I am brand new to this site and planning on buying a brand new 2011 Honda fit in a few weeks. This will be my first time buying a new car, my previous 4 cars were used. Anyone have any tips for me to get the best deal with Honda or things I should watch out for?

 

Spend as much time in the seat as possible before you buy it. Take note of how the pedals feel, how the seat supports you. Mine felt fine during the test drive, but became more and more a pain in the ass, literally (OK, more like thighs, back). If you are short (i.e. 5'10" or under) disregard.

 

I am only 5'9". And does the fit get around 30 mpg, or is the estimated mpg wrong?

 

I got 26-27 in mostly city driving. Lots of hills for me though, and unlike many people who live out in suburbia, my city driving is actual city driving. People sometimes refer to their driving as "city" when they are rolling down arterial roads at 45 mph with a stoplight once a mile.

On the highway, I was getting high 30's most of the time. The automatic does well on highway mileage, and has real overdrive. The manual seems to be (real world) more efficient in the city, and should be more satisfying with the greater get-up-and-go, but the gearing is all wrong if you hit the superslab. I had an Element with similar gearing: figure 1000 RPM per 20 MPH. At 60, 70, 80 mph at 3000, 3500, and 4000 RPM sustained, respectively.

 

I've also found its a bit worse in city driving than the estimate, but much better on the highway. If you do a mix of driving, you should see ~30 mpg, higher the more time you spend at speed, lower the more stop signs you encounter.

 

Thanks for the info on gas! So is the fit a good reliable car? I am also looking at the new corolla and elantra, but I know honda has a really good reputation with long lasting cars.

 

in mixed driving (suburban/highway) i've averaged 32 mpg for the life of the car (29,000 miles).

 

If you can, buy sooner, prices are supposed to be going up. Makes sense with the Japanese Earthquake/tsunami devastation and high gas prices.

I read this on another forum. Hope it is not a marketing ploy

Small Cars Set for Big Price Hikes - FoxNews.com

 

How soon are prices suppose to go up? And is there any idea of how much?

 

I would shop for financing and avoid any and all interaction with the dealership's finance manager... Go to the bank you do business with for a loan because the dealership will get a kick back from whoever they arrange financing with and throw crazy extended service policies at you and all kinds of other snake oil... If Honda has a low interest rate loan deal going on go for it but say no to anything else the finance manager tries to make you agree to.

 

the article I linked to said 10 percent, probably depends on the area you live and what the demand is.
I would imagine prices are going up faster where gas prices are higher i.e the coasts & major cities. Gas in my town is still around $3.60/gal.
I was at our local Honda dealer and they had 5 or 6 Fits on the lot. Most were Sport, 1 or 2 Base & no Navi that I could see. Also all were AT--so if you wanted a MT, I bet you couldn't bargain much.
If you want the models/colors on the dealer lots, I bet you could bargain a bit.

I agree every finance manager I have worked with are sneaky snakes......

 

Anecdotally, they've already started up. And the 5-10% seems about right. I can't imagine they'll go over MSRP, for example.

 

Honda has a reputation for reliability. For what it is worth, Consumer Reports rates the Fit among the most reliable of vehicles.

I am getting an average of 30 mpg with mostly in town driving and some highway.

It seems the Honda product plants are back in operation but only at 50% capacity at this point...

Honda Press Releases - Update # 12: Earthquake Impact on Honda Operations - April 15, 2011

...so there might be some new Fit supply issues down the road at some point. I fully expect some dealers are going to take advantage of the situation to be asking top dollar for the vehicles. Laws of supply and demand I suppose but it still irritates me.

I just dealt straight up with the dealership and feel they treated me well.

Got my 2011 Sport AT a few weeks ago at a dealer here in San Antonio for $18,000 with tax and everything extra included with that.

It came with the...

-Texas legal tint all around
-wheel locks
-body side moldings
-full tank of gas
-coupon for first oil change for free
-7 year/ 75,000 mile extended warranty

I financed about half at 3.5% through Honda. I'm a Canadian in Texas on a work visa with no established credit here so I figured this was a good deal to get some credit established in the States.

 

The fit is already pricy at cutter prices. Add 10% and you've just put a HUGE incentive on the Fiesta, Cruze, and a handful ofbother cars advertising better fuel economy at competitive prices.

 

Tell the salesman that you've gone to the Toyota dealer to check out a Yaris and Scion and they told you they'd throw in a baseball cap. I scored a nice Honda watch-cap during the winter when I bought mine by doing this.

 

That's very true. They screwed me when I bought mine.

 

Driven all three - '98 Corolla (RIP/totalled) gets good gas mileage, '07 Elantra with moon roof (still running strong) gets better mileage and roomier feel... The new gen. Elantra looks pretty sharp though. My Fit's mpg falls in the middle, but has better, more versatile seating configuration/space and the most fun to drive. And yes, driving position is the least comfy among the three. Good luck!

 

Heh... When I bought the Scion, they had a $1000 rebate for military members, contingent on financing through Toyota/Lexus Financial. They also sent me a "Military Mail drop," a box filled with Scion swag: a drawstring bag, earphones, jump-drive, T-shirt, watchcap, keychain, chapstick (yes, chapstick), clip-on folding pen, playing cards, and a few other odds and ends, all Scion-branded, of course, along with a "Thank you for serving in the military" note.

 

That seems like an awesome deal. Hopefully the dealers I am working with will do something like that. On the 7 year/ 75,000 mile extended warranty is that bumper to bumper or just powertrain? Did they offer any kind of roadside assistance?

With the prices going up due to the Japan situation, does that mean the dealers will not want to negotiate? Or will it simply be a little harder to get a better price? Also I will be paying for the car with cash after my trade-in, so I will not be worrying with any kind of financing. I have heard it's best to not tell the dealer you aren't financing until you already agree on a number, is that true?

 

Generally, yes, you should treat each step of the negotiation as a separate phase. Price for the new car is a separate transaction from the price for the used car, which is a separate transaction from the financing/loan and separate from buying an extended warranty. You shouldn't lie about any future step, but just take each one step at a time.

If you're going with the extended warranty, be aware that you can buy that from any dealer, not just the one you're buying the car from. It's legit to also shop the warranty around, just as you're shopping the car price around. Similarly, you can shop the used car around to other dealers or private sellers if you want, though that's often more difficult.