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Comments
Congrats on your new Pilot and your baby.
I also received an email from Carr's honda and was given the same offer. I was wondering if you paid Illinois tax....since you reside in another state?
Actually, from your posts that I recall reading, you are a straight shooter and don't have (much of) a hidden agenda. And I would agree that the savings should be significant enough to warrant shipping costs and the hassles of potential problems. On the other hand, I just got an Acura TL (6-speed Nav) for $2,100 off MSRP from a dealer 375 miles away after being told by no less than 5 DC area Acura dealers that MSRP or $500 off was the best they could do. Fortunately, the dealer I went to is in my former hometown and I had an exceptionally easy purchase process. Regarding Pilots, even the local Honda dealer that gave me a good deal on an S2000 a couple of years ago claimed they couldn't come within $1,000 of the $500 over invoice available in Ohio. They did warmly and sincerely invite me to come to them for service, which, based upon my S2000 experience, is the best in the area. They continue to get my referral business; the local Acura dealerships do not.
So, while I'm not inclined to ship a car halfway across the country, traveling 300-500 miles (1-2 day trip) to save upwards of $1,000 to $1,500 isn't a bad option if you happen to live in an area where Honda prices are high. And, thanks to the internet and Edmunds, we are all smarter consumers.
If it were any other weekend I might go ahead and pick it up and spend the weekend in LA, but since its Father's day there was no way to do that. The dealer I had the best So Cal price was from Fladeboe (sp?) in Irvine. They were 30,950, but did not have the red I was looking for. Goudy was $31, 258, which is what I am getting through the broker. Carr's Honda in Chicago was $30,059, but freight was about $900, so that put them pretty close, but a lot more hassle with the shipping etc. Some may be willing to deal with it, but it was too small a savings for me.
The best local price I got was $31,800 and that was after a lot of back and forth...
This is a free market economy and smart buyers should not let the local dealerships hold them to ransom while there are better deals available in other states.
Sent out for internet quotes on May 30th. Received about 10. The highest was $2,500 over invoice ($30,860.00) and the lowest was from somewhere in Fresno $1000.00 over invoice, but they didn't have one in stock.
Los Gatos Honda (South Bay Honda) then matched their price at $1000.00 over invoice, but Steven's Creek in San Jose said they would beat anyone's by $100.00. I personally don't like that tactic because they're not working for the sale. I went to Los Gatos, sat down and said to give it to me for $900 over invoice or I would drive the six miles and get it at Steven's Creek. We made the deal!
It takes a lot of dealing, but it is worth it. I was even going to have it shipped from Carrs Honda in Chicago (they offered the car AT invoice). But, after shipping charges of about $800, I decided to pay the extra $100 and get it at a local dealership.
eric
I think for the higher-end Pilots,ie. EX-L/NAVI with few more accessories,the Carrs Honda might ship it free to the buyer.Worth giving it a shot by someone.
$800 shipping from Chicago is not a bad deal.
But the dealer might ship it free if you order the high-end pilots with few fitted accessories.Worth a try for those seeking Navi Pilot with bells and whistles.
Eric, were you there with a preg wife? Might have been you...
They did the usual you HAVE to have the ext warranty and Perma Plate. I said no thanks but she went through the song and dance anyway. I have had better and worse. She felt compelled to throw in personal anecdotes on how she saved SO MUCH by having the warantty. They wanted $1500 for the same thing you can get at hondacare.org for $800-$900. Oh well, guess thats the way it goes.
I am going to pick it up today. Was supposed to be there by noon, but still waiting the "heads up " call. Hopefully it will be soon.
:-)
I live in Kentucky. I would like to buy now...but can wait until a dealership has exactly what I want (i.e. color). Carr's Honda only had black and silver in the EXL with nav.
Did you pay your state tax at Carr's Honda? ...or did you have to go back to your state and pay tax when you registered your car in your state?
thanks.
A lot of bad things can happen. The freight companies will blame the dealer and visa-versa.
