Im looking into buying a a new car soon and i pretty much got it down to a FIT Sport AT. I went to the dealership yesterday sat in it drove it, and loved it! I was in a rush so i didnt get to ask as many questions as i wanted to. How often can i use the paddle shifters, and if i use them them alot does it hurt the trans at all? Also when you guys bought your FIT did you talk the dealership down at all, how much room was there to talk them down. Thanks guys.

 

You can use the paddle shifters as much as you want w/o hurting the transmission... The gas mileage will suffer, but that depends more on your right foot.
It's VERY unlikely that you can talk them down. The cars are selling extremely fast... if you don't buy it, someone else probably will before the weekend is over, so they have no incentive to deal on the price. On the other hand, don't let them add anything to it either...

 

Agreed. I just bought one myself in Atlanta. The best out-the-door price I got for a Sport MT model ($15,100 Retail) was $17,057.31 with 7.0% sales tax and registration in Georgia (Superior Honda; Harvey, Louisiana [New Orleans area.]) Out the door prices in Atlanta range from about $17,500-$17,800. I paid near the upper end of that range.

The only way I could buy a Vivid Blue Fit in the Sport MT (without driving 6+ hours round-trip or buying a one-way plane ticket) was to put a deposit on it before an Atlanta dealer took delivery. I am hoping to be in the driver’s seat some time this week. As of last week, there were only 15 Sport Fits (Manual Tran.) on dealers’ lots in GA, SC, FL, SC, TN, and AL. Many smaller dealers don't have a single Fit (in any configuration) on their lot! There were another 40 Sport MT Fits in transit to the dealers in these states. Based on these numbers, I am under the impression that a lot of these care are being sold before they even make it onto a dealer's lot. I think they make fewer units with the MT; this may have made my search a little harder. I only found one Atlanta dealer who had any Fits (Base or Sport) with the MT. The Harvey, LA dealer had 4 AT models in stock (some Base, some Sport,) but no MT models. I test drove the AT sport model before buying, but have not even had a chance to drive the MT yet!

 

About talking down, I think the rush on Fits is starting to slow a little. They've been available for over a year now, and all the eager early adopters have been fulfilled.

Even if I'm wrong about that, if you read through these forums, you'll find people who got deals under MSRP a year ago, when demand was way above supply. So I wouldn't say it's not possible.

I can't say this from experience, though. I paid almost $500 over MSRP for my Storm Silver base AT in April this year. I rushed a bit. I got several internet quotes, but it was on Easter weekend, and some dealerships didn't get back to me until Monday, after I had already sealed the deal. I didn't get any quotes under MSRP, and the ones that quoted retail had over-priced add-ons included (like $700 wheel locks and mud guards!), that couldn't be removed. I though it might be possible to hold out and find a better deal, but I didn't really want to wait. I'd read on here how people were stuck waiting weeks or months for their Fits, and I didn't want to be in that boat. (Of course, a closer look reveals that almost all of those posts are over a year old....)

I'd say, if you get quoted over MSRP and you have the time/patience/flexibility, hold out a bit. Talk to the dealer, and try others in the area. Use the internet quote system (but don't necessarily buy that way). If you get MSRP, you can feel okay about your purchase without thinking you got taken for a total ride. If you get $500 or more below MSRP, pat yourself on the back. You're one of the lucky ones.

No matter what you pay, make sure beforehand you are ready to accept what you're paying, even if you hear someone paid less later on. Once the deal is done, let it go--it can't be changed anyway. At least, that's what I had to do for myself--I'm terrible about buyer's remorse, and I'm pretty sure I could have paid less, but kicking myself will only give me bruises....

 

I just ordered me one and have been looking for quite sometime ... The Fit is very hard to come by ... maybe 1 or 2 at a dealer at a time etc ... 1 dealer in town is 1k over MSRP other dealer is MSRP ... researched other dealers in the South West of US and many are wanting 1k over MSRP and some up to 3k over MSRP ... but it does not hurt to talk them down even if it 500 or so.

 

I got my sport mt in Pittsburgh just over 2 weeks ago for exactly MSRP and no ridiculous add-ons. There was a base mt on the lot, as well, but I wanted a sport mt. The sport mt on the lot hadn't even been inventoried yet (probably on the lot less than 24hrs, as it had the protective coatings on the hood/roof, the antenna had not been screwed on, and the keys had not yet been programmed), and I took it home that day. I did not want someone else to buy it while I thought about it. I could have driven 35 miles away to an (apparently) larger honda dealer that supposedly had a few fits in stock, including a blue sport mt, but black was fine by me.

The only areas I was able to negotiate were with accessories or with extended warranty (which makes sense, as the markup on these items is MUCH higher than the car itself).

 

Thanks for the info guys. Im probaly going to be looking for either a black or silver automatic Sport model, i dont know how hard this is going to be able find but im going to be patient and find the right deal.

Ive never bought a new car before, so this may be a noob question but when you guys talk about MSRP are you talking about the sticker price on the car? Most that i find are 16,500 which is about my limit. Thanks again.

