what would you do differently if you had to buy again?
 

i *may* be getting a 2009 fit sport very soon. i guess this is a general feeler to ask what options and accessories you'd include now that you did not initially think about when you bought your fit. all other general ideas and suggestions for a newbie are also very welcome.

thanks folks!!!

love,
NPH

I would say ask for the all season floor mats and cargo mat, it's OEM fitment and works well. Make sure they put wheel locks on your rims, saw some post some guy had his stock rims jacked by kids with Hondas.

I got an '09 White Sport 5M on 7/31. No regrets about the purchase process or the price. I got no dealer installed options. One thing I wish I would have done though is this: I was interested in a sunroof and the dealer's sticker price was $1475. I had done research and the best after-mkt price I could get is $1200. I believe someone on here said they negotiated with the dealer to get one installed for $1000. I wish I would have tried that instead of now having to pay $1200. I ordered OEM carpeted FIT floor mats from collegehillshonda website for $72 and an Eclipse Sunshade for $45. Its a great sunshade - check it out online. I would generally say not to buy dealer installed extras but do research and have these ordered/installed outside of the dealer.

I bought mats etc from Majestic at half the dealer price even with shipping. Otherwise, unless you have a real need skip the accessories.

Do a lot of research into "dealer" options. What you want, what you can install, what you can get at a better price after market.

As an example, the Honda "Build your own" site only lists the "parts" prices for options.

That doesn't include dealer installation charges like $79 for installing the leather shift knob (3 minutes) and $89 for the locking lug nuts (5 minutes).

I ended up paying for the dealer to install the illumination kit (electrical), body side molding, door visors, M/T pedal kit (I hate being under the dash and don't have a rivit gun), and the Mugen quick shifter.

I've since canceled some items I was going to install like the cargo net, the steering wheel leather wrap kit, and the factory carpet mats (again, a $89 install to make 4 incisions in carpet and put the hooks in the driver's floor to hold the mat) and the center arm rest (since the driver's seat has an armrest and I rarely carry passengers in the front seat). I've left the leather shift knob, and the cargo cover.

The lady who I worked with for accessories printed out several of the installation guides for some of the parts I was looking at, which gave me a good idea of whether I was either capable or willing to install.

If you're not stretched for time, survey the dealers, figure out what model/color you want. I saw someone post that they got a Navi Auto for around $16k, which is great. Wished I'd seen that before I bought, but I needed to make my clunker gone, and didn't want to get stuck holding it, so I had to go with what I could get with little time and negotiation.

When ready, I'd walk into the dealer with a set of locking lugs if I knew I was going to buy a Fit and install them myself before getting off the lot. $37 is the price I saw from one of the OEM after market mail-order places, and Honda charges $55 for just the part.

Wait til the end of the month if you can.

Twicebit, any chance you could post a pic of the eclipse sun shade?

TIA

if i had the chance to re-buy my 08, i would buy another 09. :D hahahaha. but my 08's cool. :)

omg omg omg omg omg nph is in the house!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

While I love the Fit, and actually had it priced via my banks car buying service I REALLY liked the Civic Si Coupe. (I had a locked in price for the Si as well, but....) Unfortunately, I took the ball and chain and she insisted on 4 doors. (I can't really argue that point, as we do need to get kids in and out of the car).

Then again, I loved the S2000 but knew I needed more than 2 seats. I might pick one up in the next year though. It would be "MY CAR ONLY".

Being practical can suck sometimes, but I'm very happy with the Fit. Once I got the door locks reprogrammed, I haven't had any complaints.

I would have waited for a MT. I decided on the AT cause apparently a 09 Black Sport w/Navi MT is pretty rare :rolleyes: There were only 3 in SoCal and none of the dealers wanted to trade them. The paddle shifters on my AT are pretty cool though i suppose, makes for an easy drive...

And to go along with the above, i didnt know the Fit didnt come with floor mats or i would have definitely made them through those in.

I paid $150 to have 12 inches of X-pel put on my 1-week old Fit. 18 inches would have run $200. Then, 4 days later, I got a big ol' rock chip about 13.5 inches up on the hood. Now I'm clumsily trying to cover the chip with some touch-up paint and I'm making a mess of it and it's making me sad as sad can be.

The Fit's got a pretty flat face, if you're going to protect your hood, you may want to pay a little extra and get the whole thing covered. You can bet that's what I would have done differently.

Dude if you really wanted an Si but she insisted on 4 doors.....I would have just got the Si sedan!! :hyper:

Attachment 56776

ORfit4me,

I don't even own a camera! :o What's up w that??! The Eclipse site shows a couple of pictures but not good ones.

yeah unfortunatly, I should have bought my other dream car. 09 suby Sti hatch!

sex, would make a fun winter beater!

But I love my fitski!

whoa your s2k is hotter than i remember it being MOAR PICS!!!!!

:D

thanks for all the advice and tips, folks. i'm the very, very happy new owner of a 2009 TW MT fit sport!!! i got it last night and it was in the exact configuration i wanted. the only thing that made me sad about the experience was that they mounted the front plate frame before i got to the dealership. i wanted to avoid having holes in the front bumper. oh well, i'll live.

i ended up getting none of the extra accessories and options. like it's been stated before, i'm sure i can get them much cheaper if i search a little and i'm decently handy so i'm sure i can handle most installs. i'm getting my mats, ASAP.

good day, folks.:)

You pretty much touched-on what I was gonna say my only regret was. That damn front plate frame, and the dealer advertisement stenciling on the back, right over the model name. I had asked for both to be removed without a trace, but it got a little busy so in the end, there they were. I removed the front plate frame as soon as i got home (kept the two bolts in for now), along with the rear pleate dealer ad outliner. There's a few, cheap options to remove those bolt clips and to dress-up/plug those holes - but i can live with it for now.

As for the stenciling...sigh, looking into it. A friend suggested razorblades, and about 2 hrs of painstaking scraping...ever so gently. F*ck that.

If you ask me taking a razor blade to the Fit's paint is asking for even more trouble than it usually would be. The paint jobs seem to be a thing of lore, don't breathe on it too hard...

my bad...dealer logo is sticker letters. One appeared to have minute overspray, so assumed stenciling. Gonna grab the hair dryer and get that sh*t off right now.