I'm ready to take the plunge and buy the Automatic Fit Sport in gray. I don't see Silver as a choice or I'd take that but whatever. A few people I have spoken to at work with are insisting that I have to negotiate the price with the dealer. I'm not a haggler and am alone in this purchase. Further, I'm a woman. How much leeway does the dealer have?

I'm going to pay cash for the car. $16,070 seems to be the sticker price when I check the local Honda dealers. The problem I have is that I want this car and am willing to pay the sticker price but I can't act like that when I get to the dealership.

Any advice on moving forward with this purchase? Do I offer them a certain price? What if they say "No way." Do I say "Okay, I'll take it anyway." I hate this kind of dealing but realize that it comes with the territory.

Any tips on approaching this would be much appreciated.

 

haha, the "grey" is actually SSM
Storm Silver Metallic

but i hope you like your fit! (if you buy it)

 

To be 100% honest with you, depending on where you live it will be very hard to haggle for an '08 fit. Majority of the '08 fits are sold within a week when they hit the lot so I doubt you can haggle too much. You can try an OTD price or say you know a dealer who is willing to discount you on a Fit, but they just don't have them in stock and see if he will discount one for you.

 

If you are a member of a Credit Union, you can take advantage of the car buying service that most C.U.s offer. You can request any color/ option level, and they'll search hundreds of dealers to find it for you, and they negotiate a pretty descent deal to boot. The only problem may be in the fact that the Fit is selling so well right now that most dealers may not care to deal with a buyer service.

Might be worth a shot though.

 

that is false... i live in Nc... my sticker price was 16,900... and i walked away for 15,100 and i didnt even have the power of paying cash... the fast that they will have 14g+ cash in hand for a deal and paid in commision... so lowball them and work your way up

 

In the current market place you don't have much room to negotiate. Find the invoice (wholesale) price of the Fit you are looking to buy at Edmunds.com and subtract from the 'MSRP' and thats how much range he has to negotiate. Usually though its $500 or so and thats why he isn't likely to negotiate if his dealer stays solvent. He knows that if you don't buy it the next customer will. Besides $16070 appears to be a very good price for an auto Fit Sport.
And now the clincher: besides paying taxes and license transfer fees you may discover a $499 'transaction' fee (it has many names but they are all added dealer profit) so your final cost may be closer to, or greater than, $17000. Console yourself that virtually everyone pays this, male or female. You don't have anything to lose by offering $15890 to begin and concede to $16070 if he says no.
It derives from they have what you want and you only get it with their cooperation.
Enjoy your Fit.

 

What was yours, an '07 fit?

 

08 SSM Manual(SP? sadly enough) bought it Jan 9th 2008... i wanted a white one but they only had a 07 white and i didnt wanna lose a year on the get-go... bought it with 33 miles.

 

Not much room to negotiate on a Fit.
The dealer mark up is under a grand. In Canada people are getting between nothing and $500 off MSRP. I got about $280 and I haggled hard.
The thing is if you don't want it the guy behind you does.
I know two others that paid MRSP. No reduction at all.

 

Post your buyer's contract.

 

A manual MSRP is $15,270 without the destination charge. So if you add in the $635 destination charge, it's $15,905

 

I bought my wife's 07 Sport Automatic in April of 07 for cash. I choose the color she wanted, and gave them a $500 deposit. When the car was delivered I made sure that they did not add any other charges, nor did I buy any other useless dealer add-on tricks, such as paint sealant, fabric sealant, pin stripes, or extended warrantees. I paid the full sticker price and not a penny more. However, I did have some leverage on the trade-in value of our 97 Nissan Quest. If you are trading in a car, then go to New Car Prices and Used Car Blue Book Values - Official Kelley Blue Book Site and look up the trade-in value of your car. The dealer probably will offer you less than that amount. Unless your car is damaged or run-out, try to get as close to that amount as you can for your old car. If the dealer has lowered his price on the Fit, then expect them to offer you less on your trade.

Good Luck!

 

You said a note or two, up how you negotiated a great deal in Jan '08. Well so did I but, that was when gas was $3/ Did you stop and think how now at $4/ the marketability may of changed some?

In most places, it's way different now. My area is clean of them and the allocated ones on the boat are sold. 4 moths ago you could deal and get the model and color you wanted in stock easy as pie

 

i have been waiting for my fit for a week. I went to honda and they had no manual fits. And other than manuals they only have like 2 other fits there. They are looking all over for a manual fit i hope it comes tomorrow! My brother works at honda and said when the fits come to honda they usually are gone fast. good luck getting the fit!

 

Also note that if you like any of the dealer add-ons like the molded floor mats, cargo mat, rear applique etc.Check the internet as you can get much better prices on the same genuine honda parts.
In our case we searched for the ones we wanted, told the dealer what we could get them for and they decided to match the price on them which was nice. You don't know if you don't ask.

FYI we paid $16,200 for the '08 BOM Fit sport automatic including all dealer "destination" charges. Thar seemed to be a prety good deal at the time considering they had to order it. You can always get a better deal on something sitting on the lot, but as you've heard these are selling pretty well, so not many siting around.
You'll also be able to pull a better deal if you wait closer to the time of the '09 model deliveries as dealers will want to move the '08s if they have any sitting around.
Helps to know what others are actually paying when figuring out your high/low range. Search the site and you'll find other posts of what others have paid too.

 

after just buying mine (waiting on arrival) talking to 3 different dealers they all gave me the same answer

"there is very little markup on the fit, we make no more than 500 - 600 bux on a deal"

is it me or do i call BS??

 

I negotiated mine entirely over the internet. I checked out the Costco buying program price and decided I could do better on my own. For this vehicle, I did quite a bit better.

I emailed all the local dealers asking around for prices. I took the lowest portion of all the offers, combined them, and said whoever comes closest has a deal. After a little back and forth, I got a base AT for $500 under dealer invoice plus shipping/handling - net $100 under invoice - then add taxes tags etc.

I did this in Feb when car sales were down so the dealerships were motivated to strike a bargain. I doubt I could do so well now. Timing matters when buying a car. Jan and Feb are slow months for dealerships and were especially slow this year. I'd expect the same pattern next year unless the recession clears. If getting a good deal is important, hold out for 8 or 9 months.

 

I'll second the suggestion to look on the internet for accessories. The dealership wanted $400 for keyless entry. I did it in 20 minutes for $110. Same for floor mats, fog lights, rear bumper applique, door sill garnishes etc. collegehillshonda and bernardiparts have great prices.

 

As Rob22315 did, I played off four local dealers on each other. There was a lot of hand ringing and such. When a better price would come in, I would send it out to the other three to see if they could beat it. The last offer was actually under invoice. One of the dealers said that offer was impossible because it was under - I mentioned the word "dealer holdback" and never heard another word from them.

And I second his advice on shopping around for accessories - I just got a couple things from

Majestic Honda - The Internet's #1 Honda Automotive Parts Store

- all weather mats for less than $75...

 

I just bought Michelin brand at walmart =)