Honda Pilot

[mumto3girls]

The snow thing really doesn't have a lot to do with the Odyssey, it's about the tires. The Odyssey is a FWD vehicle with a lot of its' weight on the front wheels. This is a good thing for snow. But if you have regular all season tires on it, you're going to struggle in deep snow. This is especially true once all the electronic controls kick in when they sense tire slip and prevent further motion. Proper snow tires, or even snow biased all seasons, make a world of difference. AWD certainly isn't a bad thing, but again it's about rubber meeting the road. I'd take a FWD vehicle on snow tires over AWD on all season tires any day. Of course, AWD and snow tires make for winter dominance, but unless you live in Syracuse, it's probably overkill. Very thankful to live in Atlanta now where we very rarely get snow, but spent decades driving in mid-Atlantic snow. Our minivan with good tires was nearly unstoppable. With bad or worn out tires, it was...uh...adventurous.

Yes, the Odyssey...and all minivans...have a huge packaging efficiency over SUVs.

We initially thought the issue was the tires as well. But every single time we had that car in for inspection/service/tires we complained about how terrible it was in the snow, particularly uphill—even in light snow/slush. Over a ten year period we had several sets of tires that were supposed to be the answer to the problem and it never was. I miss the roominess of my odyssey and especially that well in the back that accommodated Costco trips, family vacations and endless sports equipment, but I don’t miss being at a sports tournament 3 hours away on a snowy February day worrying about getting home.

 

[Klayfish]

I drove the Atlas, Pilot, MDX, XC90, QX60, Q5, Acadia and Explorer. I upgraded from a 2013 XLT Ex to the Platinum Ex. Significant difference. The only others I would have seriously considered were the Acura or Volvo. I will say my sister loves her 2016 Pilot. To each his own...

Nothing wrong with loving the Explorer at all. I totally agree it's an "each to their own" thing. Like I said, Ford sells a crazy amount of Explorers, they've definitely hit on something. But this illustrates my point well that it's a lot about perception...you weren't impressed with the Pilot but would have seriously considered the Acura MDX. They're very closely related, consider them siblings. Same platform, same engine, same transmission, much of the same mechanical bits, much of the same interior bits. In fact, I think they're even built in the same assembly plant. The MDX is basically a Pilot in a fancy dress. But how they are perceived can be drastically different. It's not a right or wrong thing, it's a taste and perception thing. That's why there's vanilla and chocolate.

 

[Buckeye218]

I bought my 2006 Pilot used in 2009. I haven't had any mechanical problems with it. Just changed the timing belt at the required mileage (and opted to change the water pump at the same time to save on a future repair) and otherwise just routine maintenance. Have nearly 130,000 miles on it and it should run for at least 5-8 more years minimum.

That said, there have been at least one if not two re-designs since that time, so I can't speak to the current generation of Pilots.

 

[Sleepy425]

@Klayfish do you have any recommendations on a good vehicle with a third row that can tow over 5000 pounds? We want to get a camping trailer, but the Flex that we will be keeping doesn't tow enough to get one we like that sleeps 6.

 

[Klayfish]

Tough situation...if you've got 4 kids, camping gear and a fairly heavy trailer to tow, your options are somewhat limited, especially if you can't find one of the featherweight campers that you like. In theory, something like the Jeep Grand Cherokee can do it, but it wouldn't be happy. The third row is pretty tight, not a ton of cargo room behind it and towing a pretty large trailer could be hard. If the trailer is big enough, it could really sway the vehicle. The Dodge Durango has a high tow rating, but I'd use that more for towing cars than using all 3 rows for passengers and then a big trailer.

I'd say you're looking at something along the lines of the Suburban, Expedition, Nissan Armada. Those things can get awful expensive. A loaded Expedition can blow past $75k....insane money if you ask me. There are others, like the Mercedes GLS, but they're big money AND big maintenance. For my money, I'd go Suburban or Armada, but there's nothing wrong with the Expedition.

 

[Kellydelly]

Tough situation...if you've got 4 kids, camping gear and a fairly heavy trailer to tow, your options are somewhat limited, especially if you can't find one of the featherweight campers that you like. In theory, something like the Jeep Grand Cherokee can do it, but it wouldn't be happy. The third row is pretty tight, not a ton of cargo room behind it and towing a pretty large trailer could be hard. If the trailer is big enough, it could really sway the vehicle. The Dodge Durango has a high tow rating, but I'd use that more for towing cars than using all 3 rows for passengers and then a big trailer.

I am pretty sure that the Jeep Grand Cherokee does not have a third row, or we would own one. (Have a Chrysler Aspen which is the next best thing, probably!)

I have a 2013 Honda Pilot that I make the last payment on next week . Not my favorite vehicle. It is really wide, my teens don't like to drive it. I bought the base model and the seats are not very comfy. It does run great and I have never had a problem with snow (live in MI and actually love driving in the snow!). I traded in a Dodge Grand Caravan that I drove for 11 yrs when I bought it. I missed my minivan really quick. If you need cargo room get a minivan. You really need to test drive one a few times and see if you like it. After buying mine I had a hard time with the dash, and where all the buttons are placed for the temp control and all that stuff. I still can't find the right button when I am trying to adjust stuff, not very user friendly (I have no idea how to adjust the speakers after 5 yrs). Mine is 5-6 yrs old though so I am sure someone improved on that by now. Make sure you can see well around all the pillars in the car, I feel like I can't see anything half the time, if the person sitting next to me in the front has their seat back too far I can't see out the side door window very well. Maybe it's like that in all cars but it really bugs me. Test drive it really well before you decide, that is my only advice!

 

[bcla]

Not sure where you're getting that. Honda uses some self designed transmissions, which are among the best in the business. For other ones, they outsource them to a company such a ZF...so it's the same transmission found in many other brands...Jeep for example. The Pilot will use either of these, depending on trim level you purchase.

Honda has a very different automatic transmission design compared to anyone else. I think it's not necessarily as smooth. I drive my wife's Honda all the time and while the transmission is pretty durable, it whines until the fluid warms up and often it kind of clunks into different gears. They also require their own proprietary transmissions fluids compared standard fluids like Dexron/Mercon. They're extremely reliable though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_transmissions
Honda's automatic transmissions are unusual in that they do not use planetary gears like nearly all other makers. Instead, the Hondamatic and its successors use traditional, individual gears on parallel axes like a manual transmission, with each gear ratio engaged by a separate hydraulic clutch pack. This design is also noteworthy because it preserves engine braking by eliminating a sprag between first and second gears

Honda was forced to invent their new system due to the vast array of patents on automatic transmission technology held by BorgWarner and others.​

They also had some really interesting manual transmissions. I remember when I was doing a transmission fluid change with 10W-30 motor oil. That was before they came up with their own proprietary Honda MTF.

 

[crjack]

I have a 2011 Pilot. Prior to that I had an Odyssey for 11 years. Really like them both mostly due to their reliability. Never had anything other than routine maintenance and I got a great trade on my minivan. (Hondas and Toyotas seem to hold their value.)

It took a little time for me to get used to driving the Pilot after my Odyssey. The Pilot just felt bigger and the shape of the hood was more like a truck to me rather than the sloped van hood. It also did seem wider. It didn't take long though before I was parking it in tight spaces in Boston!

My Pilot has more bells and whistles and I like the back up camera a lot. I think my van had better visibility overall but I that is probably true of most minivan to SUV comparisons.

My BIL has the same year Traverse and while I like his captain chairs in his second row the car is falling apart. It has had a number of significant issues. My Pilot is boxy in shape but for me it's all about reliability and durability because I tend to keep my cars for a long time.