Honda pilot ???

[Lunker777]

Hey everyone ... I'm just looking at some opinions on the Honda pilot ? I'm looking at a 2005 with only 70000 kms ! I need a boat/mastiff/baby hauler and I really like the ride and looks .

 

Any owners or past owners want to share any comments ? Thanks

[DRIFTER_016]

I have an '05 Pilot. Great vehicle.

Rear springs are a little soft, especially when you have a heavy tongue weight.

Other than that there really isn't a thing I don't like about it.

It's tows fine with my 18' but my camper loads it down pretty good.

 

 

I put air bags in the rear to help with towing the camper and that helped quite a bit.

 

[whiskywizard]

It's pretty hard to go wrong with any Honda. The quality and reliability are usually way above average.

 

But you can't expect it to do everything well, so be sure the Pilot fits your needs fully. It is NOT a great offroad star, and its towing capacity is not as high as some competitors. I opted for the 4Runner, but the Pilot was definitely in the running. Nice vehicle.

[ecmilley]

great riding suv have had many through the shop over the years and not a great deal of issues to be had, and what i have seen not overly expensive to repair, thought he 3.5l v6 doesn't seem to get much better gas mileage in my friends avalanche than my 4.8l v8 in my seirra

[TJQ]

I have a 2010 and just LOVE IT!! (of course Im a very Biased Honda User..)

[BFSC Kevin]

We got a 2006. Gas mileage doesn't seem too great. Tows my 16ft Lund no problem. However, like stated before, springs seem a bit soft

[Lunatic]

if your going to be doing any heavy hauling or heavy off roading stay away.

im not going to get into here because honda owners will get bent out of shape.but ill tell you that honda suv and trucks are not all that tough if you plan on any type of abuse.

my sources are father and a family friend who are both honda mechanics,both drive honda cars,wont buy honda trucks.

but for eveyday light use,go right ahead.

 

[Billy Bob]

if your going to be doing any heavy hauling or heavy off roading stay away.

im not going to get into here because honda owners will get bent out of shape.but ill tell you that honda suv and trucks are not all that tough if you plan on any type of abuse.

my sources are father and a family friend who are both honda mechanics,both drive honda cars,wont buy honda trucks.

but for eveyday light use,go right ahead.

 

 

It could be because Honda doesn't really make a truck.... ....Honda as you might know, doesn't even offer a V-8 under the hood.....you can't make a omlete without breaking some eggs and you can't make a real truck without a V-8 under the hood...

 

But the Honda Pilot has one of the best SUV Consumer Reports recommendations out there....I wouldn't mind owning one.....but I wouldn't like to pay for it.....they are PRICEY IMHO....my wife's Honda Civic just turned 3 years old this month....and it's never been back to the dealer....they build a good vehicle from my experience....

 

GOOD LUCK and I hope you score on a DEAL...

Bob

Edited April 2, 2012 by Billy Bob

[DanD]

Yea the Pilot is not a bad vehicle; I have a number of customers that run them.

That being said I have had two of them blow out the transmission coolers. What happens is the transmission’s cooler coil in the radiator develops a leak and the trans fluid and anti freeze mixes. If not caught in time it wipes out the transmission. What both of my customer’s complaints were was that there was this milky looking pink liquid coming out of their coolant over flow bottle.

The one Pilot needed a transmission rebuild; the anti freeze attacks the glue that holds the clutch material to the clutch plates and they blow apart.

The second vehicle was caught in time that a good flushing of the rad and trans fluids and then installing an external trans cooler (by-passing the original trans cooler in the rad) and so far it seems Ok?

There’s no preventative maintenance that can be done or warning when this happens. I’ve been recommending external coolers for all my other Pilot owners; that still have the original rad.

Do a google search and you’ll get all kinds of hit on this.

 

As far as Honda’s rep, well it’s not as shinny as it use to be with more and more issues being found and reported; instead of being conveniently hidden at the dealership level. What I mean is problems that were repaired, (through hidden campaigns) without the vehicle owner’s knowledge; look at us, are cars are great.

There are some they haven’t been able to hide; like the cracking engine blocks on some of the 1.8Lt Civics, causing an external coolant leak.

Just had one of them here at the shop last week and I guess it’s quite common from 2006 on; where there’s not just one place that they’ll crack but four.

Yes the manufacturer is fixing it buy replacing the block; but the techs are told to salvage as many of the internals during the fix and stick them into the new block.

All you’re getting is a new empty block; filled with used parts; parts that by rights were never meant to be disturbed once put into service. This repair does solve the leakage issue; but I bet it also shortens the overall life of the engine.

If I were one of the fortunate owners of a cracked block Civic; the FOR SALE sign would be on the windshield before the tech even had the engine out of the car.

 

Dan.

[Lunatic]

Don't forget about the new accords that are burning oil like crazy and Honda are telling customers now that it's ok if they burn a liter of oil every 5k, everyday the old man is tearing the motors apart and replacing pistons and rings on cars not even a few months old. And yes they have been hiding many issues for many years. But the civic over all are pretty reliable

[BillM]

I'd take a Kia/Hyundai over a Honda/Toyota if I was looking for a passenger car.. Both those companies have dropped the ball.