I like my Civic, but despite being a bigger car, it has virtually the same amount of cabin space as the Fit; I have my doubts it will make a difference. You may simply need to look for a bigger car, like the Accord.
To echo unbongwah somewhat, I just upgraded from a compact sedan to a midsize sedan two months ago, for precisely the two carseat conundrum. I’m 5’4", so a compact was fine for me, but the other half is 6’1" and couldn’t drive with a carseat behind him. It does seem silly to have to go to a bigger class of car just for baby seats (I really don’t need that epic trunk), but I guess that’s why so many people buy minivans.
Well, after test driving the Fit, the Civic, the Hyundai Elantra Touring, and the Nissan Versa, none of them have enough space to do a rear facing car seat behind the driver’s seat without crushing me against the steering wheel… Of them all the Hyundai and the Nissan were the closest but still really tight.
So…I have moved on to looking at either a midsize or a minivan. I was walking around a dealership yesterday and came across the Mazda 5. I had never thought of trying a Mazda, but after the test drive I came away rather impressed. It looks like for the money my two main options would be the Mazda 5 and the Kia Rondo. Going to test drive a Rondo today hopefully.
I bought a Rondo 5-seater last year. We were coming out of a minivan lease, and I didn’t want something so big, yet big enough for me, my wife and my two kids (currently 10 and 7). The Rondo won against the Mazda 5 in almost every category for me.
1 year in, I still love driving it. Plenty of room for all our crap (we took it up camping last summer and fit everything in the back), a very comfortable and quiet ride, and the price couldn’t be matched.
I’m coming up on lease-end on my personal driver ('05 Pontiac Vibe), and I’m looking at the 09 Versa hatch or 2010 Kia Soul.
I have a dealer offering me a brand new, 2008 Rondo EX, 6 cylinder, loaded for $13,600 after various rebates etc…This puts it about 700 less than what I can get a 2009 Mazda 5 Touring edition for.
Since you’re at the Mazda dealer anyway, you might as well check out the Mazda 3 hatch – there’s definitely enough space for a rear-facing seat in the back of one, and it’ll be a little less soul-crushing than a minivan.
Heh… I tried one… sitting in the front seat, where I would need to have it to drive, the back of the driver’s seat was nearly touching the rear seat. I actually did look at one at first, but once I got in there was no way a rear facing seat would have fit.
Huh. How tall are you?
We have a rear-facing seat in our 3, and it’s fine. Then again, neither of us is eight feet tall or whatever.
I am 6’2" and there is absolutely no way that a rear-facing car seat could fit behind me in my 3.
I am 6’ give or take a quarter of an inch. I probably sit a bit further back than most my size, I just don’t like feeling like I am right on top of the steering wheel, not to mention both of my knees are in pretty bad shape, so the closer I set the more bend I have to consistently have in my knees which leads to great pain.
I’m somewhere between 5’10" and 5’11", and the rear-facing seat fits just fine. The front seat touches it, but I don’t end up feeling cramped at all.
I may just be right up against the max height for that, though.
Arise!
Do people still love their Fit’s? Anyone drive it on the east coast where there’s actually weather?
We’re in the market for a new car. We’re a two car family, w/ a 2015 Subaru Forester that’s been great.
Our 2005 Mazda 3 is still kicking along, but we’ve had too frequent money drains on irksome repairs lately. Yesterday, it plain old wouldn’t start for my wife. Thought it was the battery,but today, started 1st try!
Anyway, it’s at the point where we’re thinking of replacing it, and I’m wondering if all the Honda Fit fans on the board are still fans after years of ownership? We’re looking for small, w/ good mileage. I’d love to go for an EV or hybrid, since it’s mostly for my wife to commute to work/errands locally, but we don’t want to spend $30k.
The Fit seems like a good, uh, fit. Anyone have opinions, or is there another forum darling these days?
My daughter bought a 2012 Fit a couple of years ago, and it’s been kicking along just fine. No repairs to speak of. Fun little car. Great visibility. Not powerful, but plenty of get-up-and-go considering how light/small it is. Not sure if I’d feel great about driving it in weather – we don’t have too much of that around here (Tacoma).
I was going to suggest you look at a Mazda 3 until I re-read your post. We’ve been really happy with ours.
I don’t have one, but 1) reviews of the 2017s/2018s have been very good, and 2) there are a ton of them up here in frozen Yankeeland, and they seem to thrive in our harsh winters and on our teribad roads. If I was in the market for a car in that class, it’d get my attention. My only gripe really is that you have to ditch the sweet manual transmission and go up to the level above the Sport to get Honda Sensing, as it’s not offered on the Sport. And the non-Sports have the CVT, a transmission which I’m sure is ok but…just no.
My wife loves hers, and it has room galore in the back for such a small car.
We just picked one up as a car for my daughter. I can’t fit into it (I’m 6’6"), but other than my edge-case woes it seems like a great little vehicle. With the rear seats folded down it has a pretty remarkable amount of cargo room.
One of my sons has a Fit. Inexpensive to run and maintain.
I will bump this thread. I am considering buying a new(er) car for my later-than-midlife crisis. I am cheap so I would not consider anything over $35k and would ideally be under $30,000 out the door.
I have always purchased a new car but would consider a used one. I get nervous about buying a used one given the flooding in TX and FL last year (I live in FL).
I am looking for something fun to drive but not too small. I test drove a VW GTI about a year ago and found it was okay but not great, but that might have something to do with the dealership. I loved my WRX a decade ago but both of these have black interiors and I live in FL. The heat of a black interior is not ideal. I rented a Challenger and really quite enjoyed it despite the limited sight lines. Same goes for the Buick Regal which was really zippy and a pleasure to motor.
Any thoughts are welcome. Reliability and safety are nice. Again, used is a consideration but used cars make me nervous.
I had a GTI a couple of years ago but traded it in for a FR-S/BRZ. I actually miss it since it was quiet, practical and had good power. What are you looking for? More straight line speed or handling? From what you seem to enjoyed it soundsyou prefer power over handling. AT $30-35k you have a lot of options, new or used. I would say look at a used car, last year’s model or newer and it will have nearly all the warranty still but have somebody else take the depreciation hit. Or could just buy a leftover car from last year which dealers are always willing to heavily discount.