Tell me about your Honda Pilot!

[LD92599]

We're test driving cars this week and it started w/ my post last weekend about the Dodge Magnum, well that's out :-) Then DH was cool w/ the Sienna, but after driving it the pickup isn't that great (taking into account the 0-60's we're accustomed to) and it was kinda noisy; drove the Toyoyta 4 Runner last night and liked both the V6 and the V8, but now we're eying the Pilot - cheaper than the 4 Runner yet same or more interior space plus the concession around here is if we're not getting a full fledged mini van then it has to have a 3rd row for eventual car pooling, etc. The 3rd row in the Pilot folds flat & is standard vs the 4 Runner where it doesn't fold flat and is a pricey option.

So, tell me the good, bad about the Pilot! DS is 3 1/2 if that helps!

Laura
Will is three and a half - we're now making progress with sleeping!

[jd11365]

It's a Honda! :) 'Nuff said. ;)

[kboyle]

that's what i want!!!

i haven't test driven it, but have sat in it for very long amts of time while waiting for my oil changes to be done. i LOVE that the 3rd row folds down, it's not a HUGE suv, but isn't really small/avg size either.

again, no btdt experience, but charlie seemed to run around inside it quite well :)


get it, get it, get it...i'm living vicariously thru you right now. if you get it, take pics so that i can photoshop myself in it ;) ok, i promise i'm not being scary.

now that i'm pg with dc3 dh said i just signed up for another odyssey :( which i do LOVE my odyssey, but i WANT a pilot!

[SI_Mommy]

We have a 2005 Pilot, and we truly love it. No complaints - DD and DS are both in Marathons in the middle row, and we can fit someone in between the two of them. When we travel with others, we easily move DD to the third row, and I've even sat back there with her, and it's not bad. I wouldn't put 3 people back there, but 2 people or 1 adult and a carseat fit fine. We've had no problems with our Pilot - let me know if you have any specific questions - it's a great SUV!

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

[momma_boo]

Hi Laura,

We have a Pilot - a 2003 that we got shortly after DD#1 was born. I can't really say anything bad about it. We usually keep the 3rd row down (I currently keep 2 strollers in the back of it - a double and a single) so it is a huge plus that the third row folds down flat.

We honestly don't use the third row too often since I have the two carseats installed on both sides (I'd have to undo a carseat in order to flip down the seatback to get access to the third row) but have used it on occassion.

Now to be honest, our lease ends next year and we'll probably going to switch to the Odyssey. DH is really gung-ho about getting a minivan. But it isn't due to any faults of the Pilot. We did discuss the possibility of buying it to be a second car but since neither of us drives a personal car for work, it was too much to spend on a car that would get driven a few times a month.

[sdoyle]

Laura-

We bought a 2005 Honda Pilot last year and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. We test drove pretty much every mid-sized SUV out there and it won hands down for comfort and space. I was surprised because I really wanted the Acura MDX and NOT the Pilot but it was so much better than the others we went with it anyway.

We actually have used the 3rd row seat a lot and while I wouldn't go for a cross country trip in it, it is much roomier than any other 3rd row seats we tried. In fact when my uncle died, we had 8 people in the car from the church to cemetery. The 3 in the back row were college girls and not big people but they were comfy enough for the 20 min trip. I would definately buy the Pilot again and we probably will get another when we are done with this one. (I'm not really a minivan girl ;)) Please feel free to PM me if you have any more questions- I'd be glad to help!

Stacy

[Piglet]

I can't comment on the Pilot - it is supposed to be a great SUV, but I have never been in one. The things that bother me most about SUVs vs. minivans is the height of the doors and the width of the doors. We used to have a Hyundai Santa Fe. It was black. I only tell you that because we also have a Mazda Protege that is *mostly* red - except for ALL the black paint transferred from the Santa Fe!? When my DS1 turned 4 or so, he insisted on getting into the car by himself. No problem - I had another baby to get into the car. Well, except that in order for DS1 to get into the Santa Fe, he had to heave the door open as wide as possible so that he could hoist himself up to the hight floor. We have since bought a Toyota Sienna and we actually find it crazy quiet (a little too quiet, LOL). No door dings (well other than the red Protege on the silver Sienna, but we won't go there). No frustrated kid that can't climb in by himself. Happy mommy!

My biggest advice is to take your DS car shopping and figure out if he can get in and out on his own - the time will come when he will insist on doing it or you will want him to do it because your hands will be full. Also, look at the Odyssey. It is the same specs as the Pilot (more or less) and it has a slightly bigger engine than the Sienna (3.5L vs. 3.3L). I found it had a lot more pep and was more fun to drive than the Sienna, but we wanted a true 8-seater so we can sit 3 kids across the middle row.

[BillK]

My sister has a Pilot and loves it - as someone else said - "It's a Honda - enough said". On a side note - the Acura MDX is a dolled up sportier Honda Pilot - and with the new redesigned model MDX coming out - you might be able to pick up a good used one (or even a "leftover" one) for a good price. If 0-60 is what you want - then an Acura may fill the bill.

My dad is currently selling his 2003 Acura MDX with 20k miles for $27,500 & his 2005 Acura TL with 1900 (yes that's right 1900!) miles for around $32,000 if you're near the Pittsburgh area. His new MDX is going to be arriving soon and he's moving to just one vehicle - that's why he's selling them both. Both are pearl white exterior and tan leather interiors. TL has all the options - MDX doesn't have navigation system but has most everything else.

