Hi All!
I used Piloteers.org extensively when researching the Honda Pilot late last year. THANK YOU!! I wanted to return the favor and chime in here, having owned a 2017 (bought new, late last year) Pilot for a bit over a hundred days now.
I previously drove a Nissan Murano for the past 12 years (one owner car) and my choices were down to a Toyota Highlander, another Murano or a Honda Pilot. I test drove all three cars before deciding for the Pilot. I -wanted- to like the Highlander more, due to great reliability my family and I have had with other Toyotas, but in the end, the only thing I liked more about the Highlander was the exterior looks. The ride, noise and interior all seemed pretty inferior to the Pilot, at least to this guy. The Nissan had been a pretty nice car, but had enough suspension problems, rattles, and mechanical issues after about seven years to make it really hard to get one again.
In the end, the dealership choice that pushed me over the top was a one-owner lifetime warranty on the powertrain that was offered to me by Honda World here locally in Louisville, KY. Having read all the complaints and failure stories about the transmission made me very hesitant as I tend to hold onto my cars for a decade or more and while I don't mind regular maintenance service at all, I just want my cars to be problem free the rest of the time.
In the end, I purchased a 2017 Pilot/Touring w/white exterior and the two-tone beige and gray/black (what color is that?) interior. Adding tint in the front made the entire car look really sharp. The only add-ons were the heated steering wheel and manufacturer's hitch. I've never had a heated steering wheel but approaching 50 years old now, I really really appreciate it. For some reason, the dealer tried to talk me out of the manufacturer's hitch but I liked the seamless integration with the bumper compared to the after market ones. Mud flaps might have been an option too, I'm not sure if I paid extra for those.
I'm getting (manually computed, not using the trip computer) 15.1 to as much as 17.7mpg in mostly city driving. 17mpg seems to be about the average, which is better than I got in the older Nissan Murano, so I'm happy about that. I only did one large highway trip so far and forgot to check the MPG, so the results were muddied with some city driving afterwards, but I still got 21.2mpg on that trip with a big chunk of city driving, so I'm excited to see what I get on a long road trip from Louisville to Philly that is coming up soon.
The touring model is significantly (in my opinion) quieter than the lower models. I knew that was one of the selling points, but I didn't really notice a difference doing short test drives. However, three weeks after purchasing the Pilot/touring, I had a starter problem that required me to leave it at the dealership for three days. They gave me a loaner that was the next model down and at first I kept thinking something was wrong with the car until I realized it was the road/wind/engine noise that I was hearing, especially on the interstate. In retrospect, I'm really glad for the extra noise insulation.
In the reviews I read, a lot of folks complained about the push-button transmission controls. Personally, these appealed to me when I first saw the interior of the car as I think it makes a lot more sense and feels a lot more "luxurious" than the shift knob/stick. They also take up a lot less room. And while it took me a few weeks to really get used to them, I use them now without even looking at them. I hope they don't lose them, I think they're an improvement.
We had a lot of snow this winter, and I can say that the AWD system is just awesome. Far better than what I was used to in the Nissan. Very nice.
Generally speaking, I find the interior colors of Honda's leather weird and a little institutional. The gray leather looks like something from a medical device, at least to me. In the end I settled for a White exterior with the two-tone beige interior. The beige also looks cheap and institutional, but maybe it's just me. Despite that, the interior of this car is really quite sharp and people compliment it all the time. I think they have trouble reconciling it with the "Honda" badge, which I can understand as I didn't expect Honda to offer something so appealing either when I first started shopping.
I read a lot of complaints about the touch-screen audio/nav system, mostly centered around the fact that there was no physical volume knob. I don't really understand that as I use the steering controls for volume 95% of the time and don't have much problems with the on-screen control when I do use it. Ditto for the audio "source" button that folks complain is too small. It probably is, but I use the steering control for that most of the time too. It is a little slow to fire up, especially if using blue tooth, but not so slow that it really bothers me. Bluetooth controls can be slow too. I don't have much to measure it against though as my last car didn't even have Bluetooth. Generally speaking, the upgraded audio in the touring model sounds amazing, far better than anything I have in my house, so I really like it.
Speaking of the touch screen and the vast amount of "sensing" technology on this car in general. If you're not used to a modern car with all of these bells and whistles, just resign yourself to spending an hour or two in the car, with the manual, and maybe some youtube videos. You will not figure it all out on your own, there's a lot of stuff here and at first it was a little overwhelming.
