Honda Pilot 2006

rsholland

MY 2012? Man, that's a long way off. The Pilot can make due with the V6 until then, not so sure about the Ridgeline.

Bob

wbwynn

Any recent good quotes of this configuartion during the great Honda year end sales event...any body buying. I too have come to the conclusion that if the price gets right, I will forego waiting on the 2006; I just have not seen enough beneficial upgrades to make me want an 06'. Coming out of a beast suburban....

My first quote today was $29,998....fyi.

Thanks board.

player4

New pic guys, from TCC.

Notice the new headrests...

Have fun...

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enthusiasts/Spy_Shots/Spy_Shots_06_Honda_Pilot.S178.A9008.- html

player4

This picture posted by a member of TOV, is a 2006 Pilot on the back of the 2006 Odyssey brochure.

http://webcontrol.avv.com/Dealerimages/164825/2006%20Pilot.jpg

ops1

I was quoted $29,342 in NJ earlier today.

snowtech

A dealer I spoke to said he would be willing to sell the 2006 pilot for 1500-1800 above his invoice price. Do all dealers pay the same price for their vehicles ?
What is the best way to find out what a dealer paid ? I doubt they would give a straight answer if I were just to ask them. I asked this question at a Toyota dealership, he said he did not know, only the manager knows.

Thanks,

vrm

http://webcontrol.avv.com/Dealerimages/164825/2006 Pilot.jpg

Its the same front grill as the CRV. Looks like a glorified Honda-CRV to me. What an anti-climax!

vrm

Do all dealers pay the same price for their vehicles ?
What is the best way to find out what a dealer paid ? I doubt they would give a straight answer if I were just to ask them. I asked this question at a Toyota dealership, he said he did not know, only the manager knows.

Dont worry about what the dealer paid. What are YOU willing to pay for this vehicle? Between market demand and your budget you should be able to reach a happy medium.

Focus on what you can control rather than something you dont know and can never be sure of.

qbrozen

Personally, I always thought the LX Pilot looked like a bigger CRV. Just the LX, though.

snowtech

I would have to say, invoice price is important otherwise how would one know if they are paying too much for a vehicle. Edmunds web site lists the MSRP for a 2005 Honda Pilot EX AWD 4dr SUV w/Leather and Navigation System (3.5L 6cyl 5A) at $34,320 and the invoice price at $30,871. If some people are paying less than $30,000 for a similarly equipped model, does that mean the dealer is selling it below his invoice price ? The dealer makes money even if he/she sells it at invoice through a rebate the manufacturer gives directly to the dealer.

Thanks,

mycars

Probably an FAQ, but I haven't see any mentioning in the message I read here.

Also, based on past expereince, once the 2006 models arrive, will it push down the price for 2005 models?

Thanks.

vrm

Once the 2007 Santa Fe is introduced in early Spring 2007, the Honda Pilot will have a very strong competitor.

Initial feedback regarding the 2007 Santa Fe is very positive.

If you can, wait till the Santa Fe goes on sale. You will then get a very good deal on the 2006 Pilot. Paitence will save you a lot of green.

vrm

Sorry-
Santa Fe goes on sale in early Spring 2006 and not 2007. Sorry for the typo!

qbrozen

According to many many posts on the prices paid board, the '05s are already selling for below invoice. What kind of deals are you expecting on the '06s that would be better than this?

And, frankly, and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone on this, I am NOT cross-shopping Hondas with Hyundais (as much as Hyundai would love to believe that).

bajapilot

Fortunately for Honda they have a loyal customer base, I being one. Im not sure what Hyundai would have to do got get me even looking at their Santa Fe.

On the pricing...I would just say if you are looking for a good deal get the '05, if you want the latest and greatest wait for the '06. I have often thought about just getting the '05 myself but dont know if say a $2000 difference between the two would be worth it. Every time I saw an '06 I would be wishing I would have got it! Choices...

03lxv6

Pilot probably will live happily with 3.5LV6 and later 3.8LV6, allegedly under development too.

