The Price is Right?

There are many websites out there offering services to get you the best price for next car purchase. Autobytel and Cars Direct are just a couple of websites that essentially perform a task you can do yourself. That job is to contact the dealership. I tried using Autobytel, which cost me nothing, but didn't see any benefit. When I bought my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, I contacted every dealership within a 50-mile radius of my home, intially by utilizing Cars.com and Auto Trader's inquiry pages which essentially get you in contact with the dealership's internet team and then I contacted a few dealerships by way of their websites again going straight to their contact/inquiry page. Fill out your basic information and within 48 hours you will either receive a phone call or e-mail from the internet manager.

You want to know a secret? The dealership that initially offered me the lowest internet price quote was the dealership in which I made my purchase. The gas prices have driven demand for subcompact cars up substantially, and here in Southern California, the Fit is particularly in demand (the dealership in which I conducted my test drive had two other customers looking at this particular model on a Sunday afternoon with temperatures soaring in the 90's). Most dealerships were not willing to go below Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price or MSRP. Some were even tricky by excluding the $635 destination charge in their quotes which is something any buyer should be aware of. What I thought was even more insane was that a lower-volume dealer just down the street from my house was actually marking the car up $1,000. The bottom line was that my phone and internet interfaces led to 2 dealerships willing to sell below MSRP but still above invoice, this is a good thing when a model is in high demand and only the motivated outlets will play this game. Out of the two, one dealer was padding their cars/deals by throwing in LoJack (the internet manager said that they install these upon receipt), which was not included in my quote. I asked if they were expecting the car soon in the trim/color I desired but without LoJack, so I could accurately gage quotes, he mentioned it would probably take a couple of weeks. A word of caution when obtaining quotes, the phone is a great way to open the lines of communication, but unless you get something in writing, a quote can appear to be a bluff by any customer calling into a dealership, and most sales associates will say anything to get you onto their lot. If you play your cards right you can win and save thousands, but if you only have a few players willing to ante up (like in my case) it's better to play it safe. I obtained the written quote, forwarded the message to the closer dealership, and they readily took the bait. I purchased my Fit Sport w/ automatic in blackberry pearl for $275 above invoice the very next day.

One final source of great information is the Consumer Reports Bottom Line Price, which tells you what the dealership actually paid for the car and can be a great bargaining tool. The report only costs $14 per vehicle and is worth every penny. This leveraging tool can be very useful for cars that aren't in high-demand or for buyers who have the luxury of time, and the patience to get a great deal. I ordered the report, but really didn't have much wiggle room as, again, the Honda Fit is selling like ice water in the middle of a desert. A great alternative available to you for free is the Edmunds True Market Value Price, or more specifically their Regional Base Price, which was only about $130 above the Consumer Reports Bottom Line Price report's dealer-paid quote.

I've had my Fit for about a week now and have decided to include a door ding log into my blogs. You see, the car doesn't feature any kind of body-side cladding or rubber trim at all; there is nothing to absorb the impact of a careless person's faux pas or the heavy door of some full-sized SUV-driving fool whom attempts to park in a compact parking space. So the official count begins: Days without dings (DWD): 7, miles on car: 443

Stay tuned...