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How's the Ruckus?

 

I got rid of the ruckus and picked up a CR-Z... love it but need a third row so long to sell it.

 

Wife had a '17 Elite for less than a year, it was that bad! The 9AT was horrible at low speeds, and it had more rattles, clunks, buzzes, you name it, not even 20K miles. She finally had enough, and traded it for a '18 CR-V Touring. At a minimum, I would avoid any Pilot with the 9AT. Honda is claiming the new '19 9AT has improved shifting, but I have not driven one to verify. One of the more disappointing vehicles we've owned in recent memory, and by far the most disappointing Honda, and we've had lots dating back 30 years.

 

My wife has a 2014 Pilot Ex 80k miles. Only owner, keep up with maintenance 100%. Already had to replace front rotors/pads at 35k, 2 tires before 35k, Ignition switch at 70k, parking switch ( key would not come out ) at 75k. Some VCM shutter from time to time. 22mpg average 60% highway miles, have seen 24mpg on full highway trips with 89 octane. No oil burning like pre 14's! Plenty of room inside for me being 6'7" and two car seats in rear and one person in the third row. I do hate how the engine sits lower in the bay than a 1G Ridgeline but thats just by design. We were looking into trading before 100k to get a 2018 but after reading 2G RL issues on here and seeing some of the same from the Pilot forums we decided to do all the schedule maintenance on the 14 Pilot and keep it to around 200k miles and give the 18/19's more time to be around to learn their issues from others.
Owned 10 Honda's now and just opinion but I see Honda's having more issues as they get away from the basic features of the older generations. I can only imagine the repair costs for the new transmissions with or without paddle shifter.
Find a single owner second generation pilot and you should be happy.
0.02.

 

Get in line for a 2019 Model. I am sure they have worked out quite a few issues. If they still have the ZF 9spd, then look at the Odyssey. I like my Elite very much.

 

ZF 9HP is still used in the Pilot Touring and Elite (6AT in the lower trims).

The ZF 9HP is now used in the Odyssey LX, EX, and EX-L (10AT in the higher trims).

Test drive thoroughly - the 10AT is experiencing shift quality issues mostly between 2-3, but sometimes 1-2 in the Accord and RDX.

 

Wife has 2013 EXL 4WD (I know it's not 4WD but that is what the emblem says. She and I both love it. Has almost 60,000 miles on it. Original brakes and rotors and last service they were still in the green. Tires still had several thousand miles of tread left but Costco had their sale on Michelins.

Battery was recently replaced.

Only issue was with the VCM at about 34,000. The did whatever the TSB was and runs fine. With the update came 100,000 mile engine warranty.

Before this we had a 2003 that was flawless but was totaled at about 110,000 just after new tires and timing belt service.

Replace with 2011 FWD Pilot. Detested that one and traded on 2013 AWD. Even though the same body and all it's a different and much better beast.

 

My wife's car is a 2012 Pilot EX. She doesn't like leather seats.
No problems out of the ordinary except the front hubs needed replacing over the summer.
Always gets 22mpg combined and 26 highway.
Just hit 100K miles. Time for a timing belt.

 

Look into a used Acura MDX. It has a 3rd row and much better than a Pilot. We were looking to trade our '08 Pilot back in 2014 but did not like the look of the next gen. Pilot (09-15).... thought it was too boxy. Went to the Acura dealer and newer used Acura certified MDX's were cheaper than older, less equipped Pilots. The materials and build quality are much higher than on the Pilot.

 

Less room inside and I didn’t notice an iota in build quality.

 

My girlfriend has an 06 pilot 180xxx. She bought it with 133k about 5 years ago or so for only 6k i think or something cheap like didnt know her then, it has leather seats sunroof . With that price my guess is no timing belt or water pump was ever done. That being said she never got it done or has done any kind of fluid fush maintence job in anything. And its still going just fine. Only issues, radiator went, it look orginal it was bad, and the ecu went at 170k which didnt allow vtm to engage which was a pricey part. I drove it the other day, drives like champ i would drive it 400 miles without a sweat, but does need a little front end suspension work do to age and lack of maintanence.

 

I have a 2018 Pilot Touring with the 9-speed. So far it’s a great car. The 9-speed has not been an issue. The 1-2 up shift is a little clunky when the tranny is cold but once warm it’s fine. Occasionally the 3-4 downshift takes a second. If I notice the transmission at all it’s once a month. Otherwise the shifts are imperceptible.

I think the 2018’s are much better than the 2017’s and the 2019’s are even better than the 2018’s as far as the 9-speed. The real question is would I buy a car with the 9-speed again? Absolutely!

 

Found a dealer that would take my rebuilt CR-Z in on trade. Pretty much got what I paid for it so I picked up their 2011 EX-L with 97k. Loving it so far, but I'll probably mostly drive it when we need that third row. Otherwise, I'll just drive the RL. Just not excited about that 12-15 mpg I get in the city.

 

Nice looking Pilot. Don't forget to checkout "Piloteers"

 

We have a 2018 Elite. The 1-2 shift is abrupt sometimes. I think it’s due to the low ratio of 1st gear. The rest of the shifts are smooth. It has a lot of gears to row through so they will be noticed sometimes. It’s a fine auto.