Correct, and didn't say that it did...I was only pointing out area's of dis-satisfaction. That said, the original issue was price, and I was providing my opinion as to the current new car prices. When you factor in everything, we really are paying top dollar for small cars, espeically the Fit. My suggestion, if you are still a new car shopper, is to look carefully and decided for yourself if this is the right purchase. I'm hoping to get a lot of years of reliable and safe transportation service from our Fit, but if I had to do it over my perference would be for a different car. Having a car for a few weeks can certaintly allow someone to re-formulate ther opinion to something more realistic. I can list off quite a few items where the Fit falls short on quality. Anywhere from 4-point lugs to door trim, etc...not trying to trash the Fit, but also keeping it real. For some (if not most) people, a car purchase is a significant purchase..choose wisely.

 

Actually, I like BLACK... but the problem is... while I'm a bit anal retentive in some things... cleaning cars isn't one of them. The Pathfinder I'm driving right now has only be washed once, since I started borrowing it a year ago.

Unfortunately, water spots from rain shows up too much on black. I don't mind silver.

As for the Corolla vs Fit, ride quality and such, I wasn't going to respond... and now that I've deleted a couple of paragraphs worth of text (after reading Spacecoast's second post in this thread)... I'm NOT going to respond to it... aside from this tidbit.

There's another thread about tire sizes... to Spacecoast, try this if it's almost time to buy new tires... try some bigger and wider ones. Something like 205/50/16 should be okay.

Spacecoast, I think your expectations are really meant for a more expensive car.

 

The stiff suspension is a feature. In little tiny cars with short wheel bases you should be able to feel the road.

 

I paid my 2009 Honda FIT Sport AT/NAV/VSA for $17,895 plus tax and title during Cash for Clunker. Delivery charge is include in MSRP (see window sticker). So don't let dealer charge for that since I negoiated the price base on +/- MSRP. I guess it is demand & supply.

 

SO DID you buy yet? i just put a ball cap (police) over my garmen, people just think i have a ball cap just chillin on my dash i ran the cable so you cant even see it

 

Hey Goober, be careful with some dealers around Chicago. I personally work for one of them (unfortunately, an honest one) in sales and it has cost me so many deals because the sales people at other dealers are quoting misleading prices. I have no quarrels with who you buy from, but just be careful. Send me a PM to discuss the figure you have and from where it is.

 

go with ur original thought GET THE INSIGHT lol im only on here cuz im thinking of putting fit rims on my insight =-) i was debating between a '10 fit sport black vs insight during the cash for clunkers program but the fit was a lemon lol so i just got the insight and im loving every day of it.

 

We used a bean bag base for our TomTom, and it works great.

 

You speak ill of the Fit on a Fit enthusiast forum? There will be hell to pay.

What a rip off to buy what almost every serious car review website / publication refers to as the best subcompact and one of the lowest costs of 5 year ownership thanks to higher reliability and higher resale value than any competing car.

 

Get the OEM nav. I'm not sure why whenever it's brought up in a thread people always try to push a little Garmin unit. They're okay, but they do not compare to OEM nav in any way. Your Garmin isn't going to automatically lower the volume of the radio when it's giving directions. Your Garmin isn't going to be controlled with steering wheel controls. Your Garmin doesn't have a 6.5 inch screen. Your Garmin also doesn't come with stability control or steering wheel audio controls. Enough with the Garmin suggestions, the OP said he wanted the OEM nav, just because some of you cheaped out and bought a little $250 nav doesn't mean other people aren't willing to pay substantially more for OEM integration and feature set.

I love the nav in this car. Never once has it failed to get me to my destination and the recalculating time is incredible, you make a wrong turn and it recalculates a new route in about 5 seconds. I just got a flyer from Honda for the 2010 map disc and I'm going to order that this week. Free shipping on it too. You'll love the nav in this car. Good luck with your purchase and get the color you really want, don't settle.

 

Honda's are more expensive then toyota';s the FIT quality is pretty solid.
A fit sport ride is stiff..but its more comparable to the Corolla S type ride.
If money is no object, get the NAVI, its cool with the bluetooth, but 20k is steep!
You won't get much of a discount as FITs are tough to get, they are not a dime a dozen like civics or corolla's

anyhow....the 2009 build quality is exceptional, consumer report just gave the car the lowest repair rate for compact car...i'd say that is quality

 

concerning the garmin 760. remove the windshield mount, and stick it to the dash with velcro. works like a dream

 

Sorry, I haven't bothered to check the forums (until today) after a major setback to my Fit shopping.

The setback... unable to get financing.

I was really disappointed too. I mean, I was ready to put half of the total as down payment.

A) I have such poor, or rather non-existent credit neither the TWO dealers I went to, nor my own bank would provide a loan. I got denied a credit card like 11 or 12 years ago and haven't bothered with "credit" since... until recently, too recently. I've been paying cash or debit for just about everything. Talking about biting me in the ASS.

B) My sister (and her husband) can't cosign for me either... they've got too much on their plate (two mortgages). I have other siblings, but they aren't in much better shape.

