This is an awful dealer!
Used 2010 Honda Fit 4drv Sport For Sale in Madison WI | JHMGE8H43AC017248 | Middleton, Janesville, Fitchburg & Dubuque

Did they tell you the sport MSRP was $22,000? I suspect the modifications done would void the warranty, you should call the Honda dealer directly and ask, as well as have the car brought there to be inspected before purchasing it.

 

I love that its listed as a hybrid.

 

Welp @ Jon Lancaster.

 

Honestly there is a ton of second guessing as they only took $230 off the price which made me sort of mad but my wife LOVES the car. We really don't want to spend $2300 more and know tires will be needed soon. I'll have to read that article.

sigh!!

 

One of the thing about hondas is that they depreciate at a relatively low rate. Forget the idea that the car loses 30% of its value when you drive it off the lot. Its much closer to 10% or less. This is good if you are buying new, but bad if you are buying used. There's just not enough savings buying a 2-3 year old honda fit for it to make sense.

 

The thing is that if we take out another $2300 for a new Fit Sport . . that $2300 has been making about 10% a year and I feel the market (I'm good at this) is primed for more upward mobility.

You have to factor that in. Buying a NEW Fit might be financially smart on one side of the coin but then we lose the 10% (or more in 2013) on that $2300 on something that will depreciate.

 

Regarding a vehicle that had been towed on all 4 wheels, only an automatic has a concern. You should have asked the PO what process they followed when towing. Proper procedure is to start the car every 500 miles and move the transmission through the gears for a few minutes while idling. If not the auto trans will not be properly lubed and damage can occur with prolonged towing.

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Since you both have good credit, a low APR loan would make sense in this case. You could put 50% down at signing which should get you a 3-4% loan. Then in the first month send them a check for the other 30-40% so you only carry the $2,300 or whatever and still make the 10% in your bank. I would seriously walk away from this car, have your wife drive a new Fit (many improvements were made for the 2012 model) and see if it's better for her/you.

 

They already bought it. He joined, made a thread, ignored all posts, did what he originally planned on doing.

 

That's a good reason to take a loan at a low interest rate. Arbitrage the difference. Hell, I'm making guaranteed money on the loan because my checking account pays more than the loan rate.

 

Wrong , I joined Sunday, better check your facts!! And no money has changed hands yet. (I still have $3400 in my pocket)

Probably will buy the car but will never do business of any kind with Jon Lancaster again. I did not like how the whole transaction was handled by the managers. Nice to know a guy that works at Lancaster is reading this and pimping me! Well done.

Luckily the wife is happy and if she is happy I'm happy. I've owned Honda for 20 years so I'm not too worried about problems - The warranty is still good for 3 years. Nice car.

I just find it odd how they do not care at all about customer loyalty especially after I said we were going to buy another care next year. $100 for a lifetime customer not worth it I guess.

 

Why would a Toyota dealer care about a loyal Honda owner? The deal itself is not great IMO, though its your money.

 

You actually do not read the posts do you. Let's see. a Toyota dealer selling a Honda is PROBABLY as used car dealer right? And if a person buys from a dealer and has a year of service he will PROBABLY continue going there right? And if he buys one car from a used car dealer and is happy he will PROBABLY go back right?

I guess you do things differently down south. Up here in Wisconsin we are more trusting and money is not the biggest thing to worry about.

I'm done with this thread. Move on.

 

uh where is the guy working for Jon Lancaster? Did i miss something here?

 

Right, you're buying a used car and are apparently price sensitive. Neither of those things favor a dealer from a separate brand. If money weren't the biggest thing to worry about, you wouldn't be put off by either the dealer's lack of negotiation or the opportunity cost of the extra a new car would cost you.

 

Yeah no one here works there.

I don't buy from dealerships because I like them. I buy from the place that has the car I want for the price I want to pay.

 

Here is the thing that young people (under 40) don't seem to understand.

It's not about money - it's about control. I don't mind overpaying for a car that I like. It's not going to make that big of difference.

But when a person, at least a guy that is 57 and "retired" and been on this horse once or twice goes to buy a car he expects to have an adult to adult conversation. A give and take. It's part of the game.

I brought up all my concerns which fell on depth ears, asked for a lower price and was told $230 off. Case closed, not a penny more. I wanted more naturally (like $1000) and I said "how about $500.

I was flatly turned down. There is my wife looking like a child hugging a new puppy. Am I going to walk out? No.

If they would have come back with $330, Fine, that makes ME feel better because "I" was in "control". $100 is nothing to either of us right? But psychologically it pleases me and since I'm the customer I'm the one that should be happy.

As for this car - yea - it's probably not the best price I could get but if my wife is happy I'm happy, and it IS a Honda so I'm not expecting a ton of trouble in the anyway.

Plus the previous owner took great care for of the car, regular oil changes tire rotations, check up every 6000 miles and so forth.

BTW - Do all Sports come with that extra layer of paint or whatever on the front half of the hood for sandblasting?

 

Why wouldn't she be happy with a new Fit? Why buy one that was dragged around and potentially has no warranty at all? I hope your 10% investments help pay for the potentially inevitable $4,000 transmission replacement...

Buying a disposable thing like cars is absolutely about money! If they overprice it by $1,500 and agree to come down $200 its a good deal to you?

Clear bra (The extra layer on the front) is a few hundred from a good installer so don't let that be a deciding factor either.

 

You should have tied an onion on your belt to strengthen your negotiating position.

No idea what you mean by extra layer of paint. by default there's nothing. The previous owner or the dealer could have had that done to either prevent or cover up damage. Or the dealer is just feeding more bull.

edit: do you mean a clearbra (thick sheet of plastic). If that's what it is, then it was probably the previous owner doing the smart thing to protect the paint.

regardless, since you don't care about price (so you claim) and want a dealer you like to do business with, i'd try other dealers. there's no reason to stick with a dealer you dislike unless you have a specific reason to (i.e. there's only one porsche dealer in town).

 

Towed car, more than the indicated 30k miles, more wear on suspension and bearings than a car of similar mileage...

KBB puts a 2010 Sport in EXCELLENT condition with 30k miles at $16k from the dealer... you should have got one that actually had 30k miles, who knows how many extra miles the suspension and bearings have endured from towing, not to mention the towing "additions" that aren't usually pretty to look at. Dealership loyalty be damned.

IMO you should have gotten a better deal than you did since it was a towed car, but i'm glad you two are enjoying it