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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Honda Pilot Prices Paid and Buying Experience
12113 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2008 at 7:35 PM
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Read all the great internet deals on this board, but I must have the WORST luck! Chicago buyers beware: ED NAPLETON HONDA of Oak Lawn, Il switched price on deal AFTER I drove 350 miles to pick up Pilot. Their "email word" was of no value once I got there. Negotiated price & fees via email with internet mgr ($500 over invoice for 03 Pilot EXL). Dealer didn't have any on lot, so had to put $500 down & they would order it. Internet mgr was very pleasant during negotiations, but after he had my down pmt it was different. Internet mgr said would take 7-10 days to get in, was OK w/ this since at time vacation was month away that I needed it for. However, it didn't come in til month later, WHILE was out of state on vac. and AFTER had to spend $400 to rent van for vac. Salesman was indifferent to inconvenience, as if I was expecting too much for it to come in when he said it would. Called salesman when returned from vac. to tell him would be there Mon to pick up Pilot, said he would have it ready. Chicago is 350 miles from my home, so left Sun p.m. with all copies of emails, rented car, stayed in hotel, went to dealer Mon a.m. Inspected vehicle, looked great! Salesman would not accept my PeopleFirst blank check (said 2 of them "bounced" in past) but said they should be able to get me same rate, so wasn't too upset. Yet. Now for the big catch: Went to do paperwork, I notice price on Bill of Sale is around $800 higher then agreed on. Note the salesman did not TELL me this, just put paper in front of us to sign. I point it out, salesman didn't appear surprised, said would talk to mgr. Salesman came back to say they could no longer sell at agreed upon price because "the market had changed". I told him this unacceptable, he went to get mgr. Mgr came, said this was only Pilot on his lot right now and he could have sold it 3-5 times. He said it was "supply and demand" and that "market conditions had changed" in the 6 weeks since ordered Pilot. He said he knew "all about the emails", did not dispute them at all, but that the price "no longer reflected current market conditions". Neither salesman nor mgr were apologetic, just very matter of fact. Though by this point we shouldn't have been surprised, we couldn't believe they could do business this way. Their reasons were bogus, they had no Pilots on lot 6 weeks ago when took down pmt either, and reason it had been so long was that I had been WAITING on THEM to get the Pilot they ordered for ME! Mgr wouldn't budget, I told them to put the down pmt back on credit card and I walked. They agreed to do this right away. I feel they knew we were coming in from out of town and off the market for 6 weeks, figured either I wouldn't notice price or $800 wasn't enough to break deal, or likely had another buyer that would pay more. Not wanting to reinforce these dishonest sales tactics, I chose to walk. Though this still wasn't a BAD price for a Pilot, I had better offers and anyway, it was the principle. I feel if there had been any honest "change in market conditions", as they said, the dealer would have informed me of the price chg BEFORE I drove over 350 miles and spent over $300 on hotel, car rental, gas, etc. Or they told me about the price change at all, rather than me finding it on my own! I DO NOT advise purchasing from ED NAPLETON HONDA of OAK LAWN Illinois. Husb & I personally know 4 people who have completed internet deals from other dealerships, so I know it happens: JUST BE CAREFUL. Consider dealer reputation, unfortunately I didn't and learned an expensive and time consuming lesson. Another dealer had diff color on lot and would have met price at time I made down payment, but unfortunately at the time we wanted red. =( This all happened in July and August, I was too ticked to even discuss it for a while. Still haven't bought a new car at this time, haven't even tried since - just got worn down. This was my first, and likely last, Honda negotiation. I am writing BBB and Honda, and shopping a local Toyota lot. BETTER LUCK TO EVERYON |
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| i would check out waikem honda in ohio.. i would still bet he could ship that same pilot for 500 dollars to CT, and beat the price at pruitt honda. you save there.. as far as that 1 extra year of warranty for $500 that is also high where is the bargain there..your brakes and oil changes will most likley be the only thing you do the first 4 or 5 years... when i purchased my pilot 4 months ago i could of had 3 more years warranty for $695.. i agree with your drive to the airport and all that nonsense.. TIME IS MONEY WHY BOTHER. have your pilot shipped to you.. your dmv paper work will take maybe 1 hour out of your day to register it .. i also did the out of state to new york purchase of a exl,res pilot.. saved 2400 dollars by going this route.I encourage all forum members to buy out of state..lastly i to was not to impressed with the looks of the pilot,but it does grow on you.. in my opinion i feel the honda pilot is the best medium suv in its class for the money.. not to mention it has great resale value and better than average reliability..my one major complaint being 6'1 inch 235 is the driving position stinks. I could never get comfortable up,down,side to side the honda seats need to be 3/4 inches longer.. the motor need to be kicked up to 260 horse like the 04, mdx.. goodluck on your purchase. | |
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It may help to send a little letter to the state AG's office with copies of your emails - most states have consumer protection divisions and maybe you can get the attention of some newbie attorney who's not yet burnt out dealing with car dealers. Instead of lemon lawyers, we need lawyers who will go to dealership closings with people! Steve, Host |
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If this is the wrong forum, I apologize, please tell me where it should go instead! Anyway, I am looking for a reputable shipping company to have our vehicle shipped from CA to OH. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have requested and received quotes from many companies, but really feeling like I am going in blind here. I am not even sure where to begin. Any advice is welcome! -April ajsako  earthlink.net
