2013 and earlier-Honda Pilot Prices Paid and Buying Experience

atalalay

Kirknchocolate: did you forget to offer us the actual numbers on your purchase? The only informational bit of info is: "we still paid less than MSRP"... Do not you think there is a difference between $200 under MSRP and $2,000? Please, enlighten us!

juan224

Hey its me juan225..well now Juan224 I had trouble with my login so I could not respond. I bought my Pilot EXL-DVD from Selma Honda in CA. And I paid 30,600 plus tax and reg. You told me that price is $2000 under MSRP so I guess I did pretty good. I think I got such a good deal because I called on the phone and offered to go in and write a check as soon as we agreed on a price. Granny, I think demanding it in writing will only scare off a dealer...because they do not want you to take that fax or email to another dealer..bad move. I am amazed that others in CA have not gotten better deals...but maybe I got lucky? I think they were having trouble selling this Pilot..it was late December and it had leather and DVD some dont want to pay extra..Hope this helps you Granny

falcon74

who did you deal with at Selma Honda?? Thanks

newpilotowner

I bought my Pilot EX-L with RES from Jay Smith, the Internet Sales guy of Gillman Honda in Denison, Texas. I paid exactly $30,264 (which is $2216 below the MSRP of $32,480). Only glitch was with the finance manager.....wanted to give me 5.7% APR for 60 months.....I had seen 4.54% to 4.89% APR from other Honda dealers. I finally was offered 4.75% APR for 60 months.

I absolutely love my new Honda Pilot!! I feel confident that I got a great deal of $1000 over dealer invoice, also!

Many thanks to the frequent posters on this board....I realized that I would not have to settle for MSRP at my local Honda dealers! I made the 85 mile trip up to Denison from the DFW Metroplex and saved a lot of cash!

Thanks to everyone on this board!

cantab

Hello! We're looking for a Pilot EX-L in San Diego. Can anyone recommend where the best deals are, including perhaps in Orange County/LA?

The best offer we've had through Cars Direct etc. is MSRP but the messages here indicate one can do better. Any specific San Diego pointers or prices?

badoy

I got a Pilot EX basic-for $28,850 approx. $900
off MSRP.Woodland Hills Honda..I hope this helps
people out there trying to pick one up in the So.and No. CAL area.Good Luck everyone...

letitsnow

Jay Smith and Bob Dunn at Gillman honda Denison. $28,100 all inclusive delivered to my door via trailer in Omaha NE. Was kinda of nervous at first as in addition to window sticker it had a "dealer added sticker". This had the Consumer Protection Package (CPP)(paint sealant and cloth treatment)as well as the "security enhancement" (window etching, lug locks) package and the "splash package" (mud flaps and rear cargo tray). This brought the MSRP to $31,500. Before I signed anything (to take delivery) I called and spoke with Bob Dunn and told him that I am not going to take delivery due to this. He basically said they "messed up" and I got one hell of a deal. He referred me to the paperwork that the driver sent and had a itemization of my purchase agreement. The only option I ordered is rear muds. Aside from this surprise all went well and painless. I was even surprised I did not have to secure anything with a credit card deposit. It was all closed and delivered on a handshake over the email/phone.

Thanks to everyone for the insight.

bud_foxx44

Can I get some ideals on lease prices? I am looking at the EX model, $1000 down for $404 a month for 48 months which includes gap and tax for New Jersey.

Is this good, bad what?

brian125

bud most people can not answer your question. i will take a crack at it. ist there are many factors you apply when trying to figure out a monthly price on a lease. here is what you need to find out. residual value and the money factor on the pilot. your monthly payment is calculated by sales price, down payment, residual value,money factor,lease months, and sales tax. this is the equation for figuring your monthly payment. also 12k or 15k miles yearly. i dont believe in leasing but one word of advice you never should lease any car/ suv longer than the warranty.most vehicles are 3 years.its bad enough if you just rented a pilot for 20 k for 4 years at 404 a month and on the fourth year something major happen to the pilot. guess who is stuck paying the bill? i would check out edmunds lease forum ask the car man if he could give you the residual and money factor on a 03 pilot with 12k miles and 15k miles a year. you will then be able to calculate a monthy price.i would also see if you could lease a pilot out of state like ohio and have them ship it to you.you will save about 2500 dollars going this route. the only problem is the supply and demand for the pilot good luck

jtyoung59

Well, I finally made a decision and bought my Sandstone EX. Just to confirm what others have been saying about bay area prices, I haven't found any valid offers for less than $500 under MSRP and some folks are still asking for MSRP. I went through the fleet/internet managers, did most of my work via E-mail and phone and found that much more pleasurable.

