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Has anyone downsize their truck to a ridgeline? I drive a Toyota Tundra crewmax that is lifted a bit.(came that way) I also drive about 20k miles a year for work but get an auto allowance and gas card so mpg isn’t a big deal for me. I love my truck But the more I drive this giant truck around the more I realize how much of a Pia it is to park and drive down narrow roads daily. I dont tow anything and use the bed for your basic weekend warrior type stuff.
I realize that buying this truck was pure emotional buy because I’ve always wanted one but I think I’d be really satisfied with the Honda Ridgeline based on my actual needs for a truck, the overall quality, nice features(Toyota still lacks in this dept) , and ride quality. I test drove a new FWD RTL-T model today and was very impressed.
Has anyone else made this switch and if so why did you do it?
There are some strong feelings about the term “truck” and what that means. For me and my needs I consider anything with a truck bed to be a truck. Except the el Camino and ranchero. Those were just weird. Lol
Without a doubt the ridgeline I drove was a nicer riding truck and had a lot more features that I enjoyed. Little things like push button start, digital thermostats, etc.... the only negative thing I would say is that I didn’t find the visibility very good. But maybe I had my seat too low.
I sold my Silverado and bought Ridgeline Gen 1. 2009 I believe.
It's not really a truck truck. It's SUV with cargo bed and beer cooler in it. Does not have real cargo and towing capacity. Rides very nice. No doubt. It is, indeed, a nice car. I sold mine though in less than 2 years.
reason being, it had piercing engine vibration, felt in steering wheel, to the point, that after 20 or so minutes of driving, hand will go numb and I had to start switching hands.
What can I say.... If you need SUV with cargo bed - sure. If you need truck - no. Also, I can't stand Gen 2 Ridgeline look. It is as faceless, as only Honda can make it. At least, though borrowed from Avalanche, Gen 1 had some character. Gen 2 is Lego truck looka lika thing.
So make up your mind. Do you need truck? Or? I can guarantee though, that the very moment you will sell truck and buy ... whatever else - life WILL put you in front of truck demanding task.
I now have 2005 rebuilt Dodge RAM with closing on 170 000 miles, and won't trade it for a Ridgeline.....
Functionally, what's the difference? I mean, aside from better ride quality, handling and acceleration.
Weight distribution when a bed is loaded means RWD (or 4WD) gets better traction. Also better for climbing to have the weight over the rear axle. I’ve seen people with FWD who had to go uphill in Reverse. The front engine over the front axle then can get more bite in snow.
Truck Basics 101. You probably need to read up on how payload and trailering max are calculated, too. The combined weight of driver, all passengers, and their crap must be considered part of the payload, for starters. I don’t know how many times people have thought that their 1500 lb payload means ONLY what gets put in the bed, and people weigh 0 lbs.
Back in the day, I had several friends with el Camino/rancheros and they were a lot of fun. With the right engine, they were real sleepers to drag race with.
Anyway, back on topic. I know the ridgeline is not a big tow vehicle, but I wasn’t looking for that segment of the market. I was looking for a small to medium size pickup with longevity and reliability being my main objectives. It has certainly been that for me and I think it will be that for you.
I consider the Ridgeline a bigazz car with an open trunk, not a truck. FWD as default when in 2WD and unibody instead of body-on-frame DQ it from my (and many buyers’) definition of a truck.
But if that is what you want, then buy one. It’s your money.
I don’t disagree that they sell a lot of trucks but I would like to see this marketing ploy without the fleet sales included in those spaces numbers. Ford sells the most fleet trucks than the others combined. I’m not bashing ford by any means. I think they are great and designed very well but I am not a fan of the soda can bed material and the electrical issues they have dealt with lately.
Willing to bet that the vast majority of F150s sold to fleets are commercial vehicles and not Hertz and Avis. I mean, it's a work truck, so companies buying them to do work only makes sense.
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