Honda Fit Prices Paid and Buying Experiences

kaydens · January 2008

hey! awesome!! keep in touch and we'll exchange monitored MPG
worst tank, all city driving on regular fuel: 18.5 MPG
best tank, all highway on regular fuel: 32 MPG
I'm in Queens, by the way.

It's been a bit of a disappointment, I really hope it picks up after the supposed "break-in" and when the weather gets warmer...
What color is your FIT?

Congrats on the new car and enjoy!

sethwoman · January 2008

I bought the Milano Red color. Will be in touch with you via carspace email if that's ok.

kaydens · February 2008

sounds good.
How did you do on the first tank?

isellhondas · February 2008

" How did you do on the first tank"?

Probably not very well. A lot of that gas was used as the car idled and went through it's Pre-Delivery Inspection. Then short trips on the parking lot etc.

And, for whatever reason, Hondas don't get their best mileage until they have several thousand miles on them. I have noticed this with my own Hondas.

sethwoman · February 2008

I just filled her up yesterday. I think I got ~22 mpg, but it's hard to say because I don't really know exactly how much was in the tank. Will have a better indication with this next tank.

Frankly, this is what I expected since most of my driving was in the city.

kaydens · February 2008

that's actually not so bad compared to mine. I am only averaging around 19 in Queens...

paul_s · February 2008

2008 Fit sport MT
Pearl Blue
$15,625 + tag and tag
$16,700 out the door.
Lake Worth FL

paul_s · February 2008

Got it. Sales dude put in a new set of Honda FIT mats and pin strips + full tank of gas. Braman Honda in Lake Worth is great

risser09 · February 2008

I am eager to buy my new 2008 Honda Fit Sport Black Automatic.
I got 3 quotes over the net so far. All are without tax and tags.
$16,300
$16,585
$16,705 (plus free maintenance for 36,000 miles, but its 50 miles away)

Also, what are most of you paying annually for insuring you fit?

What would you do? What else should I look out for?
Many thanks,
Aaron

msuh27 · February 2008

i'm about to purchase a 08 fit sport auto in silver for 16k plus ttl including destination. this is the best price i coudl get. i'll update everything ocne i take delivery of the car.

msuh27 · February 2008

ok, got it! i actually paid $16100 plus TTL. 100 dollars extra was for all weather floor mats. dont pay MSRP for the car, you can get them for 16k too

bobw3 · February 2008

Where are you located? You may be in a location with a lot of extra Fits, so you're right, you wouldn't have to pay MSRP. But if you're in a location where Fits fly out of a dealer as soon as they come in, then expect to pay MSRP.

BTW, was there any trade-in involved in your deal?

amathias · February 2008

I am getting quotes of $13,990 for Base and $15,700 for Sport. Manual Transmission.
Located in Bay area, CA (Sunnyvale)

Any thoughts, given that new 2009 model and Presidents day is coming on...

csmba · February 2008

where did u get 15,700 for the sport? I keep getting this 16705...
help please!!

malachai1 · February 2008

I'm about to get a Fit sport AT for 16200.00 with all weather matts in that price.I wanted invoice + the matts for 80 bucks. Total came to 16200.00 told them i would think about it tonight hopefully get about 50 to 100 more off.

bobw3 · February 2008

From the Honda website, the MSRP for the Sport Auto is $16,700 including destination charge. Not bad considering it was $16,500 when I bought mine 2 years ago, so it only went up $100 each year.

csmba · February 2008

ok guys, help me out (first time ever I buy a new car from a dealer, I got only used/private cars until now):

this is the best I got:
"Selling price is $16588+$1414.66(Tax rate)+$171(Lic.fee)+$55(Doc.fee)+$8.75(Tire fee) Total out the door base on the information that you provide is $18237.41."

Should I take it? if not, what is a good counter offer?
are all those fees legit? like the foc fee sounds made up to me, but all dealers gave it to me.

please advice...

and BTW, what is the Honda website you say you got a low qoute? all I see is marketing stuff. only dealers give me quotes

amathias · February 2008

Call any honda dealer in the bay area. Ask to talk directly to the Fleet manager.

i got the same 15,700 offer from 2 places. But the problem is the MT is hard to find, and no one seems to have stock, expect for grey color, which I absolutely do not want.

bobw3 · February 2008

http://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-price/summary.asp?MODEL=GD3768EW&MODELN- AME=FIT%205DR%20SPORT&DIVISION=A&SERIESNAME=Fit&SERIESID=1000007&YEAR=2008&SERIE- S=1000007&RURL=&VIEW=34FRONT&ECEXT=&CATEGORY=&ECOLOR=R-81&ICOLOR=BK&SELECTED=&IN- CLUDED=&REQUIRED=

$15,905 from the above build your Fit Honda Website for manual sport & $16,700 for automatic sport, so you're getting it for about $100 MSRP, which is about what most folks are paying.

