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Newby - 2005 Pilot came with home purchase in Florida

2K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  ialonso 
#1 ·
I recently bought a 2005 Pilot EXL as part of a deal on a Florida home purchase. The car has just under 58K miles on it, great paint, new tires and by all accounts has been garaged, maintained and pampered by its one previous owner.

I have to get the remotes working and have already bought the batteries. I've read up on and watched videos on programming if that is necessary.

I ran the VIN on Honda's site and there are no outstanding recalls including the airbags.

Otherwise the thing looks good.

I have a large folder with all the maintenance records from the previous owner but did not have time to review it before I had to leave and head north.

Everyone I talk to tells me what a great car these things are. I'm, looking forward to getting to know it.

What else can the more seasoned owners tell me about the car?
 
#3 ·
Besides the timing belt replacement, which was due at about 7 years (or 105K miles), check for any record of the radiator having been replaced.
Particularly in the 2005 model year, there was a propensity for the radiator to fail in such a way as to allow the coolant and the transmission fluid to mix, which, in turn, could cause the transmission to fail.
If you can't find any evidence of a radiator replacement, consider having it done soon as a preventive measure.
 
#5 ·
I'll have to check the receipts, but it's good to know what to look for. My hunch is that this car has been over-maintained. The previous owner was crazy about taking care of things. I think he may have had it detailed before he turned it over to me. I threw some mail on the hood while I was trying to do too many things at one time and the mail slid right off. Tires have dressing on them, etc. The PO is not the kind of guy to wash a car himself. Everything about the house we bought from them was pretty much in perfect shape and immaculate.
 
#7 ·
I bought an 05 in June with 53k miles on it. Sounds like a similar car.....1 owner with perfect maintenance.....like you said, it was probably "over-maintained".


I've added a hitch, trans cooler, and got some weather-tech floor mats. I still want step rails, but they're low on my list. They'll probably be on my Christmas list again this year.


Anyway, I just had an airbag recall on mine.....I took the car to the local Honda dealer to have a headlight adjusted, and they said it had an airbag recall. If your VIN didn't come up, I wonder if the previous owner already had it done......


As others mentioned, you'll definitely want to verify that the timing belt service was done.......if it wasn't, get it done.


I'd probably call some local Honda dealers, and see if any of them serviced the vehicle. I don't think they can give you a complete printed history for confidentiality reasons, but you could call them, give them the VIN, and if they worked on the car they could tell you if a specific service had been done. When I bought mine, there was nothing to show the TB service had been done but the dealer (Volvo) insisted it had been. They referred me to the Honda dealer where it was purchased and where it had been maintained.....I called them, and they confirmed the date/mileage that the TB service was done. Might be nice to try and figure out where the previous owner took it for maintenance.


I'm up over 70k miles on mine now....the fluids had all be done 6 months before I bought it....tires are in great shape....and with the TB service already completed, I should be relatively maintenance free for a while. I did have my rear rotors re-surfaced and new rear pads put on.....aside from that, it's been perfect. I finally even got the garage door opener to work (had to hit the "smart" button on the garage door motor) . When I got mine, only one of the remotes worked.....I put a new battery in and it still didn't work. It's my wife's key and she doesn't drive it often, so I doubt I'll even worry about it. Mine works....and I also have a 3rd (regular) spare key.


I've been getting about 19.5 MPG very consistently. You will see a noticeable drop when you drive more aggressively. Fun car to drive.
 
#8 ·
I think the time has come to part ways with my 2005 Pilot. It now has 67K on it. I am trying to retire and will be spending more time in Florida which is where the car is. I'm pricing 2019 EX-L's and will probably trade the car in. It's clean, had good tires, new headliner, console upholstery and a new radiator for peace of mind (that milkshake issue). I went to TrueCar and got a pretty good price for the 2019 and KBB for an Instant Cash Offer of about $4K, so maybe there's some upward potential on that #.


I'm a little torn about getting rid of it, but if the AC or something else goes out I'll be pissed. Meanwhile I miss Bluetooth, the Backup Camera and some of the other new car amenities.


Am I thinking right?
 
#9 ·
Depends on how you want to use it.

If the absence of plush, high-tech deluxe stuff makes you unhappy, buy a new one. Nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand, since you basically got it for nothing, you won't find a relatively solid vehicle that gives you lower cost-per-mile. If you have any use for an upscale beater that you don't worry about minor dings on, an old Pilot is great.

If you only want one car, you could get a lot of A/C repairs and aftermarket amenities done well for a lot less than the $40k gap between your trade-in value and a new Pilot. But my advice would be to keep the Pilot until it dies, buy a nice sedan for upscale outings, and keep some money in your pocket.

If you do get rid of it, I suspect you'll make someone on this forum a happy buyer.
 
#10 ·
I've toyed with the idea of keeping it. My wife is pretty independent and goes on a quick errand only to show up 5 hours later from the Mall(s)...... Keeping it probably makes the most sense since we'll be spending most of the year down South. I do like having a roomy garage though.
 
#11 ·
If it were me I’d keep it, as long as it remains reliable. The newer cars look nice on the outside but all the added electronics are extra points of costly failures.
 
#13 ·
If you want to get rid of it and are satisfied with only getting 4k out of it... I'll gladly drive down to Florida and take it off your hands... Infact, I'll take the whole family of 8 on a cruise while I'm there and still have spent less than what its really worth.

Buy a different stereo if you want bluetooth and backup cam. Mine has 222,000 miles on it and its our trusted road car. Just two weekends ago I did 1,400 miles in a weekend, STL - DFW. This weekend were doing STL - KC and Next month STL - Tampa (and this trip we do a bunch of times a year). From what I've seen of the newer ones, they are not the legendary pilot. And ours has no records of the AC ever needing serviced... As was said above, for the $40k gap on a new one, you could re-a/c this one, re-engine it, re-transmission it... a bunch of times before you ever got close to $40k.

But it looks like you have made up your mind so, if you want to make my wife happy she'd love to daily a brand new 05 pilot with only 67k on it!
 
#14 ·
@Tahoefever
I think this is currently the lowest mileage 2005 on this forum. My wife’s 2005 has dropped to the second spot on that list. :)
 
#15 ·
I'm still kicking it around. I used TrueCar for the first time to get pricing on a new one. I'm in no hurry, but the dealers here are after me. Any experience with TrueCar out there? Is there still wiggle room in the price they quote? I can't do anything until I get the title from up North.
 
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