Fit is out, final-gen Accord Coupe is in (DD content)

Finally pulled the trigger on a new DD and traded my '13 Fit for this '15 Accord Coupe at CarMax yesterday. Since the coupe is dying with the end of this generation I figured it was prime time to pick up a nice one.

First, a word on CarMax: after an experience at a Hyundai dealer where my keys were held hostage and I was given absurd monthly payment numbers (let's just say their 60-month payment numbers were in excess of what I calculated for a 48 after TTL, on a car that was cheaper than what I ran the calculations with!!!) despite asking multiple times to negotiate on total price, I decided to check out CarMax. The experience was really transparent by comparison and since they only charge a $99 doc fee with no smoke and mirrors the numbers matched my calculations almost exactly. Trade process was also smooth; two dealerships lowballed the hell out of me on the Fit saying nobody wants small cars and it would just be going to auction, CarMax gave me median KBB which was a pretty big step up by comparison, though not exactly a holy grail offer.

Anyways, the car: EX, 6-speed, four cylinder. Basically the nicest manual I4 coupe you could get. The dual screen infotainment is a little weird and I wish you could get manual I4 coupes of this generation in a color other than black, but otherwise I love it. Nice seats (though I may add power lumbar), silky smooth powertrain, quiet on the freeway, good MPG, and still athletic enough to not feel like a total snooze fest. I spent a little more than I set out to but the car is almost brand new (single owner, 12k miles) and I've always loved the Accord Coupe so it's kinda neat to have one that's among the last of its kind.

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Nice. I really like the way the Accord Coupe looks. Until I got my most recent car, I was considering an EX-L.

I loved my Accord but need a pickup for work (hard to put a 900# conveyor belt in an Accord).

I look at the Sedan Sport manual tranny sometimes in lust - 12,000 miles is brand new! You will love this car.

Very nice.

Nice car! I want to show DW one and see what she thinks.

pointofdeparture wrote: ...after an experience at a Hyundai dealer where my keys were held hostage...

Yeah, I would have walked out when they asked for my keys. I have zero patience for that E36 M3.

pointofdeparture wrote: I wish you could get manual I4 coupes of this generation in a color other than black...

That is the manufacturer E36 M3 I will just never understand.

Ohh and re the keys I was with a friend and the dealer pulled that stunt. We left in my car (I had met him there to look at the car) and went to the local poliece and explained things. It ended badly for the dealer but that is another story.

Very sweet!! I love, love, love the Accord coupe. I think it's a bit of a "sleeper" GT car.

Yeah, as for the holding your keys game...homie don't play that. A dealer tried it with me once years ago. I calmly told him I was going to count to 5 and if he didn't produce my keys I was going to raise holy hell in the store in front of all the other customers and call the cops. I got to two before he quickly went and fetched my keys.

Re: the Hyundai crooks, it was a weird experience for sure. Definitely the weirdest I've ever had at a dealership. Also, the irony was not lost on me when I asked to see the sad leftover '17 stick Elantra Sport (not exactly a car in demand by the masses) and the salesman more or less said I was the first person to ask about it in months...then when I went to leave, he turned up the "this car could be gone tomorrow!" schtick.

My only complaint with the Accord so far has to do with the weird trim level disparity between the sedans and coupes. Sedan EXs get a power driver seat, whereas the coupes don't (but DO get a nicer stereo and a few other things). Luckily the EX coupe shares its seat fabric with the Sport sedan and there's a wrecked one getting parted out a few miles away with an intact 10-way power driver's seat...and as far as I can tell, everything should just bolt up and plug right in. Only the passenger seat does the full tilt forward and slide deal in this car anyway, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything there.

Fit is Stop.

Congrats on the new car.

I wish dealers would learn not to do E36 M3 like that. There is a reason the stereotype exists and places like CarMax are cutting into their sales

Good choice!

We've bought two cars at CarMax and have been very happy both times.

A good dealer can be great to work with. A bad one, well...

Personally, I'm not a big fan of places like Carmax. The refusal to haggle is them praying on people who just want simple and don't want to think about negotiating, IMO. I've never seen them list a car for a price that I'd consider more than decent.

