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Topic: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-) (Read 2 times) previous topic - next topic
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It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Yahoo Message Number: 98571
It's a buyer's market out there, in case you were thinking about a new car.
 Example: last summer you could hardly even get a Honda dealer to let you test-drive a Fit, let alone buy one, and dealers were routinely tacking on $1,500 "scarcity surcharges" on top of MSRP.

Today the Honda dealer in Las Cruces, NM has more than a dozen 2009 Fits sitting on his lot, and I just brought one home for $13,999.
That's $1,221 below the sticker price, $720 below the dealer's invoice price, and $420 below their actual cost, according to Consumers Union and Edmunds.com.
 Nice little car. (It's red, of course. :-) Now I just have to install the Roadmaster towbar and the ReadyBrake. It's gonna be a fun few days. ;-)

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98573
Andy, Congratulations on your toad purchase. Please keep us updated on the finished product, ease or difficulty with the tow equipment, etc. We will be in the market soon. Best, David
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98574
Congrats on the new tow. Looks like a very nice ride from what I've read about it and wish you the best of luck with it.

Last year when I dropped by a local dealer and asked for a FIT test drive (just for the fun of it) the salesman looked dumbfounded. After telling me he had just sold the dealership demo so no test drive, he continued to say most folks just put their name on the waiting list and pay the premium to get one a few months down the road.

Sounds like you did a lot better than that.

Pete
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98575
"...dozen 2009 Fits..."

Quote
Andy Baird
Group

I guess it can now be said that Andy has a fit over a toad! ;>}

Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98576
Quote
Nice little car. (It's red, of course. :-) Now I just have to install the Roadmaster towbar and the ReadyBrake. It's gonna be a fun few days. ;-)

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
OH, NO!!!!

Andy's having a SCREAMING RED FIT!!!!
 Sorry, couldn't resist.. we looked at Fits before we bought the Madza 5, drove a Jazz (Fit) in Thailand with an automatic and 7 speed paddle shift... it was great!

Have fun!

Lisa and Blue
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98578
"the Honda salesman... continued to say most folks just put their name on the waiting list and pay the premium to get one a few months down the road."
 Yup, that was pretty much the story everywhere until just a couple of months ago. No choice of color, either--you took whatever came in.
 But the drought is over. First, Honda doubled production of the 2009 Fits (which are both more comfortable and more powerful than earlier ones)... and then the economy collapsed, credit dried up, and so did car sales in general. (Sales are never good right after the holidays anyway.)

Now dealers for all brands are desperate to get rid of excess inventory. If you read the news about the automotive industry, you come across passages like this:

"Honda's priority is to reduce inventory, said Richard Colliver, executive vice president of Honda America."

and

"One 57-hectare tract at Long Beach is filled with more than 25,000 new Toyotas that dealers can't sell. Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker, recently forecast its first operating loss in 71 years on weak demand."

And those are the popular makes. It's even worse for the less desirable brands. (Anybody want a Hummer? I'll bet you can get a REALLY good deal on one right now.) Hence the subject of this thread: it really *is* a great time to go car shopping. :-)

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98599
Hi Andy,
 "I just brought one home for $13,999. That's $1,221 below the sticker price, $720 below the dealer's invoice price, and $420 below their actual cost, according to Consumers Union and Edmunds.com."
 Good luck with your Honda Fit.  Is it manual or automatic transmission for this price?

Monica NE 10
Monica
2017 MB
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98603
"Is it manual or automatic transmission for this price?"
 Manual 5-speed. The automatic Fit is also towable four-down, but this particular dealer (Borman Autoplex in Las Cruces, NM) had no base-model Fits with automatics--just Fit Sport and Fit Sport with Navigation models, which are $2,000-$4,000 more expensive and had accessories such as added moldings that I was unwilling to pay big bucks for. But if you can find a base-model Fit with automatic transmission, it's $550 extra, so the sticker price would be around $15,770.
 Hmmm... before this board turns into a Fit Forum, I'd better suggest that people with Fit-specific questions should email me privately.
Otherwise the moderators might scold me for going too far off-topic.  :-)

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98662
I was looking at the 2009 Fit last fall but quantities were low and dealers were only taking reservations at that time, with premium pricing.
After reading your post,I decided to go back and haggle with our local dealer again.
Seems like everyone now has at least 4 or more on their lot and they are willing to deal.
As a result, I drove a new Silver Sport home yesterday.
Now I gotta go through the Tow bracket install...yet again.
BTW I use a roadmaster tow bar and found the bracket kit at etrailer dot com for $350. Doesn't look too hard to install compared to the last two I put on.
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98663
Andy, please let us know how you are doing on your install when you have time, bob&verna
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98668
"As a result, I drove a new Silver Sport home yesterday."

Hey, congratulations, Bill! :-)
 "Now I gotta go through the Tow bracket install...yet again. BTW I use a roadmaster tow bar and found the bracket kit at etrailer dot com for $350. Doesn't look too hard to install compared to the last two I put on."

Roadmaster's baseplate installation for the 2009 Fit looks to be substantially simpler than for earlier Fits, or for other cars I've looked at. The only difficulty is in getting the parts. I just got off the phone with Roadmaster, and the #521190-1 bracket kit for the 2009 Fit is back-ordered, although they *think* it'll be ready to ship around January 22nd. My Sterling All Terrain towbar and accessories are shipping today.

This is just a teensy bit awkward, because my three weeks at this campground will be up next Wednesday morning, and all the equipment probably won't have arrived by--certainly I won't have had time to install it all by then. And since I can't drive two vehicles at once (and my cat Alix is still too young to get her driver's license), I can't go anywhere until I have Fit set up to tow.

I ordered all this stuff two weeks ago, and was told it would ship immediately, so I thought I had plenty of time. Wrong! Guess I'll have to talk with the rangers about extending my stay. Fortunately, the campground is nowhere near full, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98687
Sounds like a bad case of the "Murphy" syndrome Andy! I got email from etrailer today indicating that mine would ship
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98697
"Sounds like a bad case of the 'Murphy' syndrome!"
 Yeah, I guess. ;-) Well, I was able to work out a solution: next week I'll park the car next to the campsite hosts' trailer for the short time I need to be "out" before returning for another three weeks. By the time I get back, the tow gear should have been delivered and I can get to work.

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98899
I'll park the car next to the campsite hosts' trailer for the short time I need to be "out" before returning for another three weeks. By the time I get back, the tow gear should have been delivered and I can get to work.

Any word on your Roadmaster towing interface bracket Andy?

I just found out today that mine will not be shipped until after February 6th. I just hope it isn't later as I need it by March.
Re: It's a good time to shop for cars! :-)
Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98910
Quote
Any word on your Roadmaster towing interface bracket Andy?

I just found out today that mine will not be shipped until after February 6th. I just hope it isn't later as I need it by March.
OH Well!! So much for order tracking.
Contrary to what I was told, the tow bracket was delivered by UPS this afternoon 1/29/2009. Mind you I'm not complaining(G)