The Pilot Adventure...

Monday, Philip and I worked out a budget to see how much we could afford to spend on a new Pilot for him.  We knew that we'd probably have to spend more than we wanted to because Philip has terrible credit (he was really dumb with his credit when he was young -- fortunately, the stupid stuff should just be on his credit for another year or two!).  

Well, he decided that he was going to go up to Honda of Greeley to see if they could offer him any more than what Planet Honda had offered him for his trade-in ($11,000).  The best that they could do was match Planet.  But they promised to work with him to try to get him a better deal.  The problem was, Planet Honda had already given us a quote for a sale Pilot that they had (several thousand off the MSRP).  Honda of Greeley couldn't match their price.  

However, they begged Philip to work with them to try to get the financing where he wanted it.  They threw in a maintenance package and a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty for the Pilot and then we got down to business.  

They went back and forth with American Honda Finance for a few hours.  I didn't think they were going to be able to make it happen.  However, the manager said he called in a few favors and argued for Philip (he has only ever owned Hondas and he's never been late on a payment).  Somehow, he was able to get us 1.9% financing (just to give you an idea, I've got WAY better credit than Philip and I was still only able to get 7.1% financing at Planet Honda -- because I don't have any auto loans on my credit history).  The 1.9% financing is what they give people with absolutely superb credit.  Not us!

But, Philip was ecstatic!  I drove up after work to sign all of the paperwork.  We transferred all of the stuff out of Philip's car to the new Pilot and then said goodbye to her.  She was a good car.  :)

And now, without further ado, meet Philip's new 2011 Honda Pilot EX-L (her name is Scarlet):

She is Dark Cherry Pearl with Beige leather interior.  The seats all fold down flat and lock (which the dogs love!).  There are about 57 cup holders and electrical outlets.  It's got nooks and crannies everywhere.  It has three rows of seats:

(Source)

It's absolutely fantastic.  Philip's favorite feature is the back-up camera.  What can I say?  He's easily amused!  I am really happy for Philip.  He's getting exactly what he wants.  And, Scarlet is beautiful.  :)

So Much For That Plan

So, you might remember that last week I was saying we were waiting until December to buy Philip a new Honda Pilot so that we could get more for his trade-in (the Civic).  Well, Saturday (also known as the day from hell), we went to the brand new Ikea in Centennial (South Denver).  

After a bunch of hassle, we finally got what we came for (like I said, the day from hell).  Since we were in the area, I asked Philip if he wanted to stop by a different dealership to see if they would give him more for his trade-in than Planet Honda offered (and to see if he even liked the Honda Pilots).  

Philip immediately fell in love with the Pilot.  However, since we just went to Ikea, we had my CR-V instead of Philip's Civic.  They told us that they'd have to see the Civic first, but they were sure they could probably match or beat what Planet Honda offered us.  

So, we drove the hour back home to get his car and the hour back to Kuni Honda.  When we arrived, they told us that they'd called around to the auction companies in the area (they have to wholesale Philip's Civic because he was in an accident where the airbags went off) and the most they could get for it is $5,000 (Planet Honda had offered us $11,000 for it!).  The salesman told us to scoop up the offer from Planet immediately before they changed their mind about it!

I was irritated that we had driven all the way back to Denver for nothing, but I was determined to make the best of it.  We drove to the other side of Denver to go to Planet Honda.  We arrived at about 7:30, but they close at 7pm (on a Saturday! Really?) so we couldn't do anything that day.  We were really bummed.  We were hoping to get a good end of the month deal (it was July 30th).  

However, we refocused ourselves that night.  We knew we didn't want to keep paying on a car that wasn't worth what we owed on it.  So, I emailed Planet Honda and told them that we would be in on Wednesday to discuss buying a Pilot.  

To Be Continued...