[Hogan773]

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

 

[Hogan773]

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.

Yes @ MyElite - forgot the Acoustic Glass on the driver and passenger front windows.

I think you will also be happy with the Touring though. And lots of people on here love their EXLs too and preferred to save that money. I just felt like I was still gonna spend high 40Ks for a car without ANY sunroof at all and like you said, they nerfed some features in the EXL. My theory is they didn't really have enough differentiation for the Touring if they also gave a moonroof to the EXL. But yeah, if you keep your cars 10 years like I do, it's a few hundred per year, AND there is at least some chance that you get some of that money back on the resale especially if you sell it privately.

The other thing I do as a sort of "slap yourself out of it" exercise when I start to get way too analytical about the price of some purchase, is to remember that when I go pick up the indian food that my wife ordered for takeout, it costs like $100 or more for one damn dinner sometimes, and so we eat it and then eliminate it the following day haha. So why do I really care about a few hundred extra dollars per year if it makes me love the car that much more - a car I drive most every day so will be spending thousands of hours in it over my ownership period.

 

[Hogan773]

Don't forget those darn puddle lights!

Amazingly my driver's side puddle light has still been working perfectly after being out and flickering for several days back when we were all figuring out this potential issue. I watch for it every time I am driving. Still confused how it could rise from the dead but I am glad it has

 

[Hogan773]

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.

 

[Hogan773]

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.

 

[Hogan773]

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.

I dunno bout dat

You think in 10 years someone will pay more for an LX than an Elite? Doubtful to me

 

[Hogan773]

Yes, that was what I was pointing out - residual value of msrp is higher because percentage of depreciation is less. Base models generally are a couple percentage points higher in residual vs fully optioned out models.

yeah, agree, that is pretty intuitive though

If two cars sell today for $40K and $50K, in 10 years when the first one is $8K, obviously the second one isn't gonna be $18K.

However, my point was it's also probably not accurate to say "you are spending $3500 more for the Elite" when you could likely get some of that difference back at resale. If you get $1000 more for your Elite vs a Touring at the sale, then your cost to enjoy the Elite for all those years is $2500, not $3500. Yes, not counting time value of money etc, I know. Just back of the envelope

 

[Hogan773]

I’m glad I’m not the only one that talks myself up to the most expensive thing lol. In this case my wife talked me back down to the EX-L because it just makes more financial sense for us. We are going to have to spend the additional money on a lighter trailer for our horses to keep under the 5k limit.

I usually DON'T talk myself up to the most expensive! I'm getting softer in my old age. You'll still love the EXL I'm sure! Any new car is gonna feel great

 

[Hogan773]

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.

 

[Hogan773]

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...

 

[Hogan773]

of course not - but.. as a % of original cost , base models WILL retain a larger % of value. Fact.

Right but as we subsequently discussed above, that wasn't my point at all. My point was to say that when someone today is saying they are spending "3500 more to get the Elite trim" (or whatever), it generally isn't the case that you will lose that WHOLE AMOUNT once you resell the car, so it is another consideration that maybe the amount you are paying to get the extra features isn't quite as much as you thought

 

[Hogan773]

I would encourage you to read his post again. He didn't want wipers that "turned on by themselves" which the implication was that they are 100% autonomous. They are indeed not. You still have to move the switch (just the same movement like any other model without it) from off, to intermittent, before the automatic speed control takes over. Yes, you could leave it there forever and if all you ever drive on is sunny days, it does nothing. Maybe I am in the minority here but I still switch the wipers off when not needed.

I do the same...I treat them like normal Intermittent Wipers. I am smart enough to know if there is water hitting my windshield or not

 

[Hogan773]

You buying that from the wiper black market?
I haven't bought a wiper under $20 in years.
Maybe I need to shop where you do LOL

Hmmm?

If you did it the "right way" you would buy the Honda OEM rubber inserts. They work really well and last a long time and they are cheap especially if you buy them in multiples off some Honda dealer on Ebay etc. At least that used to be the case last time I ordered. No need to pay for expensive metal frames etc when you can keep your OEM frames and just change the rubber

 

[Hogan773]

Does anyone else who has an Elite forget that the HUD exists? After 5k miles I still forget that I can get directions and speed there… I end up looking at the screens.

on the other hand my wife learned to drive on the Pilot and she loved the HUD

Turned HUD off before I even left the dealer lot. I hate the HUD with a passion

 

[Hogan773]

I too started with the EX-L, but moved up to Touring because of the roof rack, and the awesome sound system. I have to have a trailer hitch for bicycle rack usage, which at my local dealer was way way expensive, $3K installed. I did not want the Elite, because I figured so many bells and whistles would detract from reliability, but I spent $1300 to have the heated wheel added. Elite actually has lower gas mileage I believe. Some of its features like heated wiper zone are standard on low trim Subarus, so there is that. No way to add ventilated seats they told me, so my truck, 8 yrs old, and one level below the top one, is actually fancier than my car. I'm happy enough with the Touring that I think I made the right choice, even though every added feature except the HUD is one I'd appreciate. At some point I suppose we have to draw a line, even if it seems an arbitrary one.

Obviously you made your choice but the Elite was only 3500 more to begin with I think, and you just cut that difference to 2200. Elite has a lot more stuff on it than the Touring for 2200 bucks more. I would also not spend 3500 bucks to get a hitch added for a bike rack...that is super expensive