Assuming the 26K MT is less than 36 months old it's still eligible for a Honda Extended warranty (they're available online through many dealers) for less than $1000. Personally I wouldn't worry about it. The factory drive train warranty is 5 years 60K miles. If the private seller has service records showing Oil changes were done, it's bullet proof.

$3500 for a warranty, an AT you're not keen on, and 10K miles less is not worth it. The reason you're buying a Honda instead of a VW is for peace of mind. If you need to unload the bike for a car in a hurry it might be.

 

Well I am more confident in my deal on the AT. CPO in Very Good condition which this one appears to be in with only 16k miles. Is $15,700 blue book before taxes etc. So $15500 is a deal. Not the best deal ever but still under market value compared to what I currently have a selection of.

So I asked more pointed questions to the owner of the MT with 26k miles and got the following information. It was purchased in December 2010 and all maintenance performed accordingly. Only has a few months left on the factory warranty. 3yr/36k miles. And the bomb....it has been in two wrecks. I don't really want to get into a wrecked vehicle not knowing exactly how bad it was hurt and can't be too trusting of someone try to sell said vehicle disclosing exactly what all was damaged and replaced. If it wasn't wrecked I was going to make him a final offer and get it checked out at his local Honda dealer.

So with the shortage in the current marketplace on locating an MT for a good deal meaning there are zero around here other than the aforementioned. I am going to try to secure the deal on the white AT tomorrow. I will ask to drive an MT while I am there. Unless I just gotta have it I should be coming back in the white AT. Honestly the AT/MT isn't a big factor on my purchase of this vehicle and since I will be using this for road trips the AT should prove handy on the highway not much shifting going on there.

I appreciate everyone's insight and information to help me decide.

 

speedfreek- why are you in such a rush to get this vehicle again?

 

First off I have had it in my mind that I will be getting a second vehicle before the end of this year. So its not really a rush. I have been looking for something the past few months and just within the past couple weeks I have started looking at Fit Sports only. Also I do not want to keep daily driving the Z for a number of reasons. Everyone has their own opinion on the AT vs MT in regards to the Fit. I wasn't wanting a debate between the two. Just a discussion between the best options available to me right now and which to take: the certified pre owned or private sell. Since the private sell turned out to be a wrecked vehicle I am down to one. There are others listed comparable to the one I am looking at. But this one has the lowest miles out of all of them for around the same price. So there you go I have a need and want for a Fit Sport right now that is all.

 

Sounds like a good deal.

On the Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) designation, this doesn't mean it hasn't been wrecked. Honda makes no claims about this. Here's a first hand account of a recent CPO purchase.

Anyway, CPO doesn't remove the need to carefully inspect the car, and if you're not sure, have it looked at by a third party.

 

Here is another manual Fit in AL:
2010 Honda Fit
He is a bit high on the price, but you might be able to talk him down some. Autocheck shows it has had NO wrecks.

Here is another manual fit which might actually be the one you are looking at:
Cars for Sale: 2010 Honda Fit Sport in Atlanta, GA 30309: Hatchback Details - 352822308 - AutoTrader.com
I have quite a bit of information on this car because I had contacted the owner several times. If you are interested, PM me and I will forward you all the information I have. It has been rear ended twice and repaired both times.

I ended up purchasing a 2011 Honda Fit Sport Manual with 25k miles, silver, in Davidson, NC last weekend for $13.2K from a private individual. It still has the warranty on it. This might give you some kind of comparison.
I am loving the stick! It is a lot different than my 1975 Porsche 914.

If you have some time, you might want to setup a search alert on autotrader, and setup alerts for craigslist with list-alert.com and have them email you everytime a Fit is posted. That is what I did and jumped on a car the day after it posted to autotrader.

 

^^ nice finds, monster!

 

Bought the cpo white one for $10k after trade. Feel it was a decent deal. It hasnt been wrecked have the carfax as well. It was bought at the dealership by an older couple hence the mileage. The man passed and all his children wanted it. Since only one would benefit his wife sold it back to the dealership. Im sure there are a liitle bit better deals out there if kept looking. But this worked out and got what I wanted for the bike. Plus I didnt give them my extra parts so can sell them for a couple hundred as well.

