I was considering trading in my 2015 Fit EXL. I just had it detailed and it looks brand new. I was offered a crappy $10k. It has 47,000 and is 10 out of 10 car. I have done everything to maintain it. I have a car cover, two sets of mats (one rubber), tint, wheel locks, bra...new tires.....I am glad those clowns didn't give me a decent offer as I would have bought a used 2016 Pilot with as many miles as my fit. I am happy to keep my Fit until the wheels fall off. Thanks Ourisman.

 

that's not such a bad deal Derk. Considering you won't have to pay titling fees on the trade in value @6% you actually have a trade in value of $10,600. It really doesn't matter that you kept the car pristine or not. As long as the tires aren't bald, there's no major body damage, and it's not ripped to shreds inside you'll get about the same whether you detailed it or not, because no matter how well you kept it, the dealer will enlist a professional detailer to go over it yet again. I worked for a short stint valuating used cars for a Toyota dealer. I can't tell you how many people brought their cars in thinking they were in excellent condition only to find out otherwise. It's your choice Derk, your car. If you feel they aren't offering you enough, go elsewhere or keep the Fit. Not sure why you'd want to go to a used Pilot from a Fit, but hey, that's your decision. Good luck.

 

With a pristine car, I know you could get your price. Don't get upset with low ballers. You have to deal with that when you are selling a private party car.

 

In the end his Fit at TRADE is just about priced right. Here is what is impacting that and cannot be changed: 1) condition, like I said before, as long as the car is not a beater it doesn't matter if you brought it in shiny and new looking or in need a a total interior and exterior cleaning. The mechanics mean more than a clean car because simple detailing, on a professional level is a minor cost element. 2) trade ins are always priced at wholesale, ALWAYS. Derk's car may be 'excellent' to him, but to a dealer it's a wholesale car. Why would a dealer pay above a wholesale price for any car when they could pay that at auction? Answer: they wouldn't and they don't. 3) Most people head to dealers with the intent of walking out with a different vehicle, new or used. This muddies the water because any dealer could jack up the price offered on the trade and take it back by overcharging on the replacement. In the end, most people concentrate on the 'what's it going to cost me per month' aspect and if the figures is good enough they sign. Dealers know this. Derk is taking a single element out of the equation, the trade and trying to justify the pricing as if nothing else matters. Problem is, everything else does matter. 4) Retail askings: I did a preliminary search for a 2015 Fit-EX-L with similar mileage. You do realize the asking prices run around $13k on average? That's asking. Assuming you negotiate without a trade that $13k will be roughly $12k or so. If they gave Derk $12k for the trade, they would never recover their costs in the car. That isn't going to happen. Besides, those sitting on dealer lots look just as nice as Derk's trust me they will and they do. 5) The Car. Fit's aren't exactly up there in high demand and anyone doing their research will find, despite the Fit being a Honda, the 2015s were prone to issues, some very serious and costly. It's not a car that would be expected to move quickly off a lot unless priced right. 6) Residual value: no matter what, in the end, the car is only worth what it can be sold for. At $10k, Derk's 5 year old car with 48k miles and an original retail value of let's say $21k is now valued at trade (at $10k) 48% of original retail. That is above average for most cars. 7) don't forget the trade value tax benefit. 8) in the end, if one feels their car is worth more, then by all means test the waters and try and sell it privately. Just remember to break even with the trade value offered, you'll have to end pricing no less than $10,600 (to offset the trade tax advantage). Savings over trade will be anything over $10.6k. Possible? By all means. It just means work and then the immediate need for a replacement. It'll even clear the air when it comes down to negotiating that replacement. Like I said, it's all what someone else will pay. You already know what and why a dealer will only go so far with it, now try on the open market. Possible? sure, probable? Somewhat but don't expect thousands of extra dollars? The Fit doesn't have much room to wiggle on values.

 

That is a really good run through of the thought process behind trade-ins. Sorry to hear about your frustrations Derk, I know I would feel the same way.

 

should this go under "HONDA FIT DEALER REVIEWS" ?

