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Comments
> add ons and accessories are they going to try and slam me with and which ones
> will refuse to take all that extra pricing off. Any advice/tips?
You should ask for "out the door" quotes. This should include tax, non-optional stupid dealer add-ons, etc. I did this and was fairly happy with the process. This was not for a Fit purchase. Anyway, the dealer I finally dealt with tried to pump me for a lot of extra nonsense, so my wife and I spent an agonizing 90 minutes (maybe it was 30 and just seemed like 90) saying "no, we don't want that either." and eventually they took our check, which we had made out before arriving at the dealer.
In future, I'm going to send the dealer a check for the pre-agreed upon amount, ask them to cash it and ask them to charge me $50 to deliver the car and whatever papers they want me to sign. Keep it as bloodless as possible...
As far as asking about an OTD price.. I did ask one guy from Honda Cars of Mckinney and he said, "I can't really talk about all that on the phone."
> Mckinney and he said, "I can't really talk about all that on the phone."
An OTD price over the phone is useless. "Oh, I thought you said..." You need the quote in writing (fax, email, etc.) Even then, they play tricks. One guy refused to reply with my original email, he just sent a brief email with a "price". But for what? You must create a precise specification of your request (trim, options, colors that are OK, tax, prep, license, etc.) You send it to five dealers. Three of them get back to you with a formal reply, you're good to go.
Thanks for posting this!!!!!!!!!!
car-16,250
doc fees-50
ttl-1,015
Since I do a TON of driving, I went ahead and got the 6 year/120k mile warranty for 1,165.
I recommend Jim Mcnatt Honda in Denton!!!!!! I did a ton of visiting to ALL honda dealerships around dfw and they were by far the best!
Also wondered about their inventory since their store is on such a small piece of property.
The Sandman
When the transmission went big time on my 10-year-old 170,000-mile Subaru Impreza, I rented a car while researching a new car. Since I believe a car should last more than 200,000 miles I wasn't willing to consider another Subaru and I suspect the redesigned Impreza wouldn't suit anyway. I show my large dog and need a small car, good mileage, with a back floor that goes down flat and has enough room for the dog and all my show equipment.
So I made a list of likely models and drove a Fit as my first test drive. As I told a friend afterwards, I thought I'd fallen in love. But I went on to dutifully check out the other models on my list. None matched my memory of that first test drive in a Fit. So I went to the dealership I knew would sell me the car for a flat price (MSRP) with no added fees and no hassle. They had only one MT Fit Sport. Silver, the color I wanted. When I drove that car I was so disappointed. It didn't match my memory of the first Fit test drive at all. I just didn't like the feel of the way it shifted, rode, etc. At first I put it down to liking the first Fit I drove so much just because it was the first new car I'd driven in a long time.
Resigned myself to more research of more models, maybe more expensive ones. But kept thinking about it and in the end gave in to the urge and went back to the first dealership (where I knew I'd have to go through the negotiation hassle) and asked to drive the Fit I'd first test driven again. They still had that Silver Fit Sport, but right next to it was a Blackberry Pearl MT Fit Sport and on impulse I asked to drive it instead. And once again I was in love. So on 11/19/07 I bought that car and paid $200 more for it than the one that I didn't like, but am so taken with this car I just don't care:
$15,700 price for car
399 "delivery and handling"
821.05 sales tax
7.20 temporary license tag
$16,927.25 total
My concerns in this purchase (other than the always present one of will this be one of the good ones or a lemon) were: (1) the paint because of posts from people who had paint just come off when they first washed the car. Mine seems to be okay there as I washed and waxed it after the first week without problem and have washed it again since. (2) MPG as there seem to be a lot of posts from people who are getting much worse mpg than they should. Also evidently not going to be a problem with this car as the first fill up I did yielded 35.8 mpg. This was about half highway and half around town errand driving. Some of the highway was stop and go during rush hour and a lot of it was at speeds in excess of 75 mph. Colorado speed limits tend to be 75 on highways outside of metro areas and IMO it's dangerous to do less than the speed limit on these roads. I used the cruise control at 80 when I could. RPM was about 3800 at 80-82. (3) Power. Maybe my standards are low. I find this car positively perky and have no complaints about around town or highway driving. Yesterday I was on the highway for hours on a day windy enough the radio mention a truck rollover caused by high winds. I could certainly feel the wind pushing at the car and had to pay attention, but never felt worry that I'd be pushed out of my lane, etc.
