Hi Everyone. Just joined. I stumbled upon these forums a few weeks ago and have been addicted ever since. I have been having a blast reading everyone’s experiences with their Fit.

Right before the New Year, I purchased a Fit of my own, a 2013 Honda Fit Sport (Auto). I never knew a car so economical and practical could provide me with so much happiness – truly an awesome vehicle! I see why there is such a cult following.

Anyways, for anyone in the market looking to buy a Fit (new or used), I wanted to share my experience for any that are interested. I write a personal finance blog Straight Financial and recently posted about my experience deciding between going new or used. I got a heck of a deal on my Fit and wanted to share my experience with you all –pass along some tips and negotiation tactics I used to score the best deal. Hopefully you all will find them beneficial when the time comes to upgrade. 2015 Honda Fit INCOMING!!

Looking forward to sharing my experiences with my new Fit down the road!

 

oh hell, does this mean we have to act polite?

(welcome to Fit ownership, may it serve you well...)

 

Welcome! Your logic reflects our thoughts when shopping for a new car for my wife. She'd also never bought a new car before.

 

That's a rule for domestics (don't buy new). Used Hondas and Toyotas are close to new price and may even have higher interest rates if borrowing is involved. Not a bad idea to buy new Hondas and run for 10 years. In the long run you will make out great. Enjoy your Fit, my wife loves her 2009 at 70k and drives it in some pretty rough winter weather. Great mileage and reliability.

 

I wonder about the keeping them 10 years bit (although that's what I do). Looking at how they depreciate it may be better financially to sell and buy new again at 5 years (notice I didn't say trade).

What say you, J.R.?

 

In the case of the Fit, it doesn't make sense not to buy new.


The car doesn't depreciate much, and maintenance costs are quite low... add decent mpg & cargo space, and price, it's a no brainer.

 

Generally, buying new makes sense if you plan to keep your car a minimum of 8 years. The longer the better of course.

My first car was a 2000 Civic EX coupe. Loved that car. I paid 16700 OTD and I traded it in for 3000 after 13 years. Traded it in for yep a '13 Fit Sport auto. OTD price was 20200. Financed about 11500 at .9% over 5 years, so interest is not that much.

In my Civic I replaced the crappy factory stereo with a USB-IPOD Pioneer deck. Now that's standard on the Fit and the factory stereo is not too shabby. I was getting 30mpg combined on the Civic, now I'm getting close to 33mpg so that's a 10% improvement. As well, I have rear doors and more space to haul things, another upgrade, plus nice looking 16" rims over the 14" hubcaps I had but that's purely cosmetic.

After 5 years I may sell my Fit if the numbers make sense, meaning my Fit has a high resale and a new generation Fit is substantially better, gets better mpg, gas is 5 dollar a gallon, etc. Else I would probably just keep my car until it gets unreliable and gets to a point where fixing it would be too costly. My Civic was getting there as I fixed a lot of small things like the power window, O2 sensor, etc, finally broke the straw when there was a crack in the exhaust. My Civic weatherstripping cracked and the paint was starting to go, so I was ecstatic to get a new Fit, even if it meant having a car payment.

 

That's a great question, Steve. I think it all depends on the care you provide to your car and the demand for the Fit 5 years down the road. If the Fit continues to be a desirable vehicle it will hold its value and limit the amount of depreciation it occurs each year.

If your question refers to what is the best financial decision, I still believe the best approach is to hold onto your vehicle until its wheels fall off - assuming you take great care of your car (having all required and necessary maintenance performed). It shouldn't necessarily come down to how many years you drive you car, but more about how many miles you drive it. Cars don't cost you money per month (aside from insurance), they cost you money per mile driven. A car stays largely intact when parked in your locked garage. The less you use your vehicle, the longer it will last.

 

You take a hike OP with all your financial responsibility talk, this is a car forum and no one is going to listen!

Congrats on the Fit, what color did you get?

I bought my Fit CPO and invested the money that I saved if I would have bought it new. I also keep my cars for a long time so the cost is marginal if you average it out over the number of years that I will own them

 

I also broke my "no new cars" rule for the Fit. My first new car as well. I figure i'm going to use the car until it doesn't drive anymore for whatever reason so why not.

Welcome aboard.

 

Haha sorry - he asked my thoughts! Thanks for the welcome. I purchased the Polished Metal Metallic.

 

Awesome color choice, you know I'm just kidding about the other comment.

Normally I am one of the only people on the forums that I visit who tries to practice some sort of sound financial reasoning but my warnings go often times ignored

 

Well, my Fit is five. I paid $15,500 (plus tax, tag, and title) in 2009. It's got 62,000 miles, an automatic. It's unmolested and sports the elusive complete service record including receipts. Edmunds appraises it at $9,982 (outstanding condition, requires no reconditioning, private sale).

The cost of ownership (not including gas and service) was $5,500 over the first five years, or $91 per month.

