'09 Fit (new) - did I get a good deal?
 

Hi guys, great forum. First of all, I very much do like the Fit, it's great. But I have something in the back of my mind saying I overpaid. It's my first new car so I don't have much experience in these types of things. Maybe I'm just over-exaggerating -- I'm cheap :D

I got a '09 Fit Sport (AT, no navigation) -- basically a showroom model with all the little crappy accessories I didn't need:

Tinted Windows
16" Alloy Wheels
Door Visors
Door Sill Trim
Interior Trim & Door Panels
Pedals
etc.

I paid another $20 per month for all those little accessories (everything beyond the regular sport model).

The dealer also added some sort of "protection coat" to the exterior and interior for $995. They put it on all cars as soon as they get them on their lot so there's no way to not get that option apparently. I don't know what it is, and I honestly don't even know if it's on the car in the first place - that's really something they could say they put on it and get another $995 out of the customer. If someone knows what this is I would appreciate an explanation.

Alright, basically I don't remember much how much the actual car costs, but I do know how much I will pay. After 72 months of payments (including 5.99% interest) I will pay ~$23500, not including the $3000 down payment. So if I pay in 72 months I will end up paying around $26,500 for this stupid car. Stupid is a bad word -- the car isn't stupid, it's very nice like I said, but paying $26000 over 6 years on Honda's cheapest model just seems stupid.

It's not so bad, the actual the remaining loan is $20,000 so a lot of that is in interests. I intend to try my best to pay it off in 2-3 years so I will be saving some of that.

So what do you guys think?

Monthly payment: $330 ($320 + gap insurance)
72 Month Term

If I wanted to pay it off in 5 years it would be $385 per month.

And actually, I never intended on doing 72 months -- I wanted to do 60 months and I got a quote of $330 a month over 60 months with $3k down which sounded very good to be honest (maybe too good to be true?), but they pulled a bait and switch or there was a miscommunication once I got to the finance office and they switched the payment term to 72 months. Now this is my fault: but at the time I did not realize 72 months was not five years -- I even remember looking at the number and nothing clicked in my head. I do realize 72/12 is not 5, and did before so, but at the moment I just didn't realize what I was looking at. So now I'm just trying to justify my own idiocy :P. So what do you guys think?

can you write down how much your car was?

wat is your monthly loan x 72 = ______

then we will know if you got ripped or not. :)

$330 x 72 = $23760
Gave $3000 down

what you could get a civic exL for that price and they are giving 1.9-2.9 interest rates right now. just my option

yah, you paid top dollar for the labor.

isn't that $26,760 if you paid $3K down and 330x72 months??!:eek:

my 09 was like 18.5K with some misc options like arm rest, etc...and even if i added the visor and tint later, it'd be like $600-700 more... probably less than $19.2K

no offense. you got ripped off.

that protection thing on your paint is wacked. and those accessories...honestly, you can demand them to take it off the car and put back stock ones..because im pretty sure they have the stock ones lying around...and those are techincally new, so they get to re-sell the accessories.

which dealer did you go to?


i bought a 09 fit sport manual no navi for $16800 OUT THE DOOR (INCLUDES TAX, FEES, ETC)...the car was like $15000 for me...so figure you add another $1000 for the automatic transmission, then thats how much you could of gotten it for.

i pay $170 a month for my fit. 60 months. 5.9% interest. $8k down.

for your monthly payment, you can get an accord LX/ Camry Se (4 cylinder)/ acura tsx (i think)/mazdaspeed3

Figured I got screwed. Tomorrow I'm going call out the dealer on the 72 months issue and see if I can get the salesman to tell their finance office it was in fact 60 months. I went to the dealer last Friday but didn't talk to the salesman, just the finance office and they said there's nothing they could do because the contract was signed and there was no proof on the paperwork they offered us 60 months initially. So maybe if I can get the salesman to tell them they'll redo the contract? Just with that there is $4000 added to the total. I would be perfectly happy with getting just that removed.

The dealer was Riverside Metro Honda. They were very shady. Technically those 16" alloy rims are extra, and were supposedly included in the accessories (+$20 per month) but when I asked for a different car color with the same accessories and went to pickup the car it had the regular alloy rims. When I called them out on it they said they thought it looked better with the regular silver-ish alloy rims instead of the darker ones which cost extra. So right there they almost scammed me out of $1000 for those rims. And yes, those rims are way too expensive as is anyways.

Are you guys calculating interests in this "out the door" price?

On Honda.com a 2010 Honda Fit Sport with the same accessories is $19,551 before taxes and fees. Also, you'd think I'd get some sort of discount for taking an '09 off their hands...

I'm just gonna be blunt and say that yeah you kinda got ripped off. That's all. Sorry

Too late for this one, but for other would-be purchasers, go to Edmunds.com and read their entertaining and informative series of articles, "Confessions of a Car Salesman." This is not a rip against car salesmen -- in fact, the writer is surprisingly sympathetic to the plight of these guys. This series is much more entertaining than their "10 Steps To Buying a New Car."

Read and learn. Otherwise, drop your pants and bend over, preferably with some KY lubricant handy.

For most loans (at least mine from Honda), you can pay extra money to principal each month without penalty. So you can just pay $400 or $500 a month instead of your normal payment to get it paid off sooner...

