What right do you have in telling me to post or not post? As your name suggests, you probably wouldn't believe my story even if I gave you all the details...which I did. Why don't you at least write something useful rather just putting up two lines of wasted space on this forum...
I say if you have nothing to contribue, just stay out...at least you won't look like a cynic...oops you are one!
First, I'd like to thank everyone on this forum who pointed us in the direction of Mike Pruitt Honda in Akron. Thanks to all of you, we got exactly the Pilot EX-L we wanted at a fantastic price.
Second, I highly recommend MP to anyone living within, say, 500 miles or so of Akron. After frustrating visits to several local dealerships in the Philadelphia area, I contacted MP through their website. Our Pilot was delivered to our driveway less than 36 hrs later.
Even after delivery fees we paid about $400 under invoice, and about $1200 less than the best deal we had found near Philadelphia. The entire staff at MP was extremely professional, direct and attentive.
For those who have asked about delivery costs, they calculate it entirely on the mileage involved, and deliver the car in an enclosed trailer right to your front door. They also offered to pick us up at the airport if we wanted to save on the shipping. So depending on how far you live from Akron or how much time you have, you could easily pick it up and drive home.
What's not to like: great price, great service and home delivery.
I also bought my Honda Pilot in Ohio last year at $100 over invoice which was a great deal at that time. I'm from NY and since then I already have brought my pilot for service in one of the Honda service center here in NY ( PS Honda ), and I have no problem what so ever. They were very curtious and professional. I will probably also buy a 2005 Honda Odyssey in Ohio. Nobody can match there price qoutes over there. Hope this answers your question.
Nice to know that PS Honda gave you good service although you didn't purchase from there. I live near PS Honda and probably would bring the car there also.
I plan on picking up the car from MP. Did you pick up also? How does the interstate registration or temporary registration work? Will the dealer take care of that?
Has anyone out of state leased a car from MP Honda? I live in NY and was told there may be a problem with leasing. BTW, they quoted me $600 below invoice on a 04 EXL-DVD with an additional $425 to ship to Long Island.
I did my research on edmunds.com, checked accessories with other websites, read the posts here constantly and purchased a sagebrush EXL today with all the research in hand. Including the following: Window Visors, Crossbars for roof rack, Foglights, chrome bumper garnish, chrome mirror covers, front bra (hood only), bumper trim, rear backsplash, and chrome exhaust, I purchased it at $32k. Given all the "stuff" I added, I think I got a pretty good deal after doing all the match on adding the extras and labor involved since not too many dealers have fully loaded Pilots. The sagebrush color I think is pretty cool.
Just bought a white EX-L at Honda of Covington (Louisiana). After two days and about 30 emails to 7 different dealers, I settled on invoice plus a free cargo mat. Some dealers would not budge from 300 over invoice. I probably could have gone 100 lower by driving 70 miles round trip but it wasn't worth it.
I could never get MP to respond. I tried twice and gave him 5 days. I have no idea what the deal was. Maybe I'm too far to ship to???
I emailed 10-15 dealers looking for the lowest price. The second best deal was $18 under invoice. The best deal came from Mike Pruitt Honda in Akron. I just picked up my Black EXL-DVD for $1000 under invoice which came to $28,608.78. I ended up adding the side steps for $504, All Season Floor mats for $114, Fog Lights $499, Lower Trim $469, rear mud flaps $71, exhaust finisher $117. All prices include labor. I was out the door for just under $30,400 with accessories
My old honda Civic has body problems but can run. I plan to buy a honda pilot. I was told the 05 model on the way. What price difference between the current 04 pilot and the future 05 pilot can be? I think if the difference is small,I can buy 04 model now. What's price trend of the two model in one or two months? Thanks for any suggestion.
I was debating the same issue and decided to buy a 2004 because of the huge savings. The 2004 can be purchased at this time of the year for somewhere around invoice price (depends on which state you'll be purching in). I just bought my 2004 Honda Pilot yesterday in Massachusetts for $181 above invoice. I had a quote for invoice in NJ but figured it wasn't worth that much to drive there to get the car. I got a 2004 EXL with DVD, crossbars and splash guards for $30,154. By the time I paid for registration and taxes my total was $31,979.70. I thought that was a pretty good deal considering it's still below MSRP even after taxes. The MSRP for the 2005 Pilot is above $34,000 and the dealer made it very clear that there would be no negotiating on a 2005 because of the heavy demand that always comes with the new year vehicles. There will be so few changes in the 2005 that it just made no sense to me to buy a 2005 when I could save so much money going for the 2004 - same car, better price. Good luck in your decision!