Are you doing any trade-in?

csmba · February 2008

ok so it is a good offer then?
I was alarmed at the prices I saw here, but I guess it is because I didn't realize they are talking about Manual, not AT...

so if I got with AT, this is a good price I guess?

anyone wants or can convince me that I should go with Manual? myself I don't mine manual, but I thought that re-sell will be easy with AT (plus the wise prefers it (-: )

thanks

msuh27 · February 2008

sorry for the late reply. i'm located in northern california. i got my 2008 fit sport auto in sterling silver metallic for 16100 plus ttl. i went to el cerrito honda. ask for a guy named john paek. he's the ONLY one person in the whole bay area who gave me a quote over the phone, gave me an apr over the phone, and delivered the car as promised. (it was a day late though).

msuh27 · February 2008

i'm not sure where you live, but i got mine for 16,100 plus tax and lic and doc and tire fee. try to squeeze another 500 off of this deal. better yet, print this out and show it to the dealer saying "this is what you guys need to give me to be competitive."

nozferat · February 2008

Gearhead SAID:

You can't negotiate the doc fee. They must charge the same fee to everyone. Even the dealer pays the doc fee if he buys a car from his dealership, though he may sell himself the car for cost. Negotiate the price of the car, not the doc fee. Doc fees can range from $50.00 to $700.00. It is just built in profit, but they must charge it to everybody once they set the doc fee.

You can get the mud gaurds for $52.00 on line.

Should you take the deal?? Fits are in short supply, so I would probably pay the premium of 400+ dollars. It's not that much if it's the car you want. I don't see the shortage of Fits getting any better in the near future. Honda is still a year or two from building a plant here in the US to boost Fit production. JDM (made in japan) Fits will then be in short supply in the US if that has any bearing on your decision. Personally, I wanted a JDM Fit. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I don't buy that crap that Fit's are in short supply...it's a HONDA...it's a MASS PRODUCED CAR. You know what's in short supply? A Ferrari 430, a 911 Turbo, a Lamborghini Gallardo...those are in short supply...NOT a Fit...

Please...

bobw3 · February 2008

I don't buy that crap that Fit's are in short supply...it's a HONDA...it's a MASS PRODUCED CAR. You know what's in short supply? A Ferrari 430, a 911 Turbo, a Lamborghini Gallardo...those are in short supply...NOT a Fit...

I guess you haven't tried to buy one

To be fair, when I bought mine in Nov '05 there was no supply...they left the dealer as soon as they came in, but it sounds as though now the supply still isn't that great. You can tell this just by going to a few different dealers and seeing if they'll negotiate. If they can sell to customers for MSRP plus fees easily, then there's no reason for a dealer to negotiate.

nippononly · February 2008

What you didn't notice was that nozferat was responding to a post from late 2006, almost 15 months ago. At that time, Fit supply was severely constrained, and they really WERE hard to find.

Now they are pretty easy to find.

jacksan1 · February 2008

Now they are pretty easy to find.

Not in my area (Minneapolis-St. Paul). Here, to this day you virtuall never find a Fit sitting on a lot. The supply issue has changed little since my wife and I got a Fit back in October 2006, at least in this neck of the woods.

nippononly · February 2008

Well, I'll be darned, is that so? Our local dealers had shortages forever until late last summer, when Honda ramped up supply and they suddenly started having standing stock. I was by the nearest dealer last night, and they had more than a dozen in stock. I guess there must be a lot of regional "lumpiness" in available stock.

isellhondas · February 2008

Well, we sure don't have them sitting around.

