New 2006 Honda Pilot WWYD

[debsten]

Ok so I am going crazy with this decision.

We purchased a new 2005 Honda Pilot a year ago, now of course they have come out with all the new safety features that I went backwards and forwards with before we bought the car, but with all the positive reviews and crash test results decided that we would buy the car.

Now a year later the new 2006 Pilot has the 3 rows of curtain airbags, sensors, etc etc so we are seriously considering updating now before ours gets too old and because this will pretty much be the car for the next ten years and we move around a lot (husband is military) so could be doing a few long drives. Of course we are going to lose some money but if it means a much safer vehicle then we are prepared to suck that up.

Anyway I am looking to see if anyone has advice on what they would do, I have 2 kids, a 5 year old in a Regent outboard and a 17month old RF in a Wizard outboard, he is a big boy though and already over 30 lbs (without clothes) and 35 inches and continuing to grow fast so unfortunately will have to turn him FF sooner than I would like, even if the weight slows down he is all torso and getting close to the height limit. I have convinced my husband that if we can get a deal and stick to the pretty much the same payments each month we can get the new car. Now of course I don't know what to do, is it crazy to trade in a pretty much new car that I don't have any problems with to get the extra safety features, more importantly are the safety features that much better (ie having the curtain airbags etc) or am I being way over the top.

Anyway would appreciate any advice anyone might be able to offer to help me decide what to do.

Sorry for the rambling.

TIA

Debbie

[firsttimemommy]

Hi Debbie,

Fellow rambler here :) Especially when it comes to stuff like this.

I feel your pain. I am ready to trade my 04 Expedition (perfect condition only 24K miles) for a car with side airbags, etc. I am so disappointed I dont have them and while I hate to lose money, I know my peace of mind is worth ALOT. So if it makes you feel better, and you can afford it, I would do it. I assume your DH is ok with losing a little bit?

BTW, how do you like your Pilot? Do you get decent gas mileage?

Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes........that way you are a mile away and you have their shoes."

[debsten]

Hi Ronda,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I think you are right when it comes to piece of mind. I think we are going to just go to the dealer and see what we can come up with, we obviously know we will lose money our main thing is we really don't want to have a bigger car payment, so depending on what they will trade in for and finance for it is doable, we have done quite a few online quotes and the prices are good we will just need to see about getting a good deal for trade in and the finance %APR.

I do love the Pilot, am not even considering looking at anything else as I have been very happy with it. Gas mileage is ok I guess, we went from a sedan that got close to 28mpg which my husband now has so is hard to compare. I don't do a lot of driving mainly just short trips so, but when we have gone on longer trips on the interstate we get close to 22 and otherwise around the 19 mark. I have heard mixed reviews on it but I think that is the same with any SUV and depends greatly on the driving conditions.

Good luck with your new purchase.

Debbie

[SI_Mommy]

I could've written your post myself. We purchased a 2005 Pilot EX-L in August of 2005, not knowing that the Pilot was going to be slightly redesigned with the curtain airbags. DH thinks I'm a little nuts obsessing over this, but we would definitely turn our 2005 model in for a 2006 if we could afford it. We really love the Pilot though and have been very happy with it. So no words of advice, but I can sympathize.


Leslie, mommy to DD Kayla 03/26/03, DS Ryan 01/26/05

[Lmoor]

I have a 2005 Pilot also, and I specifically asked the salesman why Honda didn't have side curtain airbags in it that year! So, I too was bummed for us that they put them in this year (though I actually like the look of the 2005 better; they changed the front end this year). We aren't going to look into changing vehicles though. We do have a Wizard, which does offer side impact protection as well, so I'm comfortable with that.

As far as advice, I'd recommend that you do some research into how important this safety feature is for the size of the car. I know that I saw some news show about smaller cars and the necessity to have side curtain airbags in those vehicles because in a side impact with a larger SUV, the larger SUV is actually at the same height as the passenger's head. They were showing some scary crash test footage!! I don't have a clue if the same is true for the Pilot. So, maybe you could find some information on that? And perhaps you could get some experts in the field to weigh in on whether having a car seat w/ side impact protection mitigates not having SCA?