I think the V8 is mainly to compete in the luxury and truck segment. Acura RL will very likely to have it to compete with Lexus 430. Ridgeline needs to have a V8 to have decent towing capacity.

madcox

So I'm looking at the 2006 Pilot with leather, but I've never had a leather interior, we have a child on the way, and will eventually have dogs in the car. My question is the honda leather worth it, and do you guys use covers or overlays to protect it?

gearjammer62

There is simply not enough difference in the '06 Pilot for Honda dealers to expect any premium. The changes are very minimal, and will likely be reflected in an increase of a couple or few hundred dollars in invoice/MSRP.

I noticed my local dealer has over 30 Pilots on his lot - more than any other model. I chatted with a sales guy who said Honda is not immune from the overall downturn in SUV sales. (The CR-V, however, has actually seen an increase due to people "downsizing" their SUV's, hence the biggest incentive ever on the Pilot.) He said it could be a problem when the '06 starts arriving and is sitting right next to the '05. People will see that there is very little difference, and will not pay significantly more for an '06 when it appears to be basically an '05 with minor tweaks.

Whoever said they will get $1,500 over invoice for an '06 is just plain wrong. In a few months, the '06 can be had for maybe a couple hundred more than an '05. It's worth the wait, IMO.

snowtech

A friend of mine bought a 2005 pilot with leather, I was not impressed by the quality of it, it seemed to bunch together after sitting on it for a while. I did not notice that problem with other vehicles that I have sat in with leather seats. I think they may be using a cheaper grade of leather than what most use. Best thing to do is sit on it and see how it feels and if it seems to bunch together. Some manufacturers use very thick leather with a high shine, in those cases one ends up sliding around too much in the back seat when the car turns unless they are firmly buckled in.

vrm

And, frankly, and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone on this, I am NOT cross-shopping Hondas with Hyundais (as much as Hyundai would love to believe that).

People who had the same sentiment are now happy owners of Hyundai vehicles. Time is a big healer. Six more months and you will be in a Hyundai showroom.

butchbr73

"People who had the same sentiment are now happy owners of Hyundai vehicles. Time is a big healer. Six more months and you will be in a Hyundai showroom."

.... hmm... I highly doubt that. I don't think I will ever cross shop a Hyundai against a Honda, not in this lifetime, and I don't think I'm alone on that.

.... To me Hyundai seems to have a couple of things going for them over Honda, one is a lower price and the other is a longer warranty. As the grandpa always used to say, "you always get what you pay for".

qbrozen

Six more months and you will be in a Hyundai showroom.

Thanks for the chuckle. I needed that today.

snowtech

Does anybody know if the new pilot will have VCM on it ? I heard some rumors earlier and have not heard anything about it since. The Honda minivan offers it on their touring model.

gearjammer62

OK..OK...you're approaching about a dozen messages mentioning how good the '07 Hyundai Santa Fe supposedly will be...I think we get the message!! There are other boards for comparisons.....but this is a board about the '06 Pilot, right?

Anyway, my Honda sales guy just called me and said the price increase on the '06 EX will only be $150. Just FYI.

crvdoghauler

Leather is better for dogs because dog hair will stick to cloth seats like velcro. But leather is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, although heated seats help. Most leather seats in cars are not as nice as furniture leather, but that's because it has to withstand the hot and cold and elements. And why would you want to get leather if you're going to put covers or overlays on it?

crvdoghauler

Does anyone know if the '06 pilot will have LED taillights like the '06 accord?

awchan13

Anybody know if the new pilot will have standard DRL's? How about auto headlights?

player4

Well the 06 Accord will have DRL's and its a facelift. So maybe this 06 Pilot also being a facelift will get them.

We'll just have to wait until Honda finally decides to realese info, like always they keep us waiting more than everybody else. Ford already relesed their info on the 06 Explorer facelift, but why not Honda??

qbrozen

hmmmm... ya know, i was about to say it already has LEDs .... but I'm not sure about that now. My Pilot's taillights LOOK like LEDs when they are lit up. Anybody have an explanation for that?

tmitch21

Does anyone know when they are planning to do a complete redesign of the Pilot. I heard that 07 was the CRV, does that mean it won't be til 08 or 09 before we see the next gen???

player4

Well Pilot was realeased in 2003, Honda usually goes for the 6 years, so i wouls assume we will see 2nd Generation All-New Pilot in 2009.