I had been discussing a dealer swap with a couple of dealers because it seems so hard to find the Sandstone EX, but in the end I went with another contact who called to tell me he had just gotten one in. Ended up with $500 off MSRP. I worked with Jared Stika at San Leandro Honda, who was low-key and very professional (I know some have made complaints about San Leandro, but I can only guess they were dealing with the regular sales team because Jared was great).

In fairness to the other two fleet managers I had been working with, but I didn't have the patience to wait on a dealer swap with, I should mention who they were: Vince Kay at Stevens Creek and Hal Engelter at Los Gatos. Since I didn't close a deal with either I can't guarantee anything, but they both seemed pretty low-key without the typical salesman "feel."

l5tc

I'm still kicking myself. the car came in - I meant to do the 60 month purchase - but forgot - and I leased for 42 months. I estimate the interest on the lease is at least 7.00 probably more. And, you have to lease from Honda. I spoke to several good lease brokers and they can't make money on the Honda's so they won't do it. And because of the short amount of cars you can bring in all the information about competitive lease prices you want and the puchase manager at the dealership will just laugh.

(Although if gas keeps going up in price the way it is - I'll turn the sucker back in with bells on my toes. )

And of course Brian125 is right about have the lease fall under the warranty - BUT, leasing companies are making the fee on the 36 month way worse than the 39 or 42 so it's not really worth it.

brian125

one of my co workers tells me he wanted to lease a pilot. they work out all the numbers and the price is $440.00 a month. about 4 weeks later he gets a call to come in and pick up his pilot. when he gets to the dealership his pilot has all the bells and whistle's on it. the salesman tells him take it or leave it this is the way it came in from the factory. you talk about a slimy move. paragon honda in queens new york good job guys.

pilotbuyer

I posted in message #697 on January 21 that I had made a deal with Marc Douglas at Waikem Honda in Massillion, OH for a Pilot EX (cloth) at $900 over invoice plus a ~$25 title fee and a $50 documentary fee. I promised I would post my experiences again when I had taken delivery.

I took delivery in Massillon on 2/21 as agreed. The car had been waiting for me for a couple of weeks until I could arrange my travel schedule to drop into Massillon.

It was a pleasure to finally meet Marc. I did a brief inspection and a test drive. Then we closed the deal exactly as agreed over to phone, Marc went over the key features of the vehicle, and I headed West driving back to my home in Colorado. The shipping options I explored turned out not to be cost effective for me.

My "off the lot" price was $27,767.77, ~$2,213 less than the best deal I could make in Colorado even if I was willing to wait 2 - 3 months for the car to show up. There were no unexpected dealings at all. The closing was straightforward and simple, just as we agreed by e-mail and phone...a real pleasure. Taxes will be paid when I register in Colorado.

The drive home was a total of 1417 miles of pleasant freeway driving. I loved the way the Pilot handled and all the other excellent features I used on the drive. I stopped for a night in Des Moines, IA, 12 hours after leaving Massillon. The next day, I drove for another 10 hours to reach home.

My average speed calculated out to 64.4 mpg including gas and food stops. I used a total of 70.069 gallons of gas for an overall efficiency of 20.2 mpg...not bad considering my average speed was significantly over 55 mph. I had several "Books-on-CD" and CDs of music with me, so it was a good chance to study and get caught up on my reading.

I've had no problems at all with my Pilot, with the single exception that the Homelink system refuses to program for opening my garage door. I have reviewed the manual and Homelink web site in detail and found no information there that made any difference. I have sent an e-mail to Homelink describing the problem and asking for help.

Many thanks again to dcwayne and atalalay for posting their experiences.

clpurnell

If you have rolling codes you might need to push a button on the garage door opener and the homelink in the car. This is usually a 2 person job enjoy the Pilot!

sjwsmw

Congrats Justin!

FYI-I had a similar problem with my homelink. Then went to the website and then tried this and it worked. My opener is a new model and has a 'leaning' feature to program remotes and things such as this. And it worked!!

Try this:
You must go through the standard setup with the existing remote right up to the button.
Then park you Pilot in the garage and find that button(mine is red/square), press it once.
Then you have 30 seconds to get in the car and press the Homelink button you want to program. Depress it once, release, then again, then release. The door should then shut.

