Reactions from pickup truck owners
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I stopped into a country store after dropping off my daughter at school. There was a Dodge Ram 250 and a beat Tacoma parked outside. This is the kind of joint that locals hang out in, drink their coffee and BS. As I walked through the entrance this guy says, and to the general public, not to my face, "So here's the truck that's going to take over the world". I had no idea he was talking about my Ridgeline as I was still half concious. Then he says "I bet you'd be able to fit a whole 80lb bag of lime in that bed". Again, no reaction from me. It all came to me as I was driving away that he was referring to my truck. Hopefully I'll get another chance to discuss it with him.
On another note, I've had an insurance adjuster and a body shop take a look at the damage to my Ridge over the last few days. Every one of them owned a pickup truck, every one of them wanted to check it out, and every one of them liked it.
On another note, I've had an insurance adjuster and a body shop take a look at the damage to my Ridge over the last few days. Every one of them owned a pickup truck, every one of them wanted to check it out, and every one of them liked it.
L
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Nothing yet on a face to face but on the highways, which I travel alot, ( 72K this am ) many Colorado's, Tacoma, Avalanches and Silverados try to keep up with me and Lady Regina. I suppose they do that to try and get a closer look. I slow down, let them look and as soon as I know they have adjusted on the road to where they can look a little bit longer, I'm gippi-up gone!! 
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"I stopped into a country store..."
But did you notice the spit chew on your pantleg before you got back in your truck?
You might've said, "maybe, but I'm sure three pieces of you would fit nicely in the trunk!"
But did you notice the spit chew on your pantleg before you got back in your truck?
You might've said, "maybe, but I'm sure three pieces of you would fit nicely in the trunk!"
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My father-in-law has always owned Chevy trucks, Silverado's and such. My bro-in-law has a tree service and a bunch of trucks. They both really like our new Ridge. They call it a "City Truck." My b-i-l had a Ridgeline T-shirt on the other day. His mom works at the Honda dealer and is ordering one for me with my silver Ridge on the back. That'll look good with the Ridgeline hat I'm ordering!
All of my clients have trucks, half and three quarter ton's. All are suprised at the room inside. One with a Ford 150 four door said the Ridgeline had more room inside than his and about as much in the back and no trunk. All ask about the milage and some about the price. All know about Honda's quality. Most of them get between 8 and 12 MPG with their trucks. Most are Chevrolets and Fords with a Dodge or two. One person that I see on a regular basis said a few smart things about my Ridgeline but after about a week of seeing it he told me it just grows on you.
One has an Avalanche whid he does not like at all. He is getting a Ridgeline for his daughter.
Tiger
One has an Avalanche whid he does not like at all. He is getting a Ridgeline for his daughter.
Tiger
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A guy at work saw me drive in this afternoon and walked over to ask about it. He has a 2005 Frontier crew cab...said the Honda came out right after he got his (his is a beautiful blue color, I love Nissan's blue). He said he liked the Honda and thought it looked good and was asking about the horsepower and how many liters it was.
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My first encounter that I vividly remember was at a Lowe's in San Antonio the first full day I had it, where a guy was ranting (both myself and Mike didn't know what he was talking about at first, thought he was drunk, talking to himself) about his $50K truck compare to this (garbled) $30K piece of Jap crap, uninteilligible, etc.etc. It did kinda scary both of us, since once we made eye contact with the guy it was apparent that we needed to "git gone", which we did. I am not a confrontational person for no reason, so this took us back both a bit. People nowadays have killed or hurt for less ya know! Sad, really...
Generally pleasant would be the majority of encounters, though. One guy in an Avalanche damn near ran me off the road to ask me "how is it???" That I can handle, the other, whew, not a fun thing. Anyway, glad we're talking about this. Very curious, the whole scenario. The blogs just blew me away though. Jeez, these are supposed to be "car people"!
Never thought I might have to fight for a piece of inanimate machinery, albeit, one fine piece of machinery.
Generally pleasant would be the majority of encounters, though. One guy in an Avalanche damn near ran me off the road to ask me "how is it???" That I can handle, the other, whew, not a fun thing. Anyway, glad we're talking about this. Very curious, the whole scenario. The blogs just blew me away though. Jeez, these are supposed to be "car people"!
