[Sparkland]

I am no Nissan apologist, but Nissan does make quality mass market vehicles. The interior bits of my Ariya are of higher quality than my Ridgeline. Fit and finish is markedly better.

Now I would not want the CVT, but the new transmission in the Pathfinder is fine. I do not think quality would suffer if the Ridgeline was built at the Nissan plant. Nissan has higher initial quality ratings than Honda.

 

[markk53]

With hints of Honda wanting Nissan to build Ridgelines in Mississippi, many questions arise:

Will the Ridgeline we know and love still be built in Alabama? At least some of them?

Will Nissan be building exact replicas of the Ridgeline at their Mississippi (Frontier) plant? Or will they be BoF trucks? If the latter, will they be re-badged Frontiers?

If they are to be our standard unibody Ridgeline, perhaps Honda will finally give some love to the truck as they will actually be able to increase sales and not be constrained by production capacity. This could mean more trim levels, off-road versions, etc.

If the Ridgeline goes down that dark road of BoF trucks... well, I've said here before that if Honda did their own tweaking to the Frontier, added their own 350hp V8 and the ZF 8-speed, that might be enough to draw me back to a BoF truck. And probably hundreds of thousands of other truck buyers...


See 3rd Gear here:

Ford Just Broke The Annual Safety Recall Record And It's Only July - Jalopnik

Ford sets unwelcome records, Polestar struggles with camera fixes, and Tesla's robotaxi rollout may not be as smooth as Elon Musk promised.

www.jalopnik.com

Honda did it before with their first Passports, using Isuzu product. It would make sense to work a deal for a more serious off road truck.

I personally think Honda should continue with the present style of Ridgeline, because if all those who bought them actually wanted a BOF or high ground clearance significantly more off road designed, they would have probably bought one of the other brands. I could have bought any of the compact to mid size trucks I wanted. Could have done a full size 4WD if I wanted. But after checking out the Honda, including a lot of they You tube evaluations and goofy ass stuff some of them said, I still bought the Honda and still have no regrets.

I think there are a lot of others who feel the same way. Really it's kind of what Honda has done before in making product that is close to each other in function, like the Civic and the Accord or the CR-V and the HR-V. Very similar in a number of ways, but each sells well, because not everyone needs or wants whatever plusses one has over the other. They know what they want. Honda should play off that with the Ridgeline and whatever BOF they might subcontract or build themselves.

The sales numbers for the Ridgelines show they sell a fair number consistently from year to year, why kill it off? Ford didn't quit building the Ranger when they built the Maverick. Chevy/GMC still built the C1500 after they built the Colorado and Canyon. If Honda wants a BOF, have at it, but keep going with the more refined looking classy Ridgeline that has the comfort, rides and handles like a good SUV, but still has the open bed.

 

[markk53]

Is this like back in 2019 where the Ridgeline RT were being advertised at $29,000, (which is exactly what brought the Ridgeline to my attention), but you could never find one? Like I related above, the cheapest Ridgeline on the lot today here locally is over $45,000. Where a Colorado can be had today for under $35,000.
Bill

Great if you want what the $35,000 Colorado offers versus what the $45,000 Ridgeline offers. My brother had a Colorado, just traded or sold it (I don't know which) and got a Ridgeline RTL-E.

Personally I wasn't jazzed with what any of the others offered and ended up with the Ridgeline RTL.

Don't mistake for a minute that a lot of us are not willing to foot the extra cost, because we see what is offered for that extra $10,000 and bought the Ridgeline.

I could have bought cheaper motorcycles, but I knew what I liked and wanted and paid a higher price for it. It's just not how much something costs for many people.

 

[markk53]

Because they don't have to.

Every Ridgeline made gets sold in less then 60 days for $45K. If Honda marked them down to $35K, demand would exceed supply and you'd just have a bunch of pissed off shoppers who would go buy some other brand they could take home today without having to wait months for.

Honda used to offer a just-under-$30K Ridgeline. Hardly anyone bought it. Instead, most buyers opted for the more expensive RTL-E.

Half of what we see here with new members seems to be the Black version - most expensive - and the Trail Sport. Not the base Sport.

 

[markk53]

Over 20 years of building and selling Ridgelines, the model has never sold more than about 50K units per year. Clearly, the masses don't want a practical pickup - they want a pickup that has more capability than they actually need at the expense of comfort, handling, safety, etc. -- or at least look like it does.

All the unibody pickups combined including the Ridgeline, Santa Cruz, and Maverick together are just a small slice of the overall pickup market.

So... what you're saying is Honda should give up their consistent 35,000-50,000 units? That they should ignore the market niche they seem to have created and nurtured and turn to making the "same old, same old" BOF trucks as everyone else? They should try to snatch away part of the market that may not come close to capturing enough sales to match the sales they gave up should they quit making the Ridgeline?

Has Ford or Chevy quit building 2WD trucks, throwing away that market and only focusing on jacked up 4WD trucks? I think not. I think Honda should not dump the Ridgeline as long as they can sell what they make and it is profitable to do so.

 

[markk53]

To paraphrase The Bard, "a turd by any other name would smell as rank".

Reminds me of something I'm curious about... Who thought it was a good idea to label Toyotas with stickers TRD? I don't care what it is the initials of or acronym for (and I do know), it just makes me think TURD every time I see it. Even my wife comments about it.

 

[wjfyfe]

Don't mistake for a minute that a lot of us are not willing to foot the extra cost, because we see what is offered for that extra $10,000 and bought the Ridgeline.

Now I find this a very interesting statement coming from this forum where the more popular discussions appear to revolve around complaining about the bells and whistles on the Ridgeline being inferior when being compared to other manufacturers?