Good luck.

flpilot1

We bought our Pilot EX-L, Sagebrush from Richard Gordon of Tampa Hondaland. I paid exactly $29,365. ($800. over invoice + $300. out of stock fee and $349. "Doc" fee). The finance guy offered 3.29%APR. Everything was very smooth right down to the free meguiare car care kit!

My wife (and I ) love our new Honda Pilot!! Many thanks to the frequent posters on this board as it helped me realize that I would not have to settle for MSRP at my local Honda dealers! I made the 2 hour trip up to Tampa and saved a lot of cash!

digbyny

We are looking for an EX with cloth too. Was the off the lot price of $27,767 with or without options? Since you took delivery of the Pilot a month after you made the deal with Waikem, did you have to pay up front or upon pickup of the vehicle?

Should we ask to talk specifically to Marc?

Thanks

pilotbuyer

I got my EX cloth with no options, so my price did not include any options. I wanted my options installed by a dealership local to me so that I could take the vehicle back there for adjustments if needed. My reasoning is as follows:

The vehicle itself comes from Honda. If something goes wrong with it, then Honda (via any of its dealerships nationwide) would stand behind it and fix it. The situation with options could be a little different in practice, because I would expect the dealership that did the work to be the first line of recourse if I need something adjusted or corrected. If I got Waikem to install the options I wanted, and something needed adjustment or fixing later and I took it to my local dealership in Colorado, then I think there might be a strong chance of "fingerpointing" and I wanted to avoid that.

I paid a $1,000 refundable deposit with my visa card to hold the vehicle, and the balance in a cashiers check when I picked it up.

I have no experience with any of the other sales staff at Waikem, so don't know what to expect with them. Marc is the designated "Internet Sales Rep" so that's why I dealt with him directly by e-mail and phone, and because others on this site had spoken highly of him.

Good luck - Justin

mjfchan

I'm interested in buying a Pilot EX-L. I live in the Minneapolis area and would be interested in what people are paying in Minnesota or upper midwest states. Any info would be appreciated.

digbyny

Thanks for the info. Very good reasoning behind not getting the options at the time you purchased your vehicle. I hadn't thought about that.

Thanks for the info.

pilotexl

I've been on the search for a pilot ex with leather in black or silver with no options. After reading posts on this site I realized that I could try to get the pilot a couple of hundred dollars over invoice. However, I was completely surprised that I was able to get the price down so close to invoice after a few days of emailing to various dealers in my state and out of state.

Here are the offers received:
In Ohio: the best offer was 28, 316 plus ttl plus a $50 doc fee and the next was 28, 416 plus ttl etc.

In Texas: the lowest offer was 28, 640 plus ttl and fees

we used the above out of state prices to negotiate with dealers in our region and was able to get the price down to 28, 590 plus ttl and doc fees.

THE BEST OFFER was for 28,000 plus ttl (this is about a 5 hour drive) = catch was there is no delivery so you would have to make trip to the dealership.

after this, we've decided to wait a few weeks until we can get the prices close to our home near invoice. with the possibility of war looming, we think the prices will continue to drop.

todd48

Did those dealers know you were in another state? What state are you in? I wonder if this strategy will work here in Oregon?

Do you think you could share the names of the dealerships you emailed? Thanks!

bbug1

"with the possibility of war looming, we think the prices will continue to drop."
************************************

Down go car prices (maybe), and up, up, up, go the gas prices (at least here in So Cal)

pilotexl

We are in Tennessee and the dealers from out of state knew we were out of state and the dealers from in state knew we were in state.

Here are the dealers we dealt with:

In Texas: Gillman Honda (they will ship cars)

In Indiana: Ed Martin Honda (they do not ship cars)

In Ohio: Park Honda (will not ship cars), I accidentally deleted the other honda dealership here but the Ohio ones seem to have some great prices.

In Kentucky: Sim Fryson Honda (will not ship cars)

kevin114

I just bought a New 2003 Honda Pilot LX at Bob Howard Honda in Oklahoma City, Ok.
http://www.bobhowardhonda.com/

Honda LX
$25,119 (Thats $2241 off of MSRP)and
456 over envoice
I added these assessories
Leather $850
Tinted windows $119
Roof rack $313
Splash guards $50
and a $149 Processing fee
Grand total of $26,600 Out the door (Tax and title excluded)
The salesmen name was Mat Brown and he said he could sell them all day at that price. If you buy one from him give him my name. They can also ship or drive them to you for a fee.
Kevin Brierton

pilotexl

How did you get the leather and tinted windows as an option in the LX? I didn't know that was available for the LX.

kevin114

There is a leather installation company in OKC that all the Oklahoma city auto dealers use. They guarantee the leather also. The Honda EX L cars come with leather from the Honda factory. However if you want leather the dealer can have it installed. I have talked to several dealers that use this leather company and they say its leather is much better than what comes with a factory car. Also all the dealers in OKC can tint the windows in house. Hope this helps.

avillanu

Kevin,

Did you have to wait for Delivery (how long?) or did Bob Howard have Pilots on the Lot ? I live in south OKC and will be looking very soon for a Pilot.

