Efficient, cheap beaters! Used car ads: 35 mpg highway or more for $1500 or less

[deluxx]

Honda Fits have the "honda tax" the civic hatchbacks have here in Baltimore.

[Ecky]

The Sport has a spoiler and alloys rims. I'm unsure if cruise control might have been limited to the Sport pre-2009 but I doubt the base model lacked it in newer models.

For a Fit I'd generally pay the Honda tax, but I wouldn't buy one in Baltimore. I fly or drive south whenever I'm purchasing a vehicle, no sense in buying something with years of salt damage already. Our Fit has around 225k miles and drives like a new car. Burns no oil, handling is tight, no rattles or squeaks. I did have to seal up some seams around the rear hatch to stop water intrusion but that's supposedly very common in 2007-2008 models.

[MetroMPG]

I just looked at and drove that Fit. The earlier 'purchaser' couldn't come up with the funds.

It's a little rough around the edges, and the rockers have already had grandpa-quality rust repairs below the forward edge of the rear wheel wells. Fiberglass and bondo.

But it ran decently. Tight and no rattles. Clutch felt OK. There's a stumble in the engine at low RPM at anything more than low load, which the guy says is the crank position sensor.

I said if he'd let me take it to my mechanic for a quick inspection tomorrow AM and he gives me the thumbs-up, I'll take it.

[Xist]

Let us know if the nearest mechanic looks just like the owner, but with a fake mustache.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson

When I looked a little bit ago there was a 2009 auto with 131k for 2700 (seems reasonable to me, car looks to be in pretty good shape/well cared for), and a 2008 sport auto with 147k for 4350 (seems a little high, but I'm not sure what all is in the 'sport' package, and again seems to be in good shape). Interestingly both have new tires and come with a set of 4 new snow tires on rims.

Did a quick look. $1999 for a silver manual with 195k miles, and $2750 for one wituh 231k miles. Everything else is $3900 and up. A silver sport 08 with 122k miles is listed for $6500.

1st gens aren't that much less expensive than 2nd gens, and you can find a 3rd gen for less than $10k now.

Although that new 6-speed is a farce; they just added a gear between 4th and 5th on the old 5 speed transmission. It's already geared tall enough; they could've easily added, say, the 0.647 6th gear from the Civic SI that Ecky has in his 6-speed.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I just looked at and drove that Fit. The earlier 'purchaser' couldn't come up with the funds.

It's a little rough around the edges, and the rockers have already had grandpa-quality rust repairs below the forward edge of the rear wheel wells. Fiberglass and bondo.

But it ran decently. Tight and no rattles. Clutch felt OK. There's a stumble in the engine at low RPM at anything more than low load, which the guy says is the crank position sensor.

I said if he'd let me take it to my mechanic for a quick inspection tomorrow AM and he gives me the thumbs-up, I'll take it.

Let us know how it goes! I've always wanted to drive a Fit, but have never had the opportunity to yet. If you get it, will it be a keeper car or one you own for a while and then sell later?

[MetroMPG]

It'll be a winter car for a year or 2, then I'll sell it.

A search of 07/08 manual Fits within 1000 km of me shows 30. The next cheapest ratty one is 1700; average is probably ~2500; nicer low km ones are around 4k.

[Ecky]

Some further thoughts on the 1st gen Fit:

I feel like it's a very well built car, with a few odd things cut from it to save costs.

Handling is good to great from the factory, especially considering the type of suspension it needs to have that cavernous interior which allows two (not tall) people to stretch out and sleep comfortably in a subcompact.

The cargo space is ludicrous. My partner and I regularly crack jokes when moving things, "Think it'll Fit? Oh wait, why am I bothering to ask, of course it will." The rear seats fold down into the floor and give a ~5.5ft x ~40" completely flat and very tall cargo area. The door panels are very narrow to maximize interior width. Honda moved the gas tank under the driver seat to improve cargo space and give a more upright seating position, while keeping a low center of gravity.

Materials inside could be called "cheap" much like Subaru interiors are "cheap", but you can beat the crap out of them. Lots of textured hard black plastic. Seats are surprisingly comfortable though, considering how minimal they are.

The L15A engine in the 1st gen has gobs of torque for an engine as small as it is, but don't bother revving it, there's not much high-end. I understand the 2nd gen can breath better at higher revs but the few times I've been in one, I haven't had the chance or inclination to do any spirited driving. These engines are absolutely bulletproof too.

Fuel economy in the manual is fantastic considering the car is a brick with short gearing.

One issue in the 1st gen, probably the only common thing to fail under the hood, is that the coil packs don't have typical Honda longevity. That's the most common cause of a poor-running L15A, but luckily they're dirt cheap.

As far as cost savings, it's weird the little things missing from the car. Only the driver's door has a key hole, for instance - I don't think there's even one on the hatch. There's virtually no sound insulation, though it's still not an overly noisy ride. Amenities: it's primitive for a car of its vintage. One 12v port, halogen headlights, seats have manual tilt adjustment and forward-back slide, it has a radio which is half decent, and that's where the feature list ends. No temperature gauge, no battery gauge, feel lucky Honda deigned to give it power locks and windows.

[Xist]

The cheapest Fit I found in Arizona is a 2008 with 177,000 miles and an autotragic transmission for $3,500.

It is eight years newer, 144 pounds heavier, smaller, and only rated 27/34?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Xist

The cheapest Fit I found in Arizona is a 2008 with 177,000 miles and an autotragic transmission for $3,500.

It is eight years newer, 144 pounds heavier, smaller, and only rated 27/34?

Those city ratings are probably a little low for the auto, but really I have no idea why the auto does so much more poorly real-world than the manual version does.

We paid a little over 3k for a very clean one with 190k miles, and the last 30k miles have involved only adding fuel plus a couple of oil changes.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Those city ratings are probably a little low for the auto, but really I have no idea why the auto does so much more poorly real-world than the manual version does.

Maybe the manual's shorter gearing puts the car at better BSFC? even though spinning at much lower RPMs than the automatic provides would improve economy even more.

Sounds like the perfect candidate for lean burn.