Unless you think you would have gotten a lower interest rate with a 60 month loan...but I don't think the dealer's gonna want to do anything since you've already signed :(.

i know the deal is done...but, ouch. it really, really helps to do a ton of research and then a ton more after that. after all, we are talking about something that is a HUGE expense for many people.

in your own words, they were a "shady dealer". like most things in life you should deal w/ people you're comfortable w/ especially if it's going to affect you for years like a car payment will.

anyway, i do hope that you still enjoy your car as much as many folks on this site do. (it's not the car's fault, just those damn, pushy salesmen)

If anything I'll at least pay it off early and maybe save some money on those $3000 in interests. I should and could have given more down at signing anyways. I think I'll send in $500 a month depending on what my insurance comes up to. And pay it off as soon as possible if I ever stumble upon any extra cash.

And I'll definitely come back to this site, very nice community. I bet you guys tried your hardest not to make fun of my inferior negotiating skills (in my defense, the original quote wasn't that bad)!

I'll give them a call tomorrow - can't hurt to try.

hey daniel123:

1. the salesman will be like "i cant do anything about it" and the finance manager will tell you to f*** off cuz you signed the paper...happened with my mom's highlander...wanted to change something...but it was signed.

2. can you post a picture of your car? so what youre saying is that you got charged for the HFP wheels (the darker color ones) and you only got the normal alloys? if thats the case, the dealer must give what you paid for (which is the nicer wheels)

3. the out the door price usually does not include interest but includes tax and destination and whatever the dealer tacks on. for example. i pay 170 (interest included) per month for 60 months. = 10600. + my down payment and it comes out to only approx. $2000 in interest over a span of 5 years.

honestly, there's not much you can do now. just enjoy the car. and fit's insurance doenst cost much

i just purchased my fit last week. but yours cost more than mine, cuz it's AT.
did it have a "market adjustment"??

mine is a sport manual tranny, no navi.

$16,970, the only model out of 13 on the lot with NO "market adjustment" ($2000), and for whatever reason wasn't charged for the $120 wheels locks, rear applique, or immobiliser alarm. i think it came out close to 19k after tax n lic.

nowadays, a car buyer pays about 13% on top of the car's price. ridicurous.

72 months at 6.9%, $1000 down, paying 325/month.

^just for comparison^ we can't always win. i wanted taffy white, but all the taffy's were automatic. so i just got CBP.

My fit out the door was $18200 (09 Sport Auto). Finance was 60 months at $270 (3.9%). It was the last one and they were making room for the 2010 models.

1. Maybe I shouldn't waste my time trying to call them?

2. No, they tried to, using the excuse that they thought it would look better, when it clearly looked better with the darker ones. But I did get them to put them back on finally.

3. I'm looking at the contract right now and the cash price of the car was $20,185. After taxes/fees and GAP insurance it went up to $22,640 (I think this is the number you guys are referring to). It didn't help that they added that $995 for that protection crap.

Currently have $20,060 left on the loan, so the $26,700 price is only if I wait the 6 years to pay.

How much do you pay for insurance by the way?

Lesson learned :/

And avoid Riverside Metro Honda..

Thanks

The 'protective coat' that you were charged for comes on all of the Hondas that are shipped. It is not an option, but I don't think I had to pay for it. If you look at some of the Hondas on the lot, they will have a rough texture to the surface, usually on the hood or roof. When you come to pick up your car, the 'protective coat' washes off with water.

Ouch, they put you through the ringer on this one.

1. Never pay for dealer accessories. Tell them you don't need that crap so either they take it off or they don't charge extra for it.

2. Always figure out your OTD price before you sign any contract. Don't work in terms of 60 or 72 months x $3XX or whatever, find out the bottom-line price after taxes and everything, and then choose the right financing term. I would have calculated something like this using edmunds.com calculator:

$17,211 (16,501 invoice price + 710 destination fee, no accessories crap)
+ 1,377 (8% tax, I forget what CA's tax rate is)
+ 258 (title + registration)
= $18,846 OTD
- $3,000 Down
= $15,846

Finance that with like a 5% loan for 60 months (I'd recommend 48 at most) and that's like $299.03 a month.

3. Don't get GAP insurance, just make sure you have a 20% down payment at least and you won't need it (which you did have by providing $3K), and better if you have a loan already approved from elsewhere so they will have to match or beat your interest rate.

How much is your loan interest rate right now? I imagine it can't be good with a 72 month loan. You may be better off refinancing with a seperate bank/credit union for a lower rate and a shorter term. Unfortunately, you may not be able to (or should not) drop the GAP insurance now since your loan is probably so high compared with the resale value of the car, especially since it's an 09 that's depreciated by a whole year already. edit: Saw your 5.99% interest rate, that's not bad as long as you pay off the car sooner than the 72 months.

Sorry for your bad luck, hope you at least learned what not to do next time.

Um...I'm not a lawyer or anything but most of the time for car (and other major) purchases there is an implicit 72-hour buyers remorse period where you can take a car back and void the deal. Call a lawyer & take the car back because you got ripped off. Obviously you were willing to pay for the accessories already on the floor model but the 'protection coat' is bullshit. It also seems like you/they convinced yourself that these extra bits were '$20/month' (x72 = 1440). But they were likely $1440 to the financed price -- meaning that you're paying over $2000 for them over the course of the loan.

Flashback -- when I bought my first Fit (07) they had fog lights listed for $330 until I pointed out on the website & their literature that they come standard on a Sport model. They also had a $2k 'destination charge' which was explained as 'they are 100% made in Japan'. This was nothing more than a hot-car-hot-market markup. I told them to shove it and found my perfect Fit at another dealer. I walked in and paid MSRP which at the time was just fine by me.

Dang, that sucks! You DID get ripped off. And I thought paying ~$22k after interest for my Fit was a little high (we have the same exact fit; 09 Fit Sport w/o Navi). Well, there's pretty much nothing else you can do now except this is a lesson learned. Do research, and do it well! Have fun with the car thoughhh :)