[AK47]

Hi Everyone,

We sold our second car (a very sexy 1989 Civic hatchback) so it was time to get a replacement, and the Fit seemed like the closest approximation to what I was used to.

During the week I emailed several dealers near Los Angeles trying to buy a manual transmission silver Fit Sport. I thought that I might be able to find a dealer that would order the car I wanted for MSRP or very close to it. I was wrong.

In the Los Angeles area, the typical markup seems to be about $500 to $1000, and on top of that dealer add-ons like lojack may be hard to avoid. I didn't have much luck finding a dealer willing to order the car I wanted.

One place quoted me MSRP and another quoted $100 less, but the quotes were meaningless since they didn't actually have the car to sell, would not order it, and had no plans to acquire it. (It was especially amusing when they wrote that the quoted price was valid only for 72 hours.) I thought about offering to pay them using money from a lottery that I have not yet won.

Anyway, today in response to an email I got a call from a place that had exactly the car I wanted. I got the Sport (w/o Nav) manual transmission in silver. I paid MSRP plus destination plus $300 for dealer's paint protection something-or-other markup plus a $55 "documentation" fee.

I failed to achieve my dream of getting the car for MSRP, but on the bright side I ended up with exactly the car and color I wanted and I didn't have to wait several weeks. My hunch is that it's even harder to get a good deal on one with an automatic transmission, because they are probably more popular.

Good luck car hunters, especially if you're in an area where this sort of markup is common.