I'd expect demand to taper rapidly for the 2005s once they've been shipping a few months. If you can hold out to the thanksgiving to xmas period, you could probably get a good deal on the 2005 - this is a slow period for car sales.
What is your source indicating the MSRP of the 2005 Pilot is above $34,000?
As for the "so few changes" for 2005, I guess that's subjective, but I consider side curtain airbags, stability control, 6-disk in dash changer, upgraded navigation system, XM satellite radio, moonroof, added horsepower, etc. quite significant. These represent more than the total cummulative improvements than have been introduced in either the Pilot or MDX since the two vehicles were first brought to market.
I've got a $750 over invoice deal awaiting me on a 2005, as soon as the official pricing is released. I'd have taken a 2005 over 2004 at anything less than a $2,000 premium just to save a years worth of depreciation. With all the improvements, I think the 2005 will be the better long term value, but for those that want the lowest possible cost, the 2004 is a good choice.
Just bought a 2004 Honda Pilot EX-L for a little under invoice at DCH Kay Honda in Eatontown, NJ. I had a very good experience, there prices were about $1200 less than the next best deal I could find in NJ, and they have alot of 2004 Pilot EX-L inventory (compared to none at Princeton Honda). Definitely recommended, good luck.
i'm going completely off memory here, but I believe I've read good things about a dealer called Gunn Honda in Texas. Not even sure where, though. So I may be of zero help, but just in case, there you have it.
'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
Thank you all for your help. I just picked up my black EXL-DVD from Mike Pruitt Honda also. Price was $1000 under invoice at $26,608.78. Best deal around. Had a good deal from DCH Academy (since my partners were planning on leasing 4 Elements) but the best was $29,900.
Sales experience was great. Greeted me at the airport and was out of the dealer in 1 hour. They even packed me a cooler with lunch for the ride home.
I just got a quote from Bankston Honda in DFW for an EX-L with DVD for $29,800. Haven't done any negotiating but that was the first quote they sent me.
Based on all the positive feedback on this forum, I too decided to buy a 2004 Pilot from MP Honda & have it shipped to me in MD. Everything went great until the day of delivery. This past Sunday morning the car arrived and we immediately noticed a small but quite visible paint chip on the driver's door. The MP employee who had brought the vehicle apologized and then as he examined the car realized that the car was not properly cleaned . He asked for Windex & used his cloth to remove bug debris & the like that he says is typical from the journey to the dealership. He was embarrassed & said that the car was not properly prepared. As it was a Sunday morning & the dealership was not open, he called the GM at home & he agreed to pay for the repair - we'd have to take it either to a local Honda dealer or body shop. When we went inside to do the paperwork we soon discovered that my name was spelled incorrectly (a concern for the title), they had the year of the Pilot as 1904 vs. 2004 on some of the paperwork and the bill of sale didn't print properly & items were not in the proper area, etc. We couldn't believe the sloppiness of the paperwork & that nobody checked it out before it was sent down with the driver. (I had verified all the info on a faxed version of the bill of sale 3 days prior, so I had no reason to think the info would be wrong.) The GM was not reachable & we felt at this point we wanted MP Honda to fix the paint chip & correct the paperwork before proceeding. So the driver loaded it back up, apologized again and returned to the dealership. I received no call back for 2 DAYS! I called again on Tuesday to check the status & was told that they would still honor the price but I'd have to come to Ohio to pick it up! I even spoke with the GM directly & he stated that he has stopped the delivery program. I was so frustrated that they made the mistakes & I was ready w/ my check to buy but they didn't live up to their end. Needless to say, we're not purchasing the vehicle from Mike Pruitt Honda.
They claim this was the first bad experience in 70 deliveries, but yet they had no desire to try and make things right. All I wanted was the paint & paperwork fixed.
I am located in Maryland, about 320 miles from the dealership - the driver said it took about 5 hours for him.
My issue is that the car & paperwork should have been looked over before driving the vehicle here. It was their mistake, why not do the right thing and fix it and re-deliver it? I have to believe it would be cheaper for them to fix the paint in house & redeliver it then to pay for a local body shop to fix the paint chip (which the GM had agreed to do)
I think the pricing @ MP is great, but if anything goes wrong, like it did for my family, it is a huge issue that they're out of state. These issues could have been resolved quickly & easily if it had been a local dealer.
Don't get me wrong - I own a company and am known as a bit of a perfectionist myself - but I think you are a little one sided in your story.
