I know several of you have Pilots, but its that time of year again for my wife's vehicle. We leased a 2006 Pilot 2WD EX for $325 a month, $3500 down with 2 year lease and 15k/yr mileage allowance. I wasn't aware of money factors etc. so this year I want to be more educated.

I'm looking at a slightly more expenesive (~2k more) 2008 2WD SE ( i want the sunroof and DVD player for the kids ) I've sent out quote requests to 3 dealers and plan on visiting the dealer I originally made the purchase from within the next 2 weeks. I'm planning on pulling the trigger on a deal by Mid to late december so I have about a month to find the best deal.

Chances are I'll be buying the lease out this new lease at the end, but I want to keep the options flexible.

I'll be posting details of the offers I get from the local dealers and about the process as a whole.

Any tips on what to look out for would be appreciated. I've got excellent credit so please assume I'd be getting the most favorable offers. Thanks very much, in advance, for your advice! Everything will be taken with a grain of salt :P

 

Just curious, do you own a business? If not, why are you leasing??? I've never really known or understood people's intent to lease, aside from using it as a tax write-off.

 

If I drove less miles than I do then I would lease.

Big plus for would be would always have a new car every 2-3 years and a vehicle that would always be under a factory warranty

I love cars and this would be a good way for me to experience diff cars without loosing my ass too much.

 

why lease the same car? try a mazda cx-9

 

My wife's boss pays her a car allowance and he is footing the bill for the down payment and monthly payment up to a certain amount so that's why I'm leasing. The other factor is like the other poster stated... I keep the vehicle in the warranty period the whole time.

If the pilot we have now had a sunroof, we'd be buying this one and taking the monthly allowance to pay that. The SE offers the sunroof and DVD player at roughly the same cost as the EX so that's the better choice for us right now.

I'm like you, I prefer purchase, but if boss man is payin, i'm getting the new vehicle leased.

 

Keep in mind, it's my wife's vehicle not mine :P. She loves the way the Pilot drives. As big as it is, it feels more like a car than any of the large SUV's. I've put a full storm door inside that thing.

The other factor is that we went over the mileage allowance on the lease we have now and paying the penalty would be too much to overlook.

 

Ok so here's the first response from dealer A (GP Honda):

" I have a great lease special on all 08 Pilots right now. The best credit money factor is .00071 which is about 1.7%. I also have 1500 in incentive money I can use in conjunction with that rate. Even with all of the things the way residuals are on this specfic models without extending your terms beyond 24 months you are going to be quite a ways from the payment you are looking for with no money down. Let me know if we have some flexibility on any of these terms. It is the end of the year so these cars have to go away but when it comes down to it I'll give you a price that no one can touch, we all use the same residuals and money factors after that the rest is math. So if it doesn't add up it doesn't add up.."


I replied by letting him know that I've got Down payment money and to come up with a DP number that would get me in the $325 per month range. Is this the right approach or should I negotiate on the price of the vehicle first?

My strategy is to get the price of the vehicle in the details of their best offer then really start the negotiations from there. Thoughts?

 

Don't negotiate to a payment because the dealer will normally make you pay in the end.

Negotiate the sale, then the financing.

 

I heard Honda finally came out with a decent program on the Pilot this month, like $40 less per month than the last program...

 

Ok, so here is the initial offer. Strong offer from what I can see at Edmunds and stuff.

Keep in mind this is a 2008 Pilot SE (Sunroof/DVD etc.)

Chad,

Okay. Here we go. I hope I hit a home run with this one. 2008 Honda Pilot SE 2wd
24 months 15k

These are set in stone.

MSRP 32,190
Residual 57%
710+ Rate: .00071 (1.704% effectively)

Variables:

My Sale Price $27,917 includes destination, sunroof visor, mud guards, and dealer prep.

947$ down (first payment and fees) brings you to 488 a month including taxes

You will need 4645$ down to get you to 325 a month including taxes.

The only two things we can adjust are the price and down payment. You know I don't have 4000$ plus left in this price but if it comes down to a few dollars a month I am certainly not going to lose your business. You came to me over the internet to make this as easy as possible for both parties and I think I have accomplished that. I also am pretty certain you have done this enough times to know what I am showing you and how to interpret it. Let me know if you have any questions. (FYI the residual drops to 49% @ 36 months in case you change your mind. Price and rate go unchanged)."

Thoughts? I'm going to look into decreasing the money down to around $3500 and see what the monthly payment looks like at that number. Only other number would be to push some more on the sale price. This is less than I paid for my 06 EX...

 

That seems like a fair deal on the Pilot unless there's some $4000 cash back I don't know about

Oh wait, this isn't GM ... Nevermind

 

Here is some more with the sales person:

Chad,

The residual jumps to 60% on the 4wd so 4000 would get you to 330 on the 4wd model and 352 with 3500$ (And I do have three of these instock. Hard to find 4wd in the south since they started making 2wd versions).

Back to the 2wd model: -

2wd assuming 27195 sale price and .57 residual.

375 with tax at 3500 down 2wd SE

353 with tax at 4000 down 2wd SE

FYI there are some cents attached to all these numbers but it should be close enough for our purposes. I've never lost a customer over $0.83

Ok, I'm leaning towards the 4WD with $3500 down paying 352 a month. The difference in residual between the 2WD and 4WD is lager than I would have thought ... That makes it a better lease value, but I'm not sure if that is a better purchase value after the lease is up.

 

Turns out getting the 4WD in black is not so easy. Only one in the entire state of GA and 2 in NC but they would have to get someone to drive it from NC to here. I'm thinking I'll stick to the 2WD black which is much easier to find.

Plus with the residual being lower for the 2WD, that makes it a better value if I decide to buy after the lease is up.

I'm going to the dealer I bought the original Pilot from tomorrow to see if they can match or beat the numbers I already have. I'll report on that tomorrow.

Anyone else have any comments about the price quotes I'm getting?

-Chad

 

Ok so I stopped by my other dealer and they came back with 29,500 as the sale price for the 2WD SE which boils down to $390 as the monthly payment. Roughly 15$ dollars a month more. What's strange is that the residual at the other dealership is lower so i'm going to have to look into why those numbers differ.

We'll see what happens next.

 

The initial quote you got:
Okay. Here we go. I hope I hit a home run with this one. 2008 Honda Pilot SE 2wd
24 months 15k

MSRP 32,190
Residual 57%
710+ Rate: .00071 (1.704% effectively)

Variables:

My Sale Price $27,917 includes destination, sunroof visor, mud guards, and dealer prep.

947$ down (first payment and fees) brings you to 488 a month including taxes

---

Those numbers used are correct. His price equates to invoice minus the $1,500 rebate plus about $171, so that's how much they are selling it over invoice.

If I worked up the same deal structured on a 4WD instead, I'm coming up with $470 per month for 24/15k with the first payment plus dmv/plates as the only thing due at signing. Tax included, bank fee included. So technically, the 4WD is $18 less per month than the 2WD if the markup is structured the same. (FYI, for 4WD, Rate=.00117, Residual 60%)

Want me to find you a 4WD up here and ship it down to you? I'll throw it on the same truck that I'm shipping my other customer's Mercedes to FL...