I’m in the market for a new car to replace my truck. Now that we have two kids, a truck with a short cab and a manual transmission that’s too finicky for Misty to use is a luxury. That’s doubly true when you consider that I’m mostly using it for a commuter car, and its gas mileage is not so good.<\/p>\n
We’ve done our test driving and have settled on a Honda Fit Sport. Its Consumer Reports score is excellent. It’s small but roomy enough to put everyone it, and has configurable seats for hauling stuff. It gets great gas mileage. With a manual transmission, it’s surprisingly fun to drive. Would you believe even Car and Driver liked it<\/a>? Crazy!<\/p>\n Now we’ve moved on to the next step: dealing with car salespeople. The local one we’ve been dealing with has been great, but I’m not going to him without quotes from others. So I did what other members of my family did and emailed a bunch of dealerships to see what they’d be willing to sell one for. It’s unfortunate, then, that many of the dealerships haven’t figured out that people use the Internet to avoid their traditional strong-arm tactics.<\/p>\n Sold all but one fit today. Price of Gas. Will be pre selling them very soon. I would hurry if I were you. Make an offer I will try my best untill their are pre ordered. It will be MSRP then.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sorry, Economy Honda Superstore<\/a> of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Your interesting spelling and whimsical spacing aside, other dealers are able to get them without saying URGENT! BUY TODAY!<\/p>\n We have the vehicle you are looking for in inventory. While the internet is a valuable tool for research we’ve found more mutual benefit to all parties involved not to quote prices over the phone or online. That starts a process that ends up de-valuing the vehicle and also the residual value in the end. The ’07 allocations will be ending shortly. I do have what you are looking for now, I may not this afternoon. If you are serious about buying the car of your choice, I would suggest visiting the dealer of your choice to make your purchase.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gee, Serra Honda<\/a> of Hueytown, AL, you mean you telling me a price in email or over the phone might lower the cost I have to pay? I bet you’ve found mutual benefit to having people come in and negotiate with you directly. I think the dealer of my choice won’t lie to me about how giving me a quote will make my car worth less later.<\/p>\n Then there was Brannon Honda<\/a> of Birmingham, AL. When the car salesman there followed up my email with a phone call, he mentioned that they normally put security systems on every car they sold. I told him I didn’t want one, and he agreed to quote me a price without one. In his second phone call, he said, “Oh, I forgot that security systems are standard on the Fit Sports.” This is a new definition of “standard,” one that means, “after-market addition the dealer puts on”. I’ll note that no other dealer has Fit Sports with security systems on them. Perhaps I shall deal with someone who doesn’t make such easily-uncovered lies.<\/p>\n More later, when I have vanquished the evils of etching fees<\/a> and the like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m in the market for a new car to replace my truck. Now that we have two kids, a truck with a short cab and a manual transmission that’s too finicky for Misty to use is a luxury. That’s doubly true when you consider that I’m mostly using it for a commuter car, and its … Continue reading You Can Bring Car Salespeople to the Internet But You Can’t Make Them Use It Wisely<\/span>