Honda Pilot - Honda Pilot Forums banner

Delays in Delivery

5K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  MrPerception 
#1 ·
Hi , Anyone knows why there are BIG delivery issues with 2107 Pilots ? I ordered mine in December and was told that there is a 30 to 60 days waiting period. Then they keep extending the date and now they are saying 3 to 5 weeks for White and 6 to 8 weeks for Lunar Silver color. I tried to contact other dealerships so I can cancel the contract with the existing one but none has an EX model available. One of the Salesman even said to stick with my dealership as there are issues with Honda Deliveries. Is there any issues with the Car and they are trying to fix instead of selling them and then making a Recall afterwards OR they do not have capacity to fulfill the orders ?:frown:
 
#3 ·
I didn't realize that certain colors were only made at certain times of the year. When I was waiting for my VW buyback stuff to get processed I saw Pilots in every available color in local dealers' inventories. That was from November (when the 2017s started appearing) until late January.
 
#4 ·
It's very possible that things have changed, especially since the same factory is doing the Ridgeline, MDX, Pilot and Odyssey. However when I asked a rep from Honda at an auto show a few years back it was mentioned that they do vehicle assembly in waves of a bunch of one thing and then a bunch of another. Quantities of each depended on sales projections.

Totally happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.
 
#5 ·
The actual reasoning behind delays in delivery and production are due to Honda Factory requiring minimum orders of trim and colour before building the vehicle. Honda Manufacturing requires a minimum order of 30 vehicles in a certain trim AND colour. This means that there must be 30 confirmed orders from dealers across USA and Canada before the factory will accept the orders.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
The actual reasoning behind delays in delivery and production are due to Honda Factory requiring minimum orders of trim and colour before building the vehicle. Honda Manufacturing requires a minimum order of 30 vehicles in a certain trim AND colour. This means that there must be 30 confirmed orders from dealers across USA and Canada before the factory will accept the orders.
How ordering a car really works:

You leave your deposit.

Dealer submits the order to Honda. Only happens once per month and is for the next production month. Usually production month is 2 months ahead of time of order. Dealer then has to wait for Honda.

Honda either accepts the order (provided they have 30 minimum orders for same trim and options), or the order is back ordered until the minimum 30 has been met.

Honda confirms order with dealer through their internal system.
Also, dealers don't necessarily get everything they ordered for a given month.
In addition to the minimum order requirement for a production run of a particular combination of color and trim, maybe a dealer is ordering a particular combination of color and trim that is too popular and there aren't quite enough to go around.
The dealers who met or exceeded their sales quotas in the preceding month might be more likely to get the more popular versions ahead of under-performing dealers.
Those dealers who didn't get everything they wanted can try to trade with another dealer, but they have to find another dealer willing to relinquish that vehicle plus they need to have another vehicle that the other dealer will accept in exchange. If supplies are tight, that's much less likely to happen.
 
#6 ·
With the Pilot (and all other Honda's) you aren't actually "ordering" your specific Pilot. Back in the day, special orders were available but Honda has since moved to mass production. When a Honda salesman tells you they are "ordering" your Pilot, they are actually hooking you to purchase the Pilot from their dealer as they usually have you put down a deposit. Most folks then stop looking at other dealers as they feel they simply have to wait for their special ordered Pilot to come in. In the meantime, the dealer is simply watching the available inventory allotted to them and will call you when the combination you are looking for appears on this list. It's not a surprise that buyers like yourself will get a call (or more likely you call to check the status since it's passed the quoted period) that your Pilot has been delayed by the factory.

Do a search on this forum and you'll find numerous folks with complaints that their Pilot has been delayed or the factory had issues. It's not that it is delayed. It's more likely your dealer wasn't allotted the specific trim you are looking for.

When we were looking for our Pilot, we heard the run around but quickly learned how it works. We found that most salesman are lazy and only want the quick sell of selling what is on their lot. I don't blame them for the latter, it's just how the business works. But, they also know that having a deposit almost guarantees a person will come back. We didn't want to be handcuffed to a specific dealer so we used the internet and called all over Los Angeles to locate the Pilot that we wanted.

Assuming your deposit is refundable, I would suggest you do the same and search for your Pilot. The good old days of a salesman putting in all the footwork is over. You could use an auto broker who will put in the footwork for you, but you'll pay a premium (usually MSRP plus their services). Good luck!
 
#7 ·
I took delivery of my 2017 Silver Pilot EX last Sat 4/15/2017. I only ordered it thru my dealer 2 weeks earlier. It had 3 miles on the odometer. From what I have read maybe I was lucky. Just glad to have it in my garage. Waiting on my trailer hitch and harness to arrive in the next few days.
 
#8 ·
You keep asking the same question! Honda doesn't actually take special orders. A dealer took your "order" by securing money based on future inbound inventory.
 
#9 ·
How ordering a car really works:

You leave your deposit.

Dealer submits the order to Honda. Only happens once per month and is for the next production month. Usually production month is 2 months ahead of time of order. Dealer then has to wait for Honda.

Honda either accepts the order (provided they have 30 minimum orders for same trim and options), or the order is back ordered until the minimum 30 has been met.

Honda confirms order with dealer through their internal system.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
How ordering a car really works:

You leave your deposit.

Dealer submits the order to Honda. Only happens once per month and is for the next production month. Usually production month is 2 months ahead of time of order. Dealer then has to wait for Honda.

Honda either accepts the order (provided they have 30 minimum orders for same trim and options), or the order is back ordered until the minimum 30 has been met.

Honda confirms order with dealer through their internal system.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Do you have proof of this synopsis?

Every dealer that we visited (that was willing to be honest) provided their list or shared their computer screen of what was scheduled to be shipping in the coming weeks/months. They have no control of what they receive aside from seeing other dealers allotment and manually requesting a dealer exchange. Salesman have confirmed that they cannot special order a specific Pilot and simply check the period inventory shipments.

Long gone are the days you can sit down with a salesman, request your specific color, features, etc. and the car is delivered with your name on the window sticker. It comes down to logistics at the factory and preferential treatment if you are high volume dealer. A mom and pop dealer in the middle of no where will have zero priority in the distribution line.

Putting down a deposit for a "special order" Pilot is simply telling the dealer you have fallen for their trick and will wait patiently for them to take delivery of a vehicle they may or may not get. It's a win, win for the dealer - they receive cash for nothing. While they gain interest on your money, you sit waiting for the hopes that the Pilot comes in while they toot the horn of "it got delayed, but it should be here MM/DD/YYYY". The sheep simply wait and complain or threat of (unjustified) lawsuits. Others will take control and do their search online or start calling other dealers (this worked for us).

Do a search on this forum and you will find numerous examples of fake "special orders".
 
#18 ·
And girls.....no reason for gender bias!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky
#22 ·
Just signed the lease on a 2017 EX last night and getting it Thursday. Hadn't planned on getting a Pilot originally as they had called with an offer to switch me into a new Odyssey for a lower payment. Just went up to check the numbers and ended up getting a Pilot instead. They had just gotten the vehicle (only 3kms on the odometer) and it hadn't even been set up yet. Salesman had to manually unlock it. He was telling me that they always order more each month in hopes of getting an extra one as they don't stay on the lot very long. The dealership I went to is in a small town of 9,000 and is a smaller dealership, but I've been to larger dealerships in Ottawa that haven't had any on the lot at times. Reading the stories on here, it sounds like the timing was just perfect for me finding the one I would have been interested in with the colour I wanted (Obsidian Blue Pearl). I'll be getting it just in time for our weekend getaway.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top