I did not want the navigation option (using GPS on my phone for everything) but having it now, I do love that I can have the tiny screen to the left of the speedo show me my direction and the street name at all times. I've found that I'm starting to use the navigation map on the main screen too when driving around in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Searching for locations with it is pretty painful though, so I usually don't use it for destination travel and reserve that for the phone or Apple's CarPlay on the main screen.
Speaking of entertainment, why is that rear entertainment screen thing still an option? No one wants that and there's nothing they can do to make it as current as what the kids or rear passengers will have on a tablet computer. It's a waste of money/time/resources if you ask me. Here's a great feature idea... just put some universal tablet holders and USB jacks in the back of the front headrests and be done with it.
The "auto follow" (what is it called?) option on the cruise control is really too harsh to use for long periods if there's a lot of traffic. I find it speeds up and slows down way too harshly and just makes for a jittery ride. Still, it's better than not having it available. The feature that does part of the steering for you at interstate speeds... I completely did not understand this when I first used it. What's the point of "partially steering" the car. Now I get it and I love it. At highway speeds it will help keep the car centered in the lane with very little effort from the driver. Will it make you a more complacent/lazy driver? Maybe. Will it make you a safer driver, not rolling into the lane markers, probably! I use it every time I'm on the interstate now. Like anything new though, it takes some getting used to.
My mother and many other folks have commented on how nice the ride is. It's probably harsher on this Touring due to the low profile tires, but I wanted a bunch of stuff the touring had so I got these in the bargain. I don't expect a luxury car ride, but it really is quite nice and competes well with anything you'll find in the mid-market SUVs.
Numerous people complained about the right-hand turn camera that comes up on the main screen when you use your turn indicator. You have to go to the ELITE model to get the blind spot sensors in the side mirrors (which is ridiculous, safety features should be available all down the line) but I love this camera. In fact, I would rather have cameras on both sides than those blind spot warning lights. I love the rear backup camera too, which is extremely helpful to me as this car is bigger than what I'm used to driving. As some folks have noted too, the auto-down-tilting side mirror feature only works on one side mirror at a time (depending on which mirror you have selected in the adjuster switch). I wish this worked on both mirrors, as I frequently park in the city and find myself wanting to see both curbs pretty equally when I'm parallel parking.
I'm a big guy, almost 6'2" and 270lbs. I love that I fit in this car so nicely. It's extremely spacious.
The integrated gas filler "flap", in lieu of an actual cap, is a really nice touch. It did freeze up on me once this winter though and I couldn't gas up the car that day. Luckily I had plenty of gas left so I just waited a couple of days until it unfroze. Hopefully it was a freak thing and not something that will happen regularly during winter.
Now, to the big / ceaseless agitation I have with this car... The 9 speed transmission. It is in fact as bad as everyone says. And while I think you do get a couple of things by having this transmission, namely some really impressive straight line acceleration capabilities and maybe gas mileage at higher speeds (??), it's really very ugly in city driving and stop and go situations. You'll usually feel this when you have to let off the gas, and then almost immediately give it gas again, which happens ALL THE TIME in city driving. Sometimes the car pauses for a long time before accelerating, maybe while trying to find a gear? Sometimes it feels like the car surges ahead. It's almost nauseating when it happens a lot. Out on the interstate, or accelerating for long distances to merge, I love it, but the rest of the time it feels completely half baked. I have no idea if this is a mechanical/engineering failing or if it's just bad software?? I thought I heard the Acura MDX has the same transmission and I find it impossible to believe that they'd put something this bad in a luxury car. Someone smarter than me will have to tell us. I'd love to hear from someone that has extensive experience with the same transmission in both cars to comment.
IMO, the transmission is the only Achilles heel in this vehicle. Honda has done so much, and done it so good (and so advanced!) that I think the car is really raising the bar on the segment. If they can figure out how to fix the transmission they'd complete the circle. I still recommend it highly to folks, but I do warn them heavily about the transmission.
Happy Piloting!
PS. Someone mentioned once that the AWD give you "torque vectoring" on turns if "you know how to engage it". I read a lot of threads but couldn't find out exactly what that meant. Is there a specific way you should take curves and turns to make this work? I do think the car corners and curves very nicely.