Here's my version. The vehicle had a "small paint chip" when it was delivered on a Sunday morning. The GM was called at home on a Sunday morning and offered to pay for it to be repaired. Presumably this was OK, but then you noticed some mistakes in the paperwork and had them load the car back on the truck and drive it 320 miles back to the dealership. The driver politely apologized to you while doing this.
I think you should consider the likelihood of getting ANYONE from a DC area dealer on the phone on a Sunday morning, let alone the GM. And I think you should consider the decision to send a car back to the dealership for sloppy paperwork. I'm sure that would have been able to have been straightened out prior to getting your permanant title. I'm not making excuses for Mike Pruit, but it seems to me that if I had to vote as to who was more reasonable, they would win in this case. Who knows what you might send the car back for the next time they deliver it?
I appreciate your story nonetheless, as I have considered going through MP for a 2005 Pilot. But we would likely pick up the car in person, since on the one hand I am a perfectionist, but on the other hand I would feel guilty about sending a vehicle back for the reasons you did. Perhaps not if it was a new Ferrari 360 Modena at full MSRP, but not a Pilot at under invoice.
P.S. As far as resolving issues quickly and easily if you had bought in state. Perhpas, if you bought at the right dealer. But in my area (DC) the Mike Pruitt price is $1,500 less than the best local deal. Even the service manager at the Honda dealer I bought my S2000 from (Sheehy) said I should get it from MP and they would be happy to service it.
I have no dispute that MP was the best price around, obviously that's why we decided to buy from them. However, when the car is dirty, has a paint chip, the paperwork is wrong in many ways,etc. it shows a consistent lack of attention to detail. We asked the driver what we should do as he could not reach the GM & he said he'd take it back and it seemed to be the right decision to us. Not to mention we knew nothing about Mike Pruitt Honda other than what we read here.
It seems like several people on this forum have had great experiences, we just felt it was important to mention ours - especially to those who may be considering delivery from MP or any other dealer.
i agree with habitat that your story is appreciated. Others have expressed their concern with buying for an out-of-state dealer and this is finally a real-world example of what can go wrong.
i don't think its easy for us to fully understand all the circumstances, not having been there. It seems probably both you and driver just didn't know what to do (and understandably so). I think he made a poor suggestion, though. Taking the car back is obviously what killed the deal. I think the GM probably decided now that he'd cut his losses and not bother doing it again because, as habitat said, who knows what will happen next time? he's already out ~$150 from that first delivery, so why try for ~$300?
Its too bad things didn't work out. If it were me, and it really was a significant savings over local dealers, I might make a good faith offer to the GM to increase the purchase price the cost of the failed first delivery. If it works out the second time around, you still get a great deal and everyone is happy. If things go wrong again, you still don't sign for the car and still don't pay a dime.
'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
Sounds like a frustrating experience. Thank you for sharing it with us. I agree it shows one of the pitfalls of dealing out-of-area. Maybe a weekday delivery would have made a difference also, having all the people in the dealership and offices to try to correct the problem? Hindsight?
I assume you're asking about SF Bay area. We bought our Pilot EX-L NAV from San Leandro Honda in July and had a great experience. I test drove it in June and got no pressure to buy immediately. I got a couple of followup calls but nothing pushy. When I was ready, I called the dealer with my price, told them that I was buying that day and they met it. We wrote a check and walked out about an hour later. Yeah, I had to sit through the pitch on protection package and alarm but it was short and we knew we didn't want it.
I live in Oakland, love Oakland and really want to support the city by buying at Honda of Oakland. Our experience was, to put it nicely, less than ideal. Really pushy and played a lot of games on price.
The key for us was knowing what we were going to pay before going to the dealer to buy and not opting for the dealer added options. (I suspect if you are financing, having the financing in place before you go is a must.)
One note on internet pricing, I paid at least $1000 less than my lowest internet Bay Area quote. LA dealers' quotes were much lower and I would have bought there had I not gotten a good deal at San Leandro. Happy shopping.
We're in the market to purchase a new 2004 EXL-DVD and interested in learning more about out-of-state purchases - we live in Massachusetts. Would appreciate experienced advice.
I just had a bad experience trying to buy a Black Pilot with side tube steps at Ed Napleton Honda. They could only get the price to 30,300 for a EX-L. They wanted to give me $7400 for my 99 Honda CR-V EX in good condition (good depreciation huh?)...so $22,900 plus the trade. We told them 20K plus the trade. The sales manager walked out from behind his glass gave our sales person the keys and said "I've heard enough" and walked off. NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE. They are extremely rude and arrogant there. Anybody have good experiences in the St. Louis area?
