[pasty64]

Curious to hear the reason why some of you bought a Ridgeline. Was it out of need or just a want. My story....

I got it into my head that I needed a truck, will wasn't so much needed but more of a wanted. I had owned a few trucks years ago like a couple of Ranger's and a few F150's but sold them because of fuel and a growing family so it was getting harder to justify owning a truck. In Recent years I've been driving cars like a 08 Civic sedan and 05 Jetta Wagon while my wife was driving a 02 CRV and now a newer Rav4. I was getting tired of running around with a utility trailer and wanted something easier to get my two kids in. I wanted something 4x4 crew cab and decent on fuel, I set off in last spring searching for a Tacoma, I got frustrated with the pricing opened up my search to Ridgeline, I had the whole it's not a real truck syndrome and had a hard time getting past that. My uncle has a 06 RT thats I've drove and a few times and liked it but still couldn't get past it plus I couldn't find any in my price range so I gave up for a few months.

Fastward a few months and I started the search again but still couldn't find much in my target budget so I had two options spend more or start looking at older cheaper vehicles. Found a 06 Ridgeline that i considered but it need some work and I just didn't want to get into that. So than i jumped the extreme high end of what I could afford and looked at a 2012 TRD Tacoma, came really close to buying it but it was another mortgage a month and decided against it, or my wife did, :act051:. At this point it was spend more money but not as much, still wasn't happy with what i was finding in both Ridgeline's and Tacoma's so I went domestic shopping. I was a Ford person long before anything else so I started looking at F150's hard and started liking what i was finding for the price, seemd like I was gettign a lot more for the money. Also looked at a few Chev's and Ram's which for the price was decent but not my preference. So I had it narrowed down to a couple of F150's and was planning to buy one but they were couple grand over my target budget and I started to get cold feet. At this point it was late fall and I said the hell with it for the winter, I'd have the Civic paid off in the spring and I'd pick the search up again than.

Than I got a call from a local dealer on a 08 Tacoma crew cab in my original budget, went and looked at it and liked it, had more mileage than I wanted but not horrible, but than when i test drove it and few things didn't work or stopped working which really stuck in my mind although the dealer said they would fix them. So I told them to get them fixed and I'd buy it, took them a few weeks to do so because they were busy with a reno and shop work which gave me time to shop around a bit. A 09 Ridgeline and turned up online at a dealer with a large reach that had a local dealer so i gave them a call and they brought it down for me. It was a year newer less mileage and the same price, so at this point I had a decision to make. I compared the the trucks and their option and the Ridgeline came up the winner which surprised me because I still wasn't over the whole not a real truck thing.

What sold me on the Ridgeline over a Tacoma so the back seat seemed better for my kids, more room and easier to get them in. I loved the trunk bed and that fact it would fit in my garage a little easier. The AWD seemed better in the snow than a traditional 4wd setup. And than there was the whole frame rusting issue on the Tacoma, frame seemed good now but who knows in a couple of years Plus price vs year and mileage for me.

So it's been 3 months now of owning it and I still think I made the right choice. It's harder a fuel than I hoped but not as hard as I planned. For daily use it's been great, for what i need to haul around. It's great in the snow, nothing has stopped it yet. My only regret is I can't get a decent afford snow plow for it, this wasn't something I had to have when i started looking but has become something I'd like to have now that it's int he middle of winter and my time is limited to clear snow with failing equipment like a snow blower. Yes there is a few options to buy like the snowsport but not being able to adjust the height on the fly isn't the best and than there is the k2 with a winch but thats way more than i want to spend, i was hoping to pick up a used one for 500 bucks and if I could either of those for around that I'd do it. That a being said I'm still happy with it but still can't call it a real truck, more a SUV with a box which I am fine with because it does just about everything i want.

Tiny pic from the dealer

Shortly after buying it and installing new tires

As it sits this morning covered in snow

 

[Car Compulsive]

I got tired of "Making do" with a SUV, crossover, or wagon and decided to get another truck. I assumed I'd be using my BIL's z-plan and get a F150 King Ranch. I decided I didn't want to spend that much on a part-time vehicle and F150 build quality was lacking. It came down to a Tundra Doublecab SR5 or Ridgeline RTS. What I gave up in bed and driver's space with the Ridge, I gained in smaller overall size, automatic 4WD, trunk, and swinging tailgate.

 

[Smokey619]

For my first vehicle I was looking for a car, but my parents kept telling me a truck would be better, so one day I was watching tv and I saw this commercial about a lady trying to put in a big box in the trunk of her car and wouldn't fit, that day I was like ok a truck it is. I was looking for a Tacoma but they were too expensive and a lot were salvage. So finally I see the Ridgeline and wait for it till the price is right (private seller) once it is in my price range I take a jump and well it was great so I bought it and here 2 years later I love it like the first day.