Bill

 

[wjfyfe]

Because they don't have to.

Why doesn’t Honda do this? Why doesn’t Honda do that? Why don’t Honda fix this? Why don’t Honda fix that? “Because they don’t have to!” You know, Roger, with this one elegant response, you can effectively answer, and close, 2/3 of the current discussions! 😉
Bill

 

[CNC1]

I'm no expert on this but I'd heard overall good things about the Titan. I also like V8s so I wouldn't actually mind if Honda offered a rebadged Titan with a V8.

Having actually owned both versions of the Titan gen I and II, I can assure you they aren't nearly as good as a Ridgeline. My gen I went through 2 rear end replacements, and the power windows just fell down and you had to wedge something in the door jamb to hold the window up. This was just until they got parts to fix it which took two months. The V8 in that older model had about the same HP as our Ridgelines have now.

My gen II had a lot more power, a touch under 400HP and my 2017 also had a 7 speed which was the fastest combination. Nissan then put a 9 speed which had a lot of programming software glitches, but they may have eventually figured that out. The main problem was the engine was scoring the #7 cylinder and required replacement. Fortunately, this was under warranty (10/100,000) for most.

The diesel XD models were a nightmare for anyone who had one, Nissan dropped the diesel completely. My two Ridgelines both have been to the dealer less than either Titan, and that was just for an oil change.

 

[CNC1]

Also forget about a Frontier, it has less interior room than a Ridgeline, I can't even fit in one. Sounds silly doesn't it. BUT I had a Datsun, and two hardbody regular cab trucks and fit just fine. They get worse gas mileage than the V8, 16mpg on the highway. WITHOUT 400HP.

 

[RossoRidgeline]

I had a 18 month lease on the 2023 Frontier. Assumed top of the line beat all the bells and whistles of the RL. First surprise was looking for the button to crack the rear window. Oops missed that it was manual only on the test drive. Second surprise was tailgate not locking with the rest of the truck. Oops missed that on the test drive too. Must have been a lot of complaints on that one since the next model year the Frontier has a lot of them showing up with the power lock tailgate option.

Noisier ride, smaller cab, and the climate control gave an irritating whistle out of the drivers side vent when fan was cranked.

Decent stereo, nice exterior look, interior design great, and only needed oil changes.

The price for the Frontier top trim has been inflated to 51k compared to the 49k RL BE.

Keep the future RL a quiet luxury SUV like ride with AWD. We love our cargo options and they electronically lock.

 

[14v6]

If this happens and Nissan rebadges Ridgelines and adopts the Maintenance Minder, I predict the longest thread in forum history..

 

[Sparkland]

Maybe Nissan could solve the water leak in the second row of the Ridgeline!😆

I did not take the article to mean the Ridgeline would be designed around a Frontier, but that Nissan would merely assemble it. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[CNC1]

Titans had water leaks around the windshield also.

 

[longboat]

Maybe Nissan could solve the water leak in the second row of the Ridgeline!😆

I did not take the article to mean the Ridgeline would be designed around a Frontier, but that Nissan would merely assemble it. Maybe I am missing something.

I guess it comes down to "what is the manufacturing capability of the Canton, MS plant?" Can they easily adjust the assembly line to build a unibody truck?

If not, then there just may be a re-badged Frontier with a Ridgeline Trailsport badge on it.

Honda doesn't do RWD (except long-defunct S2000 and NSX1). If Honda thinks it needs a RWD truck to compete in the offroad world, Nissan is the easy answer.

Honda is known for its engines. I imagine any vehicle manufacturer could put a Honda engine in their current vehicle and increase sales. The next Frontier/Ridgeline TS could very easily have a Honda engine under the hood. As well, Nissan is developing an in-house hybrid for the Frontier, and that could show up in both vehicles, especially since it would be set up for RWD platform.

A V6 wouldn't be enough to get me into a BoF truck, though. It would have to be Honda's V8 + ZF8 trans.

 

[14v6]

At the beginning of 24 when I was looking for a truck again, nothing was available. Ranger and Tacoma new models weren't available yet and the Colorado had a stop sale. No inventory of anything new. Thinking I was done with Honda and Ridgelines, I ended up getting a left over 23 in Jan of 24 plenty of inventory. Never though about Nissan then I started reading of folks getting Pro4X's for some serious discounts, who knew.

 

[RossoRidgeline]

I could see a thread starting if “Ridgeline” was stuck below the screen.

The 6’ plus bed option came out too on the Pro 4x. Salesperson called me when it first arrived and thought I would jump on it. Noticed that none of their other Pro 4xes have it. When I took my Ariya in for wiper fluid refill and tire rotation, long bed Pro 4x was gathering dust on showroom floor.

 

[longboat]

Biggest complaints i hear about the Frontier are tiny gas tank and horrible turning radius.

 

[eurban]

I could see a thread starting if “Ridgeline” was stuck below the screen.

The 6’ plus bed option came out too on the Pro 4x. Salesperson called me when it first arrived and thought I would jump on it. Noticed that none of their other Pro 4xes have it. When I took my Ariya in for wiper fluid refill and tire rotation, long bed Pro 4x was gathering dust on showroom floor.

Wow that dash is absolutely heinous!

 

[14v6]

Thank you Car and Driver for following up. Basically, nothing going on in the short term. The headlines I see use the words, may, might, and could which means zip and most importantly crickets from Honda. However, you'd think Honda would mention something about a G3 if there was going to be one. Maybe a hiatus until the hybrids come?

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a65383058/nissan-build-honda-trucks-us-plants-report/