Honda News: New Black Edition Trim Tops the Honda Pilot Line

[Drew Dowdell]

For 2019, the most well equipped Honda Pilot you could buy was the Elite trim. That level of Pilot brought on extra trimmings like panoramic roof, standard All-Wheel drive with variable torque management, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, heated 2nd row, and other trappings.  For 2020, Honda is building on that trim and elevating it higher with the Black Edition. Based on the Elite trim, the Black Edition comes exclusively in Crystal Black Pearl Paint, black painted 20-inch alloy wheels, and blackout treatments that remove the exterior chrome trim. Inside, there is a red accent to the perforated front and second row seating surfaces along with red accent stitching. 

The Black Edition trim starts at $49,620, a $1500 increase over an equivalent Elite trim.  After a destination charge of $1,095, you'll be paying over $50k for a Pilot. That's pricey, but a Chevrolet Traverse High Country will run you $54k and a Ford Explorer Platinum will easily touch $60k. The most direct price competitors would be the new Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade, which come in a couple thousand less than the Honda Pilot Black Edition. 

In addition to the new trim, the price of the Pilot goes up by $100 for front-wheel drive trims and $200 for all-wheel drive trims.  The 2020 Pilot begins arriving in dealerships today.

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[G. David Felt]

Have to say this is not a bad looking Honda, one of the better ones they have built in a long time.

[Drew Dowdell]

15 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Have to say this is not a bad looking Honda, one of the better ones they have built in a long time.

I"m a fan of blackout packages myself. 

[Robert Hall]

Too gloomy. ...not a fan of blackout, I like a bit of chrome and some color.   It is funny to see Honda just now jumping on this blackout bandwagon..wasn't this trend passe 3-4 years ago?  I've seen so many white SUVs w/ black wheels or black SUVs w/ black wheels....so boring, so overdone...

Edited July 30, 2019 by Robert Hall

[Drew Dowdell]

13 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Too gloomy. ...not a fan of blackout, I like a bit of chrome and some color.  

to me it is aggressive. 

[Robert Hall]

Just now, Drew Dowdell said:

to me it is aggressive. 

aggressively boring...

[riviera74]

There is one big problem with a $50K Honda Pilot: What happened to the Acura MDX?!  I thought 50K was Acura territory.

[smk4565]

I am not a fan of black out packages.

This would sell better as a Pilot with an NSX powertrain.  I bet a $125,000 Pilot Type R with an NSX motor would outsell the NSX.

[Drew Dowdell]

14 hours ago, smk4565 said:

I am not a fan of black out packages.

This would sell better as a Pilot with an NSX powertrain.  I bet a $125,000 Pilot Type R with an NSX motor would outsell the NSX.

Now you're just trolling.... 

[Robert Hall]

The NSX does look good in black out...sports cars are about the only place I like that appearance.

[ccap41]

I have to say if this was offered in a full EV or plug-in hybrid sales would go through the roof ditching the ancient dirty gasoline.

[smk4565]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Now you're just trolling.... 

No, I honestly think they could sell 250-500 Pilots a year with an NSX powertrain and I don’t know what an NSX sells but it probably isn’t any more than that.  And a better comparison would be a $125k MDX with the NSX powertrain, I forgot the NSX was Acura and not Honda in the USA.  So my mistake, I think an MDX Type R would outsell the NSX.

[Drew Dowdell]

17 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

No, I honestly think they could sell 250-500 Pilots a year with an NSX powertrain and I don’t know what an NSX sells but it probably isn’t any more than that.  And a better comparison would be a $125k MDX with the NSX powertrain, I forgot the NSX was Acura and not Honda in the USA.  So my mistake, I think an MDX Type R would outsell the NSX.

They already make an MDX hybrid

[Potluck]

Honda did this with the Ridgeline and it didn't help sales there either. 

[surreal1272]

2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

No, I honestly think they could sell 250-500 Pilots a year with an NSX powertrain and I don’t know what an NSX sells but it probably isn’t any more than that.  And a better comparison would be a $125k MDX with the NSX powertrain, I forgot the NSX was Acura and not Honda in the USA.  So my mistake, I think an MDX Type R would outsell the NSX.