 

[pasty64]

I got tired of "Making do" with a SUV, crossover, or wagon

Thats was the same situation for me.

 

[MotoMike]

Wanted a mid-sized truck, wanted a v-6 not a v-8, wanted to seat 4 comfortably, wanted 4/all wheel drive and I wanted to be able to haul the occasional lawn tractor or refrigerator. So in my search, the Ridgeline came available and met the ticks on my list. Have since decided I was lucky. found it exceeds all my desires and every time I turn around, I find some thoughtful design element I did not expect. I love my RL.

 

[FTM1]

Told this story before sister purchased truck but I was the one that did all the legwork in making the purchase. I have been a Honda/Acura owner myself since 1980.I had picked out my sisters previous vehicle 93 Dodge Caravan she used that for hauling her son when he was small his friends their mothers like trips to the Beach & vacations. Van was also used by me to haul mulch and stuff for home ect. Van was wrecked and total by her X husband & it had also seen it's useful life. She had other car and could not afford new vehicle at that time with her own new house and bills falling on her as single mother.
After a few years her son then teenager she said it was time to get new vehicle. I thought Honda Odyssey she said she wanted a truck for hauling mulch and other household stuff. Other female cousin had Ford Sport Trak truck. I knew Honda had a pickup truck saw it in my car magazines like Motor Trend and others when they said it was being design. I got all the info I could on the truck from Consumer Reports ect. They said it drove like a tall Accord.
I had two new 90s Accords myself and 00 Acura 3.2TL
I had my previous Honda dealership send me brochure and accessory brochure on Ridgeline. I ask sister what model she wanted and accessories.
We went to 07 Washington DC auto show she sat in it compared models.
I called the sales person back the next day as I already knew him.
My sister and I were on 3way call with him on phone once he got deposit by credit card he went to work getting vehicle.
He said he would do a swap with another dealership they dealt with 3 others.
He called me back said he found truck in Baltimore area so would need to drive it back to DC/ MD suburbs about 40miles. He said they would get to work on install of accessories. This was Back -up Cam, side steps fog lights, Tonneau Cover fender flares, body side molding. I picked my sister up at work and she went out to sign paperwork & get truck.
She also wanted something that had AWD for foul weather something we got in this area in 09/10. I have the truck serviced for her and use it whenever I need. It is always on the road as I have put 35K+ miles on it myself and it has over 135,000 miles

 

[FTM1]

Told this story before sister purchased truck but I was the one that did all the legwork in making the purchase. I have been a Honda/Acura owner myself since 1980.I had picked out my sisters previous vehicle 93 Dodge Caravan she used that for hauling her son when he was small his friends their mothers like trips to the Beach & vacations. Van was also used by me to haul mulch and stuff for home ect. Van was wrecked and total by her X husband & it had also seen it's useful life. She had other car and could not afford new vehicle at that time with her own new house and bills falling on her as single mother.
After a few years her son then teenager she said it was time to get new vehicle. I thought Honda Odyssey she said she wanted a truck for hauling mulch and other household stuff. Other female cousin had Ford Sport Trak truck. I knew Honda had a pickup truck saw it in my car magazines like Motor Trend and others when they said it was being design. I got all the info I could on the truck from Consumer Reports ect. They said it drove like a tall Accord.
I had two new 90s Accords myself and 00 Acura 3.2TL
I had my previous Honda dealership send me brochure and accessory brochure on Ridgeline. I ask sister what model she wanted and accessories.
We went to 07 Washington DC auto show she sat in it compared models.
I called the sales person back the next day as I already knew him.
My sister and I were on 3way call with him on phone once he got deposit by credit card he went to work getting vehicle.
He said he would do a swap with another dealership they dealt with 3 others.
He called me back said he found truck in Baltimore area so would need to drive it back to DC/ MD suburbs about 40miles. He said they would get to work on install of accessories. This was Back -up Cam, side steps fog lights, Tonneau Cover fender flares, body side molding. I picked my sister up at work and she went out to sign paperwork & get truck.
She also wanted something that had AWD for foul weather something we got in this area in 09/10. I have the truck serviced for her and use it whenever I need. It is always on the road as I have put 35K+ miles on it myself and it has over 135,000 miles

For the reason stated as to why did you buy the Ridgeline. Since having this vehicle in the family for soon to be eight years this month. I myself have been waiting for the long awaited redesign. The current vehicle has made me rethink my next vehicle purchase. I have been seriously thinking about Acura MDX for years. This was before and more after redesign. Never thought about Pilot I don't need the extra seating of Pilot or MDX but MDX has it's luxury and features that appeal to me. With expected safety and new updated features of redesign Ridgeline it would fit my needs better. The open bed and in-bed lockable trunk a feature I suspect redesign will retain. But the current 2006-2014 Ridgeline had features, comfort , size to make it the right choice.

