[road2cycle]

Hi All,
Please pardon my ignorance, but could you please put the relevant years next to each generation category. I'm sure there are more members who are not exactly sure which generation Pilot they own. Thank you.

I have a 2005 which I believe is 1st Generation. Mine was purchased new here on Long Island, NY and currently has about 90,000 miles on it. I have owned Hondas since my first '79 Accord and have had several Accords since then. I currently own the 2005 Pilot, a 2016 HR-V, and a 2009 S2000. The cars have always been reliable, comfortable and easy to work on so that's why I have stayed with Honda. In the "old days" when I was commuting to work, I would easily get over 150K miles with just regular maintenance.

When we bought the Pilot in 2005, my wife and I owned a preschool so we needed an SUV capable of hauling lots of "stuff". The Pilot seemed to have an almost unlimited cargo capacity and was still comfortable to drive. My wife liked the fact that she was higher up and could see the traffic ahead more easily. Since she is only 5 feet tall, the running boards were a welcome addition to the car.

I joined this forum back in 2005 and although I have not been very active, I learned a lot of useful information about the car and enjoyed the various off-topic conversations. This is definitely one of the better forums available; thanks to all who have made it so good.

A big mistake that I made was not checking in regularly for a few years and missing all the comments and warnings about the dreaded 2005 transmission cooler line problem. Last year mine failed at about 90,000 miles. Fortunately I happened to be across the street from the garage that does my annual inspections so they just pushed the car in and replaced the radiator. I was lucky that the transmission was not damaged but I could have done the work myself and saved a few hundred dollars if I had been paying attention to this forum. Other than that incident, the car has been trouble-free. Next up for the Pilot is a timing belt change that I'm not looking forward to (first one for the Pilot, #6 for me).

Anyway, that's my story. Love my Hondas and this forum.

I’m curious about the condition of the timing belt given that it’s 16 years old. You have gotten your money’s worth out of it.

 

[ImBroke]

@Joelr11 , yours is similar to mine. Silver with black rims. I need the bull bar, I do believe.

 

[Nail Grease]

Hi All,
Please pardon my ignorance, but could you please put the relevant years next to each generation category. I'm sure there are more members who are not exactly sure which generation Pilot they own. Thank you.

I have a 2005 which I believe is 1st Generation. Mine was purchased new here on Long Island, NY and currently has about 90,000 miles on it. I have owned Hondas since my first '79 Accord and have had several Accords since then. I currently own the 2005 Pilot, a 2016 HR-V, and a 2009 S2000. The cars have always been reliable, comfortable and easy to work on so that's why I have stayed with Honda. In the "old days" when I was commuting to work, I would easily get over 150K miles with just regular maintenance.

When we bought the Pilot in 2005, my wife and I owned a preschool so we needed an SUV capable of hauling lots of "stuff". The Pilot seemed to have an almost unlimited cargo capacity and was still comfortable to drive. My wife liked the fact that she was higher up and could see the traffic ahead more easily. Since she is only 5 feet tall, the running boards were a welcome addition to the car.

I joined this forum back in 2005 and although I have not been very active, I learned a lot of useful information about the car and enjoyed the various off-topic conversations. This is definitely one of the better forums available; thanks to all who have made it so good.

A big mistake that I made was not checking in regularly for a few years and missing all the comments and warnings about the dreaded 2005 transmission cooler line problem. Last year mine failed at about 90,000 miles. Fortunately I happened to be across the street from the garage that does my annual inspections so they just pushed the car in and replaced the radiator. I was lucky that the transmission was not damaged but I could have done the work myself and saved a few hundred dollars if I had been paying attention to this forum. Other than that incident, the car has been trouble-free. Next up for the Pilot is a timing belt change that I'm not looking forward to (first one for the Pilot, #6 for me).

Anyway, that's my story. Love my Hondas and this forum.

Sorry, It won't allow me to edit the choices. If you click Piloteers.org at the top and scroll to full forum listing, it will show you the years for each generation.

 

[plplplpl]

...or check out the aforementioned Wikipedia article.

I was a NASA Engineer.

My daughter's a third year Mechanical Engineering student and a real space buff. She would be over the moon, so to speak, if she could do an internship there, if you have any connections.

