[stevenD]

One trick I've used for years is to contact the "Internet Guy" (formerly the Fleet sales guy) BEFORE you walk onto the Lot, at least here in California, they can typically go much lower than the salesmen you get linked up with, when you just walk onto the Lot. They will also discuss prices right over the phone, none the "let's check your credit and come sit in this tiny room for a hour, so we can try to wear you down" crap...

My local dealer is listing 17 Passports, not sure if they are really all there or on-the-way, but I intend to contact them today and try to get a test drive the next 3-days (hope they are not locked into Honda's official sales date - Feb 4th)... And I'll report back here...

Even though I am not going to purchase until April/May, I want to: (1) Make sure this is in fact the vehicle I want and (2) Start comparing pricing - I would love to have 10% off MSRP...!

 

[stevenD]

I've only traded in a few cars over the years and YES the dealers ALL want to "low-ball" (being nice) you, most cars they take and offload to a third party and the only reason they say they want your trade-in is to get you on the Lot.

I sold my BMW last October on Car Gurus, it was free and worked out great, I had a guy fly in from Nevada (I'm in So. Cal.), buy it CASH, paid full asking price and drove it away, I was done in not much more than an hour and went back to work. So depending on where you live, to get top dollar, I say just try to sell it on your own...

 

[stevenD]

I have two test drives planned at two different dealers today, I'll update you all laters...

 

[stevenD]

When you look at the prices for a 2019 Pilot you see 3k off the MSRP right off the bat. I see no justification as to why a Passport should cost more than a Pilot at the same trim level other than it being a new vehicle and the laws of supply and demand. After my test drive I will be telling the dealer to call me when the Passport is being offered with comparable pricing specials to the Pilot.

Yep, that's pretty much, my plan too, I even explained that concept to the sales woman at Honda today, but my plan is to wait until Apr/May and then try to work out something...

 

[stevenD]

Ok, back from my two dealer visits, here are the gory details:

First dealer had a Black Elite in the middle of the showroom floor, they offered to pull it out for me, but I told them not to bother and test drove a Black E-XL Passport about 6 miles on city streets. Very quiet interior, was only able to punch it to about 40-45mph but it was very smooth, and quiet, shut the stereo off, with windows rolled-up, it felt good, I had the rear seats down, so there were no head rests visible in the rear view mirror, and overall visibility was great! The seats felt ok, not great, but not bad either, the flip-up & down arm in the center of the vehicle is wimpy at best. I think an aftermarket comapy is making some beefier ones for the Pilots and hopefully they would fit the Passport.

SIZE: This is a true Mid-Size SUV, you have to step up slightly to get in, also as I had surmised, the top of the Passport Rails are at least 6-1/2 feet high, and you'll need a serious step ladder if the intend to put stuff up there, this actually helped me decide NOT to bother with buying the Cross-bars.

INSIDE: The rear seats fold completely flat! I crawled inside and the salesperson closed the rear lid and I could fully stretch out going caddy-corner. I'm about 5-10 and would imagine someone up to approx. 6'2" could still fit comfortable back there (with some foam and a sleeping bag, that is).

The rear hidden area is very large, and I think I will be able to put a small safe in the secondary recessed area - over and behind the main "trunk".

Stereo/Infotainment system: looked at the Elite one only: the Premium Stereo sounded very good, the sub was pumping, listened to XM, some Duran Duran song and at about "11" and it sounded really good, plenty load and very clear and well balanced (Note, this was sitting in the showroom with all windows and doors fully closed).

Second dealer had a White Elite in their showroom and the salesman there showed me how to roll all the windows down from outside the vehicle and did the auto start from the remote (both pretty cool features).

Spent a lot of time in the Black Elite at the first dealer (Saleswoman was friendly and nice looking) and she showed me a ton of options all through the infotainment system, it is very advanced! She also confirmed that they were giving $3-$4k discounts on Pilots, but nothing like that initially on the Passports.

Neither had a Touring model, so I did not get to see those gun metal gray rims, but was still not crazy about the black (Elite) ones..