Personally, if any seller (dealer or private party) refuses to even entertain the idea of negotiating and says "this is the price, take it or leave it", well, they better have a damn good price. If they don't, oh well, I guess they didn't want to sell it to me that badly anyway.

In reply to rslifkin:

I've seen CarMax go both ways on the "no-haggle" pricing. For common in-demand cars they tend to be above book and not that great of a deal. For obscure, weird stuff they tend to be below. I got this one for about $2k less than I could find anywhere else within 100 miles, so I'm happy, and the no-bullE36 M3 sales experience was worth it.

In reply to rslifkin:

I'm not a haggler. If the car is worth it to me at the asking price I buy it. If it's not I don't. I don't have the patience or personality to try and get it cheaper. I've got much better things to do with my time. Like watching people wash cars on YouTube.

rslifkin wrote: A good dealer can be great to work with. A bad one, well... Personally, I'm not a big fan of places like Carmax. The refusal to haggle is them praying on people who just want simple and don't want to think about negotiating, IMO. I've never seen them list a car for a price that I'd consider more than decent. Personally, if any seller (dealer or private party) refuses to even entertain the idea of negotiating and says "this is the price, take it or leave it", well, they better have a damn good price. If they don't, oh well, I guess they didn't want to sell it to me that badly anyway.

With Carmax, you're trading time for money. It's as simple as that. If you have your financing set up (or are paying cash), you can be in and out of that place in an hour and a half.

That being said, anyone with even the smallest inclination to haggle can get a better deal at a traditional dealership...it might take you 3x as long, but if you're very price conscious...

Nice car. I wasn't aware the coupe was going away.

Nice looking car. Hope you enjoy it

In reply to pointofdeparture:

With a deal like that, yeah, it's worth going for it. It just seems like those deals are far from the norm with those places (you can usually do better elsewhere).

Nice car! Good call grabbing one of the last coupes

Re: haggling. I am fine with doing it when I need to, but by nature I hate it. Is another person going to get a better deal than me for the same car same time simply because they are a bigger ahole? Louder? More attractive? Different race? (get out the shovels).

Its an inherently unfair system, and I don't see why transparent, simple, quick take it or leave it pricing wouldn't be better for almost everyone.

I've never shopped carmax, but I usually go with a fixed price dealership.

Love Carmax. Better than average recon, better than average quality, no pressure, super-quick to deal with.

They could expand downward, Carmin, and sell vehicles from $3K-$7K and make a mint with people who are terrified or angry with Craigslist.

Hope you love the car! How are the seats in comparison to the Fit?

Robbie wrote: Nice car! Good call grabbing one of the last coupes Re: haggling. I am fine with doing it when I need to, but by nature I hate it. Is another person going to get a better deal than me for the same car same time simply because they are a bigger ahole? Louder? More attractive? Different race? (get out the shovels). Its an inherently unfair system, and I don't see why transparent, simple, quick take it or leave it pricing wouldn't be better for almost everyone.

A lot of times it's more important to make people think they got a deal than for them to actually get a deal.

Is another person going to get a better deal than me for the same car same time simply because they are a bigger ahole? Louder? More attractive? Different race? (get out the shovels).

Possibly. It's also extremely likely that another person would get a better deal for the same car if they weren't buying it from a retail outlet. I've worked in an auto auction and had people bid for me, i've worked paperwork shenanigans to buy company cars being sold off at 'employees only' pricing when i wasn't an employee, but most commonly i've just bought cars directly from individuals. Buying from a retail outlet almost guarantees you're not getting a 'good' deal since they only exist to flip cars after a mark up, and if it's a newish car they really didn't do anything to improve it in the process. As said, trading money for convenience is a huge part of car buying and the fact that so many people know and care so little for all the details (of their own finances...) props up thousands of storefronts who make money just by caring more about what's about to happen than the prospective buyers who walk in.

I'm not against wanting the simplest interaction possible and being willing to pay for it. I'd consider Carmax if i was doing something like Doug Demuro has done and bought something that might otherwise be risky with a carmax warranty tacked onto it.