We're wanting to purchase a new 2004 EXL-DVD and interested in learning more about out-of-state purchases - we live in Massachusetts. Would appreciate experienced advice.
Would like to repeat jthan24's deal (see above #2724). What should we look for/include in negotiating purchase of 2004 model? etc.
New on the forum but been lurking here for some time.Thinking of buying a 05 Pilot from MP Honda and get it delivered 450 miles. I understand your frustration but my course of action would have been to get the small but visible paint chip touched up by any local body shop and send the paperwork back for correction before titling.A $7 car wash would make it gleaming new.Sending the car back is an 'overkill',and not worth losing the 2000$ savings you would make by buying from MP honda.
Picked up 2004 Pilot EXL RES yesterday from DCH Kay Honda in Eatontown NJ. Price was $600 below invoice plus $95 doc fee. I am from NY so they charge $275 for License, title, Reg fees they handle getting NY plates $275 is an estimate they say they will refund any overage (will post if I actually get a refund). Only option were wheel locks which were on the car and I had to take. Overall excellent experience. Called internet dept made deal picked up car two days later.
Comments
I say if you have nothing to contribue, just stay out...at least you won't look like a cynic...oops you are one!
Thanks.
tidester, host
Second, I highly recommend MP to anyone living within, say, 500 miles or so of Akron. After frustrating visits to several local dealerships in the Philadelphia area, I contacted MP through their website. Our Pilot was delivered to our driveway less than 36 hrs later.
Even after delivery fees we paid about $400 under invoice, and about $1200 less than the best deal we had found near Philadelphia. The entire staff at MP was extremely professional, direct and attentive.
For those who have asked about delivery costs, they calculate it entirely on the mileage involved, and deliver the car in an enclosed trailer right to your front door. They also offered to pick us up at the airport if we wanted to save on the shipping. So depending on how far you live from Akron or how much time you have, you could easily pick it up and drive home.
What's not to like: great price, great service and home delivery.
I plan on picking up the car from MP. Did you pick up also? How does the interstate registration or temporary registration work? Will the dealer take care of that?
I could never get MP to respond. I tried twice and gave him 5 days. I have no idea what the deal was. Maybe I'm too far to ship to???
I forgot to mention I also added the running boards. for the $32k.
Thanks for any suggestion.
- Mark
As for the "so few changes" for 2005, I guess that's subjective, but I consider side curtain airbags, stability control, 6-disk in dash changer, upgraded navigation system, XM satellite radio, moonroof, added horsepower, etc. quite significant. These represent more than the total cummulative improvements than have been introduced in either the Pilot or MDX since the two vehicles were first brought to market.
I've got a $750 over invoice deal awaiting me on a 2005, as soon as the official pricing is released. I'd have taken a 2005 over 2004 at anything less than a $2,000 premium just to save a years worth of depreciation. With all the improvements, I think the 2005 will be the better long term value, but for those that want the lowest possible cost, the 2004 is a good choice.
I've been unable to confirm the changes you list in your post, especially the side curtain airbags. Where did you get this info from.
There is no mention of side curtain airbags.(http://www.hondacars.com)
'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
Sales experience was great. Greeted me at the airport and was out of the dealer in 1 hour. They even packed me a cooler with lunch for the ride home.
Thanks again to all contributors.
This past Sunday morning the car arrived and we immediately noticed a small but quite visible paint chip on the driver's door. The MP employee who had brought the vehicle apologized and then as he examined the car realized that the car was not properly cleaned . He asked for Windex & used his cloth to remove bug debris & the like that he says is typical from the journey to the dealership. He was embarrassed & said that the car was not properly prepared. As it was a Sunday morning & the dealership was not open, he called the GM at home & he agreed to pay for the repair - we'd have to take it either to a local Honda dealer or body shop.
When we went inside to do the paperwork we soon discovered that my name was spelled incorrectly (a concern for the title), they had the year of the Pilot as 1904 vs. 2004 on some of the paperwork and the bill of sale didn't print properly & items were not in the proper area, etc. We couldn't believe the sloppiness of the paperwork & that nobody checked it out before it was sent down with the driver. (I had verified all the info on a faxed version of the bill of sale 3 days prior, so I had no reason to think the info would be wrong.) The GM was not reachable & we felt at this point we wanted MP Honda to fix the paint chip & correct the paperwork before proceeding. So the driver loaded it back up, apologized again and returned to the dealership. I received no call back for 2 DAYS! I called again on Tuesday to check the status & was told that they would still honor the price but I'd have to come to Ohio to pick it up! I even spoke with the GM directly & he stated that he has stopped the delivery program. I was so frustrated that they made the mistakes & I was ready w/ my check to buy but they didn't live up to their end. Needless to say, we're not purchasing the vehicle from Mike Pruitt Honda.
