Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.

I've got thoughts

First off I think its less than $4K difference, unless you were considering a 2WD Touring (Elite is AWD no matter what)

Elite also has the full digital dash and a few more interior accent lights I think

It's really just a YOU question...how much does your wife want the heated steering wheel and heated 2nd row seats? I agree on the HUD, I shut it off day 1 and I hate HUDs. The digital dash is pretty cool....same one as in the Accord, so I would at least look at both yourself to see if that matters to you or not. Otherwise, it is a husband/wife conversation....Hey Hon, it will cost us an extra $3500 or whatever to get those extra features. Is that worth it to you?

Only you know your financial situation. I could afford but my nature is to analyze everything, so I started out thinking I would get the EXL, but then when I drove one, I wanted the panoramic roof so it wasnt so claustrophobic, and then from the Touring I talked myself up to the Elite as a "life is short, enjoy your damn car, you keep your cars 10 years so don't spend 10 years telling yourself you could have had the digital dash and moonroof and folding mirrors but you saved a few bucks" but everyone's situation is different

 

Thanks for the feedback and thoughts. All good points. The quotes i am getting with OTD prices get me to the $4500 difference which i think is a function of taxes and fees being a little different between the two Trims/price points in my State. I imagine in 2 years the price difference will be a distant memory but the reminders that the steering wheel is cold in the winter will still be there. Good catch on the digital display, we test drove an EX-L so have not seen the full digital dash to compare yet. Sounds like we are on a similiar path as you, started with an EX-L and finding our way to a higher Trim. I was surprised at the # of features missing on the EX-L trim.

 

Get the Elite. Full of nice to have things. Not sure if the acoustic glass was mentioned. Super quiet ride!

 

My compilation of differences between them and which made me to buy Elite. For me, price difference is worth it.

EDIT : I started with EX-L, but after looking at panoramic roof, which is a must for kids to enjoy(IMO), bought myself to Touring. But looking at below differences (AWD is a must for me), price difference was not so great(EMI), so decided to buy Elite. So far so good.

Rain Sensing

360 View and Trail Watch

Power Folding and Auto Dim

Perforated Seats

Heated Wiper Zone

Heated Steering Wheel

HUD

LED Door Trimming

Driver's and Front Passenger's Upper Seatback Pockets

Heated Outboard 2nd-Row

Perforated, Ventilated Front Seats with Accent Piping

10.2-Inch Digital Instrument Cluster

110-Volt Power Outlet

 

My compilation of differences between them and which made me to buy Elite. For me, price difference is worth it.

EDIT : I started with EX-L, but after looking at panoramic roof, which is a must for kids to enjoy(IMO), bought myself to Touring. But looking at below differences (AWD is a must for me), price difference was not so great(EMI), so decided to buy Elite. So far so good.

Rain Sensing

360 View and Trail Watch

Power Folding and Auto Dim

Perforated Seats

Heated Wiper Zone

Heated Steering Wheel

HUD

LED Door Trimming

Driver's and Front Passenger's Upper Seatback Pockets

Heated Outboard 2nd-Row

Perforated, Ventilated Front Seats with Accent Piping

10.2-Inch Digital Instrument Cluster

110-Volt Power Outlet

Don't forget those darn puddle lights!

 

Too bad they discontinued
steel sapphire, glad I got my Elite!

 

I went to the dealer to get an EXL and they didn't have one. Ended up with the Touring and I'm happy with it.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

You can add on heated steering wheel separately as a dealer option. Its $533 on the site(last option list before engine blocl heater) plus dealer fees. Mine will come out to $782 installed. Which is why I stuck with the Touring, unless they I could find the Elite with Brown, it wasnt worth the $$$ to upgrade. But it is also the same steering wheel as the 23 CRV, so you likely will find them on ebay and can add on later. Steering wheels take 15 mins to swap.

 

That brown interior is gorgeous & hard to find. Would be worth the Elite just for it!

 

I had the same consideration before purchasing my Pilot.

The MSRP between Touring/Elite is $5,580 with AWD being $2,000.

So if you're planning on getting AWD (as I did) the difference is $3,580 + taxes.

For me the extra "stuff" on the Elite wasn't worth much at all...probably not even $1,000 so I opted to skip it.

 

Ok yes, I had 3500-ish in my memory banks. Everyone is different. The way my brain rationalized here was the step up from the EXL I was originally thinking about to the Touring was I think more like 4500, and the only thing I really cared about there was the sunroof, so then it was "only" a smaller amount to get a bunch of frills going from Touring to Elite. Rationalization for sure. I think if the EXL had even a normal sized moonroof I may have ended up down there because I wouldn't have felt the need to step to consider Touring. I wonder if they will add it in the mid model change or not. I have always seemed to buy the EXL trim, whatever it was, on my prior Honda purchases so was disappointed that they had a closed roof on this one.