Most are presold before they arrive.

backy · February 2008

Maybe word has gotten around about the all-new Fit coming soon, and some folks are waiting rather than buying the old design.

monger · February 2008

Paid 14700 for base auto in CA.

backy · February 2008

Was that the "out the door" price (if so, it's really great) or the price + tax, license, fees etc.?

toyotapilot · February 2008

From what I can tell reading a few posts here, it seems that if I want to buy a 2009 Fit through a dealership's internet department, I should first get the best price from their internet department and THEN go in a take a test drive. Normally, I'd first test drive a car at a dealership to know if I like the car before taking the time to get a price. Is this deal-first approach done so there are no conflicts between an internet salesman and a floor salesman I took a test drive with? If the 2009 Fit is as in demand as I think, will internet departments really do any better than a floor salesman?

jacksan1 · February 2008

If the 2009 Fit is as in demand as I think, will internet departments really do any better than a floor salesman?

The chance is that there will be no difference, but it never hurts to ask. I myself prefer to get quotes through dealerships' internet sales. Our 2007 Fit was priced the same through that channel as the floor people, but the transaction felt much smoother. We have bought two Hondas that way.

toyotapilot · February 2008

Did you get a deal first and then take a test drive?

acm2 · March 2008

After a little market research and a "quick-as-possible" test drive at the local dealer, we were essentially decided on the Honda Fit Sport with Manual Transmission. Car salespeople rank well below one-celled life forms but slightly above insurance agents on my list of respectability/tolerability and I didn't have time to visit and haggle with several dealers; therefore, internet buying was the only choice.

------------------------------------------------

First, I calculated what the car theoretically SHOULD cost:

Cost of Car
-Invoice, including destination = 15355
-MSRP, including destination = 15905

Sales Tax
-Sales tax for the State of Arizona is 5.6%
-Pima County adds an additional 0.5%
-The cities in Pima county add an additional 2.0% (except South Tucson, which adds 2.5%) bringing the total in Pima county to 8.1%
-Maricopa County adds and additional 0.7%
-The cities in Maricopa county add an additional 1.5 - 3.0%, bringing the total in Maricopa County to 7.8 - 9.3%

Title, Registration, Etc. (info obtained from the Motor Vehicle Division website)
-Title in Arizona is $4
-Registration in Arizona is $8
-tire tax $5
-Vehicle license tax (VLT) on new vehicles: The assessed value of the vehicle is 60% of the base retail price. Assessed value of the Fit Sport Manual = 15905 x 0.6 = $9543. The tax is 2.8% of the assesed value = 9543 x 0.028 = 267.20

My calcuations:

Scenario A) if you get the car for invoice
-cost of car including destination charge 15355
-sales tax (8.1% assumed) 1243.76
-title 4
-registration 8
-tire tax 5
-vehicle license tax (VLT) 267.20
----TOTAL = cost of car (15355) + all taxes, fees, etc (1527.96) = total 16882.96

Scenario

if you get the car for MSRP
-cost of car including destination charge15905
-sales tax (8.1% assumed) 1288.31
-title 4
-registration 8
-tire tax 5
-vehicle license tax (VLT) 267.20
----TOTAL = cost of car (15905) + all taxes, fees, etc (1572.51) = total 17477.51

-Given the recent high demand for this car, and the fact that almost no one seems to be able to get the car for significantly less than MSRP (OK, sometimes they sell for less than MSRP but then add a doc fee to make up for it), I considered ~17,500 out-the-door an OK and realistic figure, although I had hopes of getting a lower price.

-Anything above these prices (i.e. doc fee, vehicle theft registration [VTR], etc) is pure extra proffit for the dealers.
-Antoher way to interpret these calculations is take the out-the-door fee you are quoted, subtract about $1550, and the result is what they are really charging you for the car [in Southern Arizona]...compare this number to the invoice and MSRP.

-----------------------------------------

Second, I e-mailed a total of eleven dealers in southern arizona, both in the Tucson and Phoenix areas. I made it clear that we did not want any options or dealer add-ons. I asked for out-the-door quotes with breakdown of all taxes, fees, doc, title, license, registration, etc, and put all the info into a spreadsheet. It is amazing that three of the dealers gave quotes which did not add up correctly and some follow-up e-mail for clarification was needed. A couple of dealers did not give a breakdown of the taxes and fees, but a few follow-up e-mails fixed that.

Three dealers never did respond and were promptly dropped from consideration
-Right Honda (Scottsdale)
-Earndhart (Avondale)
-Lawley (Sierra Vista)

Bell Honda (Pheonix) did respond, but after a lot of wasted time e-mailing, was never firm in their quote. They just gave MRSP and invoice pricing, and I could never get them to give a firm number out-the-door. I would suggest skipping them if you are internet buying, as the primary goal of their internet divison seems to be to get you to come down to the dealership.

