Hey Fit Fans - Want to drop a line here to update you on my attempt to buy a 2012 Fit at the best possible price. So far I have tried the following numbers and got shot down!!

Honda Fit Base Auto (silver, no extra's) MSRP on sticker = 16,125

My numbers!
14,700 (price of car, including $790 destination fee)
+ 6.85% tax
+ 221.00 title, lic, reg
= 15,880 (OTD)

They sort of stared at me, not knowing where I got my numbers. The finance manager came out with a piece of paper saying that his "invoice" what "he paid for the car" was 16,648. Have a hard time believing that. The dealer was also in the process of getting ready for the 4th of July sale, where not only do they not have special finance options for the Fit, they were jacking up the MSRP by $850 on all the vehicles including Fit!! I asked what was up with that, and my guy said something about prices going up because of troubles in Japan..I mean, I know there were troubles in Japan, but sort of suspicious prices getting jacked up right before a sale! haha. I think it's BS.

Anyway, I will keep on trying and keep you all posted.

Cheers.

 

Check your numbers.

Using edmunds MSRP is 16,125 plus destination charges of 790. Invoice is 15,700 plus destination of 790. Not sure where you're getting 14,700 (including destination!) even considering hold-backs.

truecar.com puts actual dealer cost at $16,330, below invoice of 16,652 (including destination charges).

they're not giving them away...

 

This is not my first time buying new, or with Honda. My worst case scenario is to go into the dealer and have them agree with my numbers without haggling! Then I would always wonder if I could of gotten a better deal. I don't really buy any of the numbers of Edmunds, etc. Who comes up with these? It's all a game. It's the dealers job to try and sell the car at the highest possible price, I think its nice turning the tables a bit. I understand my numbers were pretty low, but now I have a great starting point. Also, funny how the price can magically increase almost a grand, right before a sale? I think there is more profit built into these vehicles than the listed MSRP or invoice prices we see online. I could be wrong.

 

from truecar (who shows dealer cost @$16330):

Either edmunds, kbb, and truecar are playing a long con, or they're pretty accurate. It's general knowledge that margins aren't high on econboxes, so I tend to take them at face value.

Now dealers will scam you by asking for ADM fees and nonsense dealer add-ons, but the invoice, incentives and hold-backs are pretty solid numbers.

 

I think Steve's on the ball, they don't make much money on the Fit to begin with, and they sell fairly well. I don't think the dealerships are trying to push them off the lot at a loss, it's not a Crosstour.

Good luck with your quest though

 

I do like the Fits, but in no rush. Just gonna keep on trying and post my results. Cheers!

 

Where DID you get your numbers?

 

If the dealer can start high, why can't I start low?

 

No reason you can't, but if you just made up the number in your own head without any real info or factual basis then you shouldn't be surprised if the dealer stares at you like you just walked in with some made up low ball figure. You did.
An unrealistically low price is not a good starting point imo. If you walk in with solid numbers based on solid info, they will probably take you seriously, if you walk in and act like you have no idea what you are talking about, they will probably not.

 

Wow. Sticker price here on the base was over 18,000 and Honda still isn't making that much money on the Fit (I know someone that works at Honda Corporate). I talked them down to 16,000ish. 14,000 is WAY low, don't think you're gonna get it, but good luck!

 

$14.7k

 

Hassle-Free Car Buying Experience from Local Dealers - TrueCar

To use this site properly you need to understand that cars are a commodity.
You should be getting the lowest price on the far far left side, not average, and definitely not higher than average.

You are losing if you got only the "average" price, but it may make you just feel better or if you had some factor of convenience that made it worth paying more than the lowest price.

I have no idea where you pulled your numbers from, but I think truecar is accurate.

Some dealers will sell at a loss to move product out. Or it maybe a show or test-drive model, or somehow not 100%. These are rare cases, but that's why on my truecar graphs I see a few sales under the 16,330 dealer cost.

If you really only interested in paying the lowest, good luck to you; but you may just have bad expectations and be without a car for awhile and just wasting your time and effort. Of course that's your own commodity to spend however you want.
You can also offer $1000 to buy ferraris to everyone on craigslist and assume you just need to get lucky once, and while you are at it, also run for president. Hey if it's just You, Mitt, and Obama running, that's mathematically a 33% chance to win right?

 

See!? Thank you. Hey, I am just gathering information so I can make my best informed decision based on what I would argue is much better information than these online places that claim they know the invoice, msrp, dealer cost etc. The best data is data gathered your self! These online places like TrueCar are cool and all but I seriously doubt their numbers have a ton of meaning. But, as I have said, just my opinion. You are entitled to your own.

 

But if you aren't willing to accept any one else's opinion, and everyone else is full of crap, then you've already made up your mind.
If you don't want to take anyone else's advice, then what was the purpose of posting?

Take your own advice and go gather your data yourself, and just come back when you are done (to gloat I assume?) if you don't want other's opinions.

 

I accept your opinion! Think the info you base your opinion off of might be crap, that's all. Purpose? Just to share, but if you hate this thread I will gladly delete it. Not sure why you are acting in this way. Have I offended you? I am sorry. Someone pay to much for their Fit?

 

Actually i paid less than $14k for my auto-sport out the door, but you and everyone else helped pay for it via cash for clunkers.

 

Zing! Nice work!

 

14,200 was the advertised price last month, but put on the bifocals and you will read the astericks notation as this price includes your 4000 tradein.

 

So if you lowball the dealer, you'll either get shown the door or enter into negotiation. If the dealer starts negotiating with you, then he's got pride and time in the deal and won't want to come down.

My recommended method for buying a car: figure out how far you'll drive to make a deal. Email every dealer in that area a request for a quote. Crossshop offers if you want; then go with the best price. The dealer has basically no time in the deal, and knows you are shopping around. It puts the advantage back in your court. moreover, the whole deal with invoice, holdbacks, incentives, rebates, etc doesn't matter. The market is what the market is, regardless of dealer cost or what have you.

That said, the dealer isn't interested in negotiating fits down much. The supply is low, its popular enough, Honda corporate would rather sell them in Japan because of the exchange rate, etc. I wouldn't expect much flex in prices till the Mexico factory comes online.

 

op is the reason I'm pro-choice