When will florida_guy actually BUY a Pilot?

[Twinkie]

The suspense is killing you. Will he or won't he? Will he come over to our side or have we gathered our first groupie?

Let the wagering begin*!

*For entertainment purposes only.

[kemosabe]

Originally posted by Twinkie


[ S N I P P E D ]

Will he come over to our side......

[ S N I P P E D ]

Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side... florida_guy WILL join us!!!

[florida_guy]

Originally posted by Twinkie
The suspense is killing you. Will he or won't he? Will he come over to our side or have we gathered our first groupie?

Let the wagering begin*!

*For entertainment purposes only.

All right Mr. Smarty Pants!!!

First of all your poll is flawed as it is impossible to select less than 500.

Second of all I have clearly defined the reasons for the delay in my decision in at least two posts.

Third of all I suggest that to insure participation in your poll you offer a reward for the closest guess of.... oh say... $35,000.

I myself am withholding voting in the poll until such an incentive is offered.


Revised:
I find it incredibly ironic that by pure coincidence (I swear) this is my 200th post and earns me my fourth star. I didn't even realize it until I posted it and had to come back and add this little blurb.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by florida_guy


. . . I have clearly defined the reasons for the delay in my decision in at least two posts. . . . .

I must have missed them?

[florida_guy]

Originally posted by N_Jay

I must have missed them?

Tonight is my bowling night. I have to run now. I'll post them here when I get a chance.

[Twinkie]

Originally posted by florida_guy


All right Mr. Smarty Pants!!!

First of all your poll is flawed as it is impossible to select less than 500.

Well, I figured the odds of that would be so low that nobody would seriously pick less than 500.

I figured that everyone's reasoned factual advice has yet to sway you, that we should resort to something less subtle. We all love you florida_guy and your Pilotless passion about this board.

[nighthawk]

This is when...

[kemosabe]

...or this...

[florida_guy]

O.K. as promised here is a summary of the reasons why I haven't bought a Pilot yet...

But first I must say that I am stunned that as of this posting 35% of people who voted believe I will never buy a Pilot. I would be very curious why you think that. (seriously I would) I certainly consider it the number one contender at the moment.

I welcome any comments you may have on any of what follows.

...As I type this message [subject to change at the slightest whim ] I am thinking of holding off until the 2004 Pilots come out for one main reason. I read over on our sister forum acuramdx.com about how great the new Nav system is for the 2003 MDX

http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showt...threadid=10212
among others. The fifth one down as well as other posts by vicpai! are particularly good.

And I read here a message from someone who said she called Honda in December and was told that the Pilot is going to get the upgraded Acura Nav System for 2004.

I was hoping that they might also start to offer the Nav System without leather but Worm astutely pointed out that when Honda added the Nav system to the Accords recently they only offered it with the leather. Therefore, I'm not holding out much hope on that anymore.

It's not just the additional cost of leather that bothers me but also...
1) Sticky in hot weather (plenty of that in Florida)
2) Cold in cold weather (cold is redefined after living in Florida a while)
3) Not as comfy cushy as cloth
4) How leather may respond to being sat on with a wet (salt water) swimming suit?

Some of these concerns were refuted in another thread but I will have to see for myself. I really want the New Nav System and so I have to try to determine if I will be happy with leather.

The other reason for the delay is the continued proliferation of messages about problems with the Pilot and Honda's lack of response to them thus far. I'm hoping that they will find solutions to at the very least the starting problem before I buy. This has prevented me from completely crossing the Highlander off my list. I don't want to spend all that money and create head aches for myself. Since I'm a single working man it is difficult and inconvenient to get the car to the dealer and back during the day to get it serviced and I don't want to spend my weekends sitting in a service department waiting room.

Off the top of my head here are the main decision points between the Highlander and the Pilot

Highlander
-------------
a) better build quality, less bugs
b) more nimble in congested traffic (plenty of that down here)
c) narrower which means I can slide into skinnier parking spaces, I can squeeze through traffic better, and I will sweat less in two way traffic on narrow mountain roads
d) front seat folds back completely flush and flat making a good sleeping place (significant because when on weekend trips I will sleep in the car so I have more time to enjoy nature and can do it more often because it doesn't cost much)
e) can get for close to invoice through arrangement with Credit Union
f) less likely to have to wait for options I want (not a biggie though because I can wait as long as my Accord doesn't blow up on me unexpectedly)
g) better fuel economy or at least potential for it especially if I go with the 2WD version

Pilot
-----
a) More cargo space
b) More ground clearance
c) wider - so less tippy
d) overall I'm more confident in it when driving on dirt and sand roads
e) review says that stereo has more "sonic accuracy" which is important to me
f) comes with Nav (maybe)
g) forces me to get AWD which I want but don't really need
h) have a good relationship with a non-dealer Honda mechanic
i) THIS FORUM - nothing like it for Highlander

[Sage]

Definitely feel a Highlander coming on... You sounded more "positive" on the Highlander points. Would love to see you get a Pilot but you gotta get what makes you

[florida_guy]

Originally posted by Sage
Definitely feel a Highlander coming on... You sounded more "positive" on the Highlander points. Would love to see you get a Pilot but you gotta get what makes you

Thanks for the response Sage. It's very interesting to learn that I come across that way. It's certainly not the way I feel. Maybe I just point out the advantages I see to the Highlander because I figure that everyone here takes the advantages of the Pilot as a given and I don't need to enumerate them.

[Sage]

I'll give ya that!

[nighthawk]

Wow pretty high demands and expectations for any vehicle, but I think I have the perfect car for you below. Let's just say it is pretty Immaculate....

Good Luck w/ what ever you pick.

[florida_guy]

Originally posted by nighthawk
Wow pretty high demands and expectations for any vehicle

Which demands and expectations that I expressed do you think are high?

Nice pic of the "pope mobile".

[Bigrob]

This thread is pretty funny. I've enjoyed reading florida_guy's posts, his decision-making process, etc. - he sounds a lot like me. Well, at least in his decision-making (or lack thereof). My wife accuses me of "analysis paralysis"...

But actually, making a decision to defer IS, in fact, a decision, so there's nothing wrong with that. And there is no current driving force to make him buy today. Waiting for the new Navi makes sense to me.

In fact, I really am in the same boat as Florida_guy... well, except demographically. There I am quite different, married, 3 kids, already have an Odyssey (with a Navi). Yeah, voice activated would be nice! Plus I understand the routing software is much more efficient (for recalculation) in the new gen Navi. Because of the kids, I'd also like to see the tweak that would allow for a couple of slots on the 2nd row seats to adjust forward/back (give the 3rd row a bit more room). I'm also hoping... maybe... in the '04 the 260 HP engine might get dropped in. Don't laugh... I have a 210 HP Ody and laughed when people suggested on the odyclub forum that they might drop the 240 HP MDX engine in. Everyone said "no way... that would weaken the MDX differentiation". Of course, the next year, there it was.

Of course, one can spend their lifetime on the sidelines, waiting for that next thing to come along...