Honda Pilot or GMC Acadia....?

[lUVTOGO]

I have a 2007 Honda Pilot. I Love it! Roomy,you can fit lots of stuff in it, rides smooth, maybe a little bit noisy but I also went with the reliability issues.

I have to agree about the boxy look...that is the one thing I don't like.

 

[Kama89]

I drove a rented Acadia for a week while my Avalon was in the shop. While I loved the look and the roomy interior, the particular model I drove had one styling detail that I found very distracting. Most of the controls on the dash were trimmed in a "chrome" colored plastic that caught sunlight and caused tremendous amounts of glare during most any daylight driving. While it seems trivial, it really was a problem for me. It was like driving into direct sunlight all day long. The other issue I had was with it's power. It didn't have any. I suppose it could've just been me and the fact that I was going from a smaller vehicle to one much larger but it just didn't seem to have the oomph I would've expected it to have. On the plus side though... it was gorgeous!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

A huge thumbs up for the Honda Pilot. It will keep retain its value and be very reliable.

 

[katerkat]

I adore our Honda Pilot. And I'm not the only one - at least 1/4 of the families in DH's squadron have one. It's kinda scary, all these pilots driving Pilots.

We have a 2004, so only seating for seven and the third row is reserved for Russ and friends. But when the third row isn't up, the room in the back is awesome!

We bought it in January 2004, so it's a little over four years old and still has not had any repairs other than the usual oil changes and check-ups. My 1998 Mercury Mystique had a complete computer failure when it was three years old, that cost around $5K to fix. Since we've had no repairs on it, we're about to install a DVD player for Russ.

 

[Green Tea]

We have a 2004, so only seating for seven and the third row is reserved for Russ and friends. But when the third row isn't up, the room in the back is awesome!

)

I have a 2003 and it seats 8. Did they drop to 7 for 2004 then back up to 8?

 

[katerkat]

I have a 2003 and it seats 8. Did they drop to 7 for 2004 then back up to 8?

Huh, online it says 8, but I could have sworn there was only two seat belts in the third row. I guess I'm more focused on there's only enough room for two carseats back there.

 

[HamTown]

We have a Saturn Outlook (a sister to the Acadia, and usually costs a little less). We couldn't be happier.

The Acadia, Outlook, Enclave and Torrent are all built on the same platform so the differences would be cosmetic. Look around for financing deals. We were able to get $1K off and 0% so it came out "cheaper" per month than a 3 year old Pilot we were considering.

There is very little road noise in the back and my kids think it is cool to have their own "moon roof" in the back.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

We have a Saturn Outlook (a sister to the Acadia, and usually costs a little less). We couldn't be happier.

The Acadia, Outlook, Enclave and Torrent are all built on the same platform so the differences would be cosmetic. Look around for financing deals. We were able to get $1K off and 0% so it came out "cheaper" per month than a 3 year old Pilot we were considering.

There is very little road noise in the back and my kids think it is cool to have their own "moon roof" in the back.

Thanks everyone for your information and suggestions. I am still undecided which is normal for me... I have a hard time making up my mind... I will continue to monitor this thread for more ideas and your thoughts. Hopefully in the next month I can purchase something.

 

[ZPT1022]

I have a Buick-Enclave which is 'sister' to the Acadia. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it...BUT it is not great on fuel! Cannot speak about the Pilot..hubby refuses to allow an Import Car in the driveway....

No offense but I don't understand the whole "import car" thing. My neighbor tried to give me that same line/guilt but his "American made car" was assembled in Mexico and my "foreign car" was assembled in South Carolina!

Huh, online it says 8, but I could have sworn there was only two seat belts in the third row. I guess I'm more focused on there's only enough room for two carseats back there.

What kind of carseats do you use?? Just asking because I'm looking to upgrade to the Pilot (from a CRV and Odyssey). I watch my cousin's kids and she's due at the end of March with another one, which means I'll have SIX kids to cart around I'd need to fit two forward facing carseats, one rearfacing, two boosters and an infant seat. Do you think that's an impossible goal in a Pilot??

