GRM's Ridgeline.

Id like the ridgeline a little more if it still had the Odyssey front end and looked like an Odyssey with a truck bed.

But thats just because im not hung up on all the silly crap that most people in this thread are. Taking an odyssey, add ground clearance and basic awd, turn the back cargo area into an outdoor bed for dirty things, brilliant. Now the ridgeline isnt actually THAT great because its based on the pilot.. too many degrees of separation from odyssey..

Ill probably end up towing a caravan 300 miles with my Dynasty this weekend. Anyone feel like buying me a full size truck? If i already had the hitch mounted up on my turbo 2.5 Caravan or my 2.7 Magnum id take one of those, but i dont have hitches on those yet.

There doesn't seem to be much of (any?) difference in mielage for a V8 half-ton truck and a V6 mid-sized truck. That and the fact that there isn't much of a size difference makes me question the mid-sized segment. We need real compacts back. The Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series are all that's left.

In reply to JeepinMatt:

I agree about compacts. But there are other differences between a RL and full frame trucks. It drives and rides much more like a car, and some people want that. Obviously, not a huge amount of people, but some. And while I think it's a little overpriced, It's still cheaper than a comparable Silverado/F-150/RAM and has much better reliablity. If nothing else, it's a light duty pickup for people that buy Honda's. I know 3 people that own them, and they all bought them to replace another Honda.

Isn't the Honda warranty pretty short? I seem to remember the Suddard's having to call in a favor to get a diff issue repaired.

I don't know about the Ford or Dodge, but the GM trucks have a 5/100k powertrain.

My experience with warranty is that it's usually the vehicles that need the warranty that have the longest one. They do that so they can sell cars. That's why Hyundai originally had the long warranty, not because their cars were good. Good vehicles sell because they are good, not because they have a long warranty.

bravenrace wrote: My experience with warranty is that it's usually the vehicles that need the warranty that have the longest one. They do that so they can sell cars. That's why Hyundai originally had the long warranty, not because their cars were good. Good vehicles sell because they are good, not because they have a long warranty. I would agree that good vehicles sell because they are good, but a long warranty is a great bonus.

My experience with warranty is pretty much the opposite. I very rarely have had to use it, but like the piece of mind that it offers. Mainly because my wife is always the one driving a car with a warranty. You can love on your Honda all you want, but the fact is things can go wrong, just like with the Suddard's issue. If that happens on my Wife's car I don't want to mess with it. It takes time away from my other, fun, projects.

Doesn't Hyundai still have a great warranty? Do you think they still "need" it?

Yes, Hyundai does still have it, and no, I don't think they still need it as far as the quality of the cars go. But they won't get rid of it because it would hurt sales. I should clarify that the view I gave in my last reply doesn't apply in every case. I just mean that warranty can be used as a marketing tool. If a company wants to enter a market where they don't have a presence, for example, they might offer really low prices, or maybe a better warranty. Why does Honda have a shorter warranty than the others but still sells a bunch of vehicles? When customers have confidence in a product, the warranty isn't as important. When they don't, the warranty is more important, which is why you see longer warrantys in some cases. Regardless of that, if you look at any valid reliability data, the Ridgeline is more reliable on average than any of the the major American trucks. Don't misunderstand, I have two American trucks, because there's more to consider than reliablilty, and the Ridgeline doesn't meet my needs. But the fact are the facts, and the fact is that the Ridgeline has Honda reliability and the Silverado (for an example) has GM reliability. GM is improving, but taken as a whole, GM vehicles are still not on the same level as Honda for reliability.

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.

Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening.

Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.

Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.

Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted? [chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]

Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point?

Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.

Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?

Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of E36 M3. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

Ted Nelson, Customer: [pause] Okay, I'll buy from you.

Tommy: Well, that's...

Tommy, Richard Hayden: ...What?

ignorant wrote:

CaptainSpaulding wrote: That was me and your really dumb.

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/youryoure.html

Nice comback dude. Sure make fun of the dude that rode the short bus with the learnng disability.

You are dumb

bravenrace wrote: Yes, Hyundai does still have it, and no, I don't think they still need it as far as the quality of the cars go. But they won't get rid of it because it would hurt sales. I should clarify that the view I gave in my last reply doesn't apply in every case. I just mean that warranty can be used as a marketing tool. If a company wants to enter a market where they don't have a presence, for example, they might offer really low prices, or maybe a better warranty. Why does Honda have a shorter warranty than the others but still sells a bunch of vehicles? When customers have confidence in a product, the warranty isn't as important. When they don't, the warranty is more important, which is why you see longer warrantys in some cases. Regardless of that, if you look at any valid reliability data, the Ridgeline is more reliable on average than any of the the major American trucks. Don't misunderstand, I have two American trucks, because there's more to consider than reliablilty, and the Ridgeline doesn't meet my needs. But the fact are the facts, and the fact is that the Ridgeline has Honda reliability and the Silverado (for an example) has GM reliability. GM is improving, but taken as a whole, GM vehicles are still not on the same level as Honda for reliability.

I agree with most of your points, but this one: "Why does Honda have a shorter warranty than the others but still sells a bunch of vehicles?"

Honda sells a lot of cars and SUVs, but they do not sell a lot of Ridgelines. Actually, I think it's the worst selling truck on the market.

In reply to Cotton:

I agree, but the warranty applies to all their vehicles, so I stand by that statement. The Ridgeline is too expensive and to many people homely, and I think that's what hurts it the most, not that it's otherwise a bad vehicle or has a shorter warranty than others.

I'm holding out for the Type R

CaptainSpaulding wrote:

ignorant wrote:

CaptainSpaulding wrote: That was me and your really dumb.

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/youryoure.html

Nice comback dude. Sure make fun of the dude that rode the short bus with the learnng disability. You are dumb

Now that we're all convince you're the two toughest guys on the internet, I think this thread has died. The signal-to-noise ratio has plummeted.

Kudos to Wally, who hotlinked us to salvation.