I suppose we, as a group, tend to try and purchase our Pilot necessities from certain suggested and accessible places favored by this online community with the intention of low prices or group discounts. The usual discount is about 20% off suggested retail.
This is a suggestion and one that I've been very successful with. I am aware that local dealers can be hard to deal with at times, but it is worth the effort to befriend someone there and develop a good dialog from your side of the parts counter. I've done so in my home town and the experience has been pleasurable.
Recently I wanted to purchase a pair of rear fenders for my Pilot. I checked Hillsides price and Service Hondas price before calling my local guy. Usually, if they can come reasonably close I'll deal locally just to keep the money in my environment and maintain a friendly tone with the dealership should I need other services down the road. It is so much so that they are willing to work on my Pilot if I desired it, even knowing that I do most, if not all of that myself. Oh well, the fenders, I shared the two prices I had from online resources and told him if he could come close to that to just order them and let me know. Two days later he called and informed me that the fenders would arrive in two days. When I went to pick them up I was pleasantly surprised in that the price was less than those I proposed to him, I didn't get charged for any special shipping since they came in with a regular weekly order. My total price, tax included was less that the total before shipping from either Hillside or Service.
It didn't take any special feat of ass kissing to develop the relationship, just an honest intention of giving them my business if they could make it worth it for me. In most cases over the last two years I've bought locally and saved money. I also had a face and a name to confront should something come in wrong and it was resolved quickly. Their service department has done some jug boring for me twice, reasonbly priced and good work. I enjoyed not having to ship something off with the potential for the great wait.
I know this won't work for everyone, but it might be worth a try sometimes. You might be pleasantly surprised yourself!
One hint - utilitize the available sites such as Service Honda and Parts Fish (if they still list part numbers) and have the numbers ready for what you need. That makes for a great start and keeps some of the younger guys from having to figure out what in the hell is a Pilot
It shows that you have a personal interest in him doing it right and everyone likes no mistakes. Tell them where and for what you can get it online and add that you would prefer to give your local shop the opportunity to make that profit if they can meet or reasonably meet the price. Good luck..