I suppose I could go to various family members and borrow a little bit from each... but it just isn't sitting right with me. I'd much rather pay for it on my own.

That being said, I've been debating buying a used manual hatchback or waiting another year (credit should be a little better and/or saved up a bit more cash). The reason for the used manual is because I use to drive a manual and I want to go back to driving a manual. But, because its been a long time (about 15 years), I want to get a used car to "relearn" that, in case I destroy the gearbox.

On a side note... anyone else drive an automatic but used to drive a manual at one time? Do you find yourself bored and notice your right arm and left leg feel like they need something to do? I get that a lot, like they have a mind of their own and feel left out of the driving "experience." Maybe I should also think about dropping power steering, help build up arm strength. Yeah, I used to drive an '87 (or was it 85?) Ford Escort hatchback with both manual gears and no power steering. For that matter, the radio got stolen and the heater was slow, brrr Chicago winters were nasty! That 15 minute drive from home to school was cold and (mostly) silent. I miss that car. It was my brother's car, the starter started (no pun intended) to go bad. I was quite sad when I came home one day and found the car gone... apparently, he sold it. I didn't even know he was planning on selling it.

Oh, to everyone else about the Garmin... I'm sorry I didn't make it clear... I don't want to use hard mounts or adhesives. Like I said, I like my current setup where I can mount the GPS right onto the dash of the Pathfinder and remove it without taking the dash apart or leaving adhesive residue (some of which might never come off).

 

Sorry for the credit problems. That's alway rubbed me wrong, that a responsible person who has paid cash can't get credit approval, yet someone who has been totally irresponsible and gotten into credit trouble can easily get credit reextended within a relatively short period of time.

As for MT vs AT, I had a 5-speed Accord LX that was totalled about 5 years back. Even though I'd had it for over 10 years, I still loved that car. We bought an Odyssey for my wife with the insurance check and I took over her automatic Accord. Every day since, I missed the manual tranny. I bought an '09 Fit Sport MT one month ago, and I'm in heaven. This is the most fun I've ever had in an automobile (well, driving one anyway!). I only wish I lived farther away from the office.

 

I think i was at 19K+ OTD, no NAV and no floor mats.
Buy the Nav separate would be the way to go, i think...forgot where someone told me to get the mats- but hey, less than $100 is better than $175 from dealer on that, geez.

waiting 4 the air bubbles to be outta the new tint (gotta have it here in AZ - A MUST!) - now thinking i might HAVE to get the cargo tray - as the net looks silly for groceries (or anything, really!)

thoughts on the net, anyone???

best place to get the mats again ( it was like framingham, ma or something)

thanks, all...

proud new sport owner
d

 

Don't beat yourself up, I wish more people in this country paid for things with cash and debit cards. Instead you've got over half the damn country up to their necks in debt from credit cards, house payments, and car payments, all stuff they couldn't afford and had no business buying in the first place. But credit was free and easy to get, and so everyone took advantage of it. I own one credit card to my name and it has a zero balance, I use it only in emergencies. I pay for everything else with cash. If I don't have the money to pay for something on the spot I wait and save. The only thing I have on my credit right now is my Fit. I don't own a home, and my student loans were paid off years ago. That's the way it should.

Unfortuneately you are going to bear the brunt of everyone who was irresponsible with their credit, thus forcing banks to tighten up considerably with their loans. Now banks only want to lend to top tier credit score applicants, those with a beacon over 700. My beacon score when I got my Fit was 750 and I qualified for Honda's best rate, which I still don't think is very good at 60 months. But my Fit has been solid as a rock and will last me for many years after it's paid off.

In your situation I highly advise you to buy a cheap used car. That is how you will build up your credit. It will be much easier to get a $5,000 loan than a $17,500 loan, but paying off $5,000 has the same effect on your credit score as paying off $17,500. You will have to eat a little crow to build up some credit, but if you buy a used car and pay it off over three years and make your payments on-time you will be in a position to purchase a new car at that point.

Good luck.

 

Sorry about your financing woes!

I dislike driving automatics anymore. I feel like I'm not totally in control of the car...

I've never had my mount tip or slide with either my TomTom one or my phone in it...and believe me I tried when I first got it! Maybe the Garmin is more top heavy or something? I have a Nav-Mat mount which has a somewhat flexible base that hugs the dash contours between the instrument pod and the center vent bump. It doesn't wobble...at least not that I've noticed.

False. It clips to the pillar. No drilling, no adhesive.
ProClip Mounting System - Honda Fit 2009-2010 - ProClip Left Mount

I'm not sure how log ago you last looked into it, but most of the proclip mounts are custom for each car. Some use adhesive for extra support but most clip on. Few if any require actual drilling.

@Darc...those nets seem pretty worthless. If you need to secure something, you still have the tie-down loops which you can always just use bungee cords on. The tray seems more useful, but there are also some cheap DIY solutions if you poke around the board.

@dgs...I'm not sure if anyone is "pushing" the Garmin as much as Goober already has one.