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/hond...ealer-reviews/

 

Well, you never really get a "great" deal with a trade in.
But depreciation is a killer with any newer vehicle.
And unfortunately you're talking about a 4 model year old vehicle, (past warranty), that is months away from becoming a 5 model year old vehicle. I really like the Honda Fit, but the other reality is it is Honda's entry level, hatch-back offering, I think most people consider it an economical choice, which means cheaper "new" but also cheaper used. Also, most dealerships are going or have to detail vehicles before they sell them anyway so they really don't factor in how clean a vehicle is kept. It's nice, but isn't going to create a lot of value to the purchasing dealership.

All that being said, $10,000 for a 2015 EXL in good shape seems a little low.
If you want to maximize your return, the obvious answer is to investigate the value as a private party sell. Then YOU put the price and value you want on the vehicle. Of course then you are dealing with all the mechanization's and challenges of selling a vehicle yourself. And there is also the possibility that you simply discover that the vehicle isn't going to easily sell for the value you wish. Which is why dealerships typically lowball trade in offers, because once they take your vehicle, they have to try to sell it for a profit.

 

Hey Derk,

Was that their final offer or first? Perhaps you could say, "I'm interested but you guys have to do a little better?"

Maybe you've already done that. I always figure the first offer from any dealer is going to be insulting. So you just have to keep hammering at them to get an acceptable deal.

You'll always get more selling it yourself but it takes more work.

Steve

 

If it's a 2015, you might have to replace injectors somewhere down the line, and it might be sooner than you think if what we've been hearing here is any indication. It's pretty well established that Honda's original injector design was faulty, but they never took responsibility for it and shrugged their shoulders when 2015 injectors started failing just out of warranty.

For that reason, I'd be tempted to work with the dealership on this one, simply because I don't like the idea of a $2K repair down the road. YMMV.

 

And most importantly, we do not have the whole story here. Where are the replacement vehicle details? Let's say I own a dealership and you bring me your 'pristine 2015 Honda Fit' for trade. You are interested in a 2016 Pilot I have priced at $22k. You like the Pilot and are interested in bargaining. I throw out $10k for your Fit. You slam your fists on the table, walk out disgusted and never come back thinking 'what a horrible dealer and a complete rip off'. The OP doesn't actually give us any details on what replacement vehicle he was seeking other than make/model/mileage. When you head to a dealer to trade and buy a new car go in this way... "I don't care what they give me for my trade or what they charge me for the replacement vehicle as long as the end result ($$$ out of pocket) falls between $X and $Y". In other words, you shouldn't care if they offer you $2k for the trade and reduce the Pilot to $15k or they offer you $15k for the trade and charge $28k for the Pilot. In the end, both offers will net you a payment of $13k, yet they got there in completely different ways. Of course that is a very simplistic example and there are other costs and tax trade offs to be considered, but if one heads to the dealer with an acceptable price range out of pocket you can either strike the deal or walk out. Dealers try to negotiate each line item because they already know where THEY need to be and wearing down the consumer will get them there better than any other technique. The consumer should be at that point going in. If you feel your trade is worth between $12k and $13k and the replacement is worth no more than $20k then your acceptable range should be $8k and $7k out of pocket cash (of course simplified for illustration). If you valued both the trade and replacement properly going in, the rest of the costs are simply driven off the net results.

 

Seems to happen on post 2015 models as well, so for all you know yours can fall to the same fate.

 

Yup. I have a 2016, and it's unclear if the injector redesign had been implemented by the time mine rolled off the assembly line. Top tier gas, drive and wait, that's all I can do.

 

In Service Bulletin # 16-034 at the very top they give the serial number range of the 2016 vehicles which are potentially affected by the fuel injector problem. If your car's VIN isn't in that range then presumably it got the upgraded fuel injectors on the production line.

 

Edit: Many thanks, woof. I checked and my number is actually in that range, so it has the old injectors.

So far at 55K, no codes or misfires. I run pretty much top tier only and a lot of highway miles, but who knows if that makes a bit of difference long term.

I'll report back here if I run into any misfire problems. More data points for others to compare their experiences.

 

I only comment because recently few posts have been made about 2018 models having the same issue. I've got a 2015 with 78K and touch wood, so far it's been fine.