Purchasing a new car - Part I

Most people make two major purchases in their lives--a home and a car. Recently we went through the experience of purchasing an entry level car mainly for the purpose of commuting to and from the work place. Since a hatchback provides a wider access in the back for carrying odd shaped items, we decided to look for a hatchback. Our decision on which car to buy was based on the price, safety, and features available within our price range.

After doing some preliminary research on the Internet about entry level cars, their prices (MSRPs), and special discounts available for each, we decided to explore three hatchbacks--Kia Rio5, Honda Fit, and Nissan Versa. Toyota Yaris was excluded for not having side air bags. Once we decided on the models, the next step was to visit dealers, and choose one of the three.

Kia was our first stop. For an entry level car it did not look bad and came with an impressivse list of standard features . We test drove the it and felt that it struggled a bit when accelerated, and lacked sound proofing. We could strongly feel every bump, there was not enough leg room in the back and accommodating a third person in the back would have been uncomfortable.

We did not find the sales help received at this particular dealership very helpful. A sales person did greet us as we walked in and offered to help. Although it was nice to have someone to ask questions to, we did not think this salesperson had enough experience or knowledge to answer all our questions. We knew the MSRP from the research we had done earlier. It did not qualify for any of the federal or provincial grants for fuel efficiency. We also knew that we did not qualify for Kia's grad discount (the sales person did not know), and financing was 0% up to 36 months (.9% for 48 months). The price the sales person gave us was more than the MSRP given on the web, not including any of the taxes. In addition, a documetation charge would have been applied as well. We were told that since there is not much profit margin in entry level cars, the price would be fixed. We were not completely satisfied with this visit. We had enough information to compare the actual car with the other two we had selected, but not the price. With a fixed price of more than MSRP plus taxes and fees, it wasn't likely that we would go back to this dealership even if we decided to purchase the Rio5.

In the next installment, we test drive the Honda Fit.