Impatience will always cost you

you can quote me on that.

 

Honda dealers would be nuts to go below MSRP until deep into next fall. What's the alternative, a Scion Xb for the same money or a Kia Rio5 for $2k less?

 

Honda Fit is featured on home page of carsdirect at http://www.carsdirect.com/home

Is buying online a good way to fix your price and avoid overpricing by having a quote in hand before you walk into a dealer showroom?

 

Well, you can walk in with the carsdirect price quote and almost all dealers will match the price.

Or, you can use the carsdirect quote as a baseline when negotiating with dealers via email. You can usually get a couple hundred less than the carsdirect price using this method. I prefer to haggle for the price I pay through email with several competing dealerships; its much easier and less agravating.

I prefer to spend as little time in the car dealership as possible.

 

Wrong. The new and much hyped 06 Civic's are already selling below MSRP and can be had for invoice if you're a good negotiator. This started happening a few months after its initial release. A low end b-segment car like the Fit, will start selling below MSRP within a month. Only those who pre-ordered and those buying the initial shipments will be buying full MSRP, which is LAME by the way.

 

If I wasnt wanting a MT I would wait and probably get it for a bit less but the fact that MT Sport's are gonna be pretty hard to come by, I wanted to snag mine before I had to wait another month or two months. So far in California at least with the first batch of car's, AT's outnumber MT's probably about 8 to 1, whether that ratio will decrease in the upcoming months is yet to be known but its obvious Honda figures AT's will sell more then MT's which is probably true.

 

Don't forget that Canada will be getting a base DX model with limited options. That model will be close to 15,000$ CDN.

 

In the case of the Civic it had and still has very serious competition from the Mazda3. I don't see competition for the Fit for the next 6 months except for what I mentioned and I don't consider that strong competition. I should mention I am talking about the Sport MT which is the only Fit I'm interested in.

 

Not everyone is hooked on Hondas, even if the product is superior. Most people buying in this segment are looking at the $$ and options.

 

It doesn't matter... the Fit is still a b-segment car, period.

 

I dunno, the Xb is b segment and its still going on carsdirect at MSRP two years after intro. That's the Fit's competition unless someone (not me) wants a Rio5. I sure as heck would pay MSRP on a Fit rather than on a fugly Xb.

 

Looks are subjective.

That being said. You cannot haggle for price on a Scion. They have what they call a "Pure Pricing" plan, meaning that like Saturns, prices are not negotiable, everybody pays the same price regardless. The only thing you should be able to haggle aover would be dealer add ons.

 

This is because of Scion's Pure Pricing, which can be negotiated at certain dealers. I know of a few who have gotten their tC's for less than the Pure Pricing price.

 

There is no such thing as non negotiable..everything in this world is negotiable..remember that!!

 

Well yeah...but apparently dealerships that do negotiate prices on the Scions are supposed to loose their Scion license or whatever it is....essentially, if you [the dealership] cut a deal (and get caught) you [the dealership] will no longer be able to sell new Scions.

that's all I'm trying to say.

 

100% correct. If I had the $$ I would be getting a new VW GTI!

 

I just test drove one of those GTIs last week. It was a blast!!

 

What transmission did it have. Maybe we shouldn't talk about this. I can't afford it...

 

Don't buy a V-dub. Everyone I know who's got one has tons of problems with them, especially electrical.

But otherwise, yeah, that new GTI is a sweet ride, although for $22k, I'd still rather have a WRX.

 

yeah, I was aware of the Scion pricing strategy, and I got a feeling the local Honda dealers are going to have a clue on this as well. I see big demand for the Fit in proportion to it's availability even if gas prices don't shoot up this summer.

Savvy buyer: I'll give you invoice on that Fit Sport with the manual transmission.
Honda Dealer: Honda has a strict pricing policy on Fits, they must be sold at MSRP. Tell you the truth I could tack on $1,000 on every one on the lot and still sell them all.
Savvy buyer: Baloney. I'll write you a check right now for that Fit Sport for the invoice amount I've got right here on my Edmunds print-out plus Title, Taxes and Tags.
Honda Dealer: Why don't you go across the street to the Toyota Scion dealer and see if he'll sell you an Xb below MSRP? But I'll save you the walk, they sell for MSRP.

Point, is, I don't think someone is necessarily committing a blunder paying MSRP in April, and getting use of the vehicle for 6 months as oppossed to the guy who hopes he can pay invoice in 6 months.