Unlike others, the lack of a dead pedal doesn't bother me. In fact, when I first read those complaints I didn't know what they were referring to. Finally figured out it was the annoying lump next to the pedals in the Impreza that I never used. Also don't have any yen for a center arm rest. The rental car had that and it just made me feel hemmed in.
Cost of insurance was a pleasant surprise. It's going to cost me only about $40 a year more to insure this car new than it did the 10-year-old Subaru. I expected to pay double for insurance on a new car.
All in all after the first thousand miles I'm still in love with this adorable "microvan" that absolutely su
I have a FIT sport AT and only got 28 on all high way driving. I know AT is slightly less efficient than MT, and the sports is less efficient than the base, so the sport AT is actually the least gas efficient of the 4. I, like many others who has bought the FIT is totally in love with it. But the only two things that bother me a little are: the truth about MPG (is there any truth in that you have to "break a car in" and that fuel efficiency will gradually get better?) and the fact that my magic seat doesn't seem to fold completely flat. I need to push the back of the front seat down REAL HARD to get it to squeeze in and even doing that it doesn't FIT appropriately as it should.
any word on these two issues would be really appreciated!
As to the seats, did your salesman show you how to move the front seats all the way forward before tucking the magic seats down? If that's what you're doing and the back seats don't fold in completely easily, I'd take the car back and have the service people look at it and make sure something doesn't need adjusting.
should've read the manual first, DUH!
still ticked about fuel efficiency though.
I drove my best-behaving tank on all highway, stayed only within 2-2300 rpm at between 55-60 mph, and still ended up with only 30 mpg....
is anyone having the same problem?
I keep on hearing about how people are getting close to 40 mpg on the highway, and that makes me starting to believe that there's something wrong with my fit!
Everyone thinks we get great mpg. We bought our FIT a few months after we bought our Pilot because of gas. We never would have bought the FIT if we had known how poor the mpg would be. Very disapointed.
mimi
I have a brand-spankin' New 2008 Sports AT at just over 800 miles... only getting 21 MPG in 95% city and only getting 30MPG on 100% Highway....
do I have a lemon??!!
Dealership was having "Penny over Invoice" sale (or so they say) and this was the lowest price I found after contacting 6 other dealers. No trade. No financing.
2008 Honda Fit Sport - Auto (Blackberry Pearl)
$16,123 Invoice
71 wheel locks
1134 7% tax
7.50 tire fee
254 reg/title fee
97 doc fee
$17,686 out-the-door
I hope this info is helpful to someone shopping for a Fit! I am loving my little purple mom-mobile!
$16,972.97 Vehicle Cost (so $900 over the MSRP, which I unfortunately didn't see until after we bought the car--long story)
$50 Doc Fee
$1060.81 Sales Tax
$37.17 Dealer Inventory Tax
$2000 Extended Service Contract (7 yr or 120K mile)
$59.80 Registration Fee
$33 Title Fee
$23.75 Vehicle Inspect Fee
$11.50 Road/Bridge Fee
$1 Other Official Fee
$20250 OTD or, if you don't count the overpriced extended warranty, $18250 OTD
First, let me say that you should never buy a vehicle when you're sick. Yeah, that should be a no-brainer. Also, I should have done more research. I checked Consumer Reports online, and read everything there, but I didn't find any forums until today (the day after I bought the car). My bad.