Forget the fact that one is RWD while the other is FWD (whether it’s the Pilot or MDX). 

 

Just no. 

[smk4565]

5 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They already make an MDX hybrid

But not with 540 hp or whatever the NSX makes.

[daves87rs]

I like the black trim on other colors though (like silver)

Not sure if it will help the Pilot or not......

[frogger]

What's next, charging for chrome trim on the Passport?

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, frogger said:

What's next, charging for chrome trim on the Passport?

Probably. Honda can get away with it. 

[ccap41]

Charging for chrome should be punishable by prison time. 

[balthazar]

^ was looking at Sierras at GMC.com : 3 no-charge paint colors,  7 extra charge. Ugh.

I didn't see an option for 'paint delete' either.
 

[Robert Hall]

12 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ was looking at Sierras at GMC.com : 3 no-charge paint colors,  7 extra charge. Ugh.

 
 

Black, white and red...how boring and mainstream.   The extra charge colors are pretty boring also, though I like the brown and the blues. 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Mainstream sells tho; you can't NOT have black, white & red. That said; I can see 8 free / 2 extra cost, but I don't get 3 free/7 extra cost. You used to be able to have 15-some color choices, or over 20 at Cadillac... and only times you paid extra for some colors was at Cadillac.

ALL modern brands have skimped on their color palettes tremendously.

[G. David Felt]

Pretty soon we will be back to the Ford Mantra, you can have the auto in any color as long as it is black. 

Want another color, fine, these approved 3rd party vendors will sell you any color you want for a special charge!

?

[riviera74]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

Pretty soon we will be back to the Ford Mantra, you can have the auto in any color as long as it is black. 

Want another color, fine, these approved 3rd party vendors will sell you any color you want for a special charge!

?

It is sad that color choices are now charged extra, as if it costs them extra to paint it a different color (NOT!).  All external color choices should be 100% FREE.

[ocnblu]

9 hours ago, riviera74 said:

It is sad that color choices are now charged extra, as if it costs them extra to paint it a different color (NOT!).  All external color choices should be 100% FREE.

Actually the material it takes to mix different colors varies widely in cost.  However, I believe that those costs should be amortized over the entire spectrum.  The fact that Chevrolet charges nothing for metallics on the Silverado (except for the red tintcoat and pearl white) and GMC charges 395, tells me it is an unnecessary money grab.

My new truck is Kinetic Blue... a 395 option on the Colorado.  I love the color, but would have happily gone with Pacific Blue and spent the 395 on accessories, like naked lady mudflaps.

[caddycruiser]

These things are terrible. From the generation of Honda/Acura where plebian, light weight, poor panel fit, terrible interiors, and awkward looks were key. Every year the transmission tuning varied, as did the amount of clunks.

Finally, in latest guise, with added chrome trim on high end models, they finally look peel & stick "look, we made it better!", but by far the most award top heavy looking crossovers. No one ever drives one and "ooooh, so nice". They sell simply on name, and not looking elsewhere.

Great...now the trend of make it all black starts. So creative. GO LOOK AT AND DRIVE ANYTHING ELSE. Your legs, arms, ears, and everything else will thank you. Climb in and drive a Telluride...or even a Traverse...and you'll think you've entered a Bentley.

[riviera74]

4 hours ago, caddycruiser said:

These things are terrible. From the generation of Honda/Acura where plebian, light weight, poor panel fit, terrible interiors, and awkward looks were key. Every year the transmission tuning varied, as did the amount of clunks.

Finally, in latest guise, with added chrome trim on high end models, they finally look peel & stick "look, we made it better!", but by far the most award top heavy looking crossovers. No one ever drives one and "ooooh, so nice". They sell simply on name, and not looking elsewhere.

Great...now the trend of make it all black starts. So creative. GO LOOK AT AND DRIVE ANYTHING ELSE. Your legs, arms, ears, and everything else will thank you. Climb in and drive a Telluride...or even a Traverse...and you'll think you've entered a Bentley.

Tell us how you really feel about anything Honda.

[caddycruiser]

31 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Tell us how you really feel about anything Honda.

Accord is great...CR-V is a nice package...

This generation of Pilot, MDX, Ridgeline, etc. are garbage. Done;)