Thanks in Advance

kevin114

They didn't have one on the lot. They traded from another dealership somewhere. It'll take about four days to get. Two days to have it trucked in and a few days to put the leather in. I should have it by thursday or it could be sooner. They can get any color trucked in. Depending on how far they have to truck it will depend on how long it'll take to get. Two days at the most though.
Now. You can only get this good deal on an LX model. The EX's are selling like crazy and dealers are not discounting alot. However LX's are not selling as fast and you can get a good deal on them.

atalalay

If the dealer or someone else installs the leather, what happens to the side air bags that are installed into the front seats? Kevin, how much leather are you getting for $850? Fronts? 2nd Row? 3rd row too?

kevin114

The side air bags will be taken into account when they install the leather. It'll look and work just like the leather from the Honda factory. AS for coverage. ALL the seats and side door panels will be covered. I know that sounds cheap for this leather but factory leather from Honda is expensive and its not as good. I've read that the honda factory leather sags down.

crn236

Wow, I can't believe the prices I'm reading on here! We can't get the dealers to budge off the MSRP of 30,980, for the EX-L. Anyone have any luck in the NE, getting a deal? Also, anyone know if you you must have the trailer package (cooler etc), when needing just a hitch? If you do just get the hitch,does it void the transmission (Honda) warranty?

hondaguy9

I just mentioned this to someone else. Yes, there is def. a tow "package" If you are going to be towing anything with your Pilot, you need to add the package to ensure your warranty. The package includes everything from the wiring harness to the power steering and transmission coolers. If you need the hitch by itself, it can be bought seperate. This would be ONLY if you need to attach like a bike rack or something like that, but any towing requires the package or you can lose your warranty. As far as price, I am in the NE area and right now, yes we are at MSRP. I have heard some dealers west of here and south discounting, maybe if you don't mind traveling, you could save some money by going out of the area. I hope that helps a little.

medster

hey pilotexl

what dealer did you get the $28,000 price from

pilotexl

we got the $28,000 deal for the EX L Pilot from Sim Fryson Motor Cars in Ashland, Kentucky. The deal runs out on us tomorrow, Wednesday.

The deal was unbelievable but the glitch was that you had to pick it up and we were not too excited about driving 5 hours to do it.

Anyways, we were going to wait it out to see if the Tennessee dealers would go down and decided to just go ahead with the best deal we got in Tennessee.

We just bought a Silver Pilot EX with Leather from Reddell Honda in Murfreesboro, TN for 28,590 plus t,t,l. considering that this was only a 20 minute drive for us, we found it a good deal and are satisfied.

phillyguy1

I live in Philly and the dealers here aren't coming off the MSRP much if it all. These vehicles are scarce especially in Sandstone Metallic with cloth interior.

godi

Anybody got good deals in Cincinnati, OHIO. Most dealers are offering $1000 below MSRP for vehicles in stock.

medster

what was your salesman's name at Fryson. I am going to call and see if I can get the same deal.I live in STL and would be willing to go the distance if they would give me the same deal @$28,00 for a EXL.looking for Sandstone or Hav. Blue.
Thanks

pilotexl

I don't have the correct spelling but I believe his name is Jim Branham (or Jim

hope it works out.

atalalay

Consider yourself lucky that you live in OH. It seems that the OH going rate is now just a few of hundred over invoice. Get some quotes from Internet sales folks at other OH dealers mentioned above: Park Honda, Waikem, etc. and then get your local dealer to beat or match the price. If all else fails go pick it up or have it delivered to your door... That is what the rest of us (who live outside OH) have done. Best of Luck!