 

@dgs

Thinking back, I wondered if that was why I got denied the loan... because I did it for over 20k (the total of the car with all fees, etc), when my plan was actually to put about 10k in cash (or as a cashiers check) as down payment and get a loan for the rest (at most 12k).

I figured that if I got a loan, I would most likely end up with a high APR, so the more I put down, the less I have to pay in interest over time.

I've been looking into Carmax for used cars, if for no other reason than a reference point.

The problem is that the reason I want a new car is so I can get something more fuel efficient than the 99 Pathfinder I am currently borrowing from my brother-in-law (a Fit gives just about 2x the MPG over the PF). But I can't seem to justify buying them. Some are cars that I have no idea how reliable they are. Some are cars that don't get the higher MPG I was hoping. Others are cars that are just priced high enough that I might as well get a new Fit.

I saw an 06 Civic that costs just under $10k, but it had nearly 100k miles on it. I could buy it outright for cash, but how much would I be spending on maintenance on this used car? Funny enough, from a dealer's "certified used cars" list, I saw an 06 BMW for about $14k and low mileage... but that seemed WAY to good to be true, the "carfax" history made it look like a good car... but that begs the question, why did the owners (3 of em) sell the car?!?

Anyway, unless I run across a used manual hatchback in ok shape for about $1k or even $2k (does it run? lol)... I might as well wait to buy the Fit sometime in 2010.

I wonder what the pricing on the CR-Z will be.

 

Those are all valid concerns, and all you can do is to do your homework and hope for the best. By doing homework I mean checking the Carfax report, physically looking over the car with a fine tooth comb, and even bringing it to an outside mechanic for their opinion. Ultimately though even with that it comes down to luck.

Many years ago I bought a sedan from a little old lady who had owned the car for nine years. It was in immaculate condition and it only had $15K miles on it! She only wanted $5,000 for it and so I thought I was getting the deal of a century. Not more than a few months later did I start having all kinds of problems with the car, the battery died, the starter failed, the alternator failed, the A/C condenser needed replacing, and one day the car just died on the side of the road. Come to find out she hadn't changed the oil in many years and not only was the oil low, but the engine had terrible carbon buildup. Those low miles were the result of very short trips she always took, not allowing the engine to warm up before always shutting it down. Less than a year into ownership what seemed like a great deal ended up costing me $2,000 in repairs on top of the $5,000 I paid for it. I got rid of the car, sold it to the repair shop as scrap when I found out it would need a complete engine rebuild. Lesson learned, look at all service receipts, and a car with many miles is better than a car with really low miles, especially if most of those miles were on the highway.

Lastly, regardless of what you get, you're going to get hit with a high interest rate, count on it. But paying 15% on a $5,000 loan is a lot better than on a $17,000 loan.

 

Driving this Pathfinder and getting 15 mpg at best, is draining my wallet. But being on this forum and seeing the Fit while I drive makes me so ENVIOUS!!! (got most of the other sins already, working on gluttony next)

Yesterday, I decided to be a "dork" and go to some dealerships to oogle the car. I did not plan on talking to any sales people at all, but ended up talking to one anyway after he caught me looking at the ONLY 2010 Fit they had (he first saw me on the other side of the dealership and commented on how fast I got from one side to the other). They actually had two other Fits on the lot, but they were both previous gens (one was "pre-owned," the other actually belonged to an employee).

In any case, as I said, I ended up talking to him for about 2-1/2 hours.

His last offer before I had to leave was... 19,240 for a factory fresh (production of 5/28/10, according to them, will be here first week of June) 2010 Fit Sport/Navi SSM with no options. Which, according to edmunds, it's just a little better than "what others are paying" for it ($19,465).

I didn't buy the car. I wanted time to think it over. I hate the feeling of being rushed, especially because if I make a rushed decision, I get "what if" about it and that bothers me greatly.

The other reason I didn't jump on it right away, I didn't feel like it was a great deal, especially after seeing posts like:

Granted, jondotcom's car doesn't have navi, but it's a good deal compared to what others supposedly paid according to edmunds. They're listing $17,567 for the Bay area, and that's BEFORE tax!!!

hollwya's car does have navi... and even if it's before tax, it's still a better deal than I'm getting.

With 8.25% tax here, I'm looking at $20,827.30 (not including other fees). As far as options goes... I suppose I could just buy them on my own.

Alright, the whole purpose of this post is to try and convince myself to take the deal... since nothing else is popping up.

On a side note... while I did manage to save up more money, I obviously couldn't save enough to buy the car flat out (not for another 2 years anyway), I did get offered a co-signer. My brother-in-law's brother-in-law (we all work at the same place, a restaurant) has really good credit and offered. He was even nice enough to off to loan me some money to to minimize the loan, but I declined that one right off the bat. I mean, if I'm gonna borrow money, I'd ask closer family members first. The dealership, while trying to get me to buy the car said they might work with my credit... but now that I'm thinking about it... I doubt it, so I think I might end up going with the cosigner route. Go get a loan somewhere he and I are comfortable with, then use that plus my down payment to get the car.

I'm going to ask for some opinions from those I know (at work). Other opinions are welcome (whether i agree is another story).