Down to 3 cars in the household - the “smurf” is gone! It served its’ purpose quite well (as a 4th car, primarily for my daughters), but it was time to get rid of it. The final straw came when my oldest daughter called me frantically on Saturday saying the car stopped in the middle of pretty busy street and was making all kinds of weird noises. I immediately knew the darn drive shaft snapped - again. Happened to me 1.5 years ago (driver side) and this time it was the passenger side. After having it towed by my mechanic, I asked him if he’d like to maybe buy it (he’s got a fleet of “beaters” for his customers - busy body shop/mechanic). The car might have been worth maybe $1500 on CL/FB marketplace (‘08 Fit Sport, 112k miles, pretty beat up, some rust spots, rebuilt title). I told him he can have it for $1k (and I don’t have to pay him for towing/repair). He countered at $800 and I accepted.

Now the dilemma- GM is offering a heck of a deal on the Camaro LT1 (can be leased for ~$300 with only first payment at signing). It would be nice to have an “extra” car in the household, especially one with 6.2l V8 making 455 HP. Do we need it? No. Do I want it? Hmmm....

 

Farewell Smurf! Happy trails!

 

Haha - good riddance! It’s been literally years since a car left me (or my wife/kids) stranded (flat tire/no gas/dead battery notwithstanding). This thing managed to do it twice in 3.5 years. So much for Honda’s reliability. On top of the drive shafts snapping, this thing right now had busted rear latch (couldn’t open it at all) and the ac compressor crapped out as well. Yes - the car was 13 years old, but still...

 

This isn't a super popular opinion, but Hondas are nowhere near as reliable as people think they are. Nothing like a Toyota. I have many, many family members and friends that have had Hondas and have had TONS of problems. My assistant has a 2017 CRV that has left him stranded twice this year...and its March. Electrical problems, failures with the collision mitigation both times requiring it to be towed. They also have an Odyssey that has over 100k miles but its constantly broken down or in the shop, my sister in law has two Odysseys one of which is a 2018 and they always have something wrong with them. Thats a big reason why I fell on my sword and got another Pacifica, I truly didn't know if an Odyssey would be any better.

 

Look where Honda and Acura are, doesn't surprise me one bit:

 

Sounds like your car was having a Fit.

In my book, one cannot complain about reliability at age 13, but I agree that you don't want your family driving something you can't depend on...particularly if it breaks down in a remote area or seedy neighborhood.

 

As I see it, apples and oranges. That reliability chart reflects the poor showing of recent Hondas and Acuras. His Fit is a 2007 (or 2008?) model.....built at a time when Hondas and Acuras were one of the industry-standards of reliability, and, IMO, when they came from the factory more solidly-screwed-together than just about another brand, though Lexus also ranked way up there. Any 13-year-old vehicle, from any manufacturer, is probably going to be past its prime and susceptible to repairs.

 

Sure you can, 13 years old is old but in this day and age it’s not that old. A well maintained 13 year old
car should still be plenty reliable and not leave you stranded.

 

Agree 100%. The days of bulletproof Hondas are long gone. The transmission issues (both 8 and 9 speed) are real. The 1.5T engines are not faring that well, either. Right now, I have more faith in Kia/Hyundai than Honda/Acura.

 

Agree that Honda/Acura is not what it once was, but at one time, they arguably led the industry.

Also agree that the Koreans, today, are among the industry's leaders in product-quality....although some recent engine-fire-recalls (which are probably overblown) have tarnished it a liitle.

 

I don’t agree with this either. I know many people who had Honda’s from this era too and had tons of problems. One of my agents had 3 Honda Accords from the 90s all of which had failed transmissions before 70k miles, I know another guy who had an Acura TL with the same issue and another guy who had an Odyssey with the same problem.

They just aren’t very reliable, nothing compared to a Toyota while if you ask most people they would rate them very similar in reliability.

Hondas “legendary reliability” is really an urban legend lol

 

From what I understood, the defective Honda transmissions (many of which were in Accords) were late-90s to early 2000s, not the period his Fit was built.

 

If his Fit were an example of the “period where Honda led the world” he wouldn’t be having these problems. That’s an example of poor reliability history, not the only example. A well maintained Toyota would still be running at that age. Having a 17 year old Toyota with 210k miles myself I know it. Won’t be perfect sure but you’d never have the driveshaft snap twice in a year lol

But, find something an entire generation of Toyota’s are famous for massive failures of? There isn’t any such thing, hence why Honda’s track record for reliability is nothing like Toyota’s.

 

The entire generation of American-market 80s Toyota trucks were famous for severe rust-failures of the truck-beds.

 

That’s not a mechanical problem.

Anyways like I said, it’s not a popular opinion but I stand by it. Honda’s are very ordinary when it comes to reliability, certainly nothing special. Many many cars that will be just as reliable or more so, CERTAINLY not a peer to Toyota.