EX-L with middle removable seat

Or is this what Honda means by bench, the middle part is not removable?

Either the hood is opened or that is some poor fitment. Those wheels are ugly IMO. Styling is subjective but I like the rear of the last gen better. The front this gen. They are really trying to make this Pilot and the MDX different in look to justify the Acura up charge

Ruturaj said:

Or is this what Honda means by bench, the middle part is not removable?

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Correct. The middle seat is not removable in the EX-L. Sounds like he was just giving a listing of the options for the Pilot as a whole when he was discussing it in the video.

PPP said:

Either the hood is opened or that is some poor fitment. Those wheels are ugly IMO. Styling is subjective but I like the rear of the last gen better. The front this gen. They are really trying to make this Pilot and the MDX different in look to justify the Acura up charge

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It looks like the right hood latch was not fully latched at the beginning walk around. It clearly looks open above the drivers side fender. I would highly doubt something that off would make it to the dealer / end user.

Rico1 said:

Is the engine exposed here?
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That looks like the inner fender structure. On some vehicles, it’s covered with a black fender liner and in others, it’s just left as body color.

PPP said:

Either the hood is opened or that is some poor fitment. Those wheels are ugly IMO. Styling is subjective but I like the rear of the last gen better. The front this gen. They are really trying to make this Pilot and the MDX different in look to justify the Acura up charge

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I can confirm I’ve noticed this with my Pilot I picked up last week.
If I don’t shut the hood hard, it latches just like this video. The passenger side latches and the driver side is not shut/latched completely. If I pop the hood and really drop it hard, it latches fine on both sides. I was going to have the dealer look at this on my first service. I was waiting to see if this is normal operation as the Pilots start to roll out. I guess will see if they have an issue with this dual hood latch design.

stieny said:

Correct. The middle seat is not removable in the EX-L. Sounds like he was just giving a listing of the options for the Pilot as a whole when he was discussing it in the video.

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I actually commented and he replied that he did mean EX-L but was doubting himself. What you are looking at in the video looks exactly like middle row in touring as well. So instead of 60/40 bench we are getting bench that can be split in to 3? That was my question.

Ruturaj said:

I actually commented and he replied that he did mean EX-L but was doubting himself. What you are looking at in the video looks exactly like middle row in touring as well. So instead of 60/40 bench we are getting bench that can be split in to 3? That was my question.

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Oh, my fault. I thought you were asking about the removable center seat.

From all the reviews and videos I saw, I always thought the 2nd row folded in 3 to provide the middle arm rest. When they said bench, I always assumed they meant the fixed middle seat vs the removable seat. The 3rd row is the only thing I’ve seen with the traditional 60/40 split.

stieny said:

Oh, my fault. I thought you were asking about the removable center seat.

From all the reviews and videos I saw, I always thought the 2nd row folded in 3 to provide the middle arm rest. When they said bench, I always assumed they meant the fixed middle seat vs the removable seat. The 3rd row is the only thing I’ve seen with the traditional 60/40 split.

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I think all of the initial reviews were of an Elite, which has that removable center section that otherwise can fold down to the thick armrest with tray and cupholders. The regular EXL comes with a 60/40 second row unless you pay $300 more for the Captains Chairs Only option, in which case there is no middle seat at all and you have 7 pax capacity. The question on the 60/40 bench is, is there a middle section that can fold down to provide an armrest if just 2 people are using that back seat?

Hogan773 said:

I think all of the initial reviews were of an Elite, which has that removable center section that otherwise can fold down to the thick armrest with tray and cupholders. The regular EXL comes with a 60/40 second row unless you pay $300 more for the Captains Chairs Only option, in which case there is no middle seat at all and you have 7 pax capacity. The question on the 60/40 bench is, is there a middle section that can fold down to provide an armrest if just 2 people are using that back seat?

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This video was of an EX-L with the center armrest and the seat fixed in place so clearly that is how they are being configured if you don’t do the 7 person config with the full captains. That means the 2nd row outboard seats would fold independently with the fixed center seat - unless I’m missing something here. Even on Hondas website, the options list for an EX-L says fixed center seat and a 60/40 split 3rd row.

stieny said:

This video was of an EX-L with the center armrest and the seat fixed in place so clearly that is how they are being configured. That means the 2nd row outboard seats would fold independently - unless I’m missing something here. Even on Hondas website, the options list for an EX-L says fixed center seat and a 60/40 split 3rd row.

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Yes you are correct. I haven't watched the video yet as I am out and about on my phone, but I just looked again at the Specs on Honda Website and you are correct, the 60/40 refers to the 3rd row and it says "Fixed - EXL" for the second row seats in that column and "Stowable" for the Touring and Elite. I look forward to watching the video to see what I will get if I order the EXL as I am currently leaning!

The fact that the exl can accommodate either:

1. A very similar seat to the touring elite, or

2. Captains chairs,


makes it completely inexcusable that the Captains chairs aren't an option on the higher models also. They could easily do that

Really stupid

Ruturaj said:

Seems like there would be 40/20/40 split instead of 60/40. Even on sport.

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Correct, I corrected myself in a later post. The 60/40 I feel like I got from some earlier videos and chatter, and also could have just been reading the info for the 3rd row....

Eagle touring tires-Like other Honda OEM tires marginal at best . At least the top trims get a better choice-Bridgestone Alenza.

I looked at a 2023 EX-L last night and reached all the way under the middle, second row seat and pulled on a cord (not webbing or anything comfortable and convenient). The middle seat definitely came out...

shming said:

I looked at a 2023 EX-L last night and reached all the way under the middle, second row seat and pulled on a cord (not webbing or anything comfortable and convenient). The middle seat definitely came out...

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Yep I broke this news awhile back (albeit from a Sport test drive but I guessed it would be same for EXL) I was surprised to find that little metal loop for sure.

As we discussed at the time, the seat will have a wire attached to it coming from the floor that you would need to unclip from the connector if you want to remove the seat

You actually can remove the middle seat in the second row of the EXL. I just did it actually.