Seven dealers gave quotes - initial out-the-door quotes ranged from a low of $17,440 to a high of $18,320:
17,440-Tempe
17,500-Chapman (Tucson)
17,620-Arrowhead (Peoria)
17,660-Dobbs (Tucson)
17,800-Superstition Springs (Mesa)
18,040-Showcase (Phoenix)
18,320-San Tan (Chandler)

Comparing the different dealers' prices side-by-side was an education. Of course, some would low-ball the actual car price, but then make up for it with higher documentation fees or by adding vehicle theft registraion (VTR), Automate or other BS add-ons.

Price ranges from the above seven quotes:
-Car + destination = 15,500 to 16230 (compare to invoice of 15355 and MSRP of 15905)
-Sales tax = 1260 to 1320 based on local tax rate
-Title/Registration/License = 270 to 310 (I don't know how they can charge 310 since the vehicle license tax is based on MRSP and title and reg are fixed prices!!!)
-Documentation fee (pure proffit) = all dealers included this BS charge of 300 to 370
-Vehicle theft registration (pure proffit) = only two dealers included this BS charge of 200
-Automate = one dealer included this bs add-on of 180

----------------------------------------

-Lastly, we took the lowest few out-the-door prices and played these dealers off of each other to get a lower price. Unfortunatley, these dealers would only budge by $50 to 150 off their original quotes. The lowest final quote we got was about $17,300. In the end, we decided to buy at Chapman Honda in Tucson at a slightly higher price, rather than driving a couple hours to save $150.

-We also looked briefly into the Costco Auto Buying Program. San Tan in Chandler is the Honda dealer for Costco in Southern Arizona. The quoted price was competetive, and much lower that dealer's quoted internet price (which was the highest internet quote we got), but still was several hundred dollars above our lowest internet quote, and they would not budge on the price. [Note: the dealers must pay a fee to be part of the Costco Auto-Buying Program!!!]

-Our final out-the-door price was approx $17,450 (or $15,880 [essentially MSRP] plus the minimum required in sales tax, title, registration, vehicle license tax, and tire tax) We did end up having to wait about three weeks for delivery of the color we wanted.

jacksan1 · March 2008

Did you get a deal first and then take a test drive?

When we bought our Fit, no delaership in our area had a Fit available for a test drive. The system was, and still is, that you leave a deposit and when your vehicle arrives, you test-drive it. If you don't like it, you need not take the car, and the dealership refunds the deposit. Every dealership was selling the FIt at exactly MSRP, so we chose the dealership on the basis of OTD, which did not vary by even 50 bucks. This arrangement was not a problem for us because I had driven a Fit all day long when I was in Japan in 2005, meaning that the test drive had been done then.

When we bought our Civic, we got the "bids" frist off the internet, test-drove one at the lowest bidder, haggled further, and then bought the car. I think that getting a bid first and then showing up to test drive makes the salesperson more serious about you, thus not wasting any time for us or him/her.

sapient007 · March 2008

16100 for black sport auto so 16100 ＋ｔａｇｓ　＋ｒｅｇ- ">

also took a [non-permissible content removed] honda civic in for a very good trade in.

sapient007 · March 2008

to clearify

16100 + 199+ tax = on the road price. the salesmen went below invoice. I was fighting for 500 below invoice of 16122 (carsdirect.com)

sunnyrodeo · March 2008

I just test drove fit sport 5spd manual. I liked everything about the car.
But the clutch peddal felt like its place rather high. It felt more like I am pushing down on it rather pushing it in (more vertical movemenet that horizontal movement)
was i just sitting kind of funny or has anyone else felt the same way? Other than that this was by far the easiest clutch to operate and lightest too.

And kind of out of topic but does anyone know how to get rid of smoke smell out of the car? I am thinking of buying one used but it does smell like it was owned by smoker.

anahita61 · March 2008

...was i just sitting kind of funny or has anyone else felt the same way?

No, it's not just you. The clutch pedal position is awkward, and I noticed it on my test drive, but I bought the car anyway. I've had mine for a year on March 12th (love it!), but that's one thing that's never really changed - I'm still not that good at shifting because of the clutch pedal position. My Tercel was super easy to drive smoothly, and I had it for 22 years. I'm wondering how long before I'm good at driving my Fit.

goviatt · March 2008

I bought my 2008 sport through don Carlton Honda in Tulsa, OK for 15,632 out the door. They had several to choose from. I went straight internet with bids from 6 dealers ranging from $15,632 to a high of $16,579, all "out the door" incl all fees. An easy experience with the printed quote in hand I picked mine up the next week and saved almost a grand over the high price.

sapient007 · March 2008

is that in auto or manual shift?? 15630 is damn good if it's auto. if so i should of asked for a lower price.

fitman548 · March 2008

Registration $8????? I bought my Fit from Bell Honda in June 2006. I can't quote the registration fee from the dealer offhand, but when I renewed registration for 2008/2009 (the two year discount) was $437.79.

