I don't remember where I read it but someone posted that the newly built Honda Pilot EX model comes with height adjustment for passenger side seat. Is it true? Bought ours Aug 13
My wife and I are going to buy a Pilot. We are having trouble deciding whether to buy the leather or cloth upholstery. The leather certainly looks better and has a more refined appearance. However this car will be the primary "kid hauler" for our 7 and 12 year olds and we're thinking that the cloth will be more durable. We tend to keep our cars for a number of years. Do any of you have any words of wisdom that we should consider before making this decision? Any experience with the quality and durability of Honda's leather?
honda leather is actually one of the highest quality in non-luxury brands. very durable....and for a kid-hauler...ALWAYS get leather...wipes with a damp cloth rather than a stanley steamer...lol. just make sure that if you ever use a child seat that you put a towel or something similar over the leather first.
no, the pilot ex's passenger seat does not have height adjustment.
I think you should ask yourself why spend an additional $1,250 when: * Leather is less comfortable, hot in the summer, cold in the winter. * Leather needs continuous armorall to keep up, vs. a quick vacuum. * If it tears, it's very difficult to repair
The cloth is treated so stains shouldn't be a problem if they're wiped up fairly quickly. We have a 3 year old Odyssey, 4 kids, and daily carpool to school with no stains.
On the other hand, my wife loves the heated leather seats in the winter.
I posted about power passenger seat height adjustment, just want to confirm with newer owner that the latest EX model comes with this features or not ?
If you want to see in writing that a Pilot test drive review recently (1 to 2 weeks ago)from canadiandriver.com web site.
My wife's Acura TL has leather. After 3 years it had frayed in spots. It was replaced under warranty. The leather doesn't seem that thick to me. Also, the Pilot does not come with heated seats (except in Canada).
First of all, armor all on the seats is not a great thing to do. to keep the leather durable and supple as well as stain and fade resistant, it would be wise to get a leather cleaner and conditioner, like Lexol.
The better the leather, the less sticky it is. the better the leather, the less they crack and feel especially cold.
You have young kids but cleaning up barf off lether is infinitely better than on cloth and the insides of the vehicles are less dusty.
IMO, once kids are old enough, I would switch to cloth but as long as they are youn and in boosters, leather seems best.
I've been told by installers not to use most commercial conditioners on leather seats. It clogs the pores and can cause problems with flexibility. I'm told that Lexol is a different compound than most ordinary conditioners, but I've never used it.
Honda's leather (the actual leather) is moderately thin and only surface dyed. It's probably average stuff by industry standards. My wife's TL hasn't shown any excessive wear.
I don't know how much of the Pilot's seat is real vs faux. In most Acuras, the seating surfaces are real leather, but the sides, back, and headrests are faux. But in the last gen CR-V (SE model), they had "leather-trimmed" seats. Only a pair of inch wide strips on the cushion were actual leather.
FWIW. Honda's faux leather is really good. I'd rather have the faux stuff than the genuine article. There's less worry and it's almost as good. (That, and my cow-happy friends won't give me grief!)
From my experience, Honda leather is only so-so. Another thing is it doesn't even have much of the leather smell (I like the smell of leather eg. Volvo). On the Pilot, the 3rd row seat is all vinyl anyway.
IMO, the Pilot has a very high quality cloth interior. All things considered, I don't think the leather in the Pilot is worth the premium. But if you have young kids that have a habit of throwing up or spilling things, then.......
But can you elebrate more on your answer ? That is the reason I want to confirm with some reasons/background.
As I said, the author of a test drive review, canadiandriver.com, wrote that the Pilot has a power passenger seat.
So do you base on the latest dealer information, or yourself maybe a salesman, or you took delivery of Pilot later than 21 Aug 2002, that you come up with the answer?
So far I have not seen a Pilot with power passenger seat, even in the dealer show room.
Any owner later than 21 Aug 2002 can confirm that ?
The best way to answer your question is to ask canadiandriver.com. Their site has contact information for editorial, and the editor was the one who wrote the review.
Thanks for your advise. I did e-amil the author of the review, he has not reply yet. I do not want to call up Honda.