 

MSRP is what the sticker price is but then you have to add in taxes, tags any state fees that apply. My Milano Red Sport A/T was $16,565.00 on the sticker but out the door at $17001.00 with taxes and tags. There is no wheeling or dealing with the Fit - I did have a vehicle that I traded in on the deal plus paid my taxes and put down $5,000.00 in cash. The lowest car payment I've had in a long time! They did not offer any extra's but when I ordered accessories they gave me 15% off each item and no charge for installation.

Cat :x

 

Out the door on mine was 16952.95 w/taxes & tags (sport mt...sport at would be more).

 

Hi MTbikernate, I live in Pittsburgh also. We have been looking the last two weeks and found two dealers that had only one Fit (black, base, AT). We test drove one of them.

May I ask where you bought yours and what you think of the dealer?

One dealer (the one we historically deal with) asked for $100 to get on the waiting list although we are not reserved for a specific car. We can get our $100 back at any time but it seems odd and I'd like to be waiting for a specific car and a specific date. So, we are on this list. We are supposed to get more concrete information on June 20th.

As far as pricing, we were told MSRP at one dealer right off the bat, the other didn't talk price but said there is "no markdown", and the other one which we will likely go with even if we have to wait should give us a break...but probably not much (this is the one we've bought Honda's from before...we have bought two Hondas they have always beat all the other dealers on price in Pittsburgh area and it was always a pleasant experience during the sale and after with service).

So, Tool, we are expecting a little better deal than MSRP but we do have a relationship with this dealer. It may not be much but we'll just have to see. I'm hoping to be in a car by October at latest (patience).

 

Echo the others. Demand is still high, and some dealers will add 'market adjustments', or require the purchase of options - I will not do business with anyone that jerks me around like that.

There are still many dealers that will sell at straight MSRP with no add on and give discounts and/or match internet prices for accessories. I haven't found any here that will give anything off the the actual sticker price of the car though - I'm guessing that would still be tough to find. Remember that the dealers don't make much profit of the base car, so there's not much haggling room there anyway. If you can get the car at straight MSRP with no 'required' addons, that' about as good of a deal as you're going to get these days.....

 

ABSOLUTELY!!
My dealer (Gwinett Honda... Atlanta metro) did not try any of that. They did not adjust the price or try to get me to buy any extra crap. I payed sticker price (the sticker from Honda... not the little add-on sticker that some dealers put in the window), plus taxes and such...
I would refuse to do business with any delaership that tries to sell them over MSRP.

 

I bought at Baierl Honda in Wexford. There's a dealer in Greensburg that supposedly has a few (at least according to the web when I checked about 2.5 wks ago). The dealer treated me fairly (and became REALLY friendly when he found out we went to the same college).

 

As far as the paddle shifters go, you can use them whenever. Your gas mileage will actually improve (in my experience) if you put the car in S mode and use the shifters to shift smartly.

 

Thanks. They were nice to talk to. We actually talked to them last weekend. They told us they were getting in about 10 and 4 were sold already.

What I am seeing is that some of the dealers will throw in rustproofing, clearcoating, stripes, etc....not sure if this is much value. Shadyside will do this. The one in Moon will not (we had these discussions when we were looking for our Accord). Yenko said they would throw in that stuff. I hear that they can deal on the stuff they do in their own shop but for extras like mats, cargo trays, etc....they cannot.

Yenko actually said they would seek a trade with another dealership to find us a manual transmission. Strange that none of the other dealers mentioned this.

To be honest, it's not a bad deal if the engine is the same old Honda engine and one can handle it being smaller. A lot of features are standard that are extras on the other cars and internal space is just as much as the others.

 

I talked with roughly 10 dealers in Atlanta (plus one in Louisiana,) and every one of them offered to trade with another dealer to get me what I wanted. One dealer even said he could trade a car he did not have on his lot for a car that another dealer did not have yet have on hand. Example: Dealer A has a Blue one in transit, and Dealer B has a White one in transit. If I am dealing with Dealer A and want a white one, Dealer A can talk to "B" and arrange to have the white car delivered to him, and the blue car delivered to the "B".

Any dealer can spend a few minutes on the computer to see what all the other nearby dealer have in stock, and what cars will be arriving at these dealers in the next month or so. Based on my experience (e.g. nearly a dozen dealers who fought for my business,) if a dealer did not offer to look for a trade, I would assume that they did not want me as a customer. I guess some dealers are not very motivated to please prospective Fit customers, since the cars will pretty much sell themselves. This is really, really, bad business. They need to realize that they must sell their entire dealership (e.g. their service department and parts department) when they sell a car. They also need to make sure that their customers keep coming back when it's time for the wife to get a new car down the road.

 

There's only about $600 profit in the model you want. The sticker of $16,565 is what you should expect to pay. If you belong to AAA club, the dealers that work with AAA membership "might" knock $100 off the car. That's it.
If you need it cheaper, get a MT, or get a Fit base model.

 

I may have to look into a Manual to get the price i want. Or maybe used in the future...

 

Hey as long as your not holding a cell phone and trying to drink with the other hand, a manual will be just great. Don't you think? Best of luck with your choices and situation.

 

If you like manuals, the one on the Fit is great. Very slick shifting, quite a bit more zip than the AT (even when using the paddles), better gas milage, and of course, cheaper. If you like to shift and think you'd be using the paddle shifters on the AT a lot, I say just go for the MT. Of course, if you want shifting to be an optional thing, you'll need to stick with AT......