Hey Scotty I'm a young guy looking to buy his first car. My two main Candidates are an 04 Matrix with 140,000 on the ticker for $4800 or a 1st gen O8 Honda fit with 158,000 for $3200(I'm in California by the way). I've seen your videos on your matrix but can't find anything on a Honda fit. What's your opinion on Honda fit's in general and which option do you think is a better deal?
Wasn’t this question already answered here? - https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/young-guy-first-car-purchase/
^Yes a few weeks ago, there's quite a bit of turnover on the forum so I want to get multiple opinions to get a better idea of what the better choice would be.
I'd get the matrix
Agreed. To add a little more besides reliability, I hear the ride comfort of a fit is pretty bad, have you driven both of them?
I appreciate the response. Seems like the matrix is the crowd favorite, thank you for the help. I've seen your videos on the matrix but haven't heard you talk much about the honda fit. out of curiosity what are your thoughts on them?
You can’t compare the ride quality of a super mini, with a large hatchback such as the Matrix. The Fit was designed as a city runabout & to be fuel efficient.
The Matrix is much larger, heavier & it’s only natural that it’ll ride better than the Fit.
Though I own a Matrix, and would recommend buying that in general, with any car with those kind of miles, condition is the key factor. I'd take a good driving/shifting/stopping Fit over a Matrix that had been abused/neglected/crashed any day.
They are two different categories of cars. There really isn’t a direct competitor to the Fit on the Toyota side. The closet would be a Toyota made Yaris.
And there really isn’t a direct competitor to the Matrix on the Honda side. The closet would be a Civic.
Ended up going with the fit. I got the matrix inspected and the lower arm controls bushings were broken, oil leaking out of the valve cover gasket, slight variance in paint despite a clean carfax, and a bit of rust on the frame to top it off. Clearly abused, just wanted to take the time to thank you guys for your help and of coarse thank's to Scotty for the videos that schooled me up on what to look for. Last time I look at a small lot dealer. "we do full inspections on all of our cars." I bet bud hahaha