 

[minnie56]

No offense but I don't understand the whole "import car" thing. My neighbor tried to give me that same line/guilt but his "American made car" was assembled in Mexico and my "foreign car" was assembled in South Carolina!

Well--DH has always been a big North American Car Manufacturer supporter so as long as those people are working --but part of it also stems from the financial support that the major car manufacturers donated after 9/11 and the Japanese companies were conspicuously lean and absent in that dept. He does not forget that...and not much I can do to change his mind. I love my Buick--so it's all good.

 

[ZPT1022]

No offense but I don't understand the whole "import car" thing. My neighbor tried to give me that same line/guilt but his "American made car" was assembled in Mexico and my "foreign car" was assembled in South Carolina!

Well--DH has always been a big North American Car Manufacturer supporter so as long as those people are working --but part of it also stems from the financial support that the major car manufacturers donated after 9/11 and the Japanese companies were conspicuously lean and absent in that dept. He does not forget that...and not much I can do to change his mind. I love my Buick--so it's all good.

at least he has his reasons.

The neighbor in question can't give us a reason besides "It's un-American". He can't back it up at all (we've asked nicely and would be happy to hear another point of view) and at his age I doubt he'll ever change his mind. We just laugh to ourselves- I'm sure everyone knows someone stubborn like that

 

[katerkat]

What kind of carseats do you use?? Just asking because I'm looking to upgrade to the Pilot (from a CRV and Odyssey). I watch my cousin's kids and she's due at the end of March with another one, which means I'll have SIX kids to cart around I'd need to fit two forward facing carseats, one rearfacing, two boosters and an infant seat. Do you think that's an impossible goal in a Pilot??

Six? Good luck!

We have a Costco Apex forward facing five-point/booster combo (Seat A), a Evenflo Triumph rear/forward facing convertible (Seat B) and a Graco infant bucket (Seat C). Things we've gotten in:
Third Row - Seat A / Seat B (forward facing) - you might be able to squeeze a small booster in the third seat
(my third row won't fit a rear facing seat or an infant bucket, but someone said the new third rows are a bit bigger)
Second Row -
Seat B (forward facing) / Seat A / Seat C
Seat C / Seat C / Seat B (forward facing)

We didn't do a lot of carpooling when Russ was rear-facing in Seat B, so I don't know how that will throw it off. I would honestly bring the carseats with you to check them out.

 

[minnie56]

Yes-he does.
And I understand them and for me it's okay either way really.

I have been driving GM since that 1st car (except a brief interlude with a Jag x2 and there were some lemons!) so I know what to expect.

 

[cnj]

We have a 2003 Honda Pilot and love it. It has not needed any repairs just routine maintenance. It only has 25,000 miles on it, because I only really drive around town with the kids. I want to keep it for another 5 years. I would definitely buy it again. In 2004 we had a huge accident in the car where we were t-boned by a huge van who ran a stop light in the rain. It hit right at my son's side of the car. He was 1 at the time. We spun through the intersection over and over. The impact broke the door, bent the side of the car and the air bags went off. It was almost $14,000 in damage, but we all walked away from the accident with only seat belt burns and a little bit of back pain. Love our Pilot!!!

 

[pr surfer]

No offense but I don't understand the whole "import car" thing. My neighbor tried to give me that same line/guilt but his "American made car" was assembled in Mexico and my "foreign car" was assembled in South Carolina!

Well--DH has always been a big North American Car Manufacturer supporter so as long as those people are working --but part of it also stems from the financial support that the major car manufacturers donated after 9/11 and the Japanese companies were conspicuously lean and absent in that dept. He does not forget that...and not much I can do to change his mind. I love my Buick--so it's all good.

Living in this part of the world, an American car is unfeasible for me. Parts are too expensive, availability is scarce, and they're usually not entirely compliant (amber turn signals, side indicators, rear foglights, properly pointed headlights), and I don't like spending unnecessary money to import a noncomplaint car. MY VW is a US-Spec one, but the parts to make it legal here were extremely easy and cheap to get- replace the headlights and taillights, that was it.

