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.