They wanted $18916.53 OTD when I first got there. I told them I knew this was the car my wife wanted, which probably wasn't a good move. They told me they couldn't budge on the price. I also had a 95 Saturn that qualified for the $3k AirCheckTexas trade-in, so I wanted to wait until Monday to make sure AirCheckTexas still had money in the funds for the use of my voucher. Anyway, it's a very long story that I would put behind a cut if I knew how to do one on this forum, but I bought the car that day and agreed on $18,250 (and didn't use my $3k voucher since it was a Sat and late and they said there was no way to see if there was any money left in the AirCheckTexas fund and probably there wasn't). I was very sick at the end of the day, and just wanted to get things over with. I had enough money to put down cash, but they convinced me to invest my money and take out a loan with them at 2.9% for 36 mo. Okay, made some sense. They asked about extended warranty, and I said I'd like to do that later. Went in to sign papers, and the lady doing the paperwork handed me a 7 yr/120K mile extended warranty agreement to sign. I told her I didn't want to get an extended warranty until later, after I had shopped around. She said I had to buy the warranty then and there or I couldn't get the Honda Care new car warranty and that if my car was in a wreck, that voided my manufacturer's warranty, so I wouldn't have a warranty and I'd be stuck with costly repairs on the Honda. Being sick and running a high temp, I said okay, not realizing I was in a Car Dealership (not exactly a place with the customer's best interest in mind). So I took the warranty. The next day after much rest, I read through the paperwork I didn't read when I signed it, and I found I didn't need to purchase the Honda Care warranty then and there. I compared the Honda Care warranty prices online, and found the same warranty at www.hondawarrantyinfo.com (Bernardi Honda) for $805. So I guess tomorrow I'm going to go cancel my Honda Care warranty since I have 60 days to do so, and if I can, I'll get the warranty from Bernardi Honda. If I can't, well, I just won't have an extended warranty. Today I also found the sticker for the car in the pack of materials in the glove box. That's where I found the car was originally at John Eagle Honda of Dallas (which might explain the 270 miles on the car that I didn't notice until today). Also, we only received one key, which seemed strange. Don't they usually give you two keys with a new vehicle? Like I said, never buy a car when you're very sick. I started out the day just going to get donuts for the kids, then I had issues with the tires on my Contour, so I bought new tires, then I was told that I had serious issues with the car (which I knew and had been putting off), so I thought I'd get a dependable car for the family. And then I bought a car. So 1. do your research 2. go in good health 3. bring a spouse or someone who can check your sanity and temperature 4. shop around 5. not sure, but certainly there is a fifth thing to keep in mind. Good luck to all of you considering a Fit. My wife loves the car, the entire 5 miles she drove it home.
I called and asked what features were added, and the sales manager said I got the Pro Pack, which was wheel locks and splash guards and that they also put on pinstriping. I went outside and looked at the car, and it didn't have splash guards, nor pinstriping. So I called and talked to the fellow who sold me the car, and he said they tinted the windows and put on wheel locks, so I guess the extra was for the window tint since the windows are tinted.
I'm okay with the deal, I just wish the car didn't already have 270 miles on it. I saw the trip meter of 42 miles and thought that was the mileage, but when I looked at the car today (and at the paperwork that they had me hastily sign), I see the mileage at 270. I'm just worried about that 600 mile break-in period and how the car might have been driven during various test drives by a younger demographic. Here's to hoping that older folks like me and my wife drove it and they were careful not to floor it or slam on the brakes.
Thanks again!
So if any of you folks in DFW are looking for a Tidewater Blue Fit Sport, there's still one available.
Best of luck in shopping!
but I say go for it!
Well, here's to hoping I find another and am able to use the voucher. Thanks for the luck. I'm hoping this time I'll have a bit of experience and research to go along with the luck. Cheers, T
Definitely stick to the manual, I don't think any car salesperson would know a Honda car better than the Honda engineers...
anyway, best of luck, again!
Can you give me your reasons for deciding on the Fit. Right now I drive a PT Cruiser, and a Chrysler T&C EX, (family car) I have 3kids 2- six yoa, and one 4yoa.I wonder if it is too small to carry 5 on short 100mile vists (Nana's home)? The Elantra isn't that much bigger.
1) I am a big believer in the Consumer Reports ratings. FIT is their "Best Buy" in its class.
2) 2008 FIT is the very last generation of the current FIT, which means most of the bugs should have been improved through the years.
3) The magic seat. My wife loves it that when the three of us (plus our one year old) go on long trips, she can sit in the back and stretch her legs out. (I am not sure if we're in traffic violations doing that, but oh well)
4) While the versa has nicer interior finish, it just didn't have any character when I test drove it.
5) it's a HONDA - which means standard safety features!
hope this helps and happy shopping!
I personally like the Versa a lot, and if you use the rear seat with a child seat, you may appreciate the extra room that the Versa has back there. It does not get as high a mileage as the Fit, and also has had somewhat of a spotty reliability record in its first year. In general, though, I tend to regard the Versa highly for my kind of driving.
From what the rumors say (Autoblog, Edmunds, Car and Driver, etc), the new Fit is scheduled for a mid to late 2008 release.....but I would take that rumor with a grain of salt. I don't believe anything, in regards to release dates, until there is an official press release from Honda.
"Drive like your life depends on it."
The WheelMan
Although the internet Bankston guy said they had 2 light blue Fits, the dealership did not, and the internet rep wasn't there when we arrived, which annoyed me at first, but at least he gave me prices before we arrived, so I had something to bargain with.