[boogiemom]

We really thought we'd buy one of these when we were looking approx. a year ago. We looked at the Pilot and the Toyota Highlander. We figured it would be silly not to atleast check out the competition. We test-drove both. They were very similar. The Pilot is a bit bigger but really didn't feel it to us. Anyway, we ended up liking the Highlander a lot more. It has the third row also and it folds flat. We use it occasionally. My DH is a pretty large guy and is very comfortable in the Highlander. We have a booster and a marathon in the backseat and someone could sit in between (not my DH but someone smaller could). My BIL & SIL have two Honda's right now and were very impressed with our Highlander when they were here to visit. Now they are looking at buying one.

I'm sure you can't go wrong either way but be sure and consider all your options. We had never bought a Toyota before and my DH wants to try a Toyota truck next. :)

[Expecting-girl]

We have a 2004 Honda Pilot. Love it! We only have 1 DD so we don't use the 3rd row seat -- but we routinely use the cargo space. It does well on the road and in-town also. Of course, being a SUV you don't get the greatest gas mileage. Have you looked at www.edmunds.com? I found that site very helpful when we were car shopping. One complaint is the wind noise when traveling on the highway - it seems a little louder than normal. But other than that we have had no complaints. I think the Honda consistently rates high on safey issues. Good luck!

[ltmommy]

I also have a 2004 Pilot that I got just before DD was born, since I had a 2-door Explorer Sport at the time. We looked at just about everything out there, SUV-wise. I was (and still am) in minivan-refusal mode, so I only looked at SUV's. For the money, we narrowed it down to the Pilot and the Highlander. I might have gone for the Highlander since it seemed a little lighter and more agile, but my 6'1" DH was more comfortable driving the Pilot (and he does all the driving on long trips).

I love it, though. At this point with my Fords, I always started to notice little things breaking, but the Pilot still feels beand-new. We don't use the 3rd row a ton, but on occasion it has been really great (although it is not the easiest to climb into the back, since we have DD's Roundabout in the middle of the middle row).

If you do get one, I would consider adding on running boards. My SIL has a Pilot also, and luckily just before I got mine I saw how much easier it was for her kids to scramble in using the running board. Makes it MUCH easier now that DD is in the "I do it" stage.

Leslie
DD 7.04
and another 5.07

[LD92599]

We drove the '07 tonight and both DH & I loved it! We left a deposit after MUCH going back & forth but i want to be sure we're getting *the* best deal. I'm scouring the internet now looking for the invoice costs and emailing several local dealers (I've come across email addresses for 4 dealers so far!).

So, we should have it by Saturday/Monday at the latest!

Thanks for the input!

Laura
Will is three and a half - we're now making progress with sleeping!

[ShayleighCarsensMom]

check out edmunds.com. they have invoice prices up for most cars. Also, click on links to get a dealer quote...go to hondas website and click dealer quote. You can do this through cars.com and many other places as well.
We bought an Odyssey about 2 months ago. I spent several days emailing dealers within 2 hours of our house. I mention that I was looking for their best price. Everytime I got the lowest price, I emailed ALL dealers again asking them to beat the price. I continued on this game until no one would go any lower. We ended up getting our odyssey $1200 UNDER invoice (not msrp, INVOICE!)
It was so easy too...we ended up going to our local dealer, signed papers and we were in and out of there in less than 2 hours.
One important thing to note is that dealers get on average 3% of the invoice price back from honda when they sell a car, so 3% under invoice is what they pay for the car (in dealer terms its called a "holdback")
Best of luck!
Valerie

[mommytotwo]

We have a 2005 Pilot and we really like it a lot. The two Marathon carseats fit in it well, it's comfortable for long drives, and it's held up really well. When we first picked it up, there was an electrical problem that took Honda a few days to fix. That was very frustrating and at the time we were concerned if we made the right purchase decision (this was the first Honda that we purchased). However, after that problem was fixed, it has so far proven to be a very reliable vehicle and we've been very pleased with it. The only other negative that I've noticed is that due to it's height, it is more difficult to put the kids in the carseats because I need to higher up. I'm 5'3" and if the seats were a couple of inches lower it would be much more comfortable for me. Since DH is the main driver of the Pilot (he's 6'1"), I don't run into this issue too often.

I just replaced my previous Subaru Forester with an '07 Toyota Highlander this week. We rented a Highlander for a week while we were on vacation and I really liked it a lot. The rear seats are a little lower than the Pilot and I found it to be very easy to get the kids in their carseats. I also had been considering the Nissan Murano for a while, but was able to purchase the Highlander for a couple thousand dollars less, so went with it. So far, I've really enjoyed driving the Highlander.

[LD92599]

We searched for an '06 Base MDX this morning, but there's none to be had in our area!

Laura
Will is three and a half - we're now making progress with sleeping!

[LD92599]

We have it in our driveway! We got one dealer to do fairly decent on the price but when we asked for it in writing they said no and any deposit is non refundable :-( AND they didn't have the color we'd since decided we wanted (deep cherry pearl). So, we went back to the 1st dealer, got them knock more $$ off, knock $$ off the remote start, etc and now, a few hours later, we have it!

I'm psyched..it's our 1st Honda...our 1st SUV, etc. Even though I was originally interested in the Ody i'm sure this will be a good fit for us esp since it has 4WD (something we've never had) plus the 3rd in case we need to fit more people, etc. It was a nice compromise!

Laura
Will is three and a half - we're now making progress with sleeping!