 

[speedlever]

For my purposes, the RL is simply the most practical vehicle offered for sale. Still.

 

[No2rdame]

When we went shopping for a Pilot for my wife, the salesman showed us a RL. We loved the way it handled but ended up buying the Pilot anyway. I was driving a car and missed having a truck. I liked the F-150 but my wife emphatically said no because a 1999 F-150 I previously owned had an issue where the gas pedal would stick to the floor and had to be manually pulled up. The two nearest Ford dealerships told me I'd have to drop it off for a few days (with no rental car, despite it being under warranty) and they would take a look. She felt that if Ford disregarded a serious safety issue like that then they shouldn't get our business.

Thus, I ended up with a Ridgeline.

 

[Nateperez3]

I currently still drive an 03 Accord coupe EX-L V6....amazing car, and made me fall in love with the Honda brand. It has been the best most reliable car over the years. I got married last year and my wife had an Escape. That car was getting older we wanted to replace it. We wanted something the same size or larger. We are also home owners and I am always doing something outside where a truck bed could come in hand. Any of the full size are too big for the wife so we immediately wanted an RL. Has the benefits of a light duty truck that we need, has 4 wheel drive if needed, and drives like my accord. I wanted to wait till the next Gen but nervous about possible changes I wouldn't like and buying the first year of a new vehicle has never been something I really wanted to do. Since we couldn't wait that long I wanted to buy a low mileage used one. Ended up with this 2013 Sport with only 8,000 miles on it. Love it. Will keep and drive this thing for many years.

 

[cdepuydt]

I could go on for pages on why I bought a Ridgeline...but long and short of it was...kinda wanted a full sized pickup, but didn't really need one, and was not impressed with the 10-12 MPG my neighbors F150 w/the 5.7 liter V-8 was getting. The folks at the Toyota dealers acted like they had some sorta emotional attachment to the Taco 4x4's they had on their lot and would not deal on them at all (and the amount they offered me on my trade in was a joke). The Ranger was too small for my family. The Colorado/Canyon twins were junk at the time (they are much better now). The Frontier seemed like a decent vehicle, but just uninspired, for lack of a better term.

The Ridgeline fit my needs the best. Safest mid-sized pickup on the road at the time; and that was/is important when I am hauling the family around. Plenty of room for the family. The trunk is awesome and I use it all the time. Handles/rides like a sedan or nice SUV. Honda reliability.

I have 160,000 miles on my truck as of last week. All I have basically done is follow the maintenance schedule and put new tires on it. My RL doesn't owe me a thing.

 

[rmhpmi]

Interesting thread topic! Apologies for the lengthy post, but it's how I roll sometimes:act027:

I bought my 2008 RTL last February, after about 3 months of research (thanks ROC!) and comparison shopping. I was looking for a reliable, comfortable, 4WD or AWD vehicle with a bed. At the time, the primary use of said vehicle was to transport myself, my wife, my dog and my stuff to our cabin in the NC High Country (about a two hour drive from home) once a month or so. Our cabin is accessible via a 3 mile dirt/gravel road and a very steep driveway. The area is subject to snow/ice weather conditions during the winter, and there is always some wood to cut, mulch to haul, etc that a truck bed made more sense than an enclosed SUV type vehicle.

I had sold my 1982 Toyota SR5 Pickup truck a couple of years earlier, after having downsized and moved into a condo (having the cabin built during this transition). I loved that old Yota, and she only had 110,000 original miles when I sold her to my nephew. It only took him two months to total loss her, but that is another story.

I started out with a $10,000 budget looking at Toyota's, both Tacoma and Tundra. I never questioned the reliability like I did with Ford/Chevy/Dodge pickups I was also considering. I WANTED a "real truck" for whatever reason and the Ridgeline wasn't on my radar initially. What I quickly found was that a $10K budget didn't go very far for a used 4X4 pickup, especially with an extended or crew cab that I needed. Every Toyota was over 10 years old and had over 150K miles to even get close to that number. "Big Three" pickups might have had a few less miles, but not enough to allay my reliability concerns

Increasing my budget to $15,000 brought 2006-2009 Ridgelines into play. I always prefer to buy my used vehicles from private owners, and when using Auto Trader's search function and filtering the results by my criteria, I narrowed my choices pretty fast. It still took me a couple of months of almost daily looking to find the Ridgeline I eventually bought, and it was about 150 miles from home.

I went to see/drive several vehicles. Chevy Avalanches, F-150's, Tundra's and Tacomas, one Nissan Frontier and obviously some Ridgelines. The Chevy and Ford options all felt like they were already falling apart. They were HUGE to me, coming from sedan's and compact pickups. Fuel economy was terrible and I was uncomfortable with long term reliability. The Toyota's were either too small (Tacoma) or too expensive (Tundra) and the Nissan was a combination of all the negative attributes combined.