Maybe re-read that website, because that seems waaaay off.

fitisgo · March 2008

On 3/10/08 I purchased a new 08 Fit Sport 5AT (auto trans) in Milano Red color for $16,167 out-the-door (not including tax/title/license/registration, which is done at county DMV offices in Nebraska). This is $43 over invoice of $16,123 (MSRP is $16,705), and NO documentation fee. Selling dealer was O'Daniel Honda of Omaha, NE. I paid cash, no trade, and was in and out to do the paperwork in less than 30 minutes. I negotiated price via e-mail price quotes from 5 Honda dealers in Nebraska and gave each dealer one shot and did not disclose any other quotes to each dealer so it was a fair process for all dealers. Price quotes ranged from $16,167 to $16,594. A key factor any buyer needs to know up front when negotiating price is whether or not the dealer charges a documentation fee; in this case, the fee range from $0 to $199 among the 5 dealers in Nebraska that I contacted.

This is my 2nd Fit - I bought another new fit, same car, in Blaze Orange, in Dec 2007 for $16,323 for my son - so that deal was $156 more than the 2nd one.

scottc3 · March 2008

I'm in the process of buying a FIT for my son. Because he's located in LA, and I am in San Jose, CA, I have until Monday to decide on 2 things, and bring down money. 1) The Lo-Jack price... this is being offered for $400 (List is $700) and the extended warranty - a 84 month, 120,000 mile, 0 deductable, for $1200 (List is $1,605). The dealer showed me 'his cost', which I must assume is still marked up, the Ext Warranty was $905.. which he claims is 'his cost'.. now how can he have a cost on this - it's all profit in 90% of the cases! The Lo Jack 'dealer cost' indicated $345.

Does anyone have any other numbers lower so I can show the dealer? I think I should be able to get the Exst Warranty for around $500 - which is what I paid on my 2008 Prius a month ago. This is a Honda of course, different dealer, but pricing should be about the same.

Thanks for any inputs. I have to made a decision my Monday when I return witih my son to pay for the car.

Scott

kyfdx · March 2008

I don't live in LA, so maybe I don't know.. If your car is stolen, do you really want to get it back? I don't... and wouldn't buy LoJack for any price..

The dealer may not be far off on his cost for the extended warranty.. I don't think I'd get that, either... but, we have a whole discussion on that, here: Honda Extended Warranties Pricing and Info

regards,
kyfdx

jacksan1 · March 2008

If you really want an extended warranty, against which I tend to advise, then you should wait until the bumper-to-bumper warranty is about to run out, which is at 36,000 miles or 3 years. As you may already know, the extended warranty term is concurrent while the factory warranty runs its course. And by that time, you will know whether or not this Honda is trouble-prone (rare but it does happen once in a while).

fitisgo · March 2008

My suggestion is to buy NEITHER the LoJack or the extended warranty. Since it's a new car I would assume you will have collision & comprehensive insurace coverage, right? And if it gets stolen you can file a claim under comprehensive. Extended warranties on Honda are just like handing money over to the dealer for free. In 2003 I bought 2 new Hondas (my first ones), a Civic LX Sedan and a CR-V EX AWD small SUV. I paid $1600 (for both) for extended warranties and I have not had a single warranty claim or breakdown on either vehicle - if you take them in ever 5K miles and have them serviced by the dealer, they 'll last for at least 100K miles, if not 200K.

Save your money and tell the dealer to sell the LoJack and extended warranty to someone more gullible.

scottc3 · March 2008

I like the thought process about the Lo-Jack.. and not getting it. Called the LA police department, they basically told me the same thing.. once it's stolen forget it! Use "the Club" or similar on the steering wheel, set the alarm, and that should detur most that want to take the car for a 'ride'.

Thanks for saving me $400!

sc

kj898 · March 2008

2008 Fit Sport MT

Internet bids from 4 dealers.

15,600 out-the-door.

Honda Fit Prices Paid and Buying Experiences

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