I used Piloteers.org extensively when researching the Honda Pilot late last year. THANK YOU!! I wanted to return the favor and chime in here, having owned a 2017 (bought new, late last year) Pilot for a bit over a hundred days now.
I previously drove a Nissan Murano for the past 12 years (one owner car) and my choices were down to a Toyota Highlander, another Murano or a Honda Pilot. I test drove all three cars before deciding for the Pilot. I -wanted- to like the Highlander more, due to great reliability my family and I have had with other Toyotas, but in the end, the only thing I liked more about the Highlander was the exterior looks. The ride, noise and interior all seemed pretty inferior to the Pilot, at least to this guy. The Nissan had been a pretty nice car, but had enough suspension problems, rattles, and mechanical issues after about seven years to make it really hard to get one again.
In the end, the dealership choice that pushed me over the top was a one-owner lifetime warranty on the powertrain that was offered to me by Honda World here locally in Louisville, KY. Having read all the complaints and failure stories about the transmission made me very hesitant as I tend to hold onto my cars for a decade or more and while I don't mind regular maintenance service at all, I just want my cars to be problem free the rest of the time.
In the end, I purchased a 2017 Pilot/Touring w/white exterior and the two-tone beige and gray/black (what color is that?) interior. Adding tint in the front made the entire car look really sharp. The only add-ons were the heated steering wheel and manufacturer's hitch. I've never had a heated steering wheel but approaching 50 years old now, I really really appreciate it. For some reason, the dealer tried to talk me out of the manufacturer's hitch but I liked the seamless integration with the bumper compared to the after market ones. Mud flaps might have been an option too, I'm not sure if I paid extra for those.
I'm getting (manually computed, not using the trip computer) 15.1 to as much as 17.7mpg in mostly city driving. 17mpg seems to be about the average, which is better than I got in the older Nissan Murano, so I'm happy about that. I only did one large highway trip so far and forgot to check the MPG, so the results were muddied with some city driving afterwards, but I still got 21.2mpg on that trip with a big chunk of city driving, so I'm excited to see what I get on a long road trip from Louisville to Philly that is coming up soon.
The touring model is significantly (in my opinion) quieter than the lower models. I knew that was one of the selling points, but I didn't really notice a difference doing short test drives. However, three weeks after purchasing the Pilot/touring, I had a starter problem that required me to leave it at the dealership for three days. They gave me a loaner that was the next model down and at first I kept thinking something was wrong with the car until I realized it was the road/wind/engine noise that I was hearing, especially on the interstate. In retrospect, I'm really glad for the extra noise insulation.
In the reviews I read, a lot of folks complained about the push-button transmission controls. Personally, these appealed to me when I first saw the interior of the car as I think it makes a lot more sense and feels a lot more "luxurious" than the shift knob/stick. They also take up a lot less room. And while it took me a few weeks to really get used to them, I use them now without even looking at them. I hope they don't lose them, I think they're an improvement.
We had a lot of snow this winter, and I can say that the AWD system is just awesome. Far better than what I was used to in the Nissan. Very nice.
Generally speaking, I find the interior colors of Honda's leather weird and a little institutional. The gray leather looks like something from a medical device, at least to me. In the end I settled for a White exterior with the two-tone beige interior. The beige also looks cheap and institutional, but maybe it's just me. Despite that, the interior of this car is really quite sharp and people compliment it all the time. I think they have trouble reconciling it with the "Honda" badge, which I can understand as I didn't expect Honda to offer something so appealing either when I first started shopping.
I read a lot of complaints about the touch-screen audio/nav system, mostly centered around the fact that there was no physical volume knob. I don't really understand that as I use the steering controls for volume 95% of the time and don't have much problems with the on-screen control when I do use it. Ditto for the audio "source" button that folks complain is too small. It probably is, but I use the steering control for that most of the time too. It is a little slow to fire up, especially if using blue tooth, but not so slow that it really bothers me. Bluetooth controls can be slow too. I don't have much to measure it against though as my last car didn't even have Bluetooth. Generally speaking, the upgraded audio in the touring model sounds amazing, far better than anything I have in my house, so I really like it.
Speaking of the touch screen and the vast amount of "sensing" technology on this car in general. If you're not used to a modern car with all of these bells and whistles, just resign yourself to spending an hour or two in the car, with the manual, and maybe some youtube videos. You will not figure it all out on your own, there's a lot of stuff here and at first it was a little overwhelming.
