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Hatchbacks Honda Fit Quest for a Fit
33 messages, Last post on Aug 17, 2008 at 5:42 PM
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I have 5 cars. They are very, very old. They range from a 1987 Chevy conversion van and a 1987 Trans Am GTA to a 1977 Chevy Impala. All of them have something or other wrong with them, and I'm tired of shelling out money for repairs, driving cars that don't have air conditioning or power anything, no safety features of any kind (other than seat belts), and guzzling gas. The one exception is my Honda. I have a 1981 Honda Civic DX 1500 3-door hatchback. I love that car! I bought it 10 years ago for a measly $400, and until recently never had to fix anything on it. It runs like a top and is completely reliable, unlike all my American-made cars. It gets 31 city and 38 highway MPG, has the California emissions package (originally it came from Oakland, I bought it in upstate NY then moved to Virginia). I can fit 8' long 2x4 lumber in it and still close the hatch and still have room for myself and one passenger. But it doesn't have AC or power anything, it doesn't have airbags or ABS, and now it doesn't have heat any more (heater core, I think). So the quest is on for a new car. I researched online, decided the basic type of car I wanted. I wanted a hatchback, small, good gas mileage, lots of cargo space, and reliable, just like my Civic. I sought out and test drove the Chevy Aveo, Ford Focus, Toyota Matrix and Yaris, Scion xB, and the Honda Fit. I really don't want an American car because I want something reliable without lots of maintenance costs. That pretty much leaves out Chevy and Ford. The Chevy was the most unimpressive of the cars I drove, and the Ford had the worst listed gas mileage. The Scion was just plain ugly. That left Toyota and Honda. The Yaris was very small, too small for what I wanted. The Matrix was impressive, drove nice, but was expensive, and most of what I wanted on the car I would have to add on as an option and pay extra for. So I've decided I want a Fit. Given the options I want, I have to buy a Sport. In this area, the Fits are in high demand, and it's hard to get one with the combo of colors and options I want. I am leaning towards a MT, but I want to test drive one before I decide whether I want that or the AT. Unfortunately, I can't find an MT within 100 miles to test drive. Nobody has one or can get one. I am thinking the MT will get better gas mileage like my Civic 5-speed does. Can anyone confirm this? The dealers all try to convince me it's the same, so I will buy the ATs they have in stock. For the price, the amount of things that come standard on the Fit is amazing compared to its competition. I was impressed with the amount of safety features and the incredible amount of interior space for people AND cargo. The Fit is very similar to my Civic, perhaps even slightly larger, and I know I can fit more in my Civic than I can in the massive Impala. I am kind of annoyed about the lack of interior color choice, though. The Fit I want is Vivid Blue Pearl, but I can only get one with a black interior. Living in the south where summers are hot I'm not thrilled with the idea of a black interior. Why is the beige interior ONLY available in white cars??
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 14, 2007 5:16 pm) Locally, the cars are being jacked up to $18,000 to $19,000 just because of the demand, so I started looking outside the area. I logged onto cars.com and did a search for dealerships within 100 miles, and sent off a request for quotes to three of them. One sent me a quote for $18,000+, one said he didn't have any, and the other, from an area with a depressed economy, offered to sell to me for MSRP, PLUS drive the car the three hours to my house and deliver to my door for free! But, he doesn't have the car I want, either. I still haven't located a Fit Sport with MT to test drive, and I don't want to buy until I try. Wish me luck.
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 14, 2007 5:19 pm) Most all the test cars are automatics and most dealers won’t let you test drive vehicles they have in stock. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone driving my MT. My Fit had 2 miles on it when I picked it up. I called 19 dealers within 100 miles of my home and finally found one dealer with the color and MT I wanted. Went right to the dealer and purchased it. They had just received six Fits with only one MT with the color I wanted. I paid a total of $14,445 MSRP including destination fee. The salesman said all would be sold within the week. I was so happy to get the Fit I so diligently looking for I would have paid more if the dealer said there was an additional cost of X$ in dealer fees. Fortunately everything worked and I got the car for $14,445 plus TL. My wife (her car) and I test-drove all the cars you mentioned and always gravitated to the Fit. Believe me, you chose wisely. I have a 2006 Pilot and it’s been in the garage since we purchased the Fit. The MT is pure fun.
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Replying to: racerski (Apr 15, 2007 5:03 am)
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 15, 2007 5:33 am) Mine is an AT, and I'm averaging 33mpg overall, with 3500 miles on the car so far. I've only had it for a couple months, but I love it. Fortunately I live in an area (Detroit) where it doesn't seem to be quite as difficult to find one - then again, I haven't tried looking for a MT. Good luck with your search!
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 14, 2007 5:16 pm)
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 15, 2007 5:33 am) |
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Replying to: bobw3 (Apr 15, 2007 7:29 am) If I can get close to the 31/38 I get now (according to Honda.com, the Fit gets in that range), plus get safety features and nifty accessories at a reasonable price, I'm there! At this point I'm just waiting for an MT to test drive, and a few paychecks for the down payment.
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Replying to: aelanna (Apr 16, 2007 4:41 pm) If I can get close to the 31/38 I get now (according to Honda.com, the Fit gets in that range), plus get safety features and nifty accessories at a reasonable price, I'm there! At this point I'm just waiting for an MT to test drive, and a few paychecks for the down payment. You could probably get pretty good bucks to sell your car privately. Look through autotrader.com and see what you find there. You want the exact car that I have. I absolutely love it. If someone close to you has an MT available for 19,000, you could always take it for a test drive and say no thanks to anything over MSRP. I know the honda dealer guy might think that is wasting the mans time, but, it is wasting the consumers time to seriously consider 19,000. |
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Replying to: nthomas (Apr 15, 2007 7:22 am) What to do in this situation? Do I have anything to bargain with in this case to get the price down lower?
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