 

[D-Dub]

Bought my '07 new and then my '17 used in '19 (only had 6k miles); had an '05 CR-V handed down in '15 (only had 41k miles) and after neighbor totaled it on my bday while parked, replaced it with used '16 CR-V in '18 (only had 23k miles). "The Honda Fleet" 😎 Love at 1st sights! 🤣

 

[jimmaki]

...or check out the aforementioned Wikipedia article.




My daughter's a third year Mechanical Engineering student and a real space buff. She would be over the moon, so to speak, if she could do an internship there, if you have any connections.

NASA’s future, based on its past, is funded, or not, pretty much at the whim of the president. I’m a Lockheed aerospace alumni and can tell you it’s painful to work with government funding. If you love your daughter, urge her to look at privately funded aerospace companies. Looks like SpaceX has its act together from funding, engineering and business perspectives.

 

[jimmaki]

The second gen Pilots are, IMHO, the height of evolutionary improvements in the breed. I have nothing but appreciation for the design, looks, handling, luxurious ride (with the right premier tires) and reliability (with a $100 VCM disabler and full synthetic atf) of our 2012 EXL 4WD. If you gave me a 1st or 3rd gen Pilot free, I’d probably sell it and buy another facelifted 2nd gen.

I think my next car will be a hybrid or electric. I don’t think gasoline prices will stop skyrocketing any time soon . A hundred days ago I was paying close to $2/gallon. In just a few mothis it’s now knocking on the door of $3/gallon. $4/ gallon and higher are soon to follow.

 

[road2cycle]

The second gen Pilots are, IMHO, the height of evolutionary improvements in the breed. I have nothing but appreciation for the design, looks, handling, luxurious ride (with the right premier tires) and reliability (with a $100 VCM disabler and full synthetic atf) of our 2012 EXL 4WD. If you gave me a 1st or 3rd gen Pilot free, I’d probably sell it and buy another facelifted 2nd gen.

I think my next car will be a hybrid or electric. I don’t think gasoline prices will stop skyrocketing any time soon. A hundred days ago I was paying close to $2/gallon. In just a few mothis it’s now knocking on the door of $3/gallon. $4/ gallon and higher are soon to follow.

It’s kinda weird how we’re loyal towards a specific generation/year of the Pilot. If something ever happened to our 2005 I’d have to either find another used 2005 or buy something else other than a Pilot. In my opinion the 2003-05 Pilots have the best looking chassis, and it’s been downhill in the looks department starting in 2006.😁

 

[D-Dub]

Must be from days past when we had new, special-ordered '93 5 speed manual Acura Vigor GS, but I can't get past the 2nd generation's dash mounted shifter or the 3rd generation's push button shifter! So I was happier than a 🐷 in 💩 when I found my '17 EX-L. Makes me want to find a '19 HR-V or '18 Civic Hatch with a 'manny' for my youngest just so I can drive it! 🤑

 

[The Todd]

I used to live in El Lago in the late 70's Nice spot on Clear Lake. I was a NASA Engineer. I'm guessing you are too?

Astrobuf

No, Not an engineer by trade at all. I'm a Medical provider, clinics and hospitals.

 

[The Todd]

The second gen Pilots are, IMHO, the height of evolutionary improvements in the breed. I have nothing but appreciation for the design, looks, handling, luxurious ride (with the right premier tires) and reliability (with a $100 VCM disabler and full synthetic atf) of our 2012 EXL 4WD. If you gave me a 1st or 3rd gen Pilot free, I’d probably sell it and buy another facelifted 2nd gen.

I think my next car will be a hybrid or electric. I don’t think gasoline prices will stop skyrocketing any time soon . A hundred days ago I was paying close to $2/gallon. In just a few mothis it’s now knocking on the door of $3/gallon. $4/ gallon and higher are soon to follow.

FIFY......
"What we REALLY need is to leave politics at the door."

 

[jimmaki]

FIFY......
"What we REALLY need is to leave politics at the door."

I’ll try to refrain from further expansion on this to avoid the dreaded political thread ax. Some prefer the pre facelifted 2nd gen hdmi grill but I like the face lifted chromier one that blends in with the chrome headlight eyebrows and bottoms. I only wish the back side windows were better integrated to the front and rear door glass. I’ve toyed with the idea of blacking out the body color pillars behind the rear door glass like the black pillars between the front and rear door glass. But Even though I’ve gotten as far as masking it off, I haven’t had the guts to pull the spray gun trigger.

