Honda Pilot vs 2004 Toyota Highlander

[robrecht]

Hi!

I went shopping for a small to midsize SUV yesterday for the first time and was thrilled to learn that the Honda Pilot has a 3rd row of fold-down seats. The Toyota dealer told me that their Highlander will offer this option in the Fall. My sister-in-law just bought a Sienna instead of an Odyssey because Toyota's implementation of the fold-down third row seating was so much better in this minivan. Since we're not in a hurry, we may wait and compare 2004 models. Or all things being equal, maybe we'll get a better deal on a 2003 Pilot at that time.

Thoughts? Any really good in-depth comparisons out there that you could recommend (already read the Car & Driver comparison )? At the risk of being flamed, I might say that my wife likes the styling on the Highlander better.

UPDATE: For anyone looking for up-to-date information on the 2004 Highlander, here are some highlights:

Folding 3rd row with adjustable 2nd row, Side curtain airbags, Vehical Stability Control, larger V-6, 17" wheels, drive-by-wire, moonroof, do not need to remove the headrests to fold down the 3rd row ...

Check out these links for the information from Toyota:

Press Release 1

Press Release 2 (Pricing)

Specs

Standard Features

Options

Thanks, Robrecht

[bret11]

Robrecht:

We also tried both, and went with the Pilot. The 3rd row was what sold us, as was the fact that it was 4ft across in the cargo area. Didn't know hoe much use we would have for the 3rd row, but in our first weekend we went to my sister's house and ended up taking needing the room for her and her 3 kids (6 total in the car). My son is in a large booster seat, and we had no problem with 3 in the middle row and 2 in the back. With the rear headrests, the back was not that uncomfortable (no, I didn't ride back there, but I did sit back there...and my sister, who did ride back there, is brutally honest). She drives an Expedition and commented that the Pilot was remarkably comfortable for a car "this small."

Our big decision was whether to get a really nice, big station wagon (the Highlander), or to get a really nice SUV (the Pilot). In the end, we thought that the added room of the SUV (Pilot) would be beneficial, and the fact that we think it rides very much like a car took away one of the last reasons we had for considering the Highlander.

My 5 year old would tell you that the rear RES was the main reason we went with the Pilot.

In the end, go with your gut. As you will read on this (and other) forums, there are pros and cons to every car out there. All in all, I am extremely satisifed with our purchase. Now if they only offfered a moon roof and heated seats....oh well, maybe I'll trade up when they do.

--Bret

[RipRocK]

Hi robrecht, welcome to the board. I agree, if you're not in a hurry, then I'd wait to see what the '04 Highlanders are like and decide then. One thing that intrigued me is what your dealer told you about the new Highlander having 3rd row seats as an option. I had an opportunity to drive the Highlander for a few days just recently and my thinking is that, unless the new Highlander gets a chassis make over and ends up with a longer frame/body, that 3rd row seats will be awfully cramped, even more so than the Pilot's. Or, that third row seat will be awfully close to the rear hatchback. Too close for comfort for me.

But I think it's great that you have the luxury of being able to wait and see what's in store for you. The Highlander does have a softer ride and has its own advantages. But I'll have to disagree with your wife about the Highlander having better styling Good Luck!

[Mohawk Man]

I also checked out the Highlander. It was my second choice for three reasons. First, it was a little too car-like in its ride for me. Second, the space. I figured if I was going to pay the fuel penalty for driving an SUV, I wanted to have more space. Last, the sound system was not as good as on the Pilot EX. Highlanders were really being discounted deeply in DC area so it was tempting. I did not care about the third row seat. It is folded and has been that way as soon as I figured out how to do it. I wish Honda offered to delete this and give hideaway storage in its place. I still think I made the right choice for me.

[colorider]

Originally posted by RipRocK
I had an opportunity to drive the Highlander for a few days just recently and my thinking is that, unless the new Highlander gets a chassis make over and ends up with a longer frame/body, that 3rd row seats will be awfully cramped, even more so than the Pilot's. Or, that third row seat will be awfully close to the rear hatchback. Too close for comfort for me.

Last weekend my brother-in-law was at my house visiting and I had a chance to measure the distance from the back of the second row of seat to the rear hatch on both his Highlander and my Pilot. Guess what?!?! They were both within about 1/2" of eachother. The Pilot was at least 4" wider - but length was a wash.

[ramirami]

the highlander has less interier room than the pilot....the third row will be a even tighter squeeze...IMO

[RipRocK]

Originally posted by colorider
Last weekend my brother-in-law was at my house visiting and I had a chance to measure the distance from the back of the second row of seat to the rear hatch on both his Highlander and my Pilot. Guess what?!?! They were both within about 1/2" of eachother. The Pilot was at least 4" wider - but length was a wash.

