I think my Honda dealer lied about my Fit

In early July I decided I wanted an Orange Fit, and went to my current
Honda dealer who quoted $19,000 without tax (Sport Model). I asked why
it was so much over list and was told that there weren't many and that
they could deliver the car and other dealers couldn't.

I went to another nearby dealer and was surprised that I could order
it at list, so with tax the whole thing came to just about $18,000,
$2300 cheaper. I posted at the time a thread called "Will My Fit
Arrive" because I was unsure.

My salesperson, Mazen, gave me a card with someone else's name but
wrote his name and number, so I guess he was new. Three weeks later I
went to check on the car, and he was no longer working there but I was
assured that the car was on order and should be in in a few weeks. I
even added the choice of Silver instead of Orange because they said
the Orange one was very difficult.

At some point I started another thread, "My Fit NOT Arriving" and
accused the dealer of bait and switch, and Elmo, properly, castigated
me for being inaccurate. He was correct, I think they just had no
intention of selling me the car at that price and if I bought another
one, that is ok with them. But I think what happened was that Mazen
did something that he shouldn't have done and they weren't going to
fill the order.

Yesterday I called Honda USA. They told me that 9 weeks was a long
time to wait and that Paragon Honda had only one order for a Sports
Fit outstanding, and it was Black and much more recent. There is no
evidence that the car was ever ordered.

Now I don't know if HUSA is accurate but it would seem that they would
know what is being ordered. At this point I'm cancelling the order and
I'm curious as to what you folks think about this chain of events.

 

Car dealers like real estate agents, doctors, lawyers and politicians
are all bottom feeders having little in the way of ethics...

JT

 

Too general. In most things there are good and bad. My doctor is a
dedicated guy who is simply one of the best people I know. I work for
a public defender office and the lawyers here are also very good
people, working for less than they could get elsewhere.

My aunt was a real estate person and did her best to sell houses
fairly, without regard to racial steering or other crap. There are
also decent politicians who really care about the public good, but
they get corrupted by money pretty quickly.

There are probably also decent car dealers but I haven't found one
yet.

 

I think the decent ones for one thing will be found among
those who deal online. We're getting some reports here of
positive, price-competitive experiences using this approach.
Not all, but more than if one shows up at the dealership
proper.

 

We had a similar situation - and the dealer wanted to add $500
'theft-proof wheels' because the FIT wheels were such a high-risk item
(though few were/are on the road).

We let our fingers do the walking, and found a car in the desired color
and trim at MSRP (even got the IPOD connection thrown in) a reasonable
distance from home. We were treated okay, though the 'closer' wanted us
to buy the long warranty at an inflated price.

My point is that the telephone is your friend... it's far better than
online, because on the phone you can get a salesperson to actively help
you. Online you just get in queue.

Good luck!

 

....

More information. I just found out (from talking to the general
manager of the dealership) that usually cars are not ordered directly.
Mostly they "look" for them by seeing what is coming in to them and
other dealers and trading around. It seems an odd way to do things in
the computer age but this way cars are available for immediate
purchase. It sort of makes sense. But if you want a car that isn't
available that way, you would think they would just place an order
with the factory.

This would explain why Honda-US doesn't have any orders for my car
from the dealer. It also explains why I don't have a car.

 

dude, you are SO naive.

of COURSE he's going to tell you that. At least that way, he has a
chance of your changing your mind to a different color. Worst case,
he's no worse off--he doesn't sell you a car.

you are SO naive.

Go away.

 

<chuckle>

What the masses of sheeple don't realize, survival is the first instinct
of virtually all animals including humans. Hence, lying mixed with an
ample dose of cheating serve as everyday tools for the dominators.

Ol' PT Barnum was right except that I think that there's more than one
sucker born every minute these days...

<G>

JT

 

I have seen Civic LXs sedan at 17,500 on the lot at my dealer. Why a Fit at
almost the same price -- and you might be able to deal the Civic down. At
19k you are getting close the price for an Accord LX I4 with a 5 spd.

 

Because I want two things out of this car. One is to be able to throw
a bike into the back without needing to get the bike rack. The second
is to have a long roof for a 9 1/2 foot surfboard. The Fit is better
than the Civic in both ways. I rarely need to carry five adults and
there really is nothing that the Civic has that the Fit doesn't that I
care about.

Well, not quite right. I assume the Civic has a dead pedal. That's a
serious problem with the Fit. Well, history anyway now. My 91 Accord
is currently undergoing timing belt (and waterpump) surgery so I'll
keep it for another year or two.

 

But didn't you say that calling it bait and switch was wrong? If he
knew he couldn't get it and wanted to offer me something else, that is
bait and switch, no?

I'm curious about the way the dealer "find" system works though. Do
the dealers pay over the "dealer cost" to get a popular car from
another dealer?

 

As for the "find" technique, I have found that dealers simply trade
comparable cars. When I ordered my Odyssey Touring, all my favorite
dealer had on the lot were some EX-Ls, so they called another nearby
dealer and traded a hybrid Accord and a hybrid Civic for it....it was
originally going to be a Ridgeline, but the 2nd dealer got a shipment
in later that day.

So essentially, it's just a matter of which dealer needs more of what,
then they work out a deal to get it to their customers. However, with a
seemingly rare car like the Fit is now, I'd think that there wouldn't
be many dealers willing to give it up...

But that's just my thoughts.

 

For me no deal pedal is a huge selling point.

 

Sounds like an Element is more what you are looking for. More money of
course, but not that much more.

 

Suzuki is coming out with CX-4. Same money as Fit but more room and
awd.
Check out the preview on roadandtrack.com

 

23/28 mpg? Big freaking deal! I have a 94 Lexus ES with 168,000 miles
on it, and--using Shell 93 octane--I get 24mpg city and 29mpg highway.

We are not amused.

 

Heck, my carb'd '87 Accord gets 28mpg city!

 

I am. Probably they got gearing right. Huge selling point for me. Civic
Si I'm considering
is no better gas guzzling wise. That's acceptable for me. Many more
cars do much worse.

 

The funny thing is that I'm not overly concerned with mpg that much; I
only drive 5-6k/year. I really wanted the Fit because it was a cheap
way to get a reliable new car with the space that I want.

So I keep the 91 Accord another year or two. I just spent $1000 to do
the timing belt and take care of the oil in the sparkplugs.
Essentially it was the Honda 90k service plus a little more. It took
$80 at the cheap muffler place to take care of that, and for another
$300 or so I can likely fix all the other annoyances that have crept
up over time. All except the rust.

And maybe in a year or two I can pick up a nice used Fit.

 

snipped tale of woe

No contract, no lie.