Notice my first two criteria: Reliable. Comfortable. Once I test drove a couple of Ridgelines, and having owned Honda's in the distant past, both of those primary concerns were addressed. Checking out the Ridgeline's features also made my decision easier, especially as I thought more about what I NEEDED my vehicle to do. The in-bed trunk, interior comfort, decent fuel economy, Honda reliability, Right-Sizeness, AWD and availability were all factors that steered me towards a Ridgeline.

I bought my 2008 RTL from a gentleman in Roanoke VA who had purchased it new and serviced regularly at the local Honda dealership. 103,000 on the clock when I bought her and I knew I'd need to replaced the TB/WP and put some tires on in the first year. I paid $13,000 and felt like that was a fair price. In the last 12 months I have put WAY more miles on my Ridgeline than I anticipated I would and, in hindsight, I wish I had increased my budget and looked for an even lower mileage vehicle. I have posted before on my thoughts regarding my Ridgeline being the perfect vehicle for me. I haven't changed my mind at all.

Roll On fellow ROC'ers:act035:

 

[xinunix]

Wanted a truck but didn't really need one. Wanted to have room for family of 5 to be able to use it for trips to the mountains. Wanted a proven, practical, reliable and dependable vehicle. Wanted something that was good in the snow, don't get much around here but I like knowing I can get around if I need to... Wanted the trunk, if the new GM twins had a trunk I may have gone in that direction, but now that I have my Ridge I am glad I didn't.

Picked up a new 2014 RTL last month, absolutely love it, had everything I wanted will be enjoying this one for a long time...

 

[RoBrown]

When I bought the truck the first time, it was because I had been hounding a guy I know that works for Honda that they need to have a truck. Once they came out with it, I felt I should at least give it a look. When I bought it in early 2007, I drove it everywhere. It went to Chicago, South Carolina, Iowa City, and Disney world in the first year. I put about 35K on the truck in 2 years.
Then $4 gas hit and I panicked. I traded the truck in for my wife's CR-V and drove an Element for a year or so. I traded it for an Acura TL, which was a great car. When I bought the RL in '07, it was a toss up between it and the TL.
In 2011, I bought a new motorcycle, and the TL only was driven in rain and the winter. While it had all the traction control stuff, I thought an AWD vehicle would be a better choice. I looked at all the usual suspects, F150, Tacoma, and Tundra. I also looked at a Mini Countryman, a Crosstour, and the FJ Cruiser. After all that, I really liked the FJ.
I decided to test drive another RL to see how it stacked up against the Taco, and it blew it away. It was the first time in about 5 years that I had driven one, and it was hands down the right vehicle for me.
As fate would have it, I found the truck that I bought new sitting in front of a bank up for auction. The person that bought it from the dealer I traded it to sold it to someone 5 years later, and they let it be repo'ed. It had 93K, or about 50K more than I traded it in with 5 years ago, and was in pretty good shape. I got the ok from the boss, and went to the auction and bought my truck back.
Thanks to the ROC, I have replaced the burned out dash lights, put in an iSimple adapter and had all my questions answered about my truck. I am really glad I got the chance to have my truck again, and plan on keeping it this time.
Rob

 

[mike099]

My wife made me, sort of. :act047:

I wanted a Ford or Toyota, but the price vs mileage was too much.

 

[im-ocd]

Ridgeline RTL had the following features I wanted:
-Moonroof (most trucks lacked this)
-Rear window that opened
-4 doors
-4WD
-XM radio

The timing belt was a turn off, but the moonroof won out.

 

[gmcguire]

For me, I wanted one and couldn't swing a new one, so and to wait until timing was right to get a used one. As a result, I was aware of many of the little bonuses.

The in bed trunk.
The power rear window
The AWD system
The interior room for " mid sized"
Having owned other Hondas, I expected a few neat little Gizmo tricks/items
The overall cleverness of the full package

I didn't want or need a full sized truck - but wanted the benefits of a truck, for towing, loading camping gear ( trunk ROC's for this)

 

[rmhpmi]

My wife made me, sort of. :act047:

I wanted a Ford or Toyota, but the price vs mileage was too much.

Finally, somebody telling it like it is!

 

[Untold]

Same here. I was set on a Tacoma, but after seeing them for $20k with upwards of 100k miles on them just didn't seem practical. The Ridgeline was always on my radar, but the look of it was always a turnoff. After some more research and finding a really clean one in my price range, I'm glad I went for it.

 

[geffrocks_86]

To echo others:

I needed a family outing truck not a work truck. I have access to 3/4 ton trucks anytime I need one. So I wanted something with more creature comforts.

First choice was the Tacoma. But that is spartan, at best.

Ridgeline was the next best thing. Got an RL with sunroof/leather/heated seats.

I put a camper on it, and I can secure the dogs in their own cabin.

It's perfect for me.