You're right, I just checked out the websites and there isn't much of a difference. According to the webpages, http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehi...der_specs.html and http://www.hondacars.com/models/spec...or_dimensions, it seems the Pilot's about 3 1/2" longer in body, but they're virtually identical in wheelbase. The Pilot just looks longer though and feels much roomier inside. May be it's because it's just wider.

[BillR]

Toyota has realized that the Highlander MUST have a 3rd row seat to fully compete in the market segment. There is a redesigned Highlander planned for the 2004 model year (who knows what part of the year). We don't use the 3rd row in our Pilot except as an occasional novelty for our 11 year old (way too small for him).
There are some good comparisons elsewhere on this site and at Edmunds.com.
Exterior I prefer the Pilot, interior the Highlander.

One of my friends just got an 04 Sienna XLE AWD, Wow what a nice minivan. I was amazed that the sliding door windows go all the way down and include sunshades built into the door sills. There are cool little things like that throughout.

[robrecht]

Thanks for all of your input so far.

Despite styling preferences, I can convince my wife with safety arguments, eg, R&T says the MDX and the Pilot were the first midsize SUVs to achieve the five star rating for driver and front- and rear-seat passengers in both front- and side-impact crash tests.

I also like the low speed 4-wheel drive locking feature of the Pilot, which the Highlander doesn't currently have. Good for snowy mornings when I haven't yet shoveled our long driveway.

On the other hand, braking was not as good.

Would still appreciate specific points of comarison between Pilot and Highlander.

Thanks, Robrecht

[jay]

Originally posted by robrecht
Thanks for all of your input so far.

Despite styling preferences, I can convince my wife with safety arguments, eg, R&T says the MDX and the Pilot were the first midsize SUVs to achieve the five star rating for driver and front- and rear-seat passengers in both front- and side-impact crash tests.

I also like the low speed 4-wheel drive locking feature of the Pilot, which the Highlander doesn't currently have. Good for snowy mornings when I haven't yet shoveled our long driveway.

On the other hand, braking was not as good.

Would still appreciate specific points of comarison between Pilot and Highlander.

Thanks, Robrecht

The Highlander doesn't need a 4-wheel drive locking feature, as its 4-wheel drive system is very different from the Pilot's. It's always "in 4-wheel drive," whereas the Pilot is 4-wheel only when accelerating or when slippage occurs.

The Highlander also offers Traction Control, Vehicle Skid Control, and ECT Mode for the transmission (you start out in second gear when ECT Mode is on). I don't recall that any of these "features" are available for the Pilot.

I still prefer the overall handling of the Pilot to my former Highlander.

[robrecht]

Thanks, jay. It's veteran posters like yourself that make these boards so interesting for the newbies like myself.

[yardman]

were torn between the pilot and the highlander.....i want the black pilot exlres but my wife likes the styling of the highlander better..its gonna be her primary car so i dont want to buy the pilot and have her unhappy...she says she loves the ride and the interior of the pilot{except the no sunroof part}but she thinks the pilot looks too boxy,,,,,,the added 3rd row to the highlander is news to me....im gonna have to check into that further before i believe...but one other interesting option i found for the highlander is on carsdirect.com...when you build a highlandr one of the options is a dvd entertainment system [6.4 inch screen]along with a sunroof...looks like it may be a factory option for 2004.......check it out..if we can get a 3rd row seat and the dvd with the sunroof i think well get a black highlander limited..i not buying til next march so will let the chips fall into place.....

[BillR]

The Highlander Limited does have the VSC and traction control, both are great but the traction control can't be turned off.
For example; if your pulling out onto a very short highway onramp in the rain (as I do quite often). If the system senses wheelspin it cuts engine power in attempt to stop wheelspin (allow extra room).
The Pilot's lack of TCS allows the wheel to spin (a little) but compensates for it by putting more traction to the rear wheels.

[andrec8513]

We are trading in our 2001 highlander for a Pilot EXL-RES. Our highlander has been nothing but problems from day one. So bad that we went to arbitration, but Toyota won out (I think they paid off the arbitrator). This was our 5th Toyota in 12 years from the same dealer and we were treated like crap by the dealer and Toyota. They still to this day refuse to fix most of the problems. I have had the same Honda Lawnmower and Snowblower since 1989 without a problem! Lets hope the cars are as good.

[csimo]

What problems did you have with the Highlander? I keep up with them as well and they don't seem to have very many problems.