Never thought I might have to fight for a piece of inanimate machinery, albeit, one fine piece of machinery.
A lot of people in this country are very ignorant. That and the fact that they are hard headed makes for those type of reactions.
The interesting thing is, I bet you these type of things happened when the civic first hit the states, when the first Japanese bikes hit, etc etc.
One can only hope that these type of people will eventually get educated enough to be not so ignorant.
The interesting thing is, I bet you these type of things happened when the civic first hit the states, when the first Japanese bikes hit, etc etc.
One can only hope that these type of people will eventually get educated enough to be not so ignorant.
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Eventually they die off and a another generation takes over with different biases and hatred. 50+ years ago it was the Germans and the Japanese. Then the North Koreans. Then the Soviets. Now onto the Middle Easterns. Pretty soon it will be either the Canadians (not RL owners in Canada you have immunity into the US when it get's hot up there) or the French.shingles said:
Speaking of Canadians...
I saw an RCMP driving around Beaverton (Oregon) today. I almost flagged him down to ask if he needed directions.
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I had good experiences so far.. from people that own cars and trucks. Especially since I've been getting decent gas mileage and the gas prices are higher. Friends and acquaintances both like the Ridgeline when they first see it and sit inside.... they are impressed by all the room in the back seats and of course the TRUNK..
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Atitudes do change, most truck guys smirk at the Ridgeline, they are a tough audience but they will come around. I also expect sales to increase do to all the great press on our this truck.
In 1973 I was working for a company called ATCO. Alaska Transportation Company. I worked for their Aircraft parts division. They were quite deverse and trying to diversify more. They were distributors for Aircraft, aircraft parts, aircraft ground support equipment, travel trailers, boats among other things. They were approched by a motor cycle company to distribute a car they wanted to distrubute in the U.S. The model was a little two seater with an aircooled engine and chain drive called the 600. ATCO thought it was silly and ceased negotiation with this new comer HONDA MOTOR CARS.
Do you think they may have kicked themselves just a couple of time since.
By 1976 several of these executives were driving Accords and complaining that the could have been driving Gulfstreams if they had played their cards right.
I also recall an early experience at a Honda dealer in San Jose, I was waiting to talk to a service advisor when another customer in an old Civic came in with an over heating car. He was asked if the head gasket had been changed and he said it had at about 50K miles,The advisor asked if he could leave the car for two days and they would replace his engine. The Civic driver said that he could probably not afford it. The service advisor said it would be covered under warranty. The Civic driver said that the car had almost 80,000 miles on it. The service advisor said that did not matter.
I became an imediate fan of Honda. It would be unheard of for an american car company to offer such support in those days. Yes Honda has become huge since and probably does need to try quite so hard. But they still make some of the best engineered and built cars in the world at any price.
I once heard that Mercedes in South Africa either built or distributed Honda cars in that country during the late seventies or early eighties, and it was stated by one of their execs that if Mercedes made a small car it would be built like a Honda. I don't think their large cars are built as well as a Honda these days and consumer reports agree.
It will not take long for the Chevy and Ford crowd to see the value in the Ridgeline.
Steve
In 1973 I was working for a company called ATCO. Alaska Transportation Company. I worked for their Aircraft parts division. They were quite deverse and trying to diversify more. They were distributors for Aircraft, aircraft parts, aircraft ground support equipment, travel trailers, boats among other things. They were approched by a motor cycle company to distribute a car they wanted to distrubute in the U.S. The model was a little two seater with an aircooled engine and chain drive called the 600. ATCO thought it was silly and ceased negotiation with this new comer HONDA MOTOR CARS.
Do you think they may have kicked themselves just a couple of time since.
By 1976 several of these executives were driving Accords and complaining that the could have been driving Gulfstreams if they had played their cards right.
I also recall an early experience at a Honda dealer in San Jose, I was waiting to talk to a service advisor when another customer in an old Civic came in with an over heating car. He was asked if the head gasket had been changed and he said it had at about 50K miles,The advisor asked if he could leave the car for two days and they would replace his engine. The Civic driver said that he could probably not afford it. The service advisor said it would be covered under warranty. The Civic driver said that the car had almost 80,000 miles on it. The service advisor said that did not matter.
