Found a nice '07 Pilot in Michigan

[chriszke]

My wife and I were looking to replace her aging '03 Chevy Venture Minivan, which had begun a serious decline in reliability and ascent in repair costs.

Her criteria was pretty simple. Needed to carry 6-7 passengers, pre-owned cost around $15,000, less than 50,000 miles, reasonable fuel economy. We began looking at Ford Explorers, but hadn't come upon "the one" until....

We found an 07 Pilot 2WD LX with 25,600 miles, which had gone up on Craigslist by private owner last Friday. Asking price was $15,500. Saw and drove it that night. Went back on Saturday with a deposit and to see the car in natural daylight.

There were paint-scuffs (and some paint removal) on the left and right corners of the front facia where the driver failed to negotiate a turn with adequate clearance. We hadn't noticed the damage the previous evening due to the lack of sunlight. I was a little disappointed that the seller hadn't volunteered the information, but not enough to scare me away from the vehicle. This damage was purely cosmetic & we settled on a selling price of $14,800.

We buy and hold our vehicles so long as they remain functional and safe.
(My wife puts about 12,000 miles/year on her car)

I warned my wife. With proper maintenance and a little due-care...you're likely to have this car a very, very long time.

Nice forum. I'm catching up on the maintenance and DIY postings. I'll be back with some ?'s a little later.

Chris

[humanoid]

Congrats on the purchase, Chris! The damage is purely cosmetic like you mentioned, nothing a little touch up paint and TLC won't take care of. Did you get the maintenance records from the previous owner?

[jestmaty]

Nice.....

Welcome to the madhouse...errr... I meant to say, "piloteers.org"!

Must have pics or it didn't happen!

[chriszke]

Originally Posted by humanoid

Congrats on the purchase, Chris! The damage is purely cosmetic like you mentioned, nothing a little touch up paint and TLC won't take care of. Did you get the maintenance records from the previous owner?

I purchased the CARFAX on the vehicle prior to the purchase. Had been taken to the dealer for any maintenance. The only specific work mentioned was a brake job in december, which seemed odd with just 25K miles. I'll do the VTM fluid change when it warms up a little & probably do a ATF drain and fill at the same time.

I'm wrestling with the addition of the heavy-duty ATF and PS coolers. We've got a pop-up camper we MIGHT tow, but we've got a Buick Rendezvous which is capable. Might just leave that job to the Buick.

[rocky]

oooo 2wd Pilot in snow country......thats going to be interesting especially if it still has either the Goodyear Integrity or Bridgestone factory tires on it.

[3rdrow]

Originally Posted by rocky

oooo 2wd Pilot in snow country......thats going to be interesting especially if it still has either the Goodyear Integrity or Bridgestone factory tires on it.

coming from a chevy venture, i bet it wont be too terribly much different, but as rocky said the tires are key.

[humanoid]

There is no Honda branded heavy-duty ATF and the Pilot is very picky about which ATF to use so use only the Honda branded ATF-DW-1.

[chriszke]

Originally Posted by humanoid

There is no Honda branded heavy-duty ATF and the Pilot is very picky about which ATF to use so use only the Honda branded ATF-DW-1.

I wasn't very clear. I meant the non-OEM trans and PS coolers. I know to use honda-branded ATF always (I've got a 2007 Accord).

I know the stock tires are (typically) disappointing. We'll get the rest of the useful life out of them, then replace with the highly recommended Michelins (LX2's?).

We live in suburban detroit. We don't usually challenge our vehicles in difficult snow when it comes. We'll either wait for the plow or drive really slowly.

On a side note, during a vacation to Alaska a few months ago, we picked up a 1960 vintage Alaska license plate (year my wife was born). We've got it affixed to the front bumper. The license plate color is dark & closely resembles the dark grey paint of the vehicle.

The white reflective paint and words "Alaska" really pop out in the front view & compliment the vehicle styling. It's a bit of a unique vehicle mod, but boy...does it work.