All of the Fits had been pinstriped, which I really don't like, and certainly didn't want to pay $299 for. I told my very nice sales fellow about this, and he was able to have the $299 dropped--actually, he was able to keep the $299 but get me tinted windows for free. So my dealer add ons were a tacky pinstripe and what I'm hoping will be nice window tinting (I take the Fit back next week for the tinting).
I had a $3k voucher from AirTexas (thanks much, State of Texas) for my 95 Saturn with 175k on it and which I just sunk $2k into only to find my transmission was going out and I had three broken engine mounts (but I was still driving it and planned to keep driving, so the program did take a polluting car off the streets).
Here's what I paid for a silver 2008 Honda Fit Sport Automatic with a pinstripe and tinted windows:
Vehicle: $16501 (so $16202 without the tint)
TTL: $1058.39
My tax was lower because I had the $3k trade-in on the voucher car.
So I drove away with a new Fit for $14559.39, which is a great deal in my book.
And the car only had 3 miles on it when I bought it tonight. They still hadn't taken the protective plastic off the seats or the protective coating off the hood and roof (they did before we left, of course).
Bankston didn't offer as many sodas (none, in fact) as Jim McNatt, and the salesman wasn't super slick, but Bankston had a great deal and the salesman was very honest and understanding and didn't try to "sell" me anything. He didn't make much of a commission, but I'd certainly go back to him when I buy another (and more expensive) Honda that has more commission-room for him.
Thanks to everyone on this forum and to Edmunds for great information that helped me make an informed purchase.
Cheers, T
PS For those families looking to buy a Fit, we have two children who are both in car seats. One of them is 1 and the other is 3. They fit fine for now, but they are closer to our seats, so I notice them a bit more--which can be good and bad. I had a lot of coffee before the drive home, so I was on edge and the crying seemed 1000 times louder than normal. But I was also able to talk to the kids without yelling, which was nice, and I was able to easily hear them. The plan is when the kids are older, we will buy another Honda--one a bit larger--and either keep this Fit as a commuter car or use the Fit as a trade-in. Good luck to all of you still in the throws of making a decision about the Fit!
Thanks. Maybe that dealership has the most up to date release information. Sounds like summer at the earliest at this point, and possibly later.
That is the exact opposite of my experience. Isn't that strange? I previously drove a 1999 Saturn SL2 (now hubby's car), and my daughter is much further away from me in my new Fit. I used to be able to pass things back and forth to her in the Saturn but now I can not reach her from the front seat. That is so weird that we have completely opposite experiences with the same basic cars. :confuse:
$14,900 selling price including destination
$600 dealer fee
-------
$15,500 + TTT
It is interesting to note that the dealer would not budge on the "dealer fee" -- instead they lowered the selling price by about $400. I could of saved $100 more if I had driven to a dealer about 60 miles away but my wife was pregnant at the time and we didn't want to risk a back of the car baby delivery.
There was a $200 difference between their price and mine (lowest price I got by email from another dealer), I wanted to split the difference at $100. It's funny, but we had to do the "I am walking out of here" before they would agree.
Good Luck!
-d
P.S. This was in Central Florida (Courtesy Honda, which is an AutoNation company). The whole experience wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as some other dealers. The good experience was they didn't try to sell me anything extra and the "checkout" was very fast (30 minutes for the paper work and about 10 minutes to sign everything). It still took an hour+ to get to the selling price.
One thing I have to say about them, though. There was a $55 "document prep" fee that the finance guy tacked onto the bill and that I foolishly didn't notice until I got home. Nice sleight of hand on his part -- I caught a similar scam a year ago but missed this entirely. Maybe it was because I was stuck standing around for an hour waiting to sign everything off and had gotten drowsy. Maybe it was the hypnotic powers of his mile-wide necktie....
Even though I should have caught it, it's pretty cheesy. It's like leaving your briefcase in his office and finding that he stole cash out of your wallet. It's not enough to get me to put a stop payment on the check, although I considered it. It is enough to be aggravating as hell. They definitely alienated a potential service customer for $55; I will not be doing any business with Honda of Oakland unless it is warranty work, in which case I will happily be a pain in their [non-permissible content removed]. If anyone needs to be reminded, look carefully before you sign, no matter how much they talk or otherwise try to distract you. I was in a hurry and that is a mistake when dealing with a scuzzy car dealer.
