Well, it’s finally that time - my family needs a new car! Unlike the automotive writers that get to test drive shiny new exotic cars at Edmunds, Car and Driver and other cool magazines/blogs, my wife has been driving around in a baby blue 92 Taurus. Yes, it’s the same car that Conan O’Brien says he proudly owns in a number of his shows but honestly… 18 years later, this car resembles more of a FAIL WHALE than a performance family sedan.
I will say over the last few years this car has been reliable in that it has not given us too much reliability problems. However, with only one headlight working, a broken side mirror and a non-working radio amongst several of its problems - I really think its time we shop for a serious upgrade.
While a few cars have etched themselves on our radar, our latest flavor of the month is now the 2009 Honda Fit. Living in a town where BMW’s and Land Rover’s outnumber Honda’s and Toyota’s, the choice isn’t exactly obvious but we do have our reasons. From our research, the Fit provides SUV like storage in a neat, compact and gas efficient package - which is exactly what we need at a time like this. With gas mileage close to 30 mpg for city and reportedly close to 40 mpg for highway, it’s close to being as good as a hybrid without the hybrid tax.
For the 2009 model, it seems like many improvements have also been introduced - which is awesome. Among them, 10 cup holders, 5 to 6 of which are accessible to the driver. I’m not sure if this car was made to drive in the desert but with 5 cup holders for the driver, part of me is hoping the 2012 model will have a built in toilet.
Regardless - I am hoping someone out there with one of these in stock, more specifically a 2009 Blue Honda Fit Sport (Automatic) with Navi will come forward and help my wife get rid of her baby Louie. If you are open to part of the car payment being an amazing advertising package on EasyAutoSales.com for your dealership - that would be even better!
Tags: 2009 honda fit, honda fit, honda fit sport, navigation package, new car
October 4th, 2008 at 12:22 am
“However, with only one headlight working, a broken side mirror and a non-working radio amongst several of its problems - I really think its time we shop for a serious upgrade.”
You’ve gotta be kidding me. THOSE are your biggest reasons for getting rid of it??? The car is reliable otherwise? Seriously, get a new headlight at Pep Boys, a rearview mirror at the junkyard, and swap out that broken factory radio for a cool Blaupunkt. Sounds like you’ve got a great car. Why on earth would you get rid of it?
October 4th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Well, those are things we decided not to fix cause they were cosmetic. As you can maybe see by the pic, there are other more serious, dependency issues that pop up which we have to fix - which is happening more and more frequent now.
Also, the problem with the headlights is not just replacing the bulb; which we have done a few times. There’s a short somewhere in the wiring which causes one of the headlights to constantly go out regardless of how healthy the replacement bulb is. Unfortunately, I’m not a mechanic and paying to diagnose this problem may cost more than the car itself.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
You should definitely consider the Jetta Sportswagen diesel. Not only are you going to get a bunch of space, but it gets 40+ MPG. Add in the tax credit, and it’s competitively priced. The biggest downside is that’s it’s a VW, but there are reports that these are made in Germany, not Mexico which should correct any concerns about quality. I’m partial to the new Honda Insight, especially if it come in under $19k.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Interesting that you say that. Years ago when I was checking out VW’s, I came across the Mexico vs. Germany problem. It sucks that it hasn’t gone away. The reason I like the Honda Fit is because of the Magic Seats. It’s the only subcompact car that I know of that actually feels like it has a storage competitive of a SUV.
October 27th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
You write very well.