I did not want the navigation option (using GPS on my phone for everything) but having it now, I do love that I can have the tiny screen to the left of the speedo show me my direction and the street name at all times. I've found that I'm starting to use the navigation map on the main screen too when driving around in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Searching for locations with it is pretty painful though, so I usually don't use it for destination travel and reserve that for the phone or Apple's CarPlay on the main screen.
Speaking of entertainment, why is that rear entertainment screen thing still an option? No one wants that and there's nothing they can do to make it as current as what the kids or rear passengers will have on a tablet computer. It's a waste of money/time/resources if you ask me. Here's a great feature idea... just put some universal tablet holders and USB jacks in the back of the front headrests and be done with it.
The "auto follow" (what is it called?) option on the cruise control is really too harsh to use for long periods if there's a lot of traffic. I find it speeds up and slows down way too harshly and just makes for a jittery ride. Still, it's better than not having it available. The feature that does part of the steering for you at interstate speeds... I completely did not understand this when I first used it. What's the point of "partially steering" the car. Now I get it and I love it. At highway speeds it will help keep the car centered in the lane with very little effort from the driver. Will it make you a more complacent/lazy driver? Maybe. Will it make you a safer driver, not rolling into the lane markers, probably! I use it every time I'm on the interstate now. Like anything new though, it takes some getting used to.
My mother and many other folks have commented on how nice the ride is. It's probably harsher on this Touring due to the low profile tires, but I wanted a bunch of stuff the touring had so I got these in the bargain. I don't expect a luxury car ride, but it really is quite nice and competes well with anything you'll find in the mid-market SUVs.
Numerous people complained about the right-hand turn camera that comes up on the main screen when you use your turn indicator. You have to go to the ELITE model to get the blind spot sensors in the side mirrors (which is ridiculous, safety features should be available all down the line) but I love this camera. In fact, I would rather have cameras on both sides than those blind spot warning lights. I love the rear backup camera too, which is extremely helpful to me as this car is bigger than what I'm used to driving. As some folks have noted too, the auto-down-tilting side mirror feature only works on one side mirror at a time (depending on which mirror you have selected in the adjuster switch). I wish this worked on both mirrors, as I frequently park in the city and find myself wanting to see both curbs pretty equally when I'm parallel parking.
I'm a big guy, almost 6'2" and 270lbs. I love that I fit in this car so nicely. It's extremely spacious.
The integrated gas filler "flap", in lieu of an actual cap, is a really nice touch. It did freeze up on me once this winter though and I couldn't gas up the car that day. Luckily I had plenty of gas left so I just waited a couple of days until it unfroze. Hopefully it was a freak thing and not something that will happen regularly during winter.
Now, to the big / ceaseless agitation I have with this car... The 9 speed transmission. It is in fact as bad as everyone says. And while I think you do get a couple of things by having this transmission, namely some really impressive straight line acceleration capabilities and maybe gas mileage at higher speeds (??), it's really very ugly in city driving and stop and go situations. You'll usually feel this when you have to let off the gas, and then almost immediately give it gas again, which happens ALL THE TIME in city driving. Sometimes the car pauses for a long time before accelerating, maybe while trying to find a gear? Sometimes it feels like the car surges ahead. It's almost nauseating when it happens a lot. Out on the interstate, or accelerating for long distances to merge, I love it, but the rest of the time it feels completely half baked. I have no idea if this is a mechanical/engineering failing or if it's just bad software?? I thought I heard the Acura MDX has the same transmission and I find it impossible to believe that they'd put something this bad in a luxury car. Someone smarter than me will have to tell us. I'd love to hear from someone that has extensive experience with the same transmission in both cars to comment.
IMO, the transmission is the only Achilles heel in this vehicle. Honda has done so much, and done it so good (and so advanced!) that I think the car is really raising the bar on the segment. If they can figure out how to fix the transmission they'd complete the circle. I still recommend it highly to folks, but I do warn them heavily about the transmission.
Happy Piloting!
PS. Someone mentioned once that the AWD give you "torque vectoring" on turns if "you know how to engage it". I read a lot of threads but couldn't find out exactly what that meant. Is there a specific way you should take curves and turns to make this work? I do think the car corners and curves very nicely.
