Honda Fit GD3, The New Old One

Well, here we are again…

So, I decided a few weeks ago that since I had my Alto now, I didn’t need the Jazz anymore, so I sold it. I got my full asking price and it sold pretty quickly with no fuss. One careful owner, never raced etc etc. Great success.

I enjoyed that car more than I probably should’ve, but its time had come.

I had this genius idea. I had the GE8 Fit as my daily, the Alto Works as my toy and the Marina as my time vampire, so why not get something completely left field and weird, something I can have a laugh in, and something that is proper Marmite (love or hate it).

My ideal car was a Toyota Will VI. People hate them because they’re so ugly. All the more reason to get one. They’re basically a first-generation Yaris under the skin, so reliable if uninspiring to drive.

This one was at a local dealer, so I skedaddled over there for a looksie.

The front isn’t why people hate them, the rear is

This one was a proper unicorn too. As far as I was aware, ALL Will VI had the weird brown interior with the dash designed to look like a sandwich

This black one though, had a factory black interior

I took it for a drive and haven’t laughed so much in a long time. It was slow as anything and not that good to drive, but I decided to do the old “moose test” and chop the wheel from left to right. My wife nearly fell out the window, and the whole car rolled side to side like we were on the high seas.

I don’t know if they’re all that softly damped, or if the shocks on this one were just there for looks, but I have never driven a car that rolled that much in a turn. Although I was laughing like a maniac, my wife was less than impressed, having banged her arm against the door during one of the swerves.

I took that car back and decided it was about twice what it was worth, so left it there.

Other cars on the watchlist were PT Cruisers, Will Cyphas, and the VW Beetle.

But ultimately, that hasn’t quite happened this time.

Instead, I was browsing Facebook Marketplace after work the other day, as you do, and spotted a car that seemed interesting to me. It had just been listed, and was the right sort of money, so I messaged the seller.

Yes, it was available. Yes, it has the 1.5L engine. Heck yeah, it was even local, so instead of picking my wife up from the train I arranged to look at the car that evening.

It was a 2006 Honda Fit. Manual. 1.5L Vtec engine. 83,900km.

I zoomed over there, sure that someone else would’ve snaked it out from under me, like usually happens. I never get the “dealz”, I’m always juuuuust too late.

But no, it was there, and I was the only one there. I have a look around it, and take it for a drive. It’s been sitting for a couple of weeks since it failed its WOF, but fires right into life.

It drives well enough, all the electrics work, as does the heater and AC. Cant go wrong for the money really.

So I throw a cash offer at her and she agrees. I pulled a wad of cash from my pocket, which the seller was shocked by. Yeah, I wasn’t there to fornicate arachnids.

I hand the money over, swap for the key and we’re done. I pull the car out to the street, park it up and leave it there. I need to go home, grab my (very patient) wife (who has been sitting outside this whole time as she didn’t have house keys on her) and drag her back with me to grab the other car so I can get it home.

It’s late, neither of us has had dinner, so I get the car home and dump it in the garage.

83,900km. Imported from Japan in 2019, so a very late import for one of these things. Sold by a local dealer to the seller I got it from.

So yes, as I have mentioned, it failed its last wof check last month, due to the front LH tyre being bald (it’s bad and all other tyres are recommended replacement too) and both front control arm bushes needing replacement. The seller didn’t want to spend the money as they had another car, so flicked this one on.

It’s also got a hefty dent in the tailgate

Otherwise it’s pretty straight. Poking under the car with a torch showed no signs of the underbody rust these can be afflicted with.

The plan is to fix it, get it a wof, polish the paintwork so you can see the Nighthawk Black Pearl paint as it is currently so neglected you can’t even see the flake, drive it for a bit and then sell it on. I didn’t plan on buying another Fit, and don’t need it, but the price was too good, and it’s the big block 1.5L Vtec with the manual box.