okay i am in the market for a new car and have done MASSIVE research and test drives. i have all but decided on the fit so i talk to the salesman and ask him if it is possible to order one straight from the factory. ( the reason for this is --A-- i have worked at many car dealerships for my entire life and i know how long some cars will sit on the lot - sometimes well over a year after delivery. --B-- i know that even if a car has only been on the lot for a few days it has probably been test driven and we all know what can happen and usually does on a "test drive" and it aint pretty for your "new" car). also i know how the people who work for the dealership and the techs and others drive the cars during lot moves and such , and it also aint pretty. dealer empoyees are very often hard on the vehicles, they dont let them warm up first , they burn the tires and so on. you can imagine.
now, i asked the saleman about ordering one and he did not know anything about it and acted like he did not want anything to do with it.
now, i understand that dealers dont like to sell something thats not on the lot, but to get a car deal i know i will do whatever the customer wants to do to get them to sign up.
can someone tell me if it is possible (and it has to be) to order from Japan and get the car factory fresh with NO MILES? my parents are retired from general motors so all we ever used to buy was GM cars/trucks and i know that we always ordered from the factory and it was as simple as walking into the showroom and sitting down at the computer and picking options, the saleman were happy and quick to help you with this. so why is the Honda dealer so different. i mean the world if full of ALL different kinds of people with different ideas about what they want and sometimes you get a person who wants just what i do. it should be much easier.

so, do i go back a "wring" my salesman neck and let him know i will go elsewhere if he wont help me , or is it even possible to order a car from Japan?
thanks as always people.--

 

its not as easy as that. Honda dealerships get their cars based on allocation. so sometimes they may not be able to get you the car you want. Also the car gets driven by the delivery guy, and a PDI tech MUST drive the car at least 1 mile in order to sell the car as required by Honda in the PDI test.

 

i don't know nuttin but my own little part of da universe.but It has only been recently that I have seen fits sitting around at a honda dealer,they are that popular.That said I remember salesman having alist of people who wanted fits,and calling them upon arrival.I know at my local dealer they unload the new fits on the back part of the lot,to await removal of all that protective plastic they come covered in.If you are really bugged out about the fit cherry thing why not ask your salesman to negotiate on an upcoming fit in their allotment,and ask to be called upon its arrival and before its been preped.My local dealer presold all fits before arrival for atleast the first 8 months,and when they came in salesman were not allowed to test drive'em or even allow other customers to open the doors and allow other customers to sit behind the wheel.You are entitled to be picky about your new car even if it seems insane,and I am sure you have a local honda dealer who will accomadate you.

 

My fit had 24km on it when I got it.

I'm sure you can request to have none of the plastic removed until you are picking up the car.

 

Good info , thanks to all

 

I think you should be able to order staight form Japan through Honda.
Kinda like how BMW does it. You can get updates on your car through production. You watch it go from not even built to at the dealer from BMW sales reps!! Pretty killer!

Tyler

 

when i got to the dealership it mine had 8 miles on it when i was done with the test drive mine had 18 lol

 

hah, my test drive was only 2 miles, so when i actually got my fit its mileage was at 12.

of course, if you're not in a situation where you need a car RIGHT NOW, i say take all the time you need and find dealers that will cooperate with you. i was in a tough bind car-wise, so i had to basically take whatever fit i could find.

 

The sales managers should have a list of cars that are due in from the factory. Ask them if they have the model/color you want due in soon, and drop a deposit on it. When I bought mine, that was the only option I had. I drove my Fit off the lot with 2.5 miles on it.

 

dang! mine had 60 miles on it because my dealership swapped fits with another dealership about an hour away for another customer who wanted whatever fit my dealer originally had. which worked out for me cuz the car they got was the only one in my area that was EXACTLY what i wanted. i lucked out tho too, cuz my previous car died so i woulda had to settle for less if i hadn't found it when i did.