Author Topic: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price  (Read 7854 times)

flyingby

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2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« on: July 02, 2013, 06:44:13 PM »
I will need a car for at least 16 months and potentially longer. I have decided [let me know if you disagree] that the cheapest option is to buy a used car with great resale value at a decent price. I'll add 7k miles in the 16 month and then resell it for close to what I purchased it for. The key here is obviously getting a good deal.

I have found a 2008 Honda Fit Sport with 80,000 in what appears to be great condition for $8,800.  The "True Value" shows a private sale price of $9800, retail of $10,800 and a trade in value of $8,300. What do you guys think - good value? Good Plan?
« Last Edit: November 27, 2017, 01:07:37 PM by flyingby »

mpbaker22

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2013, 08:31:47 PM »
I think if you're expecting to resell, you should buy the vehicle for less than the "trade in value."

Always count on repairs and other costs in the interim, including comprehensive insurance. (if you wreck it or it's stolen, you don't want to be out of pocket)

That's it. That's all I've got.

Why is comprehensive a must?

Spork

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2013, 08:40:15 AM »
I think if you're expecting to resell, you should buy the vehicle for less than the "trade in value."

Always count on repairs and other costs in the interim, including comprehensive insurance. (if you wreck it or it's stolen, you don't want to be out of pocket)

That's it. That's all I've got.


Why is comprehensive a must?

IMO, if the intent is to resell, not keep the car long term, I'd want full protection of the asset such that I could get my money back out of it either through a sale or insurance claim, if needed.

My opinion is: If you ever need comprehensive insurance for a car,  then you are buying more car than you can afford.  You should be able to write a check for the car, wreck it on the way home and write a check for it's replacement. 

There are obvious exceptions to this rule... like if you have some super rare zillion dollar museum piece car.... but I don't think that is likely to apply to many of us.

prodarwin

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2013, 10:29:21 AM »
I have decided [let me know if you disagree] that the cheapest option is to buy a used car with great resale value at a decent price.

I stort of agree, but disagree on the level of "used". 
Anything that requires comprehensive is going to cost and additional $30-60 a month. 
If you have personal property tax, your taxes are directly proportional to vehicle value. 
Anything in that range has a long way to go in depreciation.

All these things point to buying a car near the bottom of the depreciation curve.  Something for $500-3K will likely sell for $500-3k after another 16 months/7k miles.  Many cars in that price range have prices driven more by interior/exterior condition and whether they run or not than age/mileage.  If it does depreciate, you are looking at a very low amount.


Under_Score

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2013, 11:10:36 AM »
I will need a car for at least 16 months and potentially longer. I have decided [let me know if you disagree] that the cheapest option is to buy a used car with great resale value at a decent price. I'll add 7k miles in the 16 month and then resell it for close to what I purchased it for. The key here is obviously getting a good deal.

I have found a 2008 Honda Fit Sport with 80,000 in what appears to be great condition for $8,800.  The "True Value" shows a private sale price of $9800, retail of $10,800 and a trade in value of $8,300. What do you guys think - good value? Good Plan?

-Brian

Also, you should check out the forums for any specific car model to see if other people that actually own the same car model think it is a good deal. They will be experts on the car model, so you will get better feedback there. Honda Fit forums are at FitFreak.net

Forcus

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2013, 03:25:20 PM »
Seems like a pretty solid deal.

As far as 3-4k cars go, intuitively they would always be cheaper than a 8k car but not always so - the total cost of ownership needs worked out. For example, for my driving, including fuel, a monthly stipend for repairs, insurance, purchase price, estimated sales price, the monthly cost for my 02 Focus with 115k miles and a 12 Focus with around 20k miles is almost identical. How? Better mileage on the 12 Focus and good resale as well, and lower maintenance costs (offset to a small degree by higher insurance costs). So the car that costs 3x more barely costs $10 / month to own over a span of 36 months. Additionally, there is no measurement for reliability and safety based on the newer vehicle but if you can figure a value for that, it would further equalize / tip the scales. I am not advocating for any particular choice, just trying to show that cheaper initial cost doesn't mean less expensive overall cost.

I would wager that the Fit would be worth about the same 8k after 30 or 40k miles are added on.

flyingby

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2013, 09:22:44 AM »
I appreciate the comments.

My own thinking was more in line with "Focus" in that the cheapest initial cost may not be the cheapest long term. The fit sport I am looking at was purchased as a certified used car and still has one year warranty remaining. I figure this + the great current shape of the car will ensure I have little to no repair expenses that cant be recovered on resale.

In terms of insurance - comprehensive adds $20 a month for this car. I would get it for the piece of mind.

I am going to try to get the seller down to $8,500 to cover some of the tax pain.

flyingby

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2013, 02:48:32 PM »
I lost out on the Honda Fit I was looking at to another buyer. I moved too slow.

I am now looking at a different Honda Fit. A one-owner 2009 base automatic with 95,000 miles in clean condition [pending mechanical review] for $7,500 (negotiated down from $8,700). Anyone want to chime on on whether this is a decent deal?

Forcus

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2013, 10:29:40 AM »
I lost out on the Honda Fit I was looking at to another buyer. I moved too slow.

I am now looking at a different Honda Fit. A one-owner 2009 base automatic with 95,000 miles in clean condition [pending mechanical review] for $7,500 (negotiated down from $8,700). Anyone want to chime on on whether this is a decent deal?

Well I'd think the automatic would suck all the fun out of driving an s-box but that's just IMO :)

Spudd

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2013, 10:33:54 AM »
I have no input on the price, but make sure you take it for a good long test drive before you buy it. I rented a Fit once for a long drive and found the gas pedal was placed in a very uncomfortable position. By the end of my 4.5 hour drive my leg was in agony.

dragoncar

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #10 on: July 09, 2013, 11:14:26 AM »
Personally if you're not planning on keeping it long term I would go with a beater in the $2-4k range depending on how car savvy you are. That way you know how you're likely out whereas with the Fit you take the chance of either totaling it or the value plummeting and not getting back nearly as much as planned

Plus the crappier your car the less likely you will change your mind in 18 months and decide to keep it.

ivyhedge

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #11 on: July 09, 2013, 11:44:19 AM »
I lost out on the Honda Fit I was looking at to another buyer. I moved too slow.

I am now looking at a different Honda Fit. A one-owner 2009 base automatic with 95,000 miles in clean condition [pending mechanical review] for $7,500 (negotiated down from $8,700). Anyone want to chime on on whether this is a decent deal?

Well I'd think the automatic would suck all the fun out of driving an s-box but that's just IMO :)


Having owned a Fit, I concur with Forcus. Plus, after nearly 100k miles, you likely don't want to know how many times the owner was still rolling in reverse before engaging drive: why we avoid used slushboxes like the plague (plus they're rarely fun!). That said, a Fit at 100k miles, provided it passes a *full* check (not a "once over" for $25), is a nice bet. So capacious, they are! At least in the northeast, their presence on sites like CL is ephemeral. Act fast if it's what you want...

MoneyLifeandMore

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Re: 2008 Honda Fit: Good Price
« Reply #12 on: July 09, 2013, 08:45:39 PM »
I'd buy a much older reliable car if you only need it 16 months. Something less than $5,000 probably won't lose hardly any value and there is a chance you can make money on it.

I bought a 97 Accord about 8 or 9 years ago for $5,000 with 102,000 miles on it. 4 years later I sold it with 132,000 miles on it for $3,500. If I sold it a year after I bought it I might have been able to actually make money on it. All I had to do was change the oil and no other major maintenance.