Why not just lease a Fit if you like the "new car" feel every couple of years? The dealer isn't there to give you a smoking deal, they want to make lots of money. You are their dream customer; maximum depreciation given the minimum amount of time.

Criticism aside, I'm glad you are happy with the deal. That's all that matters.

 

I did not believe in buying new and always kept a car a loooong time. I have a 98 Dorf Windstar sitting in the drive that I bought a year old, it now has 190,000 mi.

I figure without maintenance or repairs this car cost me $1400 year to own, that is cost plus tax and fee's. Add in maintenance and repairs and it is a bit more.

When I started looking for a Honda fit I quickly saw that it made no sense to buy a used one, the depreciation on them is minimal. $9300 for a beat up fit, WOW. They also financed at .09%. I was going to pay cash but .09%!

So around the 2 or 3 year mark I will be watching if I can trade for $1500 a year I will definitely do it!
HTH JIm 0311

 

Thanks for your comment. I agree whole-heatedly. Evaluation of my deal is very simple.

1) Sale price of the new car
I am able to buy the car below invoice price. I am getting a product that is exactly what I want (color, transmission, etc). No one will have put their grubby hands on my wheel for a test drive. The engine will be broken in properly. This is a clear win.

2) Valuation of my used car
These terms are quite favorable. I won't describe all of the issues my car has but in my opinion the dealer has valued my car $500-$1200 above KBB trade value. Actually I was able to secure another $100 dollars on this value prior to making a deposit on the ordered vehicle. By the time I take delivery I will have about $1000 in equity here. This is clearly a win.

3) Financing
My current rate is a fixed 5.5%. I expect to have a significantly lower rate here. Hopefully a win here.

Could I have kept this car for a while longer? Of course, but given the above, and also considering several maintenance issues and cosmetic repairs that are on the near horizon I opted not to. Hell, I have never even changed the brake pads.

I can assure you though that I plan to keep the new one beyond payoff and then some. This is because my work has changed and I use a company vehicle instead of beating that poor little Fit on the company dime (at 50 cents/mile of course). I pocketed that money, which was probably somewhere around 7-8k. So yeah, I'm not too worried about this In fact, I came very close to breaking even on my ownership of this vehicle.

An additional consideration is that the 2009 Fit would have been paid off at around 125,000 miles. I expect to pay off the 2012 around 90,000 miles and it will be in much nicer condition not having been used for work.

I rest my case. Haters: hate on.

 

If the 2012s have the same deal going on and you qualify for the 0.9% based on a quick example you'll probably save $30 or so a month but obviously you'll extend your payments. If you're happy then do it!

 

Yes, time will have to be the judge here. The 0.9% is only valid until the end of the month. I won't take delivery until December so it's unclear if there will be promotional rates available.

 

Please show me where these Fits are! All the ones around me are $15k+. Only ones in the $10k range is salvage titled ones.

 

Here's 2 examples:

http://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/2572506571.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/2601829332.html

 

Wow. I got 12k on my trade-in for a '09 Sport auto, no nav, 32k on odo, some cosmetic damage on bumper (down to plastic), 1 door ding (no paint damage), slightly scratched up side mirror casing. Rest of body and interior though was in tip top shape. And tires that had 32k on them, but perfect stock alloys. Seeing this makes me feel like I got off like a bandit with the trade-in.

I just can't see much of a market for private party sales for top dollar on used Fits. I wouldn't buy such a car... paying $15k for a 3 year old car vs. the little bit more for buying it new, one should just buy the Fit new. Even a CPO is a pretty lousy option IMO vs buying it new, given the savings are not that much.

 

op - if you're really looking to save money just keep the 09 and drive it more. get it paid off and drive it to the ground.

ofcourse having fun with life is a good thing too, so it's really up to you.

 

As I suspected, both are salvage titles.

 

wow fail
I assume you called? The ad lists the KBB value for the black navi one as fair but a salvage title is not fair condition. I guess I'm not surprised at the deceptive advertising.

this is the next best deal I can find near me: 2009 Honda Fit Sport

 

When a dealer takes pictures in front of a nice house I get suspicious

When a dealer is selling a car I get suspicious, Aardvark Auto is not getting fresh trade ins from the dealer. They are buying them from auctions generally they are rentals or lease cars. These dealers have no idea on the history of the car other than it was driven by a little old lady. Well little old ladys have bad bladder control, so the seat was soaked with urine.

Rentals or leases are not always bad buys. I've bought several myself. The downside is if a car is wrecked and belongs to a large company and they are self insured the accident will not show on the cars records. ie Carfax.

A wise purchaser will make a deal contingent on having the car inspected. then pay to have the car inspected by an independent trusted shop. Preferably an experienced collision man. Trust but verify

HTH JIm 0311 H 2/3 2nd plt

 

I emailed them. I love it when people say it was in a "very minor accident" yet it's got a salvage title. They don't issue branded titles for fender benders.

I didn't call on the link in your quote, but I'm not even going to bother. It seems the market price of Fit's are pretty similar in all regions. I'm tempted to see about buying yours off of you.

 

I drive them into the ground.

The payments on my 2001 Civic and 2009 Fit are coincidentally the same: zero.

If you paid off the older car, you'd be off the payment treadmill sooner.

One advantage you do get are new tires and a full warranty. I'm not worried so much about the warranty, but I'm having some trouble finding replacement tires.