 

welcome to fitfreak bwhahahahahahhaha.

 

fast forward 3months...

"damn, i shouldve listened to kenchan!! "

jk. congrats!

 

Perhaps you may be right Kenchan. But I think it will suit my purposes quite nicely. It's like a little go kart. I had fun tossing it around the mountain roads coming back with it.

Thanks everyone for you input it was greatly appreciated while I was trying to make my final decision.

 

I know new is not being considered but bear with me- I was about to get a CPO '11 with 30k with no interest in new (philosophically I'm anti)... Until I considered finance rates- new at .9% was same payment as used at 2.9%. It was a no brainier to get the new.

 

I will preface this with I already bought the CPO '10 last Friday as my earlier post indicated. I am by no means anti as you say. All of my previous vehicles have been new. This is my first used car purchase hence why I made this thread for any insight and to make sure I was making sound decisions. I think I came out alright. I don't have to worry about .9% or 2.9% . By the way they had a '13 Sport on the showroom and one thing I noticed is they took away the center console on the '13 Sport model. The driver has a fold down armrest attached to the driver's seat now. I guess just another cost saving application. But the headlights get the blacked out treatment factory now.

 

The armrest attached to the seat-back is standard on all sports, all years. The center console armrest (I think that's what you're talking about, it's the 2nd item on this page) is a dealer add-on (or user add-on). So that's an extra you got on your '10 copy. If anything Honda is adding things to subsequent years; I don't think they've deleted any features.

 

Thanks Steve. I am not a Fit guru so no one should listen to me. I was looking the '13 model over on the showroom, not to mention the sales guy was new and still learning the models, so I was not corrected by them. I saw the armrest thinking that was a replacement/downgrade on the Sport trim. Good to know. Also good to know about all the other little add-ons one can potentially get from the link you provided. I appreciate the info.

 

Not sure if you bought yet. For $17,000, including sales tax (7%) out the door, in the color you like best, for a M/T Base, is the way I went.

A/T vs M/T I've read a lot about Fits A/T's needing transmission flushes , with each oil change. And then you only add 3 qts of new fluid to the burnt, dirty old fluid. Hear it said that dirty, burnt, smelly, fluid with metal flakes in it is normal! Not in my book.
Very happy with my M/T Fit. Recent trip of 95 miles to the airport, with 75 miles at 67 mph, the rest 30 - 45 mph, got me 40 mpg. The return trip a wk. later we got 37.5. Scan Gauge used. 240#'s of passengers, and 170# luggage, with a/c on full time, with cruise control.
I can live with that. Great little car.

 

Burnt, smelly fluid with metal flakes is not normal. Oxidized fluid (loses some color) smelling of machine with some metal shavings on the magnetic plug is normal. I suspect most reports of alarming A/T fluid color and odor are hyperbole encouraged by quick change artists and aftermarket tranny shops looking to score higher profits. MTs have magnetic plugs too (at least on other cars I've wrenched) to collect stray shavings. It's the nature of machines. I have read of no A/T failures in a Fit, outside of solenoids (the electromagnetic actuators) needing replacement on a few. These are on the outside so don't require major repair.

The A/T flush every oil change was introduced by SevereService (the user with that handle, not the service schedule). He is not normal. A/T service (drain/fill) is called for by the maintenance minder. By all anecdotal accounts this occurs after 100K the first time. The owner's manual defines severe service as constant mountainous driving at low speeds etc and calls for the first drain/fill at 60K in these conditions. In an abundance of caution, and to switch to the better performing Honda DW-1 ATF (and compatible with the older Z1 spec fluid) I did a drain fill on mine @ 30K. I'll probably do it again @60K with the oil change because it's so damn easy to DIY and get a higher concentration of DW-1.

While I love a nice MT (the Miata in my garage attests to this) rowing gears in an everyday commute is tedious. There's nothing wrong with getting an A/T if that suites your driving style.