oh i see. my pops went through that stage too years ago, but he
was never really into cars. he's a golfer and started golfing his heart out
(from Medina to FL to CA, to Hawaii, Japan, etc. etc.), ended up
with 2 surgeries in his shoulders from too much golfing (about 2yrs
apart, countless chiro sessions) and since realized he wasn't that young
any more. and now he's retired and golfs only once a week or so
and loves growing crops in his backyard farm in the burbs of Tokyo.
so i call him mr. golfer and mr. gopher.

considering that, your dad has a very safe hobby!

 

 

We own both a 2007 Fit with the Sport package and a 2006 MC. How do they compare? They don't. The Fit is a excellent grocery getter and kid hauler ,4 all over 6ft, with lots of space -it replaced a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is a fun little car, paddle shifting, easy to get around in etc. But my MC can drive circles around it in accelation,handling, cornering and braking. I am happy to drive the Fit, but I am smilling when I drive the MINI.

 

Now THERE ^ is an unbiased opinion.

Thanks.

 

I'm in the same "boat" as REDNWHITE - we have both a 2006 MC and a 2007 Honda Fit. The MC is "my" car and the Fit is the wife's. They are both small, but the comparisons end there. The Fit is intended to be a practical, economical, flexible and utilitarian car for both the entry-level owner (20-somethings, hence the "Sport" version) and also for more practical folks like my wife. I have read somewhere that the Fit is supposed to be Honda's "Civic replacement" as the Civic keeps getting bigger and gains weight each time it grows.

She decided that the Fit would replace her VW Cabrio when "the time came" which was late Summer last year. We first went to a dealer who only had 1 on hand, and it was prepped and waiting for the new owner to show-up and take delivery of it. The waiting list was at about 90 days. A couple of phone calls later found another dealer who could (he said) have one for her within 30 days. About 45 days later she drove away in a black "Sport" model with auto transmission (with paddle shifters). She loves the car becasue of how much it carries. Her job sometimes requires that she transport a portable rack of as many as 12 lap-top computers plus a lot of other components such as projectors, books, etc.. She can get all that stuff into the Fit with plenty of room to spare thanks to the way the back seats fold down to be perfectly level. The seating (BTW) is quite comfortable except that the seats don't have heaters. She likes sitting up higher, so that was a "plus" for her too. The "Sport" version is kind of wasted on her as she really dosen't care about the shifter paddles or the "aero" body treatment, but these are obviously indended to "sex-up" the car for the younger market.

When I drive "her" car, I find that it has even less power than the MINI and the automatic transmission is doing a lot of shifting - especially on the highway. I have used the paddle shifters (I don't think she ever has or will), but I guess I just don't see what the advantage of them would be. The Fit is not fun to drive like the MINI (or the Triumph TR6) or the old Cabrio, but it isn't as dull as her old Saturn either.

Comparing the two cars is like comparing apples and oranges really because they were designed for different purposes. The Fit isn't supposed to get your pulse pounding, but it won't bore you either. The MINI won't carry a fully assembled bicycle in the back, but it will put a big grin on your face.

 

So how has your Civic been of late, overall happy with it or are there issues that would make you think twice about getting it again?

 

Honda's are good cars - reliable, etc. etc. We've owned a few and our daughter has a CRV.

A girl that works for me just got her new Honda Fit last week. She loves it - but it doesn't have the "Smile" factor for me. I too think MINI is making a mistake by delaying the launch of the Traveller. I believe if it were available now, it would outsell the Fit by far...

Donna

 

Honestly though, I wouldn't opt to put my Mom in a Mini anymore, reliability and easy access to service being key and more important then the smile factor. I'm sure these issues are major considerations for others as well, so I don't know that the larger size of the Traveller will make all the difference.

Before everyone with a problem free Mini jumps on me consider that the numbers of significant failures on things like the CVT or stalling out issues, etc combined with distant service depts is worth considering for some - our Minis have been pretty good but I don't know that they will go the 150k solid miles (without needing new windsheilds ) as Civics I've known...

 

What about a Yaris? I see them all the time. I think they're neat, but only in hatch form. I guess those "Yaris v. Yaris" previews before a movie got me to like them.