 

[jimmaki]

It’s kinda weird how we’re loyal towards a specific generation/year of the Pilot. If something ever happened to our 2005 I’d have to either find another used 2005 or buy something else other than a Pilot. In my opinion the 2003-05 Pilots have the best looking chassis, and it’s been downhill in the looks department starting in 2006.😁

My preference isn’t so much one of loyalty to 2nd gen Pilots but concern over maintenance and repair issues with the older 1st gen models and the not ready for prime time “improvements” marketing pushed onto the 3rd gen models. To me the 2nd gens are a happy mix of matured and refined features without the age clock on 1st gen parts and the unrefined marketing gimmicks of the 3rd Gens.

 

[Daltongang]

I’ll try to refrain from further expansion on this to avoid the dreaded political thread ax. Some prefer the pre facelifted 2nd gen hdmi grill but I like the face lifted chromier one that blends in with the chrome headlight eyebrows and bottoms. I only wish the back side windows were better integrated to the front and rear door glass. I’ve toyed with the idea of blacking out the body color pillars behind the rear door glass like the black pillars between the front and rear door glass. But Even though I’ve gotten as far as masking it off, I haven’t had the guts to pull the spray gun trigger.

Good Idea.

 

[Nail Grease]

I’ll try to refrain from further expansion on this to avoid the dreaded political thread ax.

You ain't seen nothing until you get the religious ax. Maybe I'll take the advice I've been given. Hard to be myself.

 

[ConrodM]

Oh yeah, In 2008
We actually went to a dealer near Clear Lake/El Lago TX. (Think South of Houston). to buy a new CRV.
We had 2 young sons at the time. They were 8 and 6yrs old.
We put the 2 car seats in the back, and went for a test drive. It drove/rode fine.

Then, my wife looked over and pointed and said, 'How about one of those?' She was pointing at several Silver FWD SE Pilots they had on the lot.
We put the car seats in one and went for a test drive. yep- done. Put down payment and drove it home!
We still have that same 08- now has193K miles!

Last November we also bought a 2015 LX, 4WD with only 64K on it!

Worked in Lake Jackson, Tx 2015 building a Poly Control Plant for DOW Chemical. Still keep in touch with the lady next door that "adopted" me as her son- She cooked for me and gave me some Killer Red Grapefruit from her back yard
Discovered HEB and Love It and upped my BBQ Game! Nothing like Smoked Texas Prime Brisket! Great people in that area!

 

[ConrodM]

The second gen Pilots are, IMHO, the height of evolutionary improvements in the breed. I have nothing but appreciation for the design, looks, handling, luxurious ride (with the right premier tires) and reliability (with a $100 VCM disabler and full synthetic atf) of our 2012 EXL 4WD. If you gave me a 1st or 3rd gen Pilot free, I’d probably sell it and buy another facelifted 2nd gen.

I think my next car will be a hybrid or electric. I don’t think gasoline prices will stop skyrocketing any time soon . A hundred days ago I was paying close to $2/gallon. In just a few mothis it’s now knocking on the door of $3/gallon. $4/ gallon and higher are soon to follow.

Strange how that suddenly happens- Guess we have a shortage?

 

[Nail Grease]

Worked in Lake Jackson, Tx 2015 building a Poly Control Plant for DOW Chemical. Still keep in touch with the lady next door that "adopted" me as her son- She cooked for me and gave me some Killer Red Grapefruit from her back yard
Discovered HEB and Love It and upped my BBQ Game! Nothing like Smoked Texas Prime Brisket! Great people in that area!

And...... Buc-ee's!

 

[plplplpl]

NASA’s future, based on its past, is funded, or not, pretty much at the whim of the president. I’m a Lockheed aerospace alumni and can tell you it’s painful to work with government funding. If you love your daughter, urge her to look at privately funded aerospace companies. Looks like SpaceX has its act together from funding, engineering and business perspectives.

Oh, she also follows everything SpaceX with a keen interest as well. Her professor has just approved her project course of collaborating on designing and building prototypes of some habitable living quarters and/or furniture for Mars, or something like that.

Actually, just found it: MARSHA by AI SpaceFactory

There's also maybe Blue Origin, if alimony doesn't end up killing it off.

Still looking for an actual internship, she has to do. Pretty sure she'd also accept an invite from JPL.

 

[Daltongang]

You know, I realized I never actually stated why I am a Piloteer in my previous posts.

Obviously the money