Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Fort Wainwright, Alaska

Hi Carman, Are current Mercedes SLK new car leases for the longer terms available? The Mercedes dealer in Fort Meyers has offered 8.5% off MSRP for a 2012 SLK. Is that a decent deal? I am considering the lease vs 72 month financing VS a finance with Balloon payment. The salesman discourages balloon but my thinking is that he does better with a lease. Our plan is to buy the car new and keep it for many years. I know a purchase is the best financially, but I'd like to keep the payment low. I have Tier 1 credit and stable income so am not worried about refinancing in 3-6 years unless of course rates go crazy high. IF that happens I Can always sell since I will probably put $10K down so should have equity. I can get less than 4% on a 72 month financing from Cap One.

Hey all, I piggybacked on a fellow poster here after seeing what a great deal he got on his TE from Frank Kent Honda in Fort Worth. I was able to get the same exact deal, except I got a little something extra. ;) 2012 Touring Elite with Honda pro-pak (wheel locks, splash guards, cargo tray), Body Side Moulding, and Roof Rails. Negotiated price: $40,955 before TTL and my trade, Honda cash (-$750 towards down payment) OTD: 42,748.55 (my taxes were reduced due to my trade) Forest Smith took good care of us! Just be sure to go over paint job at time of delivery--we were too excited. Later that day we found a nib (something under the paint) and bubbles in the clear coat on lower door trim, then read many posts on OdyClub.com about Honda's paint issues, egads! Assume will be handled by warranty, but nothing beats factory paint! :(

Thanks very much for that post. I do hope a new refresh comes out this year since Honda has missed the ball on a few things in the Fit and are getting waaaayyyy behind Hyundai in the head turning quotient. Having been doing some serious car shopping in this car class as of late (Fiesta, Focus, Sonic, Rio 5, Accent, Forte 5, Fit, Juke), I am embarrassed that these car companies do not take 10 seconds to listen to what customers want, and just blast out whatever they want. Here are some simple items that should be in every car. Shame on the car companies for not having them on each car seeing that it is now 2012: 1. 6 speed automatic transmission 2. hands free phone 3. auto headlights and daytime running lights 4. all radio, phone and cruise control buttons on the steering wheel 5. rear seat headrests that lower down into the seat when not in use to increase the visibility to the rear window. 6. a normal sized rear window. Half of the rear windows are so small, they might as well just do away with them altogether. Honda's Fit is becoming a dinosaur real fast. With such a small engine, their horsepower/torque and gas consumption numbers look pathetic against Hyundai. No center arm rest/console? Are you kidding me? No hands free phone unless you fork over the money for the navigation system. That's a trick car companies used to play over a decade ago. In general, the Fit is an amazing car which just needs some minor tweeking to blow the competition away. Their main selling point is over 8 years of Jazz and Fit models worldwide with hardly one reliabilty issue; now that's amazing.

Our 1991 Miata is getting long in the tooth (as am I). A dealer here in Florida has a 2007 Miata and a 2009 RX-8, both Red each around $19K (too high, but the RX-8 base is more realistic price according to Edmunds) Any car I buy will go back to Buffalo, NY in the spring, but will rarely (if ever) be driven once the snow flies. It will replace the Miata as the family Fun car, but be a frequent driver for my wife. I might keep the miata since a 1991 can be insured cheap, but then the Forester has to live in the driveway. Had the miata 10 years the forester 2 yrs. I should probably not be asking on a Miata board which is better but there are some enthusiasts who love both. We were in the Buffalo-Niagara Miata club and there were a few RX-8 lovers. I could also use a referral to a good mechanic in teh Fort Myers area to check out any car I consider