Basically did not see or experience anything that would dissuade me away from the Passport, I liked it. I'm sure I left some things out, but that was my big adventure...
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Lastly, the second dealer, I suspect pulled a sneaky and creepy trick: when you contact them online they have a girl call you and set up a firm appointment time, when I got there she is suddenly nowhere to be found and an older middle eastern gentlemen, along with the sales manager show up to tell me she is unavailable and the sales-guy made a point of showing me his cell phone that showed her name on a text or call or something (There was no reason to do that - other than to falsely cement their story).

Then when he went to retrieve a Touring model for the test drive (which they did not have) I looked at the display box (that is required in California) and has entire sales staff Driver's Licenses'
on display - EXCEPT there was NO Driver's License for the woman I supposedly had the appointment with. And the salesguy never mentioned her again and gave me HIS card when I left. So again I suspect, it was done to lure people in, thinking they would have a woman do it then switch her to one of the guys... Not sure what to make of this(?)

 

[stevenD]

Mark, I'd like to respectfully ask, how you arrived at a Passport being 4k more than a Pilot, I just went to the Honda site and built a Pilot Touring with a bunch of accessories and it came out to $46k.

The Passport Touring starts at $39k, + $2k for AWD + $1k in accessories and another $1k in destination and it's at $43k.

But, by going by your statement of $4k more, it should be at $50k and it doesn't seem to be(?)

 

[stevenD]

Thanks Mark, seems like you are very knowledgeable about this and it will be helpful when I actually buy (Apr/May 2019). Hopefully the initial new-release dust will have settled by then. I had never heard of the "Nada" site (thanks for that too) and will certainly use it when the time comes.

In speaking to the Saleswoman at Honda yesterday she told me that Honda "Headquarters" will tell the Dealers which vehicles to offer added incentives on at the first of each month and they typically pass that along to the customer (by reducing the price). She said there were a lot of incentives in Dec-2018 that disappeared in Jan-2019 and people who had (Dec) offers were no longer able to get the deal.

Another consideration I read somewhere that Honda expected to sell 45,000 Passports per year and if they deliberately maintain a low number of units at each dealership, that will allow the dealers to hold off giving big discounts to clear inventory.

As with most vehicles it is a matter of supply and demand, if the market is flooded with unsold Passports, that is better for all of us in our negotiations. Being in Southern California, I have the advantage of having at least SIX Honda Dealers, within 15 miles of me and another TEN within 25/30 miles, so I plan to take full advantage of making these "Helpful" Honda guys prove it!

Cheers

 

[stevenD]

Back to the original topic, when I looked at Passports at two different dealers yesterday (only test drove at one of them) the sales people said I was the first one looking at / driving them, neither seemed like there was a mad rush on them (which may be good for potential buyers)...

 

[stevenD]

3 months is about where I'm at (for my purchase) and nothing would make me happier than the vehicle I want just sitting on multiple Dealer's Lots..

And actually Honda had to do it this way, if they made the Passport significantly less than the Pilot, it would steal sales away from it and pricing it too close or the same, will hurt Passport sales.

They could be in a Lose-Lose position, if their combined sales of 2019 Passports + Pilots is the same as 2018 Pilot sales..

 

[stevenD]

I test drove the AWD Touring model today and loved it. I definitely will be buying it’s just a matter of when. So they drove my accord and only offered me 11k. I got them up to 13k. My goal was to finance 25k after trade in and down payment. I got the dealer down to 31,256 including taxes and fees with my 13k trade in. I wanted them down to 30k even, then I would kick in 5k to finance 25k. They would not budge so I told them to call me if they change there mind and they will have a sale. I’m going to be checking with every dealership in the Louisville KY area.

great news, keep us updated - What color you looking for?

 

[stevenD]

Another Honda article shows profits down 40%,
LINK: https://www.autonews.com/video/first-shift-honda-profit-tumbles-40-percent

When that happens to an American retailer, they typically go belly-up.

It also said the Honda fiscal year ends Mar., 31, 2019

What better way to start off the new Honda fiscal year than by giving some nice fat discounts starting in April(?)

 

[stevenD]

On my last two BMW's you could hold the remote "Door Unlock" button down and all the windows woul;d roll down (and the sunroof would open) - well the same feature is on the Passport...!