I became an imediate fan of Honda. It would be unheard of for an american car company to offer such support in those days. Yes Honda has become huge since and probably does need to try quite so hard. But they still make some of the best engineered and built cars in the world at any price.
I once heard that Mercedes in South Africa either built or distributed Honda cars in that country during the late seventies or early eighties, and it was stated by one of their execs that if Mercedes made a small car it would be built like a Honda. I don't think their large cars are built as well as a Honda these days and consumer reports agree.
It will not take long for the Chevy and Ford crowd to see the value in the Ridgeline.
Steve
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I know from stories passed-down about Harley owners and their "interaction" with the new Honda bikes at the time (mid-late 50s). Interesting stories, of course, but we all know what happened next. Honda cleaned their clock and the rest is history. Paraphrase: those how don't know history are bound to repeat it.
One of Ford's suit men talking about how they sell more F-150s in one day than Nissan sells Titans in one month will come back to haunt that man. I, for one,and not "against" the big 3, but after taking my hard-earned cash for the 5 cars I bought from them that were junk, I stay with a sure thing, ie: Honda and Toyota. Gotta love the free enterprise/ market system. Of course, the guys that start losing at this game are the first ones to complain about it...Sucks to be them...
This Ridgeline is one fine piece of engineering. How 'bout that dip stick?
One of Ford's suit men talking about how they sell more F-150s in one day than Nissan sells Titans in one month will come back to haunt that man. I, for one,and not "against" the big 3, but after taking my hard-earned cash for the 5 cars I bought from them that were junk, I stay with a sure thing, ie: Honda and Toyota. Gotta love the free enterprise/ market system. Of course, the guys that start losing at this game are the first ones to complain about it...Sucks to be them...
This Ridgeline is one fine piece of engineering. How 'bout that dip stick?
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Top three questions I get asked by interested people:
1) How do you like it?
2) What kind of gas mileage do you get?
3) When did Honda start making a pickup truck?
I think #3 drives straight to the point I've been making since Honda started building this truck. They made a great product but did not market it well. If they did, every one off the line would be spoken for, and there would be little or no discounting.
Regarding Harley, Honda introduced competition to Harley at a time when all they had to worry about were the British bikes, which shared a lot of the same undesireable characteristics with them. Honda came on the scene with a well built and reliable machine at the right time. It was small, light, and easily maneuverable, as compared to the big Harleys. So Honda stole some market share.
The quality control problems that Harley had during the AMF era have been way overblown. They did make their share of lemons but they also made mostly good motorcycles. The post-AMF bikes have also had their share of major problems (the exploding cam bearings come to mind). Nowadays, Harley owns the big bike market.
But I digress.
1) How do you like it?
2) What kind of gas mileage do you get?
3) When did Honda start making a pickup truck?
I think #3 drives straight to the point I've been making since Honda started building this truck. They made a great product but did not market it well. If they did, every one off the line would be spoken for, and there would be little or no discounting.
Regarding Harley, Honda introduced competition to Harley at a time when all they had to worry about were the British bikes, which shared a lot of the same undesireable characteristics with them. Honda came on the scene with a well built and reliable machine at the right time. It was small, light, and easily maneuverable, as compared to the big Harleys. So Honda stole some market share.
The quality control problems that Harley had during the AMF era have been way overblown. They did make their share of lemons but they also made mostly good motorcycles. The post-AMF bikes have also had their share of major problems (the exploding cam bearings come to mind). Nowadays, Harley owns the big bike market.
But I digress.
L
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Thanks jeffiam. Is that as in SAM? I am???jeffiam said:hey PBEAR, that moron was just ticked that you paid close to half of what he paid and you have a better machine. ..........hey ladyridge, lol.lol.lol......"lady regina" huh???...LOL.....LOL. THATS ALRIGHT
I'll assume your Jeff?? I'm J.C. Nice to meet you!!
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I wonder if this guy was a country music fan...?pbear said:
Sorry, the redneck culture is a bit of a peeve of mine these days.
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