medster

Talked to Jim Branham - He will give me a EXL for the same price ($28,000). This is only about $80 dollars over invoice! What was your reasoning for not following thru with the purchase. Do you feel this is a bonafide deal or does something smell?
I would hate to drive 5 hours and it turn out to be a disaster.You mentioned that your deal ran out on WED.What did you mean by that. Can you give me any insight on what to look for in the contract as an out-of-state buyer.The dealers in STL laughed at me when I told them I could buy it for this price. They said go ahead, there will be a catch..no one can sell them at that price.The best in STL is $30,000
Thanks for all your help

brian125

i would steer cleer from any honda dealer telling you that for 80 dollars over invoice we will sell. i say you are setting yourself up for trouble. read prevous post for 800 to 1000 over invoice you can find/ order a pilot in ohio. i too agree what atalaly' had said in prevous post. i also bought my pilot in ohio and had it shipped to n.y.c. 700 over invoice 500 to del/flatbed 19.75 temp tags. thats it. i bought my pilot at hidy honda in OH. SINCE I BOUGHT HIDY FEELS MY PRICE IS TO LOW FOR THEM TO SELL.i think hidy wants 1000 over invoice. still a good deal but there are better deals still on the table from local ohio dealers from $500 to 1000 over invoice. to all, find your best deal and pull the trigger. make every dealer in your area who wants msrp + pay for there greed.

ehondajim

Jim Branham here, I assure you there are no hidden charges, or gimmicks. As with any great deal of course I could not hold it forever and he would not give me a definite answer. I am sure this will not be the case with medster.

marklud

I've become very disillusioned and disheartened in trying to purchase a Pilot in northeast Pa. I've been to 4 dealerships in a 100 mile radius my home and have only have been met with smugness and contempt at the attempt to offer anything but MSRP on this vehicle. I've come to the conclusion that these dealers are all conceited snobs and I hope, if gas prices do go above the $2 per gallon they can all eat their words and maybe the vehicles they try to rip the general public off with! If anyone has some advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

pilotexl

The 28,000 was really tempting for us, but we just didn't feel comfortable driving that far. Plus we found a deal near us that we were pretty happy with and didn't have to drive out too far. The deal went out on Wednesday b/c that was how long he said he would leave that offer for us.

We just picked up our pilot today and love it and don't regret our decision to buy here in Tennessee.

good luck in your pilot search.

pilotexl

one more thing . . .

don't pay attention to the dealers in St. louis. All the Nashville Dealers were exactly the same and wouldn't budge from MSRP and when we tried to deal with them with the offers they kept saying that there would be some sort of hitch.

We got our pilot in Murfreesboro for 28,590 and there was no hitch. The whole transaction was smooth.

The other deals we got were in Ohio, Indianapolis, Texas, and Kentucky as I listed above. These prices ranged from 28K to 28,690.

nepaman

NE PA dealers don't budge. Should you give them business?
I called Bianchi in Erie and got my silver Pilot EXL NAV for 31K. That is $1980 below sticker. Would have got it for $500 less if I went to Cleveland Ohio but I decided to stay within PA. Very happy with the car. It had 142 miles on the odometer because it was driven in from Pittsburgh which is 128 miles away. I would have preferred 10 - 20 miles on the odometer but then I would have to wait for a shipment. I do have some problems. The leather seat sags. The starting can be a problem about 1 out of 10 times even with foot on the brake and keys in for 15 seconds. Northeast PA is not in the navigation systems database. My home in street in the Lehigh Valley doesn't exist though the highways exist. It is reassuring to know that the system works well in NYC.
Overall I am very impressed with the vehicle. Much better than the mitsubishi montero. No problem getting into the highways (accelerating).

reboulder

Hi -

I'm 64 YO and have only bought one other new car, back in '88 (you should have SEEN my '39 Plymouth coupe!).

I've done a lot of online research and, for me, it appears that the Honda Pilot is my best choice. I've heard that they are selling for up to $2K over MSRP.

Really true? I'm looking for a good/reasonable deal. All purchase suggestions, referrals, tips welcomed!

atalalay

Jim, I am sure many of us here are impressed with your price of $28k for an EX-L. However, is there a reason why you make these "limited time" offers? Most of us who are on this board have opted out of conventional dealership visits to avoid these exact tactics. Since you are HERE and selling items that most folks are buying, can you tell us your current price(s).

medster

Jim @ Sim Fryson Motors in Ashland, KY will sell me the car for $28.4 with cargo cover,rear mud guards,pin stripe and all other fees. He does not have the Sandstone so he will need to do a dealer trade. I think the deal with pilotexl was for a limited time because they did not give him a deposit. they could not make up there minds.If I give a deposit this am the deal is solid.Just need to wait while he finds the car. Any advice is much appreciated.