Was considering the Escape, RAV4 and CRv. Lease on the Odyssey is up and it is way too big and a huge gas hog. I commute a total of about 45 miles a day. I always liked the Fit (I've owned 8 Hondas) so I took it for spin on sh*ts and giggles. Much to the salesman's dismay, I skipped over the CRV and went for the Fit instead - ordered a Sport 5 speed MT (black) last night.

The CRV and RAV4 were the automotive equivelant of beige. Dull as dishwater (and I had both a 99 and an 02 CRV - both much better). The Escape was good but too...rustic? It felt like what it was - a 10 year old domestic design that needs the gas hog V6 to get it moving. I couldn't get excited about any of them and for $30K plus (Canada...expensive cars but a dollar at par with the US....) I am not getting a car I don't like. I already have that with the Odyssey.

My wife and I discussed it; we have 2 small children, but she drives a Mercedes B200 - a kind of Mazda 5 type vehicle for those in the USA where they aren't sold - that has as much cargo room as the 99CRV and more people room. It's all we need for the once-a-month 240 mile round trip to the in-laws and the once a year pilgrammage to Walt's World (1200 miles each way) and 30+ MPG (US gallon) to boot. We both find the Minivan excessive in every way, and SUVs generally to be vulgar....the Fit is a good commuter and haulin' stuff from Home Depot kind of car..and for $18K Canadian, it can't be beat. Plus I get a 1% rate reduction and $1000 loyalty bonus from Honda Canada, and out of the Odyssey lease a few months early (I bought the Fit though)

A couple of weeks to wait as the dealer has to get my car...counting down the days

 

I am considering buying at Fit - my dealer is telling me that it is difficult to get the vehicles, and that he won't negotiate on price and that I might have to take whatever colour he can get. I'm in Ontario, Canada, is this on the level?

 

It's dejavu all over again..... That is what they told me in 2006 when I was looking for one.

 

Pretty much. You should try another dealer first, though. When I bought mine, there were a total of four within a 50 mile radius and one dealer didn't have any. A dealer that I trust told me he couldn't sell me the car for what I paid for it at another dealer -and- that I'd have to wait two weeks to get the one he did have. He said that he had 19 coming in and 17 were already sold...

 

I ordered mine, but it is in Canada already. My dealer had a few in stock, including a number of Sports but they were mostly automatic except for a white one and I don't want white. My car was actually at another dealer but the sales manager for my store said he wasn't willing to dealer trade. The Sports in 5 speed manual are a bit rare, but there were lots of 5 speed LX models in my dealer's own inventory. There are lots around southern Ontario but if you are willing to wait a couple of weeks you'll get what you want.

Hard to find = better resale anyway. Do an autotrader search for 09 Fits in the Toronto area. They are selling for full 2010 MSRP or darn close to it. You save the freight and other new vehicle taxes, but that's it. Even 07s are selling for $3-4K below full MSRP. That's the trade-off for the wait time. If you ever need to sell - even a year into owning it - you won't lose your shirt.

That being said, you might get $300-400 off MSRP (I paid list as I am terminating my van's lease early...but cheaper than lease penalties...I thought it was a good deal.) but got the repeat customer interest rate deduction. So, not the best deal on the planet but I am satisfied, and my dealer does not charge admin fees or do the etching and all that crap - Negotiated price+freight+taxes...that's it. So, there's probably $500-1000 in "extras" saved anyway.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give another dealer or two a chance for my business, what's really got my goat is this dealer only offered me $2500 on my 2002 Civic with 70,000 Km, but I can see online that there are others being sold in the $6,000 area. Skunk bid is the term that comes to mind, but I still want a Fit.

 

I want a Golf GTI so bad it hurts - I've always loved those cars and I think they are still a great deal. But I have had a Golf in the past and yes, they have warranty issues. The new ones are supposed to be better though, and heck, I bought a Mercedes, so I'm willing to take a chance on a company that has supposedly left its dark days behind

The issue with VW is the dealers. Frankly, they are all (at least in my area) still using sleazy sales tactics like 4-square and interest rate padding, and their service departments in my experience have an attitude that even Aston Martin dealers don't deserve to have. I've never serviced a car and been made to feel as though I was inconveniencing THEM except in VW dealers - and I tried 4 different ones before finding a good independent guy once the warranty was up.

Honda has been better for me, although I know every marque has its issues. Mercedes, on the other hand, gives complimentary loaner cars, even to lowly B class owners like me, and their services are comparably priced with Honda. Parts too - although rumour has it they are priced about the same as the US, which is why Canadians would find them cheap, since Honda Canada marks parts up 50-100% or more vs US prices.

 

My advice on that is head west, young man, head west. When I bought my 04 Civic Si, I was trading a 95 Civic with 250,000km on it. I tried the dealer I had bought the CRV from (in Brampton...no names) and was offered $1100 for the trade and a small discount on the new car. I then tried a couple of dealers in Mississauga and got better discounts, but lower trade offers.

Then I tried Burlington/Hamilton (again, no names) and was offered btw $2500-$3000 for the trade and at least as good a discount off the Civic. I ended up saving $3000 vs. the original offer just by going to the hamilton/burlington dealers. Same with the Odyssey lease and getting out a few months early - Hamilton dealers "no problem" but GTA ones wanted my first born. Again, I would have ended up spending at least $3000 more for the Fit than I did - all for a short drive and frankly more pleasurable buying experience.

IOW, shop around, but head towards Niagara and you may be pleasantly surprised. GTA dealers, in my opinion, still think they are selling Hondas in the 1980s and haven't yet figured out that (a) Honda sales are falling because of attitudes like this and (b) their competitors make excellent cars and are more willing to deal. I can tell you of 3 people I work with who went in with a Honda lease, tried to get another Honda, and ended up with the Comparable Hyundai from the dealer across the road instead. Sad.

 

WRX Impreza and STi, Mustang GT, Honda Pilot, Accord V6, and Chevy Camaro V6.

Then realized all the stuff that comes with the Fit for a great price, so I could also purchase a townhouse.

 

Hell Im trying to go to a fit from a built lancer evolution with 533 to the wheels.... Its just better driving something fast when you know your giving it all shes got and with the evo you just cant do it all that much. In town theres just not enough room even though slinging it around a corner at 55 is fun and on the highway your mpg goes way down. Plus it seems nothing will break on the fit as to where with 533 horses, its just a matter of time...

 

+1, bought my used 07 Fit Sport from Halton Honda and it was waaay cheaper than anything in TO. I even saw an 07 Sport with 45k on it listed for 11990 at a Milton toyota dealer.

PS I was originally concidering an Elemtn

 

It is the people that don't understand this that are missing out.

 

For those in Ontario, I saw this ad on Kijiji.ca

2009 Honda Fit - Hamilton cars Cars For Sale - Kijiji Hamilton

Seems like a really cheap price too, and no tax