The 2009 Honda Pilot.

lol

bobob20032000

http://www.vtec.net/news/news-image?image=385495/06pilot_brochure.jpg

player4

This picture was already posted before post #105.

There is also the newest Spy Shot on post #104.

Im surprised nobody ever commented on those two...

gearjammer62

Not much to comment on - the changes are just tweaks - you'd hardly notice any difference if one were driving past you on the road. I'm more interested in any feature and content changes, not just a minor "nose job".

pft

I was told by a sales manager that I could purchase a 2006 Pilot EX-L for $300 above invoice. Is this a good price for a 2006 Pilot, given the sluggish demand for SUVs right now? Also any sense of how much higher invoice pricing will be above the 2005 invoice pricing? I would really appreciate any advice on this.

In terms of new features for the 2006, I've heard side curtain airbags, VCM, satellite radio, bodyside color door handles, new front-end design (grille & lights), fog lights. Anything else, or is any of this inaccurate?

player4

Yes all the features we all pretty much know those. but thx for saying it again.

I guess thats a good price for 06 Pilots right? I dont know what to tell you right now because we're looking to get one aroud the end of the year.

I wonder Honda is gonna let us have some new info! We all are craving some 2006 Pilot info.

mike_belknap

"There is also the newest Spy Shot on post #104."

Well, technically, it was first posted on message #98.

Mike

vrm

I am looking forward to buying the 2006 Pilot below dealer invoice.
I just have to wait till March 2006. Thats when the redesigned 2007 Santa Fe makes its debut.

qbrozen

Man, you really need a new gimmick.
Why aren't you just saying you are buying a Santa Fe? It's obviously VERY appealing TO YOU.

What's the count now, gearjammer? I think you said VRM was approaching a dozen Santa Fe messages before ... does this fill the egg carton yet? I don't feel like going back and counting.

butchbr73

...maybe this will help out. VRM, click on the link below, I think this is the board you may be looking for.... You seem to be currently stuck in the Honda Pilot board. I am sure people would love to hear from you about the incredible redesign over there.

navigator89, "2007 Hyundai Santa Fe" #1, 16 Jul 2005 8:35 am

.....We thank you for stopping by.

qbrozen

Good link.

OH, ya know, I see he already posted over there... with all 14 posts that EXCITING vehicle has generated, I guess it needs all the help it can get. Maybe we should let the good folks on that board know that one of their 14 posts is actually from a guy that is going to buy a "Pilot for less than invoice."

p.s. and 6 posts over there are from one guy .... must be rough being a Hyundai fan.

mike_belknap

"p.s. and 6 posts over there are from one guy .... must be rough being a Hyundai fan."

Who, me? Actually, I don't really consider myself a "Hyundai fan" at all. I'm a fan of safe, well-rounded, reliable, and refined vehicles from many brands (hence my presence on this thread ). According to my personal assessment, that excludes (to varying degrees) all of their current line-up, except for the very newest models (the Tucson and '06 Sonata) for which there is incomplete crashworthiness and reliability data. While the '07 Santa Fe SUV, '07 Entourage minivan, '07 Elantra entry compact, '06 Azera upscale sedan, and '06 Accent subcompact sedan look promising, there's no way to determine at this point whether or not these will be "genuinely good" automobiles. (I do own an '02 Santa Fe, and while I love the little truck, I wouldn't recommend buying one due to it tipping-up on two wheels during the Gov't dynamic stability test -- ESC is currently unavailable on the SF).

Now, I am very impressed with Hyundai's most recent efforts -- they're successfully improving their image through hard work and discipline, and they really do deserve a little applause. The biggest reason I choose to closely follow the company's developments is because there actually is great interest in their products (though perhaps not so much on this particular site), and they have made huge strides toward creating quality automobiles.

To be fair, here's another SF link.

Anyway, let's get back to the Pilot, shall we?

