At least when gas prices were recently so high in the US, my Honda dealer was considerably more willing to negotiate over a CRV (small SUV) than a Civic (small sedan). The Civic had very little negotiating room, if any (and the dealership was buzzing with customers). Notably, even though the Civic is the cheaper model, that was the one they were trying to steer us into, presumably because their profit margin is higher.
I tried this and the two of four dealers who have gotten back to me so far quoted me the same price: MSRP + $670 destination charge.
Thanks,
Rob
Normally, Toyota cars are in high demand, but according to this article from the New York Times on Tuesday, even they’re not selling as well as previously. Describing the parking lots of imported autos being warehoused at the Long Beach port, the article says, “In the 150-acre terminal where Toyotas are unloaded, there is a sea of Corollas, Camrys and RAV4s. The mere presence of so many cars is not unusual, given that Toyota brings in 250,000 cars a year in biweekly shipments. But in a sign that something is amiss, dozens of tractor-trailers that transport new cars to dealers sat empty last week amid the rows of Toyotas. Kurt Golledge, 48, was one of just two truckers loading his green, 75-foot-long hauler with cars last week. Mr. Golledge said eight of his colleagues were laid off this month because Toyota dealers did not want more deliveries.”
All the dealers I contacted quoted the same price and one said that was the best price they offered.
Thanks,
Rob
What was the price the dealers offered? Was it the sticker price? (I’m somewhat interested in replacing a 14-year-old Honda Accord with a new Fit, so I’m interested in your experience.)
I bought a FIT for cash about a year and a half ago. No negotiations were possible at that time, but I couldn’t swear that is still true. I love it incidentally. My previous car was a 1990 Civic wagon and they stopped making that car after that. The FIT is very similar and has loads of improvements with a price that, in constant dollars, is essentially unchanged. I only hope that it (and i) last another 17 years.
You can certainly negotiate. My last Honda was a 1995 Civic EX, and they tried that crap on me (“we’ll just sell it to someone else.”). You’ve just got show up at the showroom – not call – and then walk out if they won’t deal. You being there with a checkbook is a lot different than emailing or telephoning.
I just bought a Fit last week. (Love it!) They wanted MSRP plus $800. We haggled and haggled them like crazy and when we finally got up to walk out they took MSRP plus $100.
The manager was a nice guy and I didn’t have any sense that he was trying to rip us off. He said that the Fit is in very high demand, that they only get a few at a time, and that Honda only puts $500 into the MSRP for the sales guys to keep. Dude’s gotta make some money.
I have to agree with Hampshire, as far as the Fit goes, it’s a seller’s market.
But they’re cute and they’re fun and they’re not that expensive so go get one! 
It came back with “The pricing on this model does not provide savings typical of the Costco Auto Program.” and asked me if I still wanted to be connected to a participating dealer. It wasn’t clear if they were quoting me a price or not.
Thanks,
Rob
So, you paid them $100* over *sticker and you think you got a good deal? In todays car market?
For THAT car, in TODAY’s car market? Yes.
Today’s car market sucks because
- People can’t get $20,000+ car loans that easily anymore.
- People don’t want to buy trucks, suvs, and 8-cylinder gas guzzlers anymore.
- The reputation of the Big Three’s vehicle quality is becoming even more tarnished as their economic problems mount.
The Fit is cheap, gets great gas mileage, and is Japanese reliable.
High demand and low supply = Fits will go to people willing to pay MSRP+$100
Honda reliable. Japanese cars are no more reliable than average. Nissan & Mitsubishi don’t rank that high. And they are “dealing” on the Nissan Versa, which is “cheap, gets great gas mileage, and is Japanese reliable”.
And your item 3 is false as Toyota is now equal to Ford (Honda does remain the #1 of non-luxury cars). American reliability has been going up, not down.
You can get a Aveo for less than the Fit.
Whatever your sense of him may have been, it is imperative never to believe anything a car dealer or his manager says.
-FrL-
They didn’t want to deal on the Versa either, earlier this year.
Nor did they want to deal on a Mazdaspeed3 last November. These are just lean and mean times for car sales.
It’s been a few years sinec I bought a car so my memory of how it works may be hazy. But to my recollection, here is what I figured out was, in my opinion, the best way to do it.
Find the invoice price of the car.
Find any information you can about rebates associated with the car. (There are often unadvertised rebates–the dealer gets the rebate from the manufacturer but doesn’t pass it on to the customer. There are websites that have this info. I think even bluebook.com has it.)
Determine a price you are willing to pay that is a couple hundred over the invoice minus the rebates.
Find two or three dealers that have the car you want.
Go to the first dealer, offer your price as a take-it-or-leave-it. Ignore all comments about MSRP and fairness to the salesmen etc.
After a bit of handwringing, start to walk away. If they let you walk out, go ahead and walk out. This means they really can’t afford to let you have the car for that price.
Now raise your price a little, and go to a different dealer.
I suppose you could wait a while and then walk back into the original dealer, but then you would look silly 
and also they would now know you are willing to negotiate and it will be even more difficult to hold them to your intitial offer.
Also, make sure to finance with a bank and not with the dealer. Interest rates and (worse) monthly payment amounts absolutely should not be part of the negotiation. They know tricks.
-FrL-
(I didn’t quite follow these instructions when I bought my car though. We walked out, and were driving away, when my wife said she really didn’t want to drive all the way across town. I also didn’t want to. So we called the first dealer, and gave them a price $50 over our first offer–which was $60 under their own “final” offer–and they agreed and we ended up buying the car from them after all.)
My results so far have been MSRP + $670 destination charge + TTL from everyone who has given me a quote and they all say that that is their best deal. I don’t like the idea of paying for the destination charge but so far no one is willing to give a better price.
Thanks,
Rob
While they do get creative with monthly payments / years financed / interest rates and it’s best to not let them use this as a tactic, dealers often have the best interest rates around and can beat any rate your bank will give you.
A better tactic is to find out exactly the term and rate your bank will give you, negotiate the car price telling them you have secured your own financing. Once the car price is set in stone then and only then offer their financing department the opportunity to beat your bank’s rate. They often will.
Except, please don’t count the Aveo as an American-quality car. Initial quality is below average, customer satisfaction is below average, and it’s too soon to tell what the 3 year time in service will be, but it’s projected to be below average. The Aveo is a car that GM imports from Korea, and most certainly does not represent the high quality of Ford and GM cars today.
Me? I’m holding out to be first in line for a four-door Fiesta! It’s got the looks that the other subcompacts don’t, and proven reliability (Mazda and Ford of Europe heritage).