Pilot vs. Highlander vs. American Junk!

[LiuBei]

I love going to other boards and here people say, "Pilot is not a REAL SUV, my Blazer (Explorer, etc) is a real SUV and is better than that Jap Crap wannabee" or something along those lines. Funny though how the pilot is higher quality and has higher content for the price as compared to those American SUVs. The next argument "Pilot sucks offroad" or "it isn't a real 4x4." Yea, the Pilot wasn't designed for offroad use and it doesn't need a "TRUE" 4x4 system. I seen various reports (Motor Trend, C&D, Edmunds, etc) that say the drivetrain is state of the art and that it can handle almost all offroad situations that were thrown at it. Sorry guys, I was just venting. Please let me hear all of your comments.

[RedRockPearl]

LiuBei,

My dealer got their first PILOT in today and my 6'2" husband could not believe the headroom it has - and we've been driving an Expedition!

RRP

[a2Pilot]

I'm 6'5", and am extremely comfortable in my Pilot.

I transistioned from an F150 SuperCrew, and had an Expedition before that. I didn't realize how HUGE they were until I got my Pilot. The Pilot interior feels so delightfully spacious, but the Pilot as a whole feels remarkably small and driveable.

It's interesting, we were one of the first people to sign up for an Expedition when they were first introduced. It took Ford NINE MONTHS to deliver a truck to us. And only after we deleted some options.

We were the first on the list at our Honda Dealer, and had the Pilot the Friday before the product launch!!

We love Howard Cooper Honda, and we love our Pilot!

Originally posted by RedRockPearl
LiuBei,

My dealer got their first PILOT in today and my 6'2" husband could not believe the headroom it has - and we've been driving an Expedition!

RRP

[03pilot]

Thanks for that excellent observation ! We are sooooo glad you like your Expy. Please don't waste your time coming here to this forum.

Originally posted by skippy
My "American" full size Ford Expedition will squish all of your small wanna be soccer-mom sorry excuse for an suv, suv's. Stay out of my way on the freeways you turds! You drive way to slow and talk on those stupid cell phones way too much.

[pjl56]

Pilot at 70 mph + Skippy laying in the passing lane (like a "turd") = peanut butter .

[03pilot]

pjl: Looks like I was way too soft on skippy

Originally posted by pjl56
Pilot at 70 mph + Skippy laying in the passing lane (like a "turd") = peanut butter .

[GhettoMax]

New to the market of SUV's I finally went out and test drove a bunch, I started with a Toyota Sequoia, which was nice, smooth V8 good power but the interior design wasnt for me and not to mention the hefty price tag. Next stop Ford Explorer w/3rd row seat and Expedition. Although the new explorer is a huge HUGE improvement over the older ones it still lacks the quality. The ride was inferior to even a cheap toyota tacoma base truck I drove a week ago. I drove the Expedition next, just plain didnt like it, the dashboard materials are hard plastic, they didnt even bother to soften them up just a tad bit, cheapo over all, the ride quality was OK but thats about it. Once on the freeway while passing a slower car the wind almost ran the thing into the side wall, once I pulled it back I slowed down but still noticed that the steering wheel was so out of touch of the road. Having driven sports cars or other cars all my life that was a big concern for me. Now I understand that its a SUV but thats too much and on the passenger side, as I was looking though I noticed that one of the pieces of trim had glue sticking out LOL. The sales people were nice though and understood/acknowledged all of the concerns I had.

My next stop was going to be dodge but as I was driving by the local honda dealership I spotted a Pilot, went in to take a look see, I liked what I saw, the shape is nice and clean and the interior was nice as well. This particular one was a LX. I dont like the sales people there I tried to shop there before they were a bunch of jerks. But I decided to take it for a test drive, and MAN WAS I IMPRESSED. The thing drove just like my accord, smooth and quiet, the same windy conditions that seemed to push the others SUV's around did little or nothing to this one. I live in tri-cities area here in washington state and belive me it gets windy here. I was just impressed with everything, The engine is smooth and quiet, same goes for the awesome tranny. My only two complains were the lack of sunroof (nothing an aftermarket sunroof wont solve) and a lack of 2nd row (back and forth) adjustment.

[03pilot]

GhettoMax:

There is talk on this board that installing an aftermarket sun-roof on the Pilot somehow makes the vehicle less safe as per some of the dealers. But other than that this SUV is just great and its a Honda. Like you mentioned, drives like an Accord. I should know. We have had an Accord for the last 6 years and switching between the Accord and the Pilot is no trouble at all. Some minor differences like the Windshield-wipers but nothing you can't get used to.

Good Luck on whatever you select.