Second gripe is that the TPMS monitor light was on from the moment I got into it. The salesman said it just needed to be driven for a few miles, and that if it didn't turn off to just bring it in and they would fix in a few minutes by re-setting the computer. Well it didn't go off, so this AM (2 days later) I call the service department and they said to just bring it in and they would fix it. When I arrived however they said I would have to leave it until Monday. Only after griping a bit on the phone did I get a service person to tell me to make sure the tire pressure was right. I checked, they were all at 38, so I dropped to 34 all around and the light cleared. I'm glad there wasn't a real problem because I would be without my brand new car after only two days.....
On the upside though, I feel like I got a decent price and I definitely like driving the car. I just would not trust the people at Honda of Oakland for a moment.
$15605 plus tax and dmv fees ($300 off MSRP). I hope this is a good price....
Located in NY
I keep on wanting to find someone to compare MPG who drives around NYC.
Price: $15595 + $635 dest. = $16,230 (MSRP: $16070+$635 dest.).
Tax: 6% = 979.80
Docs/Processing = $100 (maximum in MD by law)
TTL = $210
OTD price = $17519.80
Included: wheel locks as part of "dealer appearance package".
Advice:
1) Use Edmonds.com to get quotes from local dealers (as many as possible).
2) Print out the quotes from the dealers who actually send you a quote with the price in it.
3) Go online to online websites of dealers from 2) and check inventory to make sure they have the color/trim you are looking for.
4) Choose dealer with best selection and go test drive vehicle (ask for the internet sales person -- the one who sent you the quote!) Bring quotes with you!!!
5) Show salesperson all of your quotes. Tell him to match your lowest one. When he says his dealer has added a special XYZ package tell him you'll accept your second lowest price quote to account for package XYZ (roll eyes when doing so).
6) Say no to paint, alarm, etc... (The sport trim comes with an alarm system already installed and it even includes a red blinking light to make you feel better. You don't need anything more unless that's just your thing).
7) Bring a copy of capital one's latest Blank Check rates and tell finance guy he must beat it to get your business (must have good credit score of course).
8) Say NO to extended warranty. He will try and tell you he can only sell it to you only at the time of sale but you can buy the honda care warranty anytime before the car has $6k miles on it. Get an online quote. Best rates I found currently was $899 for 8yr. 120k option w/ $0 deductible. Better yet, invest that $900 and have a down-payment for your next car when your fit doesn't break down.
9) Last but not least: If you are not trading in. Drive your current vehicle to dealership BY YOURSELF. Negotiate price, financing, etc... as above. If happy, sign the paperwork but DO NOT TAKE DELIVERY OF THE VEHICLE. Tell your saleman you must drive your vehicle home and you will be back in the morning to take delivery (he will resist because the deal is not complete until you take delivery). He will even offer to drive your new vehicle to you but tell him whatever you have to and just wait one more night for your Fit. Why? Now you can go home with all your paperwork and have the whole night to make sure you are not getting screwed! I had originally taken the 8 yr. 120k extended warranty for $1580 but after a few minutes of research I found the $900 price. Next morning BEFORE taking delivery of the vehicle I told them I was declining the warranty, they took it off (with some grumbling) and then I drove the car off the lot feeling good. (BTW, you have 60 days to cancel the warranty if you already purchased one).
10) check out collegehillshonda.com for accessories (much cheaper than dealership). In fact, print out the prices on collegehillshonda.com before going to the dealership so you know exactly how much you should pay for those floor mats, wheel locks, etc...
11) Enjoy your new fit!
I was lucky, and the dealership made a huge mistake by giving me 2.9% financing (or something ridiculously low) on a 2008 Fit, which Honda wasn't offering, so the dealership tore up the contract, and I drove the Fit back to the dealership and happily gave them the keys, did my research on Edmunds and then bought a Fit elsewhere for several thousand less and paid cash for it. Cheers!
Had a question on the Honda Care and the fact that you can return it within the 60 days past purchase. Do you know if they would still sell you one on line if you returned the one bought from the dealer at higher price? Better yet, do you think the dealer may refund the difference if you showed them the online quote not to lose a sale? Just wondering since a friend of mine over paid for her TL Honda Care at a dealer. Thanks.
I just bought my Fit sport Auto yesterday and I live in the Bronx. I don't do a lot of driving but when I notice the MPG, I'll let you know. What MPG are you getting in the city?