Out of my 3 cars, the German branded one was made in Germany and the two Japanese branded ones were made in Japan. I guess I'm good on that one. However, my old American car back in the states was made in Detroit.

You still see American cars out here, but they're either owned by Rental Car fleets or secondhand private imports, and they're usually not compliant with local laws... which are overlooked with a quick "monetary incentive." Personally, I prefer to do things like this legally, as opposed to getting caught and booted from the island. The funny thing about my cars, the Toyota which was specifically ordered for this island is Left Hand Drive, but my Mitsubishi which was imported from Japan via previous owners in Belgium, the UK, and BVI is a right hand drive.

 

[Beth76]

I watch my cousin's kids and she's due at the end of March with another one, which means I'll have SIX kids to cart around I'd need to fit two forward facing carseats, one rearfacing, two boosters and an infant seat. Do you think that's an impossible goal in a Pilot??

My sister has a Yukon XL, not sure you can get any bigger than that, and it's a very tight squeeze to get 3 car seats in the 3rd row--two of them being backless boosters. It worked ok for one day, but it's not something that I could tolerate on a daily basis. It was not a simple task getting all 3 in and out of the car.

 

[minnie56]

Living in this part of the world, an American car is unfeasible for me. Parts are too expensive, availability is scarce, and they're usually not entirely compliant (amber turn signals, side indicators, rear foglights, properly pointed headlights), and I don't like spending unnecessary money to import a noncomplaint car. MY VW is a US-Spec one, but the parts to make it legal here were extremely easy and cheap to get- replace the headlights and taillights, that was it.

Out of my 3 cars, the German branded one was made in Germany and the two Japanese branded ones were made in Japan. I guess I'm good on that one. However, my old American car back in the states was made in Detroit.

You still see American cars out here, but they're either owned by Rental Car fleets or secondhand private imports, and they're usually not compliant with local laws... which are overlooked with a quick "monetary incentive." Personally, I prefer to do things like this legally, as opposed to getting caught and booted from the island. The funny thing about my cars, the Toyota which was specifically ordered for this island is Left Hand Drive, but my Mitsubishi which was imported from Japan via previous owners in Belgium, the UK, and BVI is a right hand drive.

My sister moved back to the U.K 2 years ago taking along her new North American Vehicle. I think she has regretted it ever since...the left hand drive has not helped her adapt to driving on the other side. She has had to change and adapt so many things...so many. And after being rear-ended this past year even getting a new bumper was a huge issue and we still haven't figured out how to get the touch up paint to her as nobody will ship it! Big mistake and lots of problems...and we are talking a Pontiac-Sunfire here, not anything fancy!

 

[Angrypenguin]

Well, some assembly from American car companies are now done in Mexico for cost reasons, as the bloated health care / retiree costs were getting too expensive. However, that being said, most parts and cars are still assembled here. Keep in mind too that Honda and Toyota (and VW, BMW, etc.) may have plants here that "assemble" the cars, but 98% of the parts are foreign (just check the sticker on one of those cars next time, it will tell you the foreign parts content) and 100% of the profits go overseas. We're talking R&D money, marketing, etc. etc.

I still find it funny, a few years ago Toyota was trying to advertise that it "provided" something like 300k+ jobs in the U.S., but it was including all outlying suppliers in that number. If you used that criteria for GM, GM employed around 3 million people in the U.S.

The U.S. companies dug themselves into a hole (deservedly so), but the good news is that the product they've been generating lately is world class, proving that your back really has to be against a wall to change the corporate culture. It just frustrates me sometimes that people are so quick to write them off, without realizing the excellent products that they've been developing (GM in particular, just read all the rave reviews new models are getting).

Anyways, my 2 cents

 

[Green Tea]

Huh, online it says 8, but I could have sworn there was only two seat belts in the third row. I guess I'm more focused on there's only enough room for two carseats back there.

The middle seat belt is in the ceiling. I think I just found your 8th seat!

 

[Angrypenguin]

So did you ever decide on one? Inquiring minds want to know!