Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Underwhelming is what comes to mind. The new Pilot was just OK, nothing inspiring or exciting about it. Still need to use a cable to use my iPhone! Salesman told me Honda was working on upgrading the bells and whistles. Don’t think so, I tell him. In my nearly 30 year career with Honda the bells and whistles were never a major factor in design. Unbelievably, the exterior/interior color combinations are even more limited than before.
After 30 years of nothing but Honda Accords and Pilots I may have reached the end of my relationship with Honda vehicles.
That happened to me, after years of owning Accords and CRV's, I said goodbye to Honda since the CRV is now a CVT. I sat in the 2021 Pilot, it was too big a vehicle for me.
Honda and Toyota generally cheap out on options/advancements. In 2012 we were looking at the Accord and the headlights were not automatic. No warning even if you left them on by mistake.
I think they want you to buy Acura/Lexus.
Hyundai and Kia have better optioned cars at the lower end of the trims, but they are probably not as reliable as Toyota (I believe the recent yr Honda's also lack reliability).
After 30 years of nothing but Honda Accords and Pilots I may have reached the end of my relationship with Honda vehicles.
I'm surprised you stayed that long with Hondas. Honda has been going downhill dramatically in quality after the fiasco 2008 Honda Accord launch with lemon problems throughout. Today, Consumer Reports no longer rate any Honda vehicles with excellent reliability rating. All average at best...
I'm surprised you stayed that long with Hondas. Honda has been going downhill dramatically in quality after the fiasco 2008 Honda Accord launch with lemon problems throughout.
Interestingly enough all of Honda's larger models had a peak year in sales in 2006
US sales first half of 2021
76,560 Honda Pilot 2006
47,556 Honda Odyssey 2006
26,694 Honda Passport revived model year 2019
24,370 Honda Ridgeline 2006
The first and second generation Passport was manufactured by Subaru Isuzu Automotive in Lafayette, Indiana from 1993-2002. The name was re-used for model year 2019.
Interestingly enough all of Honda's larger models had a peak year in sales in 2006
US sales first half of 2021
76,560 Honda Pilot 2006
47,556 Honda Odyssey 2006
26,694 Honda Passport revived model year 2019
24,370 Honda Ridgeline 2006
The first and second generation Passport was manufactured by Subaru Isuzu Automotive in Lafayette, Indiana from 1993-2002. The name was re-used for model year 2019.
US sales first half of 2021 for smaller models
213,199 Honda CR-V
152,956 Honda Civic
114,707 Honda Accord
68,441 Honda HR-V
In 2006 the CRV and Pilot we're very different sizes. Nowadays they're close enough a lot of people the CRV is enough space while being far easier on the wallet. Unless you really need the third row or to tow, CRV just makes a lot more sense than paying 13-14k more for a vehicle with substantially less fuel economy and not much more space.
Towing is a mystery to me. In other parts of the world they're all rated for towing but not here. Take the RAV4. The Adventure trims are rated at 3,500 which seems about what I would expect. No way I'd pay 4,500 for that thing over an XLE AWD. Not worth the effort of finding part numbers to entirely do it yourself but I'd probably raid the parts bin for the auxillary trans cooler and call that gold enough for towing up to around 3,000. Prius likewise is not rated. I've towed a motorcycle probably 2,000 miles over the years. Lightweight trailer, not a UHaul tank trailer, and a sportbike, around 900 1,000 pounds for bike + trailer. UK the Prius is rated for 1,600. I doubt it's mechanically any different. But hey, if I break something it's on me and not Toyota.
I'm surprised you stayed that long with Hondas. Honda has been going downhill dramatically in quality after the fiasco 2008 Honda Accord launch with lemon problems throughout. Today, Consumer Reports no longer rate any Honda vehicles with excellent reliability rating. All average at best...
I stayed with Honda because I earned a great living working for Honda, and I always believed in supporting the company you work for. No different than the way it used to be with the Big 3.
Those of us who were long time associates of Honda know exactly when the quality slide begin to gain momentum. It coincided with the Japanese ceding nearly 100% control of operations in the U.S. to the American Management team. Follow that a few years later when design and product engineering began incorporating more and more of a “U.S.” vision.
When the Japanese ran the plants, all of us were taught the “Honda Way”. A hallmark of this was the idea that “you would pass no bad parts and you would accept no bad parts”. The Japanese were famous for their manufacturing methodologies, and they permitted no deviation from them on the factory floor. I could write pages about how they ran such a tight ship.
While some of the associates balked at the discipline required to maintain the high quality standards we had, it was either adapt or else. Most of the “Honda Way” was slowly replaced by the American style of management when the Japanese turned things over (see Demings’s work), and the culture that was once the envy of the industry has been lost. Couple this with the loss of several thousand long time associates to retirement and buy outs, and you’ve got a disaster on your hands.
It pains me to read the comments on social media from those now building Honda products. In a word, few of them care like we used to care. Personally, I am having a very hard time crossing the line to buy a product that is not a Honda, but in reality that is probably what I will eventually do. I refuse to pay close to $50k for a vehicle that is both underwhelming and likely to incur problems.
I like my Honda (Ridgeline). But uninspiring... yeh... its an appliance that gets you from A to B. Its pretty bare on conveniences (not even automatic headlights) BUT that's not what I bought it for. I just need it to run and last.
This thread is a few months old now, but, just wanted to chime in as the owner of a '21 Pilot EX-L for the last 6 months, and a long-term Honda owner.
Our Pilot has been fine, honestly; no reliability issues, no real complaints about it as a vehicle. The infotainment tech is "meh" and unfortunately on ours, out phones don't actually connect, but it's a non-issue to me as long as we have Bluetooth. I don't really care about infotainment though, as a caveat.
As far as it being "uninspiring," it's a family SUV. Midsize SUV's are the 21st century's minivans, and unless you're looking at something like a Macan, Cayenne, Urus, Range Rover, etc they are mainly designed to be useful automotive appliances. It handles very well for what it is, and as long as you leave ECO mode off, it's got decent acceleration and performance when needed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