 

The mirrors are really beneficial if you street park a lot and you don't have to reach across your car to pop open the mirrors - otherwise its unnecessary.

Agree with you on the seats. I had vented seats before, and although nice, I seldomly used it unless it was a super hot day. But heated steering wheel is a game changer, and a deal breaker without them.

 

The mirrors are really beneficial if you street park a lot and you don't have to reach across your car to pop open the mirrors - otherwise its unnecessary.

Agree with you on the seats. I had vented seats before, and although nice, I seldomly used it unless it was a super hot day. But heated steering wheel is a game changer, and a deal breaker without them.

The mirrors are absolutely wonderful for automatic car washes😉

 

The full digital gauge cluster is nice, for Honda but no where near as nice as other car brands. I got the elite because it was In Transit and available the day we went to check out some Pilots. Liking it so far

 

My 2019 Pilot was a Touring and I always regretted not getting an Elite. So, the choice for my 2023 was a done deal. The 360* camera alone is worth the additional price to me.

 

IMO I wouldn't spend 550 bucks or whatever just for the heated wheel when for 3500 you can get all the other stuff plus probably some better resale value in the future.

 

Resale would actually be worse with an Elite. You should get an LX if you cared only about resale.

Biggest issue honestly is the perforated leather. It creases and cracks way too easily and will make the seats look crappy in a few yrs, even with conditioner.

 

Scratch and shine!

Most will probably think I’m crazy but 7k miles and I’ve never taken mine though a wash tunnel yet. Hand wash only.

 

No scratches here. No way I'd be able to keep up appearances doing hand wash only. Midwest weather would have forced me to bow to the tunnel wash eventually....

 

To all of you who talk(ed) yourself up to the top trim, count me in too !

If you look at the thread on total (out the door) prices, some people are getting good discounts below MSRP using the Costco Auto program. Of course, you have to find a dealer who participates. I sure hope that car deals return to pre-pandemic levels soon - I've never ever ever paid MSRP in my life and I feel like a small piece of me will die if I'm forced to pay Monroney for my Pilot Elite The last car I bought (Oct 2022) was a top-trim Crosstrek at about $800 below MSRP. The vehicle before that was $1,300 below invoice in May of 2015. My how times have changed!!!

 

To all of you who talk(ed) yourself up to the top trim, count me in too !

If you look at the thread on total (out the door) prices, some people are getting good discounts below MSRP using the Costco Auto program. Of course, you have to find a dealer who participates. I sure hope that car deals return to pre-pandemic levels soon - I've never ever ever paid MSRP in my life and I feel like a small piece of me will die if I'm forced to pay Monroney for my Pilot Elite The last car I bought (Oct 2022) was a top-trim Crosstrek at about $800 below MSRP. The vehicle before that was $1,300 below invoice in May of 2015. My how times have changed!!!

I'm with you brother

In the past my game was to negotiate below INVOICE as best I could. Let all the lazy or uninformed suckers pay MSRP or close to it, and subsidize my better deal with the dealership haha

In this market I was happy to go ahead and just settle on MSRP. I had been waiting for like 18 months thinking about replacing our Odyssey, and almost jumped on an MDX so I can say that waiting was well worth it as I got a better car for me, and saved a bunch of money too, so I didn't want to keep waiting another 6-12 months to potentially save another 1-2 thousand or whatever.

 

How is a quality of leather seats in Hondas these days? My past experience was not very good. Do ventilated seats affect surface quality long term?

 

Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.

For the price difference and if you keep the car for any amount of time, get her what she wants. If you keep it 5 years (we keep our close to 10) it’s maybe $2.50 a day more.

 

Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.
Here's my $0.02 worth: If you keep the car for 10 years (I would,) you're talking $500/year, and get some of it back. If you sell/trade it sooner, you'll get more of it back. I would get the Elite. (And I would highly recommend running-boards and the hood-deflector as they make the car, IMO, really stand out.)

 

I bought a touring over an elite because I bought the vehicle with the accessories I wanted/needed. Where I live, if it is cold enough for a heated steering wheel, it is cold enough for me to have gloves on. I didn't want windshield wipers that turned on, buy them selves. Where I live there are too many neighbors that have sprinkler systems that are either not aimed properly or the wind blows water into the street. I didn't want to be driving down the street with the wipers saying...Dumb Guy...Dumb Guy....Dumb Guy.....on a sunny dry day, just because of a little over spray. But that's just me. Buy what suits your needs and your wants.

