In Northern California the demand for Fit's remains high. I was at the dealer for service and there were 40+ new 2011 Fit's on the lot. Every single one had a $2,000 dealer mark-up added to the MSRP. This is a major change from just a few months ago.

 

$2k mark up add to the MSRP, that the price for a Accord or a Subaru wagon with AWD..

 

I concur. The dealership in Canada are doing the same thing. They mentioned three main reasons for high new FIT selling cost...(1) short FIT supply for obvious production reasons (2) The Yen exchange rate between yen and Can$$ and US$$ is eating into their margins (3) high shipping costs due to high fuel costs, high insurance costs.. they have to ship whole assembled cars direct from Japan.

The Honda car sales person also told me that if I still like to negotiate for a lower price which is impossible for the new FIT, he suggested I should consider a new Civic or Accord because of lower production costs as they are made in North America

 

[a new Civic or Accord because of lower production costs as they are made in North America[/quote]


I heard that from the salesperson even before the earth quake.
they always try to push you to buy a civic or accord.
coz they can have higher profit margin than Fit--a whole car shipped from Japan.

 

i think i paid TOO much for an 2011 Sport M/T !!!!==17600
what was i thinkin!!!!

i traded a 2009 Base A/T with only 20k miles - it has salvage titlte coz it was hit at the
passenger side the airbag blew, i also took out all the panels/seat because
i planned to put sound deadenning on it but i got lazy and did not put it back, when i took out the panels you could see the welding that was done, i think its OK.
the dealer gave me $8,100

i also traded a '00 montero sport A/T they gave me $2000,
smoke is coming out of the exhaust, but its in running condition and not a salvage.
interior/exterior looks very nice and clean.

price was $19600 otd !!! $$$ !!! Whats was I THINKING!!!!
I acted IMPULSIVELY !!!!! should have negotiated more for the price of the fit

 

I don't believe 2) and 3), probably typical salesperson talking out of their bottom hole. Honda sets the MSRP and transportation costs for all dealers. I find it hard to believe that dealer prices are not locked in to them the same in US and CA dollars. If the yen rises against the dollar maybe shipments from Japan will be delayed or reduced by Honda but can't imagine them raising dealer costs.

Civics and Accords are higher priced so more dealer wiggle room on prices. Fits have a smaller profit margin for the dealer and have high demand so they are just trying to upsell you to a higher priced model to make more money. If no demand for the Fit it would be a different story, when dealers are faced with cars on the lot for an extended period of time then they are more likely to deal on price. This is not the case with the Fit though.

_

 

Don't beat yourself up, you paid MSRP sticker price and nothing more. OTD you cannot compare to others as different for everybody depending on T,T&L where they live.

$8,100 was a good price on your salvage title trade-in. You should be feel happy about your purchase, you did ok. Enjoy your car.

_

 

Local dealer now down to 3 Fits... I've never seen them this low.

 

[
Civics and Accords are higher priced so more dealer wiggle room on prices. Fits have a smaller profit margin for the dealer and have high demand so they are just trying to upsell you to a higher priced model to make more money.

_[/quote]


That's might not true.
after earth quake, the manufacture in Japan not even can run 100%. shipment to US will be really low. (it's on all the news)
Accord and Civic made in states, save lots on shipping and plenty of supply.

my co-worker just bought a Civic last week,
he paid $16200 for car with window sticker $19800.
he was planning to buy the fit, but the dealer only can sell it for MSRP without mark up $18640.
Civic is cheaper than the Fit..
It's truly happen all around, I'm in NYC area..

 

Americans are dumb, they don't buy small fuel efficient cars when they are new, and then when the gas price goes up they all go crazy and want one. Then people who truly care about mpg or boke students are screwed because they can't afford them anymore.

 

hehe, please don't say american are dump.
did you buy a Chevy Metro runs 50 MPG around 15 years ago? that time the gas price was only 89 cents per gallon, cheaper than a gallon of milk.
I was a student back then, student can't afford anything anyway.
brand new Metro cost around $12k. I could only afford a Maxima paid $5000, runs 25MPG.
Timing rules.. I wish I did buy Amoco Oil stock shares at that time.

 

"boke students"?

Hmm, apparently boke is how one feels just before throwing up which seems appropriate to some students always getting trashed.

In any case, below is my progression from when I was younger to older...

-pickup truck
-minivan
-family sedan
-small fuel efficient vehicle

But I seem to buck the trend in Texas where big means everything... including SUV's and pickups that so many drive but don't really need.

 

 

Haha... thats good "Safety Warning... Made in Canada".

 

Since school is "free" in Quebec (Canada), students aren't broke.

I bought a geo metro as first car in 2008. Reliable (almost 30 000 miles in a year and a half a it cost less than 500$ is repairs), cheap to buy, cheap on gas, cheap to insure, couldn't complain.

Now I drive less, so I'm happy with my civic dx 1999, but I would love to have a crx HF, civic VX or insight mk1.

I also have a MR2 turbo 93 on the side, but it's almost only for lapping, and I can get around 28mpg when I drive gently, so it's not bad.

 

Not really... parents pickup the expenses when their kids are in elementary and high school.

College and University is when the expenses really start to kick in what with tuition, books, apartments, etc etc.

Plenty of students are burdened with their student loan payments after completing their education... and worried about getting a job with no experience to make those payments.

...but with this I stray way off-topic.

 

Tuition was almost nothing in Quebec (but it will go up). And many students are still with their parents, it's my case.

 

hahaha, that's what mean: Timing rules..

think again, while you were a student, you short cash on hand and need to worry everything everyday.
will you buy a brand new can run 100 MPG or a car maybe runs 15 MPG but don't need big cash up front.

so, american not dump at all, just doing the things while it needed to do

 

I would buy a used 45mpg geo metro, but since Americans freak out about the gas price, they buy these geo for twice their value (if not more) even if they have the cash for a big car, and we are stuck with the good old gaz guzzlers that are now worth nothing. But if new car buyers had bought fuel efficient cars at the time, there would not be any problems on the used cars market and small used cars would be significantly cheaper than new small cars or big cars.

And if I wasn't a car enthousiast, I would buy a brand new 100mpg car. But even then, the offer in NA is pretty poor (and I drive less than before). Crappy A/T Smart fortwo, bs accent and yaris (and the accent isn't that fuel efficient), not so cheap and uncomfortable fit (and a student doesn't need that much room). I would have enough cash even as a student, since I have around 10k cash + 10k worth of cars and bikes.

 

Heh, I haven't seen a Metro on the road in years. Those things probably did more to give Americans the impression that compact=penalty box than any other car. Still it's synonymous with "little junker for college student delivering pizza.