They claim this was the first bad experience in 70 deliveries, but yet they had no desire to try and make things right. All I wanted was the paint & paperwork fixed.
just curious how far they had to go to get it to you and then take it back .... and then, if they fixed the deal, make the trip again.
'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
My issue is that the car & paperwork should have been looked over before driving the vehicle here. It was their mistake, why not do the right thing and fix it and re-deliver it? I have to believe it would be cheaper for them to fix the paint in house & redeliver it then to pay for a local body shop to fix the paint chip (which the GM had agreed to do)
I think the pricing @ MP is great, but if anything goes wrong, like it did for my family, it is a huge issue that they're out of state. These issues could have been resolved quickly & easily if it had been a local dealer.
Here's my version. The vehicle had a "small paint chip" when it was delivered on a Sunday morning. The GM was called at home on a Sunday morning and offered to pay for it to be repaired. Presumably this was OK, but then you noticed some mistakes in the paperwork and had them load the car back on the truck and drive it 320 miles back to the dealership. The driver politely apologized to you while doing this.
I think you should consider the likelihood of getting ANYONE from a DC area dealer on the phone on a Sunday morning, let alone the GM. And I think you should consider the decision to send a car back to the dealership for sloppy paperwork. I'm sure that would have been able to have been straightened out prior to getting your permanant title. I'm not making excuses for Mike Pruit, but it seems to me that if I had to vote as to who was more reasonable, they would win in this case. Who knows what you might send the car back for the next time they deliver it?
I appreciate your story nonetheless, as I have considered going through MP for a 2005 Pilot. But we would likely pick up the car in person, since on the one hand I am a perfectionist, but on the other hand I would feel guilty about sending a vehicle back for the reasons you did. Perhaps not if it was a new Ferrari 360 Modena at full MSRP, but not a Pilot at under invoice.
P.S. As far as resolving issues quickly and easily if you had bought in state. Perhpas, if you bought at the right dealer. But in my area (DC) the Mike Pruitt price is $1,500 less than the best local deal. Even the service manager at the Honda dealer I bought my S2000 from (Sheehy) said I should get it from MP and they would be happy to service it.
It seems like several people on this forum have had great experiences, we just felt it was important to mention ours - especially to those who may be considering delivery from MP or any other dealer.
i don't think its easy for us to fully understand all the circumstances, not having been there. It seems probably both you and driver just didn't know what to do (and understandably so). I think he made a poor suggestion, though. Taking the car back is obviously what killed the deal. I think the GM probably decided now that he'd cut his losses and not bother doing it again because, as habitat said, who knows what will happen next time? he's already out ~$150 from that first delivery, so why try for ~$300?
Its too bad things didn't work out. If it were me, and it really was a significant savings over local dealers, I might make a good faith offer to the GM to increase the purchase price the cost of the failed first delivery. If it works out the second time around, you still get a great deal and everyone is happy. If things go wrong again, you still don't sign for the car and still don't pay a dime.
'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
I live in Oakland, love Oakland and really want to support the city by buying at Honda of Oakland. Our experience was, to put it nicely, less than ideal. Really pushy and played a lot of games on price.
The key for us was knowing what we were going to pay before going to the dealer to buy and not opting for the dealer added options. (I suspect if you are financing, having the financing in place before you go is a must.)
One note on internet pricing, I paid at least $1000 less than my lowest internet Bay Area quote. LA dealers' quotes were much lower and I would have bought there had I not gotten a good deal at San Leandro. Happy shopping.
Would appreciate experienced advice.
Would appreciate experienced advice.
Would like to repeat jthan24's deal (see above #2724).
What should we look for/include in negotiating purchase of 2004 model? etc.
Thanks much.
When did you negotiate that deal as we're in the market for same vehicle?
Thanks
Nicholas
I understand your frustration but my course of action would have been to get the small but visible paint chip touched up by any local body shop and send the paperwork back for correction before titling.A $7 car wash would make it gleaming new.Sending the car back is an 'overkill',and not worth losing the 2000$ savings you would make by buying from MP honda.