San Fernando Valley

[nightpilot]

I am very new to this site and am expecting to take delivery of a Pilot w/in the next week. Supposedly the vehicle is en route to the dealer. Are there any Pilot owners in the San Fernando Valley area of Southern Cal?

[lxblack]

Conglats on your arriving PIlot...

I live in pomona valley.
What kind of deal did you get?

[nightpilot]

Actually I am still w/out my Pilot. I started out checking the different dealerships around. They all had mark ups ranging from $2K up to $5K over MSRP. I finally tried Autoland (at the recommendation of my credit union) and decided to go with them as there was no mark up. In addition they gave the were willing to give me the most for my trade in (2001 Toyota Sequoia). They did the search for a Black EX-L and finally located one @ a dealer in Gardena. After waiting for 3 weeks (delays supposedly due to the crazy fires we've been having) I finally got a call on 10/1/02 that the Pilot was going to arrive on 10/2/02. However, an hour later I receive a call from Autoland that says that the original amout for my trade in was no longer valid and that they could offer about $3K - $4K less than originally discussed. I told them no way and at this point am Pilotless. I have been able to locate a dealer in Reseda who will sell the Pilot @ sticker. My only concern now is how much they are going to give for my Sequoia.

I am still in limbo trying to get an explanation from the credit union and Autoland as to what happened here. In the meantime I am going to try the dealership in Reseda to see if there is anything that they can do.

[MG Pilot]

Originally posted by nightpilot
Actually I am still w/out my Pilot. I started out checking the different dealerships around. They all had mark ups ranging from $2K up to $5K over MSRP. I finally tried Autoland (at the recommendation of my credit union) and decided to go with them as there was no mark up. In addition they gave the were willing to give me the most for my trade in (2001 Toyota Sequoia). They did the search for a Black EX-L and finally located one @ a dealer in Gardena. After waiting for 3 weeks (delays supposedly due to the crazy fires we've been having) I finally got a call on 10/1/02 that the Pilot was going to arrive on 10/2/02. However, an hour later I receive a call from Autoland that says that the original amout for my trade in was no longer valid and that they could offer about $3K - $4K less than originally discussed. I told them no way and at this point am Pilotless. I have been able to locate a dealer in Reseda who will sell the Pilot @ sticker. My only concern now is how much they are going to give for my Sequoia.

I am still in limbo trying to get an explanation from the credit union and Autoland as to what happened here. In the meantime I am going to try the dealership in Reseda to see if there is anything that they can do.

I find it almost comical how these dealers try to screw people with trades...

Are they trying to tell you that in 3 weeks your Toyota depreciated 3k-4k??? Give me a break...

[PJ27]

nightpilot,

At the recommendation from another member (thanks Jason), I also went to Kolbe Honda in Reseda. They low-balled me on my trade-in as well. I think it's pretty universal. The blue book value of my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee was about $7,500. The dealer was offering $3,750 to $4,750. It sounded like they probably couldn't do better than $4k though.

Have you tried a private sale? I listed my Jeep in the Recycler and got a call a day later. I sold it for $6k.

Just keep your options open. Oh yah, and don't be an idiot like me and sell your car too fast otherwise you'll be car-less while you wait for your Pilot. At least for me, I only have one more week to wait.

Good luck!

-pj

[nightpilot]

PJ27

Thanks very much for the suggestion. The private sale option is being considered if I can't get anything else to work.

Originally posted by PJ27
nightpilot,
Have you tried a private sale? I listed my Jeep in the Recycler and got a call a day later. I sold it for $6k.

Just keep your options open. Oh yah, and don't be an idiot like me and sell your car too fast otherwise you'll be car-less while you wait for your Pilot. At least for me, I only have one more week to wait.
-pj

[lxblack]

Forget the trade-in for this discussion.
Gardena will sell you at sticker price. I got mine from them at MSRP. Just tell them you want the Pilot w/o any DIO. You may have to wait a bit but if they do come in and they haven't put any DIO on it, they will sell at MSRP.
They did get me for the window etch for $180, thought...
Good luck.