Which Honda Pilot would you buy?

[dgthree]

dont buy any. buy an american car. as a union worker buy a american car. help the us dollar. i am a steel worker. thats why there are people still out of work. just my 2 cents.

According to Wikipedia, the Pilot is an American-made car. The Honda Pilot is built in Lincoln, Alabama and was built in Alliston, Ontario, Canada up until April 2007. The Pilot is now built exclusively at the Lincoln, Alabama plant.

To corroborate, I found this comment in an article from the NY Times The second generation was developed in the United States and is built in Lincoln, Ala., where its 3.5-liter engine is also made.

 

[Melrosgirl]

dont buy any. buy an american car. as a union worker buy a american car. help the us dollar. i am a steel worker. thats why there are people still out of work. just my 2 cents.

There are Americans who work for Honda (USA) also, so not buying Hondas that are made in the USA will hurt American workers also (salesman, factory workers, assembly workers, etc.).

 

[tinatark]

I just asked dh about this and apparently we are getting both these done at the same time too. However, I guess we have a coupon and before tax it will be $550. Last spring the darn thing broke down in traffic with my dh in NYC while the kids and I were checking into our hotel. It just died. Somehow he got it going enough for the valet to park it for the weekend while we sat watched 'Wicked' and toured the city. We didn't know what to do and worried the whole weekend. We finally decided to drive my MIL home and keeping driving the 8 more hours to our house. I forget what was wrong, but we got home and got it into the shop the next am. 2k. We were seriously bummed and at that time they told us about the timing belt (and apparently the water pump). We'd like to get another 100k but if we keep having to pour dough in, at one point it won't be the secure vehicle we need with 3 kids traveling in the artic and all over the eastern seaboard.

Great minds think alike. We do this too. Tee hee, yep. Honestly, I commute an hour each way 3x a week and every snow, sleet or flurry, it's all those macho 4wders. We had a gmc blazer years ago and it was fine. We feel the Honda is just as good unless there is a foot of snow.

Check with Honda service about whether the engine"interference" or "non interference" - with the interference engine, if the timing belt goes, you are likely to have additional significant engine damage... with non interferance, your car stops, you get it towed and the timing belt replaced - no additional repairs. We discovered this when we bought a 2002 Solara for our son.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Honestly, I wouldn't get either. If you have more than two children that you are trying to get in and out of the car, the Pilot isn't the vehicle to buy. I've had two Odysseys and a Pilot and traded the Pilot back in after a year for a new Ody because of my frustrations with getting the kids loaded in it. Now don't get me wrong, I loved driving the Pilot and it was a really nice SUV to own. But it just wasn't worth it when you factored in the passenger issues (particularly if it is the primary car that you are going to be using for hauling your family). Yes, it has a third row seat, but the way it is designed makes getting people/kids in that seat really difficult and next to impossible if the kids are in carseats.

that's really not a big deal if the kids are old enough to get themselves in and out and buckle themselves (without car seats). Our kids range from age 8-15 and it works out well for us. (We have a 2006.) The only time it isn't convenient is road trips when we have kids in both rows, make a pit stop, kids from the 3rd row want out but kids in the 2nd row are sleeping. you can't get kids out of the 3rd row without disturbing 2nd row kids. (You have to either flip/fold down one side that is like one "seat" or the other side that is like 2 "seats".) We have in that case sometimes just had kids exit from the 3rd row through the back hatch. But we're planning on putting a hitch on there for our next trip to WDW next month to carry our luggage (doesn't fit in the Pilot with 5 kids - 2 of which are teenagers - our oldest brings a friend). So we won't be able to do that this time. not sure how we'll swing that.

but for everyday stuff, we love it.

 

[DISdreamin']

Check with Honda service about whether the engine"interference" or "non interference" - with the interference engine, if the timing belt goes, you are likely to have additional significant engine damage... with non interferance, your car stops, you get it towed and the timing belt replaced - no additional repairs. We discovered this when we bought a 2002 Solara for our son.

Yup, the 6-cylinder in my Ody is an interference engine - to my simple mind it means that if the timing is off, parts interfere with each other. If the timing belt snaps, this is what happens, and it sure isn't as simple as changing a belt anymore. (BTW, at one local dealership they have a piston with a valve head popped through it sitting on the counter -makes for a nice sales pitch!) Thus, I will do that preventative maintenance, thank you kindly.

Oh, and as far as American-made, my Ody was made in Ohio, thank you kindly.

 

[poop1]

According to Wikipedia, the Pilot is an American-made car. The Honda Pilot is built in Lincoln, Alabama and was built in Alliston, Ontario, Canada up until April 2007. The Pilot is now built exclusively at the Lincoln, Alabama plant.

To corroborate, I found this comment in an article from the NY Times The second generation was developed in the United States and is built in Lincoln, Ala., where its 3.5-liter engine is also made.

yes they r built in america, and we supply steel to them but the workers arnt making uaw wages and only making 10 per hour, and the cars cost 35000. the american cars cost the same and they r making 30 per hour. whats wrong with the picture? also where does the final money go, not to detroit but japan. sorry for ranting

 

[CowboyCO]

yes they r built in america, and we supply steel to them but the workers arnt making uaw wages and only making 10 per hour, and the cars cost 35000. the american cars cost the same and they r making 30 per hour. whats wrong with the picture? also where does the final money go, not to detroit but japan. sorry for ranting

Honda and Toyota autoworkers make an average of $24 (including benefits) an hour in Indiana. What is wrong with the picture is that US automakers are locked into high labor costs that make their products more expensive to build, or they have to use cheaper materials, or they lose money. And yes, the profits go to Japan. Where do the GM profits go? Nowhere -- they don't have profit. But if they did, it would go to the owner, who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I have an Acura, built in North America, with 90% of the parts built in North America. They employ thousands of people in North America.

 

[pamluvsdisney]

2000 HOnda Odyssey transmission went out yesterday. Tyring to decide whether to fix it or not. Est. cost $2200-2400 to fix.
Mileage is 167,000 miles. Transmission replaced by dealer under warranty about 3 years ago. Now we will have to pay.

We don't really want a car payment right now. Not much room in the buget.

Odyssey owners, how many miles does your HOnda have?

Any advice is appreciated. We don't want to make an unwise decision though. IF we need to buy new used car, should we go Odyssey again? Kids ages 14, 10 and 8. would like to keep a 7 passenger vehicle.

THanks in advance.
Pam

 

[shelly3girls]

Congrats on the new Pilot. I am now on my second Pilot that we just bought a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely love my Pilot! I would have never gotten rid of the first one if it wasn't for a bad accident.

First Honda was a 2005 with 85,000 miles. I planned to keep it for several more years until I was rear ended while stopped in traffic by another driver going about 50MPH. Although the Pilot was close to totalled I only had a sore back. From the outside just the bumper fell off but the other car drove underneath me and destroyed everything. If my kids had been in the car I really think they would have been fine. From the inside of the car you could not even tell I was hit. Everyone at the scene was amazed at how well the Pilot protected me, the other car looked like a pancake!

In response to the pp talking about having more than 2 kids, I have 3. As long as you don't have all 3 in carseats you are fine. I had one in a carseat and two in a booster. It really was not a big deal b/c my oldest could buckle her own seatbelt.