Good luck! I can sympathize - as a parent, we do the best we can as far as keeping our kids safe!!!

[SI_Mommy]

With our our salesman, his answer when I commented that I was surprised that the Pilot didn't have side curtain airbags was "that doesn't stop it from receiving 5 star crash ratings". So I guess I just have to know that it is very safe and leave it at that. You could really drive yourself nuts!


Leslie, mommy to DD Kayla 03/26/03, DS Ryan 01/26/05

[debsten]

Thanks for all the replies. I know about driving yourself nuts, I have been researching this for the past week :). I have gone backwards and forwards a million times. I think what we will do is go to the dealer and go for gold, if we can't walk away with what we want (in the $$ area) then I think I can say that I do feel that we are safe in this car, like the previous poster said re 5 star ratings this was a selling point for me, we ended up buying the pilot over some other cars with the airbags because it got the same or better ratings so that says something.

My thoughts also now are that I have my 18 mth DS is rear facing in a wizard so he has the side impact protection in the seat and will be in it for a while yet. My 5.5 yr DD was in the Parkway booster and I have now put her in the Regent (correct me if I am wrong but from my reading here and else where it seems that even without the TSIP in the Regent she is protected more in the 5 point harness than the Booster???) They are both going to be in these seats for a good few years yet (well my son might need a Regent sooner with the way he is growing ;) ) So I am thinking if we don't get the golden deal at the dealers we will keep the car we still love and look at tradeing in down the road when one of the kids grows out of a car seat and doesn't have that added protection, or maybe when we actually have some equity in the car so it doesn't feel quite like we are just throwing money away :)

Thanks again
Debbie

PS if any one has any other thoughts that please share as still don't have a 100% conclusion in my mind yet :)

[debsten]

Hi Leslie,

Just thought I would send you our experience.

We ended up purchashing the new 2006, thought you might be interested to know that we got full KBB value for the trade in and ended up getting the car for a less than we bought the 05 for, in the end with the trade in and since we barely had to pay any tax we ended up lowering our monthly payment by $30, seems kind of crazy and I had to check it all twice but we actually are saving some money (of course you have to not count what we had already paid in payments for the past year :) )

Anyway just wanted to share in case it helped you.

Debbie

[Joolsplus2]

Cool beans! Hope you love your new car :) (I'm wanting something with more airbags, myself, but can wait till my kids are too big for the Husky and/or Parkway and/or Recaro Start.. my kids are tiny, so I have at least a year to ponder it, lol).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[debsten]

Julie,

Definately love it and highly recommend, for an SUV seems it is one of the only ones that offers all 3 row airbags standard. Loved the 05 also but knowing we are keeping this for a LONG time I am glad we decided to switch it out and getting such a great deal made it an even easier decision to make.

Debbie

[heyrocco]

Please let me know what you think of the 2nd row seating size for Honda Pilot. We currently have 3 children (4 year old, 18 month old, newborn) and I am considering buying a Honda Pilot............I really don't want to get a minivan unless I have to. Can you fit 3 car seats in the 2nd row? Is it safe to put a car seat in the 3rd row? Is the 3rd row easily accessible? Thanks for any info!

Alyson

[SI_Mommy]

I have friends with 2 year old triplets and a 2003 Pilot. They fit 3 snugrides across in the 2nd row and are currently all FF in 3 Graco Comfortsports in the 2nd row. The only think I'd like to mention is that I can't access the 3rd row by folding down the passenger side 2nd row seat when I have a MA in the center seat - it just doesn't have enough clearance (barely). You can also install the MA in the 3rd row - I've done it a couple of times in the driver's side of the 3rd row. HTH.


Leslie, mommy to DD Kayla 03/26/03, DS Ryan 01/26/05