The purchasing experience at this dealership was good at the beginning until I was going to pick up the vehicle.
The Honda Pilot quality isn't as good as Honda used to be. I had a 2016 Odyssey and a Civic before, so I know.
Verdict: Don't buy cars in this dealership if you can find somewhere else. Trust me, their price isn't the lowest if you're willing to ask others. The Honda or Toyota cars are not they were. Try Acura or Lexus if you can afford.
The following is what I wrote to the GM of this store. He didn't reply, of course.
Rest too long; don't read.
In case anyone wants to learn the price, I got $56,500 OTD, including cross-bar, tail hitch, and dealership package. No trade-in, since they couldn't beat the price from CarMax.
Some sensitive info was removed. This was in this Oct, 2024.
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Hi Mr. Rasmussen,
I'm sorry that I must tell you about my experience of buying the 2025 Honda Pilot from your store just last week.
Your saleswoman, Veronica, helped me about the process with a good price. It all went well until we arrived your store. We wanted the Pilot Elite trim and my wife wanted the white exterior and gray interior. No stores around us have such. One or two in Houston and the other is yours. So we drove 3+ hours to your store after the detailed specifics and price were settled, including the trade-in. Our kids were with us, wanting to see the new car.
We settled the deal and put 2K deposit on Wednesday, including the trade-in of my 2016 Odyssey with the $16,000 CarMax appraisal. We also completed the remote credit check for financing the car. We wanted the trailer hitch with BLACK panel and crossbar along with ALL window tint, excluding the front windshield and panoramic roof. The service department finally got all these done on 5:30pm on Friday.
I guessed the service department must be very very busy. Giving more than 2 days isn't enough for them.
First shock: Until we arrived at 5:30pm, Veronica told us the trade-in price was too high and her manager decided not to take it. Note that we drove 3+ hours and expected to drive back with this one new car. So CarMax closed at 8pm, and we had to rush out and sell our Odyssey, because my wife and I couldn't drive two cars back for 3+ hours.
Second shock: When I checked the car, I found a wide gap on the driver side front light. It's obvious a flaw. See the attached pictures on both side for comparison. I told Veronica and she took it to the service department and said they couldn't get it right. And the situation might get worse if they took it out and put it back. At that moment, I was speechless! Since when, the Honda quality had degraded so badly, including the mechanics.
Third shock: So due to the short notice of no trade-in, I wasn't happy and had to shorten the "conversation" with the financial manager, declined all the warranties. He wasn't happy, because I wasn't happy, of course. I complained about the short no-trade-in news and originally Veronica was agreeing to deliver the car to me but got turned down later by her manager due to the liability per Veronica. The financial manager said it's not safe for a women to drive to somewhere unknown, not mentioning the liability at all. Anyway, the experience with him was the worst I've had in my past car-buying experiences.
Fourth shock: We left the store around 7:15pm and drove it to CarMax. While we arrived there, I noticed the hitch panel was NOT BLACK as I told Veronica. It was already dark when I checked the car, so I wasn't noticing it. But even if I pointed it out, what could Veronica do?! Besides, the service department wouldn't fix it in such a short time.
Fifth shock: We headed home in 3+ hour drive. For some reason, we kept hearing something from the car. We stopped 3 times trying to figure out what's wrong but in vain. Finally, when we got home around 12am, I found the culprit. The screws on the crossbars were very loose, and I could easily unscrew them by my bare hands. Thank god, the screws were still on. Otherwise, someone behind us might get hurt by the falling crossbar.
Sixth shock: On checking the window tint as I specifically spoke with Veronica twice, one through messages and the other orally, I found only the first row side windows were tinted. The rest windows, including the rear windshield were not. These were factory stained windows. I'm thinking either Veronica was lying to me, or she really didn't know the differences between tinted windows and stained windows?!
Seventh shock: I was just shocked by all kinds of issues coming up. The following day we drove somewhere with many bugs on the road, so I used the windshield wiper a few times and then no more fluid coming out. When I arrived the destination, I checked the fluid container. It's totally DRY. Yes, just not a single sign of water being poured EVER.
I don't know what else I can expect from you. I just hoped my trailer hitch was installed correctly with all screws installed right. read more