 

It's just blowing cabin air, the seats themselves are not cooled they are just ventilated.

2 things.
That’s not how the auto wipers work. You still have to turn it from off to auto. So, no you wouldn’t have to be self conscious.
For the cooled seats, I turned my AC to Low this morning and the seats were noticeably cooler. Placebo? Maybe. But for those saying their seats are not effective, that might be an option to try.

 

Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.

Definitely get the Elite......I love those things she does......but having the A/C blown up my bottom on a ~HOT~ summer day is sooooo awesome. The other features with the elite were worth it too - but for me that has been the best one

 

What AC? Honda has ventilated seats which just use fans, not cooled seats.

 

Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.

I got an EX-L because I did not want the sunroof or the roof rails. However, had I gone with the higher trim level, I would have gone straight to the Elite.

 

After owning my Elite for 8 years.....I am looking for a new vehicle. I had soooooo many problems with my 2016 Elite (Camshaft fell out, transmission had to be replaced, odometer issues, transmission warmer had to be replaced) that I am thinking of looking elsewhere for my next vehicle. Has anyone else done any comparisons with other vehicles? I am strongly looking at Kia Sorento Hybrid SX Prestige - seems to have all the same bells and whistles as the Pilot Elite.

 

It just comes down to wether or not you think she is worth the x-trA money for an Elite - or not. ^^

 

Trying to determine if the Elite trim is worth an extra $4-5K. My wife really wants a heated steering wheel and rear heated seats but Honda decided that would only be available on the Elite even though similiar vehicles 5+ years old had those options on lower trims. As far as I can tell the big differences between the Elite and Touring are the above items, the HUD (which she would turn off anyway), the perforated and ventilated front seats, the 110V plug, automatic folding mirrors. Am i missing anything else to compel almost $5K higher MSRP?

Having tested out the 23 pathfinder and 23 pallisade, the pilot just seems better put together with a smoother ride and quieter cabin. Pathfinder was quiet but suspension was rougher and the cabin space felt smaller than it was (and by measurements is smaller than her current 2016 pathfinder). Pallisade had all kinds of cabin noise although the tech was much better and had a nice interior. In the end we are pretty convinced the Pilot is the right vehicle, just having a hard time spending mid/high $50s for a Honda (its been about 5 years since I bought a car but for mid fiftys i would have expected a luxury brand. Touring trim seems like a good compromise although i may be missing something on the differences between Touring and Elite.

Welcome any thoughts.

I recently purchased a 2022 Elite and I had the same questions. My last one was just an ELX. I love all of the features you mentioned.. I live on the Coast of Georgia and it gets very hot here..so the Air cooled seat were a plus. But we hd one cold snap and I did love the heated steering wheel! I love that the mirrors tilt down when you back up. This may not be an "Elite only" feature, but it has a special glass that reduces the road noise a lot. Fortunately for me, I bought one they had given me to drive for 10 days while my 2018 was getting a new transmission. By the time the 2018 was fixed, I knew I wanted the Elite. Fortunately since it had been a loaner for about a month, it was considered "Certified Preowned" so I got a much better deal than on a new one, plus I got a warranty that was better buy 2 years. And it only had 1300 miles on it. Probably 500 were miles I put on. The cost was still more than I wanted to pay, but after 3 months I believe ti was worth it.

 

Thank you all for the responses. Great insight and honesty from you all. I think we have determined the Elite trim is the right choice. In the end its just the right combimation of features. We could live without some of the Touring features but Elite has the things that we are most interested in. Honda knew what they were doing when they decided on features for each trim, pushes most buyers past Touring to Elite.

Now to find tbe right color combo in stock for a reasonable OTD price....wish me luck

 

The ventilated seats circulate the ambient air from inside the vehicle. There is no "ac" system in the seat itself.

 

The Elite has the TrailWatch Camera, HUD, heated steering wheel, power folding side mirrors, ventilated front seats, heated 2nd row seats, laminated glass up front, AWD only, 7 drive modes vs Tourings 5, CabinTalk PA System, and the 10.2" driver information interface. That's quite a bit of equipment for the difference in price.

 

If I buy one it would be either EX-L or Elite. Touring over EX-L doesn't offer features I want and Elite over touring does. To me Touring doesn't make sense. And pilot is probably only in it's class that shouldn't be bought as FWD.

 

I generally agree with this. EXL is much more cost effective. Once you realize the secret that even the EXL has the magical "removable seat", then you are basically getting a panoramic moonroof in the Touring for $4500 bucks and maybe a few other things, but then I think lots of people that are willing to spend that much for minimal differences look at all extra stuff you then get on the Elite, for "only" another $3500, and decide what the heck, might as well go all in. At least that is how my brain worked...