[tachi1247]

Prospective buyer here as well. Don't plan on having more than 2 kids so I definitely want captains chairs as it will keep them separated as well as make access to the third row much easier.

Is there any concrete evidence on which trim levels will have captains chairs available? The original press release of the car in February in Chicago stated that the elite trim level would have captains chairs as standard. Sometime in the last week honda updated the 2016 pilot page on their website with more info and it now says "The Pilot Elite features two cozy 2nd-row captain’s chairs, and all other models have seating for 8." My interpretation of this is that only the elite trim level will have captains chairs and every other model will get a bench seat. This would be a departure from what Toyota is doing where their top trim has captain's chairs, but you can get them as a $275 option on the XLE & up trims.

Finding out the answer to this is kind of holding up my vehicle purchase since I won't consider a Pilot higher than EX-L and want captain's chairs. Has anyone seen a dealer order guide to confirm what is available on what trims? If the car is going to be available in ~July I would expect to see a leaked order guide by now....

Edit: Looks like there is a media embargo that ends on May 20th so maybe we'll get pricing and option lists Wednesday along with the rest of the final specifications. Hopefully.

 

[Rocky]

Much more information on spec will be released on May 20. I suspect the captains chairs will be as you suspect an Elite only item at least south of the border.

 

[larryziegler]

This would be a departure from what Toyota is doing where their top trim has captain's chairs, but you can get them as a $275 option on the XLE & up trims.

Adding any individual option to the Pilot is a departure from Honda. Honda sells its vehicles by trim line with the features included in that trim. The absolute exception is the option of Navigation or RES to the EX-L trim. Its just the way Honda markets and sells their vehicles. Toyota likes adding individual options to their vehicles in an ala carte style, so finding the perfectly optioned Toyota can be a trying experience.
If you are adamant about not buying any trim higher than an EX-L with wanting Captain's Chairs, then be prepared to go visit your Toyota dealer. I'm not expecting to hear anything different in the next couple of days with regard to vehicle content.

 

[tachi1247]

Adding any individual option to the Pilot is a departure from Honda. Honda sells its vehicles by trim line with the features included in that trim. The absolute exception is the option of Navigation or RES to the EX-L trim. Its just the way Honda markets and sells their vehicles. Toyota likes adding individual options to their vehicles in an ala carte style, so finding the perfectly optioned Toyota can be a trying experience.
If you are adamant about not buying any trim higher than an EX-L with wanting Captain's Chairs, then be prepared to go visit your Toyota dealer. I'm not expecting to hear anything different in the next couple of days with regard to vehicle content.

I'm fully aware of honda's long running "no options" sales strategy and have hated it for over a decade. I can understand how it can be difficult to find the exact toyota you are looking for if you live in a small town or something, but in a major city it isn't a problem. And if it is, you can just order a car and get it in a reasonable amount of time. Getting a honda the way you want is impossible because you have to go up to the next trim level at what is usually a very large expense and get stuck with a lot of options you may not want.

With something as fundamental as how many people the vehicle seats, I expected honda to offer a a separate package like they do with navigation. It might get some other things thrown in with it, but depending on the cost I could probably live with that. What I can't do is stomach what is probably going to be a $10k difference between the EX-L trim and the Elite trim. However, like I mentioned before, I believe that honda is going to limit captains chairs to the elite model only based on the information that has been released thus far, so I am indeed gearing up to get a highlander if we find out that my initial assumption is correct.

Kind of a bummer though because I'm betting the new honda will get better gas mileage and the EX-L includes remote start which is also a must have for my wife and toyota's system is notoriously bad so I'll have to go aftermarket for that which I don't like doing. I know already that having a keyless ignition and having two fobs (one from toyota one for remote start) is going to annoy me. My wife and I also really liked the blue color the car debuted in, but I'm wondering if that is going to be available. Very weird to debut a car in a color that you can't buy it in, but the website shows the steel sapphire metallic as being green not blue. Perhaps that is just a coding error.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

but I'm just not a fan of aftermarket rims on a Pilot

Isn't it weird that some vehicles simply don't work with aftermarket rims? I agree, the Pilot is definitely one of them.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

Very weird to debut a car in a color that you can't buy it in

It should be illegal to introduce a production car at a car show in a color you have no intention of actually selling.

 

[tachi1247]

It should be illegal to introduce a production car at a car show in a color you have no intention of actually selling.

Getting off topic for this thread, but I looked into it a little deeper after my post and I think the blue color will be available. There was a dealer that posted 4 colors that were new to the pilot a while ago. 3 of those are now listed on Honda's official page by name along with color chips that go with them. Modern steel metallic is missing from the name, but a grey color chip is shown. I'm guessing at some point they decided not to do the dark grey color and the web page writer linked to the grey color chip instead of the blue one.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

Getting off topic for this thread, but I looked into it a little deeper after my post and I think the blue color will be available.

I thought I read somewhere that Honda reps at the show stated that would not be a production color. I could be wrong though.

 

[tachi1247]

And we have our answer. Captain's chairs are only available on the $47k elite trim. Ouch.

 

[scorrpio]

Oh my. Just saw the 2016 Pilot for the first time. (I am totally happy with my 2013 EX 4WD) I absolutely HATED what Honda did with '07 CR-V, slicking it down like that. Now, looks like there is zero reason to choose Pilot over the multitude of the other slicked-down, minivan-ish SUVs.