My point is...I see people going to extremes in an attempt to "save" a few dollars and a lot of times it just isn't worth it!
IT's always the prevailing market that will determine pricing. I've never understood it when a dealer will cheap sell a hot selling short supply car when there is no need to. Makes no sense especially when the sale is to an out of town or out of state buyers who could care less about anything than price. That buyer will never use their service department and will neverr be loyal. Next time they are in the market, the price shopping will begin again.
Just makes no sense....back to lurking...
Why would a dealer sell a car they can't keep in stock for invoice?
I'm not saying it's never happened but it sure makes zero sense.
Like selling your 500,000 house for 300,000 just to be nice or something.
Back to lurking...really.
As for why some dealers sell cars near invoice that they can't keep in stock ... I believe that most, if not all of the major auto manufacturers offer dealers incentives based on sales volumes. Some dealers have apparently developed business models that leverage these incentives along with the low overhead associated with high volume and internet sales. These dealers seem to believe that over the long term they will be successful. I have no reason to doubt them, and as a consumer, I don't really care why some dealers sell high demand Pilots for a much lower price than others. I just want to find out who is selling for the lower price and try to take advantage of it.
Sharing information on buying experiences and prices paid is what this board is all about. Thanks to everyone who is contributing.
Over the past 3 days, here's what I've gathered...
Community Honda wanted 29,500 but price matched 29,100
Honda of Lisle $1200 over invoice
Schaumburg Honda $29760
Grand Honda $29100
Jacobs Twin $29229
Joliet Honda $1000 over invoice
Then I found this thread and learned about two other dealers with good quotes:
Windy City $700 over invoice
Carr's Invoice straight up
We have an appointment on Friday to go buy at Carr's, I'll let everyone know how it goes. No one in Chicago will go near Carr's quote, and frankly several sounded disgusted that I'd even ask them something like "match near invoice".
Also, the others have mentioned "bait and switch" and loaded up on accessories, but I'm ready to walk if something like that occurs.
I'm real eager for Friday to get here to find out what's really going on... I really hope that Anna is not a fictitious character and her experience was real; I guess I'm just too much of a pessimist...
We are all awaiting your experience eagerly.
I too received an 'at invoice' quote from Carrs Honda and is a genuine quote, in writing with complete breakup of various fees.See my post few days ago,I have cut and pasteded it, verbattim.
We should be encouraging dealers who sell by volume and do not gouge buyers on individual sales,like the local dealers.
Let "isellhonda" eat his HAT ,if he does not believe the quotes mentioned on this forum. There are some genuinely good volume sales dealers and it our duty on this forum to encourage them.
I live in NJ and find the cheapest deal for EX would be $28450 (with destination charge) + $160 doc fee.
Is there any good dealer in NJ/NY/PA or even close-by states? Or getting invoice price is just a dream here?
Thanks a lot!
I wish our store could buy his entire inventory for that price!
I agree with you that it would make no sense to sell your one $500,000 house for $300,000, if you actually have a buyer with $500,000 at hand.
But, for goodness sakes, a Pilot isn't beach front property. Nor is it a limited edition M3 or M5, AMG, Porsche or Ferrari. Hell, it isn't even a limited edition Honda S2000. The Pilot is, in essence, a commodity. The fact that you may not get allocated as many Pilots as you could possibly sell may be true. But there are a LOT of dealerships out there, especially in PA and Ohio, that seem to be anxious to pump up their volume and are willing to discount to do it. After all, a Pilot sold at invoice still nets the dealer $1,000 and helps get them better future allocations. At $500 over invoice, the $1,500 gross profit is only 40% less than trying to hold out for $1,500 over invoice. Wouldn't you rather sell 10 vehicles at $1,500 than 2-3 at $2,500 gross profit, assuming you could get them (which, apparantly the PA/Ohio dealers can).