Originally posted by GhettoMax
New to the market of SUV's I finally went out and test drove a bunch, I started with a Toyota Sequoia, which was nice, smooth V8 good power but the interior design wasnt for me and not to mention the hefty price tag. Next stop Ford Explorer w/3rd row seat and Expedition. Although the new explorer is a huge HUGE improvement over the older ones it still lacks the quality. The ride was inferior to even a cheap toyota tacoma base truck I drove a week ago. I drove the Expedition next, just plain didnt like it, the dashboard materials are hard plastic, they didnt even bother to soften them up just a tad bit, cheapo over all, the ride quality was OK but thats about it. Once on the freeway while passing a slower car the wind almost ran the thing into the side wall, once I pulled it back I slowed down but still noticed that the steering wheel was so out of touch of the road. Having driven sports cars or other cars all my life that was a big concern for me. Now I understand that its a SUV but thats too much and on the passenger side, as I was looking though I noticed that one of the pieces of trim had glue sticking out LOL. The sales people were nice though and understood/acknowledged all of the concerns I had.

My next stop was going to be dodge but as I was driving by the local honda dealership I spotted a Pilot, went in to take a look see, I liked what I saw, the shape is nice and clean and the interior was nice as well. This particular one was a LX. I dont like the sales people there I tried to shop there before they were a bunch of jerks. But I decided to take it for a test drive, and MAN WAS I IMPRESSED. The thing drove just like my accord, smooth and quiet, the same windy conditions that seemed to push the others SUV's around did little or nothing to this one. I live in tri-cities area here in washington state and belive me it gets windy here. I was just impressed with everything, The engine is smooth and quiet, same goes for the awesome tranny. My only two complains were the lack of sunroof (nothing an aftermarket sunroof wont solve) and a lack of 2nd row (back and forth) adjustment.

[banningjr]

I think Skippy needs to put down his Bud since we'll be long gone while he is at the gas station with his 13mpg highway.

[PrG]

I would buy American ... but you just don't get crap for the price you pay ... No value and quality sucks ...

PrG

[LiuBei]

WTF, who is "Skippy?" If you want to bash would you please move to another thread. Or at least try to stay on the subject at hand. Thanks

[03pilot]

LiuBei:

What seems to have happened is the original post from some member named "skippy" has been removed by admin (?) for spamming, maybe ?

You can see the orignal post included in one of my replies.

Originally posted by LiuBei
WTF, who is "Skippy?" If you want to bash would you please move to another thread. Or at least try to stay on the subject at hand. Thanks

[PrG]

Can't we all just get along ...

PrG

[jay]

I traded in an '01 Highlander Limited for my Ex-L RES. Better handling, much larger, much more head room, better visibility, significantly better sound system, better build quality. More powerful engine with same or better mileage and uses regular gas (Highlander "recommended," i.e. needed premium).

Pilot is a better value overall, even at MSRP or more.

[GhettoMax]

this may be OT but for those who are considering Domestic alternatives to the Honda Pilot you might be interested in reading this...

Due to my local Honda sales people (Honda of Tri-cities) being a bunch of morons I am trying to consider all of the Pilot alternatives before I have to drive to spokane to get a Pilot. In process I somehow ended up at the local Chevy dealership, where I had the opportunity to test drive a Trailblazer EXT. I like the way it looks from the outside this particular one was maroon with black interior. The dashboard looks like it came out of a late oldsmobile alero or intrigue cars. The engine is every smooth but the overall ride is too soft in my opinion. My biggest turn off was the rattling and wind noise, although not excessive but still noticeable, something I hadnt noticed in the Pilot LX. Eventhough the ride was acceptable for some reason the Trailblazer did not appeal to me. Maybe I am being childish over the dashboard and the rattling.

Next I saw a nice red Tahoe on the lot. Now I know that a Pilot and the tahoe are not even in the same league but I was very tempted to try it out so I did. I must admit I have always liked the way they have looked (the present generation) This specific one had running boards, roof rack, tinted windows, front bumper guard all installed. I liked the dashboard of this thing much better than the trailblazer. While taking a peek at the (optional) third row seat I was trying to find a way to get to it when I found the first flaw, while you can only get to the third row seats from one side by flipping the middle row seat forward the back of the other seat thats not supposed to flip forward had too much movement in locked position, the back was left lose during assembly is what we concluded.

While sitting on the drivers seat, as a bad habit of trying out each and every little button, switch, lever you name it I found another quality flaw, the ashtray wont come out, it seems that the upper trim piece was preventing it from poping out you had to pull it hard. And he quality flaws dont end there. But this one in particular was interesting because the salesperson was insisting that I was being too picky and that this is a very small and rare occurance. Well after looking the tahoe over I noticed a bigger suburban so I wanted to check that out. To my surprise the same Ash tray problem in the suburban!!! now the sales person just joked about it saying oh its nothing thats not covered under warranty!!! lol. The middle row seats in this one were captain and quiet nice I must say. The carpet in the rear cargo area seemed to have been cut by some morning shift person with a box cutter, no consistency WHATSOEVER. call me picky but these things do matter to me.

If a manufacturer cant spend some time to get into details the I am sorry I dont want to pay 35+ grand for it. Maybe they should learn from Hyundai, have you seen their newer vehicles? even they have much better fit and finish then domestics. If they can learn I dont know why the Big 3 cant.

sorry for the lengthy post but just presenting my views to all of you.