After making the decision to purchase an SUV to replace my Mercedes, we decided to take a road trip from Northern Virginia
to Maine to visit relatives. The Pilot was delivered new on September 13th and we left with about 2200 miles already on
the vehicle. Here is a brief rundown of the performance of our
Pilot over the trip. We have a 2004 EX-L with Navigation.
First day: Friday 10/31 at 5:30 am, left to beat the traffic out
of the DC area. Nav system has course plotted for most direct route (95N). Pilot is smooth and quiet for the most part. Dashboard rattles begin to appear. Driver door seal is still a problem and very noticeable on the NJ turnpike. Nav system likes to be chatty whenever a change is possible on a particular stretch of road.
First stop for gas is in CT. A little over 23mpg so far with three people and some luggage. Seats getting a little soft after
6 hours. Several small stops for bathroom breaks.
Arrive in Maine at about 4:30pm with a little over 10hrs of driving, 620 miles and 1 hour worth of total stops. Nav system did great where it had digitized roads to follow, my destination was not digitized so it was not exact on arrival.
Second day: Put 6 people in the Pilot for a day of sightseeing. Everyone says they are comfortable even in the third row
but our total drive time was only about 2 hours. Pilot rode and handled well and had no problem with some rather bumpy
roads. CD's did some skipping which is strange because these CD's have never skipped before.
Third day: Put 4 people in the Pilot for a day of shopping.
Drove about 1 and 1/2 hours. Seat heaters nice but slow
to warm up. Rear wiper small for window area.
Fourth day: Left Maine at 5:45 am for a return trip. Second
fillup of gas ups mpg to about 24. Drove through about 200
miles of rain. Wipers started to get really squeaky and stuttery after about 1 hour. Arrive in NYC at the worst possible time
(12:00pm) and spend almost a hour trying to get over the GW
bridge into NJ. Pilot feels very large in heavy traffic, tough to change lanes or accelerate fast enough to handle this kind of driving. Schedule now shot, long line for gas at the rest
stop, mileage now about 23.8 for the trip. Through NJ I start to notice that the compass on my day night mirror is way, WAY off.
It cannot seem to figure out what direction I am going and what direction to change to. Very disappointed with this mirror/compass.
Door seal problem still evident.
Arrive home at 5:45pm after spending more time on the Washington Beltway (which I was trying to avoid). The Pilot is not designed for heavy traffic driving, lane changes are slow, blind spots are large even with mirrors adjusted properly.
Summary:
Pros: Decent mpg, cargo/people space, climate control
Cons: Day/Night mirror compass, seats too soft for long distance, noisy tires, noisy wipers, door seals, several dash board squeaks and rattles, sun visors clips that don't hold the sun visors in place, skipping cd's (cd's are fine)
We are keeping the Pilot because of the need for passenger space and cargo space. Honestly after owning 4 Accords and a Legend, I am not real happy driving this as an every day vehicle.
As an SUV it may be a nice vehicle but it lacks things that could make it a great all around vehicle.
to Maine to visit relatives. The Pilot was delivered new on September 13th and we left with about 2200 miles already on
the vehicle. Here is a brief rundown of the performance of our
Pilot over the trip. We have a 2004 EX-L with Navigation.
First day: Friday 10/31 at 5:30 am, left to beat the traffic out
of the DC area. Nav system has course plotted for most direct route (95N). Pilot is smooth and quiet for the most part. Dashboard rattles begin to appear. Driver door seal is still a problem and very noticeable on the NJ turnpike. Nav system likes to be chatty whenever a change is possible on a particular stretch of road.
First stop for gas is in CT. A little over 23mpg so far with three people and some luggage. Seats getting a little soft after
6 hours. Several small stops for bathroom breaks.
Arrive in Maine at about 4:30pm with a little over 10hrs of driving, 620 miles and 1 hour worth of total stops. Nav system did great where it had digitized roads to follow, my destination was not digitized so it was not exact on arrival.
Second day: Put 6 people in the Pilot for a day of sightseeing. Everyone says they are comfortable even in the third row
but our total drive time was only about 2 hours. Pilot rode and handled well and had no problem with some rather bumpy
roads. CD's did some skipping which is strange because these CD's have never skipped before.
Third day: Put 4 people in the Pilot for a day of shopping.
Drove about 1 and 1/2 hours. Seat heaters nice but slow
to warm up. Rear wiper small for window area.
Fourth day: Left Maine at 5:45 am for a return trip. Second
fillup of gas ups mpg to about 24. Drove through about 200
miles of rain. Wipers started to get really squeaky and stuttery after about 1 hour. Arrive in NYC at the worst possible time
(12:00pm) and spend almost a hour trying to get over the GW
bridge into NJ. Pilot feels very large in heavy traffic, tough to change lanes or accelerate fast enough to handle this kind of driving. Schedule now shot, long line for gas at the rest
stop, mileage now about 23.8 for the trip. Through NJ I start to notice that the compass on my day night mirror is way, WAY off.
It cannot seem to figure out what direction I am going and what direction to change to. Very disappointed with this mirror/compass.
Door seal problem still evident.
Arrive home at 5:45pm after spending more time on the Washington Beltway (which I was trying to avoid). The Pilot is not designed for heavy traffic driving, lane changes are slow, blind spots are large even with mirrors adjusted properly.
Summary:
Pros: Decent mpg, cargo/people space, climate control
Cons: Day/Night mirror compass, seats too soft for long distance, noisy tires, noisy wipers, door seals, several dash board squeaks and rattles, sun visors clips that don't hold the sun visors in place, skipping cd's (cd's are fine)
We are keeping the Pilot because of the need for passenger space and cargo space. Honestly after owning 4 Accords and a Legend, I am not real happy driving this as an every day vehicle.
As an SUV it may be a nice vehicle but it lacks things that could make it a great all around vehicle.