As best I can tell, most dealers in high demand areas behave as if the average buyer is ignorant of what market pricing is outside of their immediate area. They may be right, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to build a business model around the assumption that this will remain the case. I may build a business model around charging enough more than the distant dealership to justify my higher real estate costs, but no so much so that I chase the customer away. And, in my opinion, anything over a $500 premium for a 1 day trip is risky.
As for "loyalty", you may be the exception, but I can't recall ever buying a new car in which the sales person was still at the dealership 12-18 months later. Not my S2000, Maxima, Trooper, Supra, Acura Integra, .... Not even the sales managers have lasted much beyond 12 months. I actually expect that to be different with my new Acura TL. The dealership (Acura/Mercedes) is small, high integrity and they have very high customer and employee loyalty. I know that if fate treats me well, I'll get my AMG E55 from them, and be happy to pay MSRP, because that's what the market dictates. But that's clearly not the case for a Honda Pilot.
P.S. For what it's worth, I've had the same Nissan service manager for nearly 10 years and my Honda service manager has been in his position for 7 years. That's where I put my trust and loyalty.
Mr.isellhonda is here only as a 'nuisance/troll' . Best to ignore him completely.
Maybe he is really worried his local 'captive' buyers will desert him once they read this thread.
Gouging buyers for low availability/high demand vehicles, is a game of diminishing returns ,which he has sadly realised to his misfortune !!
Can you give me the sales rep.'s name? Did you go through their Internet sales department? Your price looks so good. I am going to try a shot with them.
Thanks.
tidester, host
Anna here! I can assure that I am not a ficticious character and that my experience was real. I must say, if people are on here making up stories as good as mine, they should think of switching careers. I have no doubt that you will leave Saturday with a new vehicle. I asked so many questions regarding anything and everything you could possibly think of. He was very honest and very professional. In fact, I told him all of the options I wanted and he put them on a new vehicle, with 15 miles on the odometer, before we even arrived. He wasn't going to put them on until we decided but I guess we gave him the impression we were serious buyers and if all went well, we were outta there with a new Pilot EXL. We are very happy. Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.
Don't take the scepticism too seriously.The car dealers are so disreputed that when once in a while a decent one comes along,people find it hard to believe !!
Even another dealer like 'isellhondas' cannot believe that there is a good apple amongst them
P.S. Will all those who have had good deals be kind enough to specify the deals with figures rather than just mentioning the 'good' deal so that others can take advantage of it?.Please mention dealers name and address also and not the salesperson.Thanks (:-))
A dealer, however does not "net" 1000.00 if the sell a Pilot at invoice. Big difference between "gross" and "net". It takes a lot of dollars to open the doors and to sell every car.
I base my experience and comments on my marketplace. I realize what is in short supply and high demand here may not be the case elsewhere.
When I say I can't for the life of me understand why a dealer would cheap sell a hot car in short supply it's because of my perspective from where I stand.
And I'm well aware of the fact my store is an exception to the rule.
Same owner since we opened 23 years ago. I'm in my ninth year. We have the same GM, GSM and UCM that we had when I started. The majority of my sales are to repeat and referral customers.
Carry on...
I think I still have the e-mail quote I got from Carrs Honda.
I can say from my personal experience it was a pleasant sales experience buying a car at a great deal from carrs.
tidester, host
You see, for those dealers who do not want to provide a good price, they have no other answer than to put fear into the buyer of possible damage or not a real quote or some other bogus claim so as not to loose business. They will try to make you believe whatever not to loose that extra $1,500 (or more) until they are forced to drop their prices because of true market competition. AND if we continue to buy from them at their inflated prices, they have no reason to drop the price.
This board is an open forum. Don't you think that if the prices from Carrs & Mike Pruitt were not true that someone who got burned would come back to this forum and tell us?? How many messages like that have you read?? Instead, it's just the opposite - everyone stating how well they were treated and how great the transaction went. Besides, what real risk is there to ask for a signed quote from these dealers who we've already heard great things about?
Scott
Great forum!
Wish I found it yesterday!
