My day as a new car buyer

I've been thinking about buying a car for over a year (proof is in the archives), and I'm finally ready to make the leap. Having explored a bit on both new and used cars, I've decided that I would love a new Honda Fit or Civic. Both are well designed and safe cars. The Fit is a new model that Honda introduced recently to satisfy the subcompact market. The Civic needs no introduction, especially since the used Civic prices seem to be astronomically high (for a used car, that is).

I've been looking at Honda Fits forever, and took a test drive in one today. The Fit appealed to me on may levels -- small car, good gas mileage, standard side airbags, standard anti-lock brakes, and an amazing ability to store many many things. During the test drive, however, I didn't feel that the Fit was the "it" care for me. My legs felt a little cramped, my left foot had nothing to rest on, and my elbows were confused. I'm never going to use the paddle shifters, and my hands found the steering wheel slightly uncomfortable.

After returning the Fit, I test drove the Civic. This car is one that I felt very comfortable with. The only thing that took a bit of adjusting to was looking out the front windshield. The new Civics have this interesting design where the dashboard extends quite far in front, thus making the front hood significantly shorter. As a result, the driver simply cannot see the front hood. I didn't know how far forward to go when I pulled up to the first red light, that feeling did subside after a few more lights.

Privately, I had decided on the Civic LX, but I wanted to see what potential deals were available. The Fit is in very short supply, leading to the regrettable result of it selling at or above MSRP. There dealership that I test drove the vehicles had a $2000 markup, along with $750 in dealer-added accessories, on their Fits! Their quoted price for the Fit Sport (which was the one they had in stock), including taxes and fees, amounted to $20,100! This is in comparison with the Civic LX, which they quoted at $19,740.

By the way, I did not get these quotes without a fight. After all the test drives, the salesperson led me to a chair in the waiting area. Before long, a seasoned manager came to talk to me. Boy, I quickly learned what people refer to when they say that there are "high pressure sales" at a car dealership. This dealership simply wouldn't give me an official quoted price! After an hour of telling them, "no, I don't want to fill out these stupid forms, all I want is a quote and to think about these two vehicles," and "no, I don't want to make a decision between the Fit and the Civic right now. I need at least a day to decide," I finally get two official quotes, with the aforementioned prices. As I gather the papers together and put them into my bag, the salesperson apologetically tells me that I can't take the quotes with me. WTF? No matter. I put the sheets back on the table and copy the numbers by hand onto a half sheet of paper that I had in my purse.

As I walked out the door with my scribbled figures, a manager made one last attempt. "I don't want to lose you as a customer due to price." So I told them that I would definitely give them first consideration when I had decided on a vehicle and was serious about buying. Coming home, I checked prices on cardirect.com. The website could not offer me a Fit -- none of the dealers that they worked with had any in stock. It did, however, offer me a Civic LX for $17,475 before taxes and fees. Edmunds.com showed that the invoice price for the Civic LX as $16,944, and $17,529 as what other people were paying in my neighborhood. These prices were roughly $900 less than the quote I got at the dealership.

Well, I ate lunch and dwelled upon the cars and the prices. At this point, I had pretty much decided on the Civic LX. There was no way that I was paying more for a Fit, and the thought of paying significantly above MSRP was disgusting to me. Having the afternoon free as well, I decided to visit an automall that was about an hour's drive from my house -- a friend had bought her car there and had had a decent experience. On the way, I saw another Honda dealership and abruptly decided to check the place out. They did have both Fits and Civics in their inventory. Fits were priced at MSRP, with no markup. Civics were available at MSRP, and if I wanted to make an offer, they would consider it. So I threw out $16,500 for a dark blue Civic, thinking that that would allow me to bargain up to $17,000, or around invoice. The sales manager thought about it, and said that he could only do that price for the silver and gray models.

Well! That was was unexpected. I asked him about the blue cars, and at first he blustered and said that he could only do MSRP on those. I told him that I'd have to look at the cars on the lot and think about it. As I was looking at the colors, trying to decide if I cared about color, the manager came up and said that he could do blue for about $500 more, or at invoice. Since I was actually on my way to another dealership, I thanked the salesperson, took his card, and promised to call him by Monday if I wanted to buy a car from him.

I drove elatedly to the dealership that I had actually wanted to go to. There, I was impressed. The salesperson that I talked to subscribed more along the lines of high-pressure tactics. He kept wanting to know all about me and tried to push one car over another. I stood firm on the Fit and the Civic LX. They didn't have any Fits; the Civic they had and offered at MSRP. I told him I was looking for a good deal and he said to make an offer. Remembering my previous experience, I offered at $16,000, to which he balked and said no way. I waited for him to counteroffer, but all he did was ask me to raise my price. So I raised it to $16,100, which he also declined. At which point, I asked if he was willing to go below invoice, of which he replied in the negative. This, while all the time trying to sell me the vehicle. He was definitely a very poor salesman.

Having returned home, I've decided to record today's experiences for future reference. The price at the second dealership was the best, and I am thinking of calling them up and giving them the down payment now. But I did promise the first dealership that I would give them first consideration, and so I will honor my word and ask them to beat the price tomorrow. If they match or beat it, then I will buy from them -- despite their general sales tactics, they did let me test drive both vehicles without any fuss or complications, and the sales person that accompanied me on the drive was both friendly and knowledgeable.