Honda pilots?

Specifically 08-12 model years, the AWD versions.

Sounds like around May I'll finally be be shopping for a replacement for the Ranger. This hasn't stopped me from looking now though.

Last night Dana mentioned how much she likes her co-workers CRV and that she'll probably buy one of those when she's done with the civic. For my uses a CRV is too small, but in searching the market for them I was reminded of the pilot.

Seating for 8, awd auto, 4500 lb tow rating. Hey, that hits everything but the V8 requirement I'd set for myself.

In some light searching I saw complaints about crappy brakes, and road noise. It's a Honda, surely someone makes better brakes for it, right? 

But how is the reliability? The examples I've seen have been around 120k miles. If I bought a civic with that mileage I'd expect to triple it or have it rust out before it needed major work, can I expect the same from the pilot? Any hidden rust spots or anything to look out for? Or any big GOTCHA repairs, like an engine out timing belt or vacuum actuated AWD, or glass transmission?

That catgeory I'm at Nissan armada. Much cheaper and theoretically reliable. I will say I've never known someone disappointed with the pilot platform. 

My mom had an 05 or 06 from new until she traded it in on a 4Runner a couple years ago. Fine vehicle overall, just boring as all get out, although that's not necessarily a bad thing in this class. I think the size is a nice compromise of big enough to haul a reasonable amount of junk without feeling too ponderous in a parking lot. 3rd row seat is best reserved for children, but riding with 8 adults from Bedford to Carlisle wasn't too hateful the time my friends and I had to be rescued from the side of the Turnpike. Power is adequate and nothing more. I agree the brakes are a little on the weak side. Ride and handling was pretty good for an SUV. 

Had probably 120k on the clock and reliability was pretty much flawless for her. I don't recall it ever needing much more than tires and brakes. That being said, I know there was a major transmission issue that affected certain years, don't recall if it was the first or second generation. You'd definitely want to look into that.

Pilots are basically Odysseys underneath, right?  Do they have the same worn-ring problem with cylinder deactivation that the Odysseys do?  I think those started in 2011 or so.

I believe that earlier ones had the dodgy transmission. Not sure when that got fixed, but I think it was before the years that you're looking at. Otherwise they're great vehicles. Don't expect great fuel economy, and some trims had pretty soft suspension, which was nice in a straight line, and not so nice on the twisties. I think that they've aged well, as they have that slightly squared off masculine look to them.

Mndsm said:

That catgeory I'm at Nissan armada. Much cheaper and theoretically reliable. I will say I've never known someone disappointed with the pilot platform. 

I rather enjoy my friendship with NissanTech and his wife. That means I'm not allowed to own Nissan's. 

I like what I'm hearing though. Boring brick that can haul lumber and people, or tow a utility trailer around. Third row seats would likely be removed entirely anyway

I'd forget about towing 4500 lb with most any mid sized 08-'12 SUV. especially those that have poor brake ratings (like some Honda and Honda derivatives from that time). You'd also be asking for $$$ auto transmission issues imo.

I own an 09 mdx  with 190000 miles, awd.  I expect someone in my family will see at least 250000 miles. Similar to a pilot. First I'd suggest you also look a an mdx My experience is it's a Honda. Nothing but routine maintenance. My cousin has owned three Mdxs that are all still in the family.  I think post 05 gets you out of the transmission issues. And pre 12 avoids some other issues. I know they both are odessey based. Mine is in Florida and cousins in North Carolina so I don't know about rust. 

My buddy has a pilot. 190k miles tows his 18' ranger bass boat  with 150 and kicker. It's not light.   No issues.  Now he dosent do tons of long trips but it works well for the couple hour trips we take looking for fishing holes.  It's not fast but it sure is reliable.  The internet says this isn't possible and unsafe. If we lived in the mountains I'd want more brakes. But it does fine with the small hills we have around here. 

Losing a truck bed, my towing would be more like a ton of gravel, more plywood or drywall than can fit in the cargo area, or lumber, maybe a riding mower, on my HF utility trailer. I can pick it up and carry it around  so it can't weigh much more than 200lbs. About 5 miles of flat interstate from lowes to here, only hill being the off ramp.

I don't have/can't afford a car trailer, or a boat, and major repair orders can just be delivered. And if I really need to move something big, Im a phone call away from a V10 F250 with a 24 foot 5th wheel trailer. 

I found the piloteers forum. I'm guessing they're making a mountain out of a molehill with the VCM cylinder deactivation thing, like the IMS in Porsche stuff, but there's a work around that's pretty popular and well regarded. Doesn't look like much in the way of speed or performance stuff, but that's fine by me as long as I can find decent brake hardware and OE or better replacement shocks when the time comes. Did see someone doing rally cross with one though.

Eventually I'll get another toy, but my life is calling for an appliance that just works.

I used to have an 07 or 08 Odyssey.  I'm not sure if these issues extend to the Pilot but:

1) You have the option of Drive, or 1,2,3 on the selector.  No way to stop at 4.  Climbing a mountain it would hunt between 4/5 quite a bit, or you could force it in 3, then it was screaming up the hill at highway speeds.  I imagine this would be a lot worse when towing something.

2) Cylinder deactivation motors are a pain in the butt.  Lower trim level Odysseys don't have it, but I don't know about pilots.  If you have it, you will kill some engine mounts, and the price to replace them will be $Texas.  Then there are the internal ring issues as a bonus.

3) We replaced, PS hose, PS pump, Alternator, and maybe a couple other things between 120k and 150k.  OEM parts are good, but pricey.  Aftermarket parts for the Odyssey were pure trash.

We deleted the VCM in our Ody with one of those kits that taps into the clt, and it works very well. I replaced the active mounts for regular ones and look forward to never replacing them again. They are $$$ and garbage.

Ditto on using OEM Honda parts, I did a PS pump and now get to do it a second time.

My wife drove one from 70k miles to just shy of 170k miles. Probably the most reliable vehicle we have owned. Like others have mentioned, the brakes are a little weak and ours like to warp front rotors (I put 4 or 5 sets on over that 100k miles). Rust in the area where the trailer hitch mounts is what did ours in. I sold it after it tore a couple of the bolts mounting the trailer hitch out towing ~2k lb utility trailer. It also had basically no bumper beam left, you could see straight through it.

I looked at another newer, lower mileage one to replace it and that one was already getting a little soft in the same areas. If your in an area where rust is a concern I'd definitely pay close attention to all of the structure behind the rear wheels.

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

We deleted the VCM in our Ody with one of those kits that taps into the clt, and it works very well. I replaced the active mounts for regular ones and look forward to never replacing them again. They are $$$ and garbage.

Ditto on using OEM Honda parts, I did a PS pump and now get to do it a second time.

Yes, the advice I would give to others is to delete the VCM immediately and replace the trash mounts, or buy an LX instead.

I did an alternator.  Getting it into position is like solving a very painful 3d puzzle.  Started it up and it was dead, right out of the box.  Got to do it all over again the next day.

RevRico said:

Mndsm said:

That catgeory I'm at Nissan armada. Much cheaper and theoretically reliable. I will say I've never known someone disappointed with the pilot platform. 

I rather enjoy my friendship with NissanTech and his wife. That means I'm not allowed to own Nissan's. 

 

I like what I'm hearing though. Boring brick that can haul lumber and people, or tow a utility trailer around. Third row seats would likely be removed entirely anyway

This is a reasonable assessment. 

In reply to grouperalley :

Agree about the MDX. My experience is that the stock suspensions on them are more enthusiast friendly, but the interiors are almost too nice if you like hauling anything around.