So, today I got a price of $30,800 (destination included) for an EX L w/DVD at 3.89% over 60 months at Rt 23 Honda (Pompton Plains, NJ). Are there any other Pilot buyers out there from my area? I'm curious to see if anyone's done better (or worse) in Northern NJ... Somehow I managed to carry over my "today only deal" until Monday...
Thanks in advance!
Can anybody share their buying experience in the NW area.
I've asked for quotes from dealers. Still waiting to hear from them.
Appreciate any help
I did not buy a new car yet. I's hard to let go of the $ But If I do I know what to pay. I think some of the posts like the post from Isellhonda's mention how the poor car dealers do not make much$ when they discount ect.If the dealers don't make much? Why do I see local New car dealerships with huge new buildings and after a few years some of the owners have 2 to 5 new dealerships I know of one local dealer that has a full time staff just to operate his ranch. Great to see all these buyers work the dealers to a good price. Don't worry these car sale's people are crying in your face and the sale's staff may not be getting rich but the dealerships owners are dancing to the bank.
The internet quotes route has been disappointing here as the quotes hover in the $32k range. LA, however, was much better and I think Pasadena Honda was the best at around $31,250. The internet managers do not appear to have as much latitude up here as they do in LA. If looking in the long term, LA will yield a better price.
However, I dropped by El Cerrito Honda (off I-80) on Reagan Mourning day and I was surprised that they had at least 20 Pilots on the lot. In contrast, a few weeks earlier, Honda of Oakland and San Leandro Honda had 3 and 2 respectively. I drove a black NAV (as I had not driven one before). The salesperson called me last week and quoted me a teaser $31,800. Considering the # of Pilots on the lot there, you may want to try heading there this weekend (end of month!) and negotiating a price a few hundred over invoice.
I'd do it myself but I just can't make up my mind whether I really want to get rid of my '01 Montero that will be paid off in a couple of years. The gas mileage is killing us and we have started commuting to the city in our Outback. But it's really hard to justify starting over again on car payments.
I had to say I was so skeptical about this MP Honda offer, I actually did some cross checking of the people who made the posting to see whether their words are all consistent.
When I was asked to make the deposit with my credit card, I was really really nervous. I called the dealer (with dealer's official phone number) to make sure the contact person was actually working there.
A few days later, I went to pick up my car. He got the dealer exchange to get me the color I wanted. I was so impressed. He spent a lot of time explaining and demo the features of the car. I would say it was totally unnecessary for him since he already got my deal, but his willingness to spend time with me on the car really warm my heart.
In contrast, the local Immke Honda is really a blood sucker, both its sale and service department.
Four months ago, I was asked to do a timing belt change for my car when I sent my car to Immke Honda to check some noise. My car ended up breaking in the road for failed Alternator two weeks later. Basically, I was asked for unnecessary service while they are not able to find out the real problem.
Maybe good if you want to save the environment.I don't think it will affect pilot sales.2004 pilot prices will drop once the 2005 pilots hit the lots.
The Toyota Highlander hybrid will be an interesting vehicle to check out. But it's significantly smaller than the Pilot inside. In addition, it doesn't have as high of quality of fit and finish (in my opinion) and Toyota continues to employ nickle and diming techniques relative to pricing everything but the steering itself wheel as an option (and, actually, even it is if you want a leather one with integrated audio controls).
Regardless of my personal preference of Honda over Toyota, I would think the majority of buyers would simply find the Highlander too small to seriously compete with the Pilot/MDX as a 7-8 passenger vehicle. I also think the hybrid technology, while very interesting and promising, is a bit unproven relative to how it will hold up in the long term, expecially in an SUV application.
It's a different price point altogether, but if Lexus upgraded their GX470 with a diesel engine similar to the Mercedes E320 CDI (369 ft. lbs, 37 mpg highway), I'd be all over it. The GX is still smaller than the Pilot/MDX, but it's a little closer than the Highlander and eliminates my alergies to Toyota plastic.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S