- Honda is adding an LX trim to the 2023 Pilot lineup, dropping the base price significantly.
- The LX starts at $37,295, while the one-level up Sport costs just over $40,000.
- We expect to see the 2023 Pilot LX start to reach Honda dealerships soon.
The new 2023 Honda Pilot is joining the CR-V and Civic in reintroducing the base LX trim. The addition of this trim level, which is now listed on Honda's media site but has not yet begun reaching dealerships, drops the starting price by $3200, bringing the three-row SUV in under $40,000.
For $37,295, the 2023 Pilot LX features the same mechanical package as the rest of the lineup, with standard front-wheel drive, a 10-speed automatic transmission, and a 285-hp 3.5-liter V-6 engine that now features a DOHC setup. All-wheel drive is a $2100 option for the LX.
The base Pilot does do without many features from the higher trims, as it comes standard with a smaller 7.0-inch touchscreen and does not have as many driver-assist features as the one-step-up $40,495 Pilot Sport. It also has dual-zone automatic climate control rather than tri-zone, cloth upholstery, manually adjustable front seats, and only comes in silver, black or white. Honda has yet to release any official photos of the Pilot LX, but we expect it to look similar to the EX-L, pictured at top.
Honda previously told C/D that the addition of the LX trim level for Civic and CR-V was meant to boost production of these models, so we'll see if the same applies for the new 2023 Pilot, which will presumably be in high demand for its first few months on sale. In 2022, before the new model went on sale, Pilot sales fell 30 percent compared with the year before.
Despite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.