If we take 10 years as the service-life with an optimistic salvage value of $5000 the cost over 10 years is $10,500 or $87 per month.

If I take it to the conclusion of driving the wheels off of it, somewhere around 15 years and 250,000 miles with a salvage value of $1,000 the cost (not including gas and service) will be $14,500 over the 15 year period, or $80 per month.

If we factor in the major repairs it's likely to need when it's over 150,000 miles (say at 10 years) the remaining 5 years will add $1,000/yr (swag based on experience with geriatric Hondas) adding $5,000 in repairs making the 15 year cost $19,500 or $108 per month.

If we factor in the opportunity cost of having an older, less efficient car, the cost per month goes up more.

Lastly there're the intangibles. That new car smell and new features are worth their weight in gold.

Which is all to say, buy new. The question is how long to keep it?

Damn. I'm convincing myself to sell my car in the next year. Quick! convince me not to! Something about time value of money could work.

 

I figured when I retired that I'd never buy new again. Wrong.

As people responded -- the cost of some used cars is so high that buying new isn't a huge difference. (I was most seriously considering Subaru and in this area they hold value.)

Unlike some other responses I've had 2 new cars before; 1980 Civic Wagon and 1988 CRX. Those 2 cars provided 22 years of fun driving so I don't expect the Fit to fail too soon. (I also have 3 Honda motorcycles if I'm allowed to count the one I'm putting new piston rings in. It doesn't actually "run" right now.)

 

Part 2 is up for anyone interested over at Straight Financial. I share my research tips and negotiation tactics. Hopefully this will help everyone on the boards on their next Fit purchase.

 

Good article. You missed some important details though.

Know what options you want and make this part of the negotiation. Don't add them after you agree on the purchase price. Honda dealers fail to mention the car doesn't come with basics like floor mats and a cargo cover and mat and the sales guy will bring out an a-la-carte menu of tasty items priced about twice normal retail after you've spent hours or days working on a price. Don't get taken. Check online Honda websites for dealer option prices and know what they're worth. The "protection" applications the dealers all sell are a rip-off. The cars don't need fabric guard or paint protectant. If you have messy kids or dogs, you can buy a can of scotchguard and spray this on yourself.

Half of the negotiation occurs after you agree on the purchase price, while you're in the Finance and Insurance (F&I) guy's office. He's a real pro. The people out on the floor are window dressing for the sales manager who's holding all the strings.

If you finance, the interest rate is a key negotiable item. The dealers make most of their profit not on the car, but on the loan they sell you. When you negotiate on the price of the car they'll ask you up front, are you trading (say no), are you going to finance with us (say if the rate is good). Eliminating the trade-in variable will allow you to focus on the actual price of the new car. You can always introduce the trade-in later as a separate negotiation. Saying you may finance with them gives them incentive to negotiate on the car's price as they can stick it to you in the F&I guy's office.

When you sit down with the F&I guy, know what interest rates you can get at your bank. Check your insurance company (not only to see how much you'll be paying for insurance, but they do financing these days too). Know what rates other people are getting and what incentive programs Honda has running for lower rates. Edmunds.com is a good source of this information in addition to truecar.

The F&I guy will then try to sell you loads of crap for high dollars. Extended warranties (say no, you can buy them later from Honda if you feel you must). Service programs (just say no to nitrogen tire fills!).

Lastly I was disappointed by truecar when I saw how dealers interact with buyers through this service. The guaranteed price they offer is not the price after you walk in to the showroom: "Oh this car has fabriguard, that price doesn't apply," or, "That doesn't include ADM fees." These are either Administration or Additional Dealer Markup depending on who you ask. They range from $300 to $500. The dealer will say they "have to charge these." No, they don't. If they insist, deduct the amount of fees from the sales price of the car up front.

I find that the dealers are more willing to work with you after they have time invested by actually showing up at the dealership and talking to them. But don't expect to buy the car the first trip; that's the way to get taken. Leave your phone number and reel them in slowly. When you're on their turf they may have the home team advantage but you still have the most powerful tool: your feet, just walk out.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read it. I'll clarify why in my email to the dealerships why I say "no added otions". 1.) I want to be able to compare each dealers best price - apples to apples. 2.) Like you said, the price for add-ons is much more expensive at the dealership. Look other places for those! I find you forum guys know exactly where to get the best deal on add-ons.

As for the Finance guys, they are just looking to suck more money out of you. You call them "Real Pros", they remind me more of guys who suck money out of unsuspecting people - preying on the weak and uninformed. To all the readers, do your homework before hand, know whether you want a warranty or not. Like you said, rates are listed all over the place. I found Honda had the best rates - .9% for me.....basically a free loan - I'll take it.

TrueCar should be used as a starting point. It helps you know that MSRP and Invoice are not the prices you should pay. Its like looking behind the curtain and seeing what the price SHOULD be. If you are happy with the TrueCar price and the dealers give you a hard time, like you said, just walk. They will call, they always do! Just a matter of time.