No, not turkey...or turducken, but cars. I'm not normally one to buy new cars. Last new car I bought was our minivan 6+ years ago. I just bought my wife an '11 Kia Forte hatch. That leaves her previous daily driver, an '08 Honda Fit, sitting in the garage. Of course she wants me to take it. Perfect reliability, great on gas, versitile, nimble, etc... It's a great car, I can't think of many negatives to say about it. But for whatever reason, I'm not all warm and fuzzy about using it as my DD. Not against the car, I really like it, but I just feel kind of meh about it. I'm just as happy, if not more so, driving my old 850 wagon (which my wife wants gone).
I doubt I'd do it, but I wouldn't be totally opposed to selling/trading the Fit and picking up a new car. It'd have to be a screaming bargain though. Probably would look Mazda first, either the 2 or the 3. Yeah, I know the 2 is the same class as our Fit. Haven't driven one yet, but I have driven a '12 Fit and could definitely feel the difference from our '08.
So any tricks you guys know of to find those cars languishing on dealer lots that their just looking to dump? Back when I bought our minivan, it was a leftover and I paid $5k+ less than most local dealers wanted for the next model year. I found that on Ebay, but haven't really looked for new cars there recently.
If you can swing it, and it makes you happy, why not? I'd shop the Fit around at some dealers while doing some test drives. Check out the 2 and the SkyActiv 3 at Mazda, the Cruze Turbo at GM, and new Turbo Dart at Dodge at least.
If you're looking for a 1-year-old leftover though, it may be tough. There could be some 2011 regular 3's floating around, but that might be it. The Fiesta is new, the previous Focus isn't worth it, etc, etc. All the players in these segments (except the 3 and the Fit) are either all-new or such substantial revisions as to either still be holding their value or just better off as new deals.
Definitely worth shopping around though. There's no reason to drive a car you don't enjoy in some way. I think your wife would be behind the decision, too, if you sold the 850 and Fit and got something you liked, especially since she just got a new one 
I figured I'd look for a leftover 2012. The Kia I just bought my wife was used...has 15k miles on it. I could go the lightly used route too, hers' was a good deal. But as you pointed out, for a lot of cars it makes as much sense to buy new as it does lightly used. Trying to find the best way to find that needle in a haystack car...I know there aren't a ton of leftovers sitting around with prices slashed in the market I'd look at.
My wife is definitely in favor of selling the 850. She keeps saying "We've gotten our money out of it, time to let it go". But I really like it. She thinks I should drive the Fit. Hard to disagree there, but if I could find a massive bargain on a new one, she'd be cool with it.
Well the 2012 Civic's are being fire-saled, but my opinion (and that of every car mag on Earth) is well-known... Same story on the Accord, the 2012's are cheap, but you really don't want one.
The 2012 Impala (not worth it, it's still a W-Body!) and 2012 Malibu (looks like it's worth it, the 13 is being reviewed as a stinker) are both slashed for GM.
Ford has the old Fusion and the pre-facelift Taurus to dump (and Lincoln has their entire line up) if you're into bigger cars. Most interestingly, it looks like Ford is pushing incentives hard on the Focus to take a sales crown. I'd definitely look there. The SE or Titanium with the stick are plenty for DD'ing.
Mazda will probably deal on a 2, and will definitely sell you a CX-7 or CX-9 if you want a soft-roader.
You could name your price on any Suzuki (and the Kizashi is an excellent car, plus the SX4 is worth looking at).
Mitsubishi is also having some fire sales on everything. Dunno if I'd risk any of them.
Suzuki Kizashi would be a good choice BUT Suzuki leaving the US may make things difficult as far as support and warranty work.
Would some nice wheels/tires and suspension make you like the Fit? Maybe a few bolt-ons for moar power?
There seems to be a good aftermarket for them and I've seen quite a few that look damn good.
Just seems strange to give up a perfectly good, reliable, and economical car that is already in your possession.
I recently saw 2012 v6 chargers being advertised at 23K they list at almost 10K more than that and the 2013' are around 34K or so. You will probibly have to take a weirdly optioned car or some weird color. If you can live with had crank windows or some weird interior color go for it. The trick is finding one.
Cone_Junky wrote:
Would some nice wheels/tires and suspension make you like the Fit? Maybe a few bolt-ons for moar power?
There seems to be a good aftermarket for them and I've seen quite a few that look damn good.
Just seems strange to give up a perfectly good, reliable, and economical car that is already in your possession.
I know it. I really do like the Fit. I'd recommend it to anyone, and have done so on this board many times. It's a great car. Which is why I said I wasn't sure I'd make a swap anyway unless I found a screaming bargain. I can't make a logical argument for it.
For now, I guess I'm driving the Fit no matter what. As fate would have it, on my way home last night my Volvo's exhaust decided it no longer wished to be one piece. It already had a crack, so I knew it needed to be addressed at some point. It split clean right behind the cat.... Had a 20+ mile drive home with the cat nearly dragging the ground and a wide open exhaust. Who knew a 5 cylinder could be so loud?? 
My wife used that as the perfect opportunity to jump on the "Get rid of it" wagon...
Sonic
SuperDork
11/29/12 7:31 a.m.
Steve...I know what would be the perfect car in this situation: fast and fun, economical, in your price range, etc: MINI cooper S. 
If you want to weld up the Volvos exhaust, let me know.
Touche If the MINI was only a reliable car...
I sent you an e-mail. If we could cobble the exhaust back together, I'd be happy...Mrs. Klayfish not so much but hey, she's got her new ride.
Love my 12 fit. Wheels,suspension.... Make you happy. Is it as least a manual? If its not, that's your problem.
Other issue is, that segment is very hard to get "cheap" cars in. They all hold their value quite well. Fit included