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Don't go over to the dark side of Toyota because of a unscrupulous dealer. Actually, Toyota a good company, but I am a Honda bigot. I have always owned at least one Honda for the last 15 yrs with zero issues. I have sworn never to buy another brand after my last two minivans (both Dodges) cost me thousands in repairs. Don't even get me started on why I was stupid and didn't buy an Odessey in 1999. I thought I was smart saving $2000 up front. Anyhow, I found your email interesting because I almost bought my Pilot at Ed Napleton's last month. I also am from IA and was struggling to get a 2003 Pilot at a decent price. I was able to pull in an offer for a $1000 off MSRP in Omaha for a 2003 and several offered $500-$750 off, but it was my trade of a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan SE that was killing me. No one was willing to give more than $4000-$4500. A flood of them on the market. Anyhow, in my search, I contacted Ed Napleton based on one of your earlier emails. I have a note from the internet mgr on 8/18 offering me their last 2003 Pilot (Red) - Just came available. Sounds like that might have been yours. He had earlier quoted me that he would sell me one for $750 off MSRP in early August, but I had a better deal out of Michigan for $1200 off a 2003. However, I was looking at an 8 hr drive. I had decided to wait for a 2004 EX-L by that time anyhow. Why take the depreciation on a 2003 two weeks before 2004s came out. The internet manager sent me this note on 8/29 so I am not sure what the changing market conditions were: "Here is the pricing that I have on the 2004 Pilot. The price of the vehicle is $31,620, which is a savings of $750.00 off of MSRP. There is a miscellaneous Cook County Fee of $10.00, a $50.00 Doc fee, and $460.00 for destination, and a $10.00 drive away fee (Temporary registration). Your sales tax would have to be paid in Iowa. If you would like to order a Pilot, or if you have any questions, please feel free to call me at the dealership, I am here all day. Looking forward to hearing from you!!" I was able to get this same deal at Chezik-Sayers Honda in Iowa City and they treated me a lot better with my trade ($5500) than anyone else. Honda of Ames provided me $600 off MSRP and the Superior Honda in Omaha offered $800, but I didn't want to drive 2 hrs to find out if they were going to be less than Chezik on the trade for just a $50 savings. If I remember right, the Cedar Rapids (Randy Kuehl)dealer was willing to go $500 off a 2004, but you had to specifically call the internet sales manager. I bought my 1996 civic from them and they are a great dealership. Fantastic service. Anyhow, hope you stick with the Pilot. I am now the proud owner of a 2004 Pilot Sagebrush EX-L RES. Order on 9/6 and picked up on 9/20 (one week before they had projected). |
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| I bought mine at Chezik of Knasas City John Chezik Honda ,very nice and gave me more 2500 more than Frank Ancona in KC on mmy trade,, VERY good people, Chris | |
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I applaud you. walking in that situation is hard to do but I am glad you did it. From what I hear windy city, and jacobs twin honda has honored their out of state prices on oddy's at least and they were going for straight invoice. I lived in Ames for 5 years and know the Iowa market for buying cars is pretty limited. Keep searching I am sure you will find a vehicle and dealer that will meet your needs. We should never give in to these terrible dealers why should they make money off of us. Good Luck. PS - All Ed napelton dealerships are rip offs. they are some of the sleaziest dealers I have ever met (Chicago Naitive). Avoid them at all cost. |
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Would like to know the buying experience with Wilde Honda Troutbeer, do you sign any contract with them when you put the order in? I am talking to them now and would want to make sure they are "good" people to deal with Thanks |
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I haven't actualy met with anyone face-face yet. All of my dealing with Wile Honda have been over the phone or via e-mail thus far. I have been dealing with one of their 'Internet Coordinators'. She has been very helpful so far, such as: 1) Internet quote via e-mail including a breakdown of accessory costs, other fees, etc. 2) Searching inventories of dealers closer to my home so I could see some of the new colors for the 04 model. 3) Sent credit application by mail (returned by me via fax) and quoted Honda financing rates once I was approved. 4) Computed trade-in estimates on my current vehicle. 5) Arranged to allocate a vehicle to my name by a $500 deposit (credit card). I've been quite happy thus far, but I realize that I haven't put any pen to paper yet. I know that the internet quote I received and the financing figures are NON-binding at this point in the game. I read some messages on other boards where buyers were lured by attractive quotes and then, after driving several hundred miles to pick up their vehicle, were offered an inflated price due to 'changing demand'. I call that a bait and switch and I don't think that a reputable dealership would risk it. They would get absolutely trashed in forums like this and lose a ton of potential customers. At this point, I have only good things to say about Wilde Honda, but rest assured that I will be reading the fine print when I sign on the dotted line to make sure it is exactly what we have agreed on. I might be ready to pick it up as soon as this weekend. I'll give you an update next week. |
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Thanks, it is very helpful. I am also communicating with her(D) through e-mail. Some how that, after the initial contact - price quote for the model and options; she did not answer any other questions that I e-mailed her including the potential trade-in of my current vehicle. As you mentioned, I am also concerned about the "bait and switch" that some internet dealers are doing. Please let me know your experience after you pick up the Pilot. Good luck for you new Pilot and have a safe trip. patticake. ps. I am also at 78 miles north of milwaukee. Are you in the foxvalley area? |
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