The government has no idea what they are doing. In order to look environmentally friendly they've set cut off lines that really make no sense. If a Yaris consumes 1/10 of a liter less than the Fit and the Yaris gets a $1000 rebate, then why doesn't the Fit recieve any rebate?Don't they know it's a slap to the face of Honda.. I mean they have done so much in making their cars economical, yet the government has tilted the balance hugely in favour of it's competitor. At this price point (subcompact) a grande is alot!I believe it should be a gradient system rather than a strict cut-off. Thus, the Fit could recieve like a $900-950 rebate.. anyways though..what does everyone think about this new "ecoAUTO" plan by the Conservatives?

 

I think that's a great idea and a great way to promote "little" (economical) cars. Unfortunatly for me, I bought mine last december, so I'm not gonna have 1000$ in my pockets...

But, this is ridiculous that the governement didn't include the Fit on the list. With the multiple airbags all STANDARD, it was heavier than the yaris. This is why it didn't make it on the list.

 

Ante;
Don't forget when we say "gov't" it is actually taxpayers who are subsidizing buyers of the Yaris and other vehicles.

Honda has taken the step of using their money for Fit and Civic buyers.

 

I for one could use that thousand dollars, so I went and asked the dealer about it, like the Honda press release told me to. I was told that they'll be mailing them out in the next week or two.

 

I am glad Honda decided to take the path of offering the rebate out of thier own pocket despite the government. They were talking about removing the curtain air bags to lighten up the car just enough to get the rebate, which is a very stupid thing to have to do just to be competitive. Somebody should slap Harper across his face for this one, they shouldn't be encouraging Honda to remove safety devices to save the earth an extra 1/1000th of a litre of fuel. I am all for a greener Canada but not at the expense of somebody's life Toyota probably paid off the Conservatives for this massive market advantage.

 

Don't know about the rest of you "bought before March 20" people, but I am SO not happy about this. In fact, I'm pretty much "head spinnin'/pukin' green soup" PO'd about this whole sitch.

If Honda is gonna stand behind the eco-friendliness of their cars, then they should stand behind them all, not just those bought after a certain date. I feel that this is a HUGE b**** slap upside the head to the rest of us who did the research, crunched the #'s and put our trust in Hondas' superior quality and good name before this whole Eco rebate thing started.

Shame on you Honda Canada!! Shame shame shame!!!

I shared my feelings with my dealership (poor guys, lol) who were stunned to see the full page ads I brought in. They hadn't been told anything about it, and none of the other Fit buyers had been in (yet). They are scratching their heads about the whole date choice, and of course know nothing about the "Honda Benefit" thing. They have given me the phone number of head office, as well as their address to which I can send my- shall we say less than complimentary - opinion of their arbitrary decision.
I plan to send the letter addressed directly to the President and CEO, Mr. H. Kobayashi, as it is his signature on the letter printed in our local papers (see link):

Honda Canada

If anybody else is interested, the info is:

Honda Canada Inc.
715 Milner Avenue
Scarborough ON
M1B 2K8

Customer relations:
1-888-946-6329

(Who knows, maybe if enough of us voice our opinion they may do something about it?!?)

Honda, IMHO you have lost major face through your actions. I'll think long and hard before I recommend your cars to anybody for quite a while.
While I still love my BOM, and would choose it again, this has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Okey-dokey then, steppin' away from the soapbox.....for now.

 

I purchased a Fit LX first week of May 2007. It was a demo vehicle, but my dealer wrote the purchase agreement / contract indicating it was a new vehicle. When I called Honda Canada customer relations asking if my car qualified, the arrogant CSR indicated that there would be no waiver to this policy. It only applies to new, not demo vehicles. Basically he said "too bad you're out of luck", since the dealership registered the vehicle in summer 2006.
Although by the letter this guy is correct, but in the spirit of good customer relationships and satisfaction he could have done something for me and others in my situation. I've been a loyal Honda driver for over 18 years, owning an Accord, Odyssey and now a Fit. I've had issues with each vehicle, and discovered Honda Canada reluctant each time to help in anyway. I find their arrogance extremely annoying, to the point that my next vehicle will not be a Honda.

 

Yeah well I agree they needed to do something and I am happy they didn't decide to removed the curtain air bags from future models.

I have to admit that I am feeling a little ripped off that I missed the deadline by 12 days. I have been trying to laugh it off, but the bitterness keeps rising up

Their whole company wishy-washy statement dosn't sit well with me, instead of just coming out and saying "we are matching the government rebate" they instead claim they are rewarding thier customers for loyalty and choosing to be green... maybe I am wrong but I am pretty sure my car is just as damn green as the next one sold 12 days later.

I think I am going to send my official letter of thanks back to them and request they give it to somebody more deserving, perhaps somebody who bought the same exact car 12 days later.

 

No letter received yet and haven't made it into the dealer. Seemed vague about exactly what the buyers post March 20th up to Benefit announcement would actually get.

Being on the lucky side of March 20th it may appear I am not objective about this but really the whole point is that Honda is "rewarding" those who bought the Fit after they were aware they could have received a rebate buying a different car but bought the Fit (or manual Civic) anyway. They are now "matching" the Government rebate for new purchases, though it will be more likely to get squeezed down in the total price negotiations IMO.

