was it like to drive? It wasn’t fast but it was definitely nimble. The light weight and short wheelbase meant that it would change directions quickly and was highly maneuverable in tight spaces like parking lots and crowded city streets. The ride was smooth enough, but it could get a little choppy on rough roads (thanks in part to that narrow wheelbase). Bad weather never seemed to bother it. Perhaps it was too light to get bogged down in snow.



Comfort? The Fit is aware of comfort as a concept, but it’s definitely not a priority. There is a fair amount of road and wind noise. Also, in order to fit so much into such a small volume (more on that in a minute), the seating position is very upright, almost van-like. It works, but it’s not the most comfortable on a long drive. In fact, I frequently found that I had a hard time finding a comfortable position for legs. This was not because I am very tall. On the contrary, tall people have no problem fitting in a Fit. Rather, it was a result of the angle of my legs when my foot was on the pedals.




But people didn’t buy Fits because they wanted relaxed highway cruisers or to win stoplight drag races. We bought them for practicality and economy. And this car has both in spades, which is especially remarkable given it’s tiny footprint. Four people could ride in decent comfort, with a fifth added to the backseat if everyone back there was under 12 years old.



And the storage was amazing. The dashboard wasn’t very big, so the glovebox had to be kind of small. Honda’s solution? Put in two gloveboxes, one on the top and one on the bottom. Or take the back. With the seats folded, the car will swallow an enormous amount of cargo, so much so that’s it’s become a sort of game on the internet to see how much stuff you can fit in a fit.


The seats fold flat, which is a trick larger cars can’t always pull off (looking at you, Ford Focus). You can also fold up the bottoms of the back seats to fit larger items across floor (like a card table, for example. Or an Ikea flat pack). Indeed, I put truly astounding amounts of stuff in my Fit. I once moved a queen-sized bed frame and only about 10 inches stuck out the back. Or a dining room table and chairs. Sure, if I had a pickup truck I could have fit it all without disassembling them, but they I would have been stuck driving a truck for the 363-or-so days out of the year where I didn’t have a lot of stuff to haul.

Moving a dining room table and chairs only took two trips. Photo : Rob Ristuccia


The car also proved remarkably durable. In our nine years of ownership, the only unexpected costs the car ever accrued were related to hitting potholes or curbs in the form of damaged tires and (once) a broken tire pressure sensor. Basic maintenance was relatively inexpensive, consisting of only oil changes, tires, brake pads, and spark plugs.



Ultimately, everything you need to know about the Honda Fit can be learned by looking at the 3 knobs for the climate control. At first, you might look at these and think, “Oh dear, those are cheap, plastic knobs for a car built to a price.” But then you drive the car and realize that they are perfectly placed for you to easily access them while you are driving. And they move with a sense that they are going turn forever and never break. And that is what the Fit is all about: well-though-out ergonomics in a robust little package.


Climate controls and navigation screen Photo : Rob Ristuccia

Alas, the family did eventually get newer cars, first a 2013 Ford Focus and later (when that one died in an accident), a 2015 Mazda Mazda3. Given that my commute is approximately ten times longer, I drove the newer cars and Fit became the daily driver of Mrs. Adventures with Cars. After 9 years and one day of ownership, we finally decided to get rid of it. But it won’t be far away as my neighbors have decided to buy it. The Fit is gone, but I can go visit it anytime I want. I can put my hand on it’s roof, give it a little pat, and say, “Remember that time we filled you to roof and went to bulk drop off at the recycling center? Good times. Good times.”




And what has taken its place? Well, the Mazda3 now gets driven by Mrs. Adventures with Cars (who marvels daily and the difference in power between the Mazda and Fit). And for me? Well that will be covered in another episode to be posted soon.