Kia Soul. Honda Fit & bikes

[Catrin]

It is important to love your car Out of curiousity, is there enough room in the back for someone short to lie down and sleep for a few hours? I may want/need to car camp at an event this fall...

[colorisnt]

In mine, yes. There is room for two people.

Odd story, but my best friend visited the US last year and we went camping (she's coming back in a week! Ahhhh!). We went up to Traverse City and it poured the first night. We unloaded the car and then got in to see if necessary we could sleep. curled up, the two of us could easily fit without it being uncomfortable. It ended up letting up a bit and we didn't need it, but both my friend and I could have managed. She's 5'9'' and I'm 5'.

[grey]

Good thread! I've looked into the Fit but not at all into the Soul, and manual tranny is a MUST for me, so that's good to know about the Soul+. I have to say I have caught myself liking the looks of it when it goes by me on the Interstate. :-P
Currently, I'm still driving my 1994 Jeep Cherokee - had it for 15 years - but we all know at 250,000+ miles it's bound to die at some point, and for 2 years now I've been staring at cars trying to figure out what the heck to replace my beloved Heep with.

What about legroom for both? Hubby is 6ft 2inches...

[colorisnt]

Legroom is pretty dang good.

My mom and bestie are 5'9'' and both are legs legs legs and fit no problem. My uncle is your hubby's size and he fit too. I've driven tall, big guys around as the DD and it worked. It definitely has a better back seat than the fit. I can tell you that after sitting in both. And I can't say anything about the driver's seat for the fit, but I drive 8 hours straight regularly and it doesn't give me sleepy butt.

[evangundy]

I have a 2009 Fit and the only thing I do not like about it is the road noise I hear on the highway. Not much sound insulation and hard tires (both contribute to the good gas mileage). When the tires need replacing, I'll get softer ones. I'm ok with losing a couple miles per gallon to be able to hear the radio or cd player without having to turn the volume way up.

Test drive both vehicles, in city streets and highway if you can do both. Might also be good to take a blanket you don't mind getting dirty, and take your bike with you. Make sure the bike fits before you buy the car.

Have fun!
Edna

[azfiddle]

We have a 2011 Fit and really like it.

My bike easily fits in the back w/o taking off the wheels- but we haven't tried to put two in to the back because we have a hitch rack on it.

[indysteel]

Out of curiosity, what term loan are you looking out for the new car and how much longer do you have to pay on the current car? Do you owe less/more on the Lancer than it's currently worth?

ETA: There was a recent thread on RBR that touched on this issue, i.e., whether it makes financial sense to trade in a car that still isn't paid off for a new car. The discussion gets a little but over the top at times, but you might want to read it.

[Dogmama]

I have a Pilot - a little bigger than what you want but I have to transport The Boy and his stuff.

The point of my post is that I love Hondas. Keep the maintenance done on it & it will run longer than you want to look at it. Seriously - DH had an Accord that he beat the crap out of. He is an ex-cop & they tend to be really hard on cars - but he even took this one off roading a few times. It "took a lickin' & kept on tickin'" - as the old Timex commercials would say.

I had to laugh - you said you were going to "test ride" the Fit. I think the terminology - for cars - is "test drive." Too funny!

[blue_angel]

I have a 2008 Fit and routinely fit two bikes in the back (removing the front wheel only of bike #2). I haven't bothered buying a bike rack, because I rarely have more than 2 people plus bikes inside. The Fit gets good mileage and has excellent storage capacity. I still don't love it as much as I loved my 2001 Subaru Forester.

[Irulan]

I have a 2009 Fit and the only thing I do not like about it is the road noise I hear on the highway. Not much sound insulation and hard tires (both contribute to the good gas mileage). When the tires need replacing, I'll get softer ones. I'm ok with losing a couple miles per gallon to be able to hear the radio or cd player without having to turn the volume way up.

Test drive both vehicles, in city streets and highway if you can do both. Might also be good to take a blanket you don't mind getting dirty, and take your bike with you. Make sure the bike fits before you buy the car.

Have fun!
Edna

the road noise is exactly why I didn't buy one. I wanted "nicely equipped" as in leather, power etc and the FIT screamed "just got out of college" to me.

[Catrin]

the road noise is exactly why I didn't buy one. I wanted "nicely equipped" as in leather, power etc and the FIT screamed "just got out of college" to me.

Yes. I didn't really have to get the rack for the Soul but it provides me with options - especially when camping. I really like being higher off the ground and I am impressed by the mileage. For me the Soul was the better choice, though the Fit also would have workded fine I am sure.

[surgtech1956]

Catrin, how do you like the Allen Bike Transport? I have an old Reese Hitch Rack that whobbles. I don't transport my bike that much, but every time I do, I keep looking back and see my bike wiggling around. Or maybe is this normal with hitch mounted racks? But I like how your bike rides in this rack. Again, very nice looking Soul ++++ color.

[Catrin]

Catrin, how do you like the Allen Bike Transport? I have an old Reese Hitch Rack that whobbles. I don't transport my bike that much, but every time I do, I keep looking back and see my bike wiggling around. Or maybe is this normal with hitch mounted racks? But I like how your bike rides in this rack. Again, very nice looking Soul ++++ color.

I like it very much. I've yet to actually move a bike on that rack, but will do so tomorrow. I did opt for the more expensive version of the Thule rack because this is said to wobble less and it is certainly a lot easier to get on and off the rack. There is an arm that comes down on the front tire next to the fork, and a strap that goes through the rear wheel. There is also a lock on that arm so I don't need to use my bike lock unless I really want to - and there is a cable that is part of the rack that can serve that purpose as well - I just need to get a lock core from Thule - it isn't included. The lock on the arms and the hitch lock are all included, just not the cable lock.

I really wanted the Saris version of this rack, but they don't make it for the smaller hitch. I think this will work fine and I think I only wanted the Saris because my last rack was a Saris.

Am quite happen with the average mpg for the Soul. It only resets if you get gas or manually reset it so you do have an idea of the real average mpg (my Lancer reset that on a daily basis). My avg mpg just driving around town in this heat is higher than the car is rated to get Of course, a manual transmission does provide better mileage than an automatic.