My only hope is that 2016 will bring such a popularity nosedive for Pilot that by the time I am shopping for a new car, they bring the boxy shape back.

Otherwise, bye-bye Honda. :28:

 

[tachi1247]

Oh my. Just saw the 2016 Pilot for the first time. (I am totally happy with my 2013 EX 4WD) I absolutely HATED what Honda did with '07 CR-V, slicking it down like that. Now, looks like there is zero reason to choose Pilot over the multitude of the other slicked-down, minivan-ish SUVs.

My only hope is that 2016 will bring such a popularity nosedive for Pilot that by the time I am shopping for a new car, they bring the boxy shape back.

Otherwise, bye-bye Honda. :28:

You're probably out of luck. According to Honda, the biggest factor that negatively impacted the 2nd gen pilot sales was it's boxy shape. People, including me, didn't like it. The old pilot wasn't a truck, nor was it even truck based so why they tried to make it look like one when the trend was to make crossovers sporty and sleek is beyond me.

 

[larryziegler]

The old pilot wasn't a truck, nor was it even truck based so why they tried to make it look like one when the trend was to make crossovers sporty and sleek is beyond me.

I hate to burst your bubble, whether you agree or not, but the Pilot (along with old Ridgeline, CR-V and Odyssey) are considered light trucks by Federal guidelines and definitions. Its all about CAFE and taxes.
Light truck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread of Bench vs Capts Chairs

 

[tachi1247]

I hate to burst your bubble, whether you agree or not, but the Pilot (along with old Ridgeline, CR-V and Odyssey) are considered light trucks by Federal guidelines and definitions. Its all about CAFE and taxes.
Light truck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How it's classified for CAFE regulations and US tax/tariff purposes has no real basis on the reality of what the car really is. There have been all kinds of goofy classifications in the past where manufacturers have messed with things to get classified one way or the other. For example, Ford currently imports the transit connect van with rear passenger seats and then removes them at port to circumvent the chicken tax by getting the car classified as a passenger vehicle. And like you said, the odyssey and CR-V are classified as light trucks which they clearly aren't.

The point was that the car was styled like a boxy truck, which it most definitely wasn't and it hurt sales (according to Honda).

 

[larryziegler]

How it's classified for CAFE regulations and US tax/tariff purposes has no real basis on the reality of what the car really is. There have been all kinds of goofy classifications in the past where manufacturers have messed with things to get classified one way or the other. For example, Ford currently imports the transit connect van with rear passenger seats and then removes them at port to circumvent the chicken tax by getting the car classified as a passenger vehicle. And like you said, the odyssey and CR-V are classified as light trucks which they clearly aren't.

The point was that the car was styled like a boxy truck, which it most definitely wasn't and it hurt sales (according to Honda).

It depends on how they are used or could be used. I have clients who are florists, auto glass installers, and ice cream retailers using the Ford Transit Connect, Elements and CR-Vs for their business operations as they are economical and reliable to operate around town. We also have a member here using a corporate owned Pilot as a truck for television station field work. In other terms, a screwdriver is a screwdriver no matter whether its tiny and used for eyeglasses frame repair or huge for industrial work. A truck doesn't have to be a 3/4 ton, 1 ton, or larger behemoth to qualify as a truck either.

 

[craigwbryant]

I hate to burst your bubble, whether you agree or not, but the Pilot (along with old Ridgeline, CR-V and Odyssey) are considered light trucks by Federal guidelines and definitions. Its all about CAFE and taxes.
Light truck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How it's classified for CAFE regulations and US tax/tariff purposes has no real basis on the reality of what the car really is. There have been all kinds of goofy classifications in the past where manufacturers have messed with things to get classified one way or the other. For example, Ford currently imports the transit connect van with rear passenger seats and then removes them at port to circumvent the chicken tax by getting the car classified as a passenger vehicle. And like you said, the odyssey and CR-V are classified as light trucks which they clearly aren't.

The point was that the car was styled like a boxy truck, which it most definitely wasn't and it hurt sales (according to Honda).

Thank the Lord someone else said it.

 

[NJoyNLife]

That is interesting. I was looking for an SUV with adult sized space in the 3rd row and good gas mileage and wanted the upper trim of each I considered. All the ones on my short list had captains chairs except the 2015 Pilot. That was a major reason I just bought my 2015 Pilot Touring. The bench allows me to seat 5 adults comfortably for road trips and have plenty of cargo space which is my primary use for the vehicle.

 

[Redrocks]

That is interesting. I was looking for an SUV with adult sized space in the 3rd row and good gas mileage and wanted the upper trim of each I considered. All the ones on my short list had captains chairs except the 2015 Pilot. That was a major reason I just bought my 2015 Pilot Touring. The bench allows me to seat 5 adults comfortably for road trips and have plenty of cargo space which is my primary use for the vehicle.

I bought the Acura MDX over the Toyota Highlander because the bench seats made more sense, especially if you have three kids plus luggage & stuff during vacations. Many Highlander buyers opted for a lower trim because they wanted the bench seats.

 

[jmsalt1]

Hmmm, captains chairs might be the perfect solution to separate my boys and give their older sister free reign of the third row.

 

[Redrocks]

Hmmm, bench seats might be the perfect solution to separate my boys and give their older sister free reign of the third row.

You meant Captains Chairs to "separate" the boys?

 

[jmsalt1]

You meant Captains Chairs to "separate" the boys?

Yes! Just made good use of the edit function!