 

What if I brought my car on March 19! But even the Honda don't give me $1k rebate, I'll still choose a Fit over a Yaris. Even if you pay Toyota $2000, you still can't get side curtain air bags, and 5 speed tranny on a Yaris hatchback.

(But Honda, if I can get a $1k cheque in my mail, I don't mind.)

 

On the 19th the government had not announced the rebate.

Received the letter and form to submit. Seems like they will back the taxes (GST and maybe PST) out of the $1,000.00. So should be around $877.00.

When we bought we could have received the rebate buying a Yaris. We bought a Fit. Wasn't too difficult to decide.

 

I fired my letter off to Honda last Friday, I will post their responce once it comes back. I kindly suggested that maybe they should provide some scaled back rebates to owners. LOL, I am used to the government screwing me over (anyone remember the income trust tax announcement), but it is just unacceptable from Honda

 

I was actually in the middle of writing a letter to Honda Canada and figured Id check on here to see what others are doing.

As if the exclusion of the Fit from the governments rebate wasnt enough, now Honda with this brilliant idea to remedy the problem is screwing me over as well.

I was SUPPOSED to take delivery of my car at the end of march, but lucky me I got 1 out of 2 blue sports that came in off an earlier boat on February 26th, 3 weeks before march 20th

Honda says they want to reward those who are thinking about the environment with their vehicle purchase and yet they are being completely unfair to those people who made the choice to protect the environment BEFORE HAVING MONEY THROWN AT THEM

my dealer refused to even give me a discount on accessories
Honda makes nice cars and I love my fit, but I swear someone replaced their brains with a bucket of rusty nails

anyways, my girlfriend was looking into purchasing either a honda civic or a toyota corolla in the very near future, the decision will be VERY easy if they dont start thinking clearly and i get monies :P

 

I am looking at getting a FIT in the next few days. (Sport, Blue, 5 MT). Visited the local Honda dealership tonight and they said that the rebate could either be as a deduction off the sticker price, or as a cheque.

They also said that they haven't heard of anyone getting their ecoAUTO cheques yet, and were hyping the idea that the "Honda Benefit" is applied when you buy your car... no waiting.

As far as the March 20th date goes, I think Honda has done it exactly right. The government rebate started on that date, and Honda is paying retroactively back to that date. They've had to do this partly because the rebate has been cutting into their sales I would guess. I think we have to remember this is a very bold move that Honda Canada is attempting here. They are confronting the government directly and embarrassing them. (a good thing!!!!). When I read that the ecoAUTO program would exclude the FIT but give the $1000 to the Yaris for a tiny bit better fuel economy --- I just couldn't believe it. It's a big slap in the face (as other have said) to Honda. And I'm glad that Honda is fighting back.

No it doesn't "seem" fair to those who bought barely prior to that March 20th date, but the government rebates began as of March 20th. How else could they do it? Since not only the Fits but some Civics also qualify for the "Honda Benefit", how would they decide how far back to go with those models? They've been around a lot longer than the Fit. There would always be some people who "barely missed" making the cutoff. This seems like the right way to do it.

I'd be buying a Fit whether or not there was a $1000 rebate. It's just a bonus now, and it wasn't a dealbreaker before.

By the way, I am guessing their pricing will firm up now that the rebate is in place. No need to be too flexible anymore? Or maybe everyone has been paying close to MSRP all along?

 

I got my rebate form in the mail last Monday, it says it'll take 4-6 weeks to process.

I have to agree with blueriver's statement above about the March 20th thing. Anyone who bought a Fit prior to that date shouldn't be mad at Honda and firing nasty letters to them, but instead should be aiming this anger at the government that excluded the Honda Fit from the ecoAUTO rebate in hopes that they will do something about including the Fit into the list, even tho they will still only make it retroactive to Mar.20th aswell I am sure.

As for the discount when buying my Fit Sport, I ended up getting my Fit for a bit less than sticker.. I think it was about 1800 less.

 

all i want is for honda to truly go above and beyond what the govt is doing
they say that they want to, but at this point theyre just matching it
spin it however they want, this rebate to the yaris is hurting fit sales and they are bribing more customers, not rewarding buying economical cars

honda is just being as shortsited as the govt is
honda says hey govt thats stupid that we're excluded for .2l/100km, but then theyre gonna turn around and say a purchase 20 days before the govt rebate started is too long?

sure they cant extend it indefinitely but even if they extended it a month back only to people who write to them, they wouldnt lose much money on it
really how many people are gonna write
most people are gonna sit there and take the fact that they paid 22k for a car that underachieves in the mileage department and be fine with it, especially if its financed because they dont notice the hit all at once

i personally spent every last cent i had saved up to purchase the more expensive honda over toyota in cash because i had respect for honda and their product

they may actually save some loyal customers like me
ive owned 3 hondas before the fit
i know it might sound stupid, but if they dont prove to me they want my future business, i will go to toyota
i wont like it but i will

 

I got contacted by Honda Canada, they basically told me I was out of luck and they would submit my complaint through their internal review system.

I think what they fail to see is that the government did not act ethically in choosing some random retroactive date that excluded many tax payers from this program. It dosn't make it any less unethical for them to follow that precedent and hide behind the government to defend it.

12 days.... what a bunch of jerks.

 

well that settles that

gg honda

 

Anyone get their rebate back yet? I sent mine to Honda Canada on the 28th of May and have not seen anything yet.

 

What about resale value? Now our cars are worth 1000$ less due to this BS.