Cheers,
Mike

qbrozen

I do applaud them for not suffering the same fate as similar offerings .... but, YES, let's get back to what this board is about. Thanks.

gearjammer62

Getting an '06 for $300 over invoice might sound like a fair deal right now - but you'll be paying that "first one on the block" premium. Soon, invoice or less will be the norm again ( no, you won't have to wait for a Hyundai to come out first!). Oil is back at an all-time high this week - gas prices are not going down soon, and SUV sales will be in the dumpster probably for the entire '06 model year, IMO. The Pilot has been "take $3K (or more) off the sticker" for over a year now, and the current EX lease deal would have been unheard of until recently. Obviously, they are trying to move the '05's off the lot before the '06 arrives.

The '06 Pilot sounds like it has a few new nice features (though all of them may not be standard on all models). and will be between $150-300 more than the '05, according to one dealer I talked to. We'll know sooon.

snowtech

With the price of gas expected to stay high, the demand for regular SUV's will decline, more folks will look for hybrid versions to reduce their gas consumption costs. I just read that cost of gasoline in Canada is around $1 a liter CDN which is about $3.80 a gallon CDN x .75exchange = 2.85$US a gallon. I think we may be headed in that direction sooner then later. Some experts predict $100 a barrel by the end of the decade at present it is at $65 a barrel.
Anybody out there know if variable cylinder management will be offered on the 06, pilots. It is a feature that turns off 3 of the cylinders to reduce gas consumption when power is not needed. It may be a useful feature to have to save some money on gas as an alternative to hybrid technology. Some models of the odyssey have that feature.

snowtech

I have not been able to find fuel consumption rating / savings for vehicles with VCM vs without it. Has anybody out there been able to find anything ? Is there any real $ benefit to having VCM ?

vrm

Some experts predict $100 a barrel by the end of the decade at present it is at $65 a barrel.
Anybody out there know if variable cylinder management will be offered on the 06, pilots. It is a feature that turns off 3 of the cylinders to reduce gas consumption when power is not needed. It may be a useful feature to have to save some money on gas as an alternative to hybrid technology.

The trendline you have painted is correct. Gas prices in the US are on their way to $3 /gallon in the next 6 months.

I dont know if the 2006 Pilot will have VCM. Even if it does, I dont recommend the VCM since the benefit is marginal.

Here is what I do....this is my homegrown, patented VCM feature:
At known taffic lights (for example on the way to work), I know how long each red light is. At these lights, I shut off my ignition thereby shutting all 6 cylinders and saving 100% gas. You can still have your radio/CD on by not turning off the ignition all the way.

Some folks will find this cumbersome. But if I can save 1 gallon of gas every 10 days, its worth it. Remember, a lot of gas is consumed when the engine is idling.

qbrozen

how long is that light??

I'd rather save all the wear and tear that comes with starting a car (not to mention it takes more gas to start an engine from a standstill than to keep it running due to inertia), even if it costs an extra few pennies in gas.

vrm

how long is that light??

I'd rather save all the wear and tear that comes with starting a car (not to mention it takes more gas to start an engine from a standstill than to keep it running due to inertia), even if it costs an extra few pennies in gas.

I was expecting this comment/reaction.

I dont buy into the "wear and tear" argument. At present, I drive a 2000 year model with almost 90,000 miles. The starter/ignition works fine and I dont sense or see any "wear and tear".

As I said this before, this is worth it only if the light is more than 2 minutes long. Here is some simple math:
2 minutes x 2 trips (going and coming back from work) = 4 mins per day.
Assuming a 5 day work week this comes out 5 x 4 = 20 minutes.

Folks, 20 minutes of idling per week is more than "few pennies in gas". A very conservative number is $2.50 per week. That works out to $10 per month or $120 per year.

You can test this in one week. Compare your gas consumption before and after and decide for yourself. Be sure to keep the conditions consistent i.e. A/C, passengers or load in the vehicle etc.

fred25

Vrm,

In you post above #150 you indicated that you save gas by turning off your ignition coming to red lights. That may be your homegrown VCM feature, but consider that when you turn off your ignition you lose your power steering and you lose proper control of your steering and vehicle. This could be dangerous. Accidents happen within split seconds!

Fred