I just causally posted up a question so that new owners happen to has this NEW feature will confirm that. At least till the author of the review reply to me. Thanks for all the comment.
Please let us know what he says, and how responsive he is. I suggested you ask him because if you don't hear about someone with a Canadian Pilot with a power passenger seat, there would probably still be doubt in your mind given the article. So it's best to address the editor or Honda themselves.
I've emailed NHTSA, the EPA, and IIHS on a number of questions, and you'd be surprised at how they can be responsive. Sometimes you get something that looks like a canned email, but more often than not you get decent information.
Am I the only one hearing a LOT if noise inside the cab or what???? I'm running Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts (All Season) and either they're the cause or the vehicle needs more insulation!! I have an LX, nice but noisy!!
i have the information on a day-to-day basis since may 24th. i am a sales manager at a midwestern honda dealership, and the pilot neither has a power passenger seat, nor does it have a height-adjustable passenger seat...only forward and back with the manual recliner.
I own a 96 VTEC Prelude with black leather that I have maintained with Lexol. After 6+ years and 73K miles, the leather looks like new. Comments such as "thin" are comical and should disregarded. Thin vs. what tangible standard? Go for the leather, cloth is tacky!!
A earlier post said that leather is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I believe the opposite is the case. Leather is nice and warm in the winter. Especially if you have seat heaters. In the summer they quickly cool to body temp. We have a Outback Limited with black leather and a Sequoia Limited with tan leather and that is the case with both vehicles.
How I wish for it in the Ody. Leather IMHO is much easier to maintain than the cloth and makes the cleanup of the inevitable much easier.
I will admit that the leather will get hot in direct sunlight but cools off pretty quickly. Is it cold in the winter - maybe, but then again I've got pants and a winter coat on!!
Leather - I park my Pilot in the Arizona sun all day while at work (100 degrees plus). I have never felt uncomfortable in my leather seats on the way home. The black leather steering wheel is another story. I'm looking for an insulated or reflective cover for it.
Noise - Just had my Pilot in the shop to fix the vibration noise coming from the passenger and driver door areas, especially on rough roads, which is just about all roads.
One of the two local Honda service centers kept my pilot for two days this time. Noise seems to gone on the passenger side, but not the driver's side.
The noise is at ear level and is driving me nuts! I'm going to see what I can get for a trade in a Sequoia deal. Maybe I'll advertise in the LA Times.
Anyone interested in a green, leather, EXL with some extras, 4200 miles?
I agree the leather does not present heat problem. The noise you are having on rough roads sounds much worse than I am experiencing. Mine is just general wind noise above 45mph. I hear that the wind deflector {which I do not have} can cause major noise problems.
I've had leather on a number of vehicles and would never buy unheated leather seats again. Leather is as was earlier stated "cold in winter (no seat heaters available in U.S. Pilot's) and hot in summer (It is perforated though)". Heated leather in winter does makeup for the heat in the summer. I drove both leather and cloth Pilot's, I chose the cloth. The seat design has a raised area of the seat bottom. The cloth feels fine but the leather is much stiffer under your legs. A nice feature with leather in a Pilot is the center console and the door armrest are also leather. With cloth the console pad is vinyl and the door has rubber.
Dealer told me my Sagebrush w/DVD is scheduled for production this week. I am wondering if anyone has seen or taken delivery on a Sagebrush. Would love to get your evaluation on this color. How would you describe the color?
Been off the boards for awhile... any resolution to the the "rattle" on the driver's door? Back in early August, the dealer replaced the weather stripping in the driver's door of my EX-L. Now, the noise has moved from the top of the door to the rearward side? It is not nearly as bad as before but still annoying. Due to a recent surgery, I have been spending quite a bit of time as a passenger in my Pilot. I don't hear anything from the passenger door area?
In general people are saying it is darker than they expected and has more gray (with a hint of blue even) than they thought it would (and less green)...most still like it.
You betcha kelly,I've complained about that also, I live in Lake Tahoe where the roads have all worn out badly and the Pilot is as noisy as my old Subaru Outback!! How can this be deadened?? I can hardly hear the radio, which also sucks, due to that directional aerial in the side window! Reception is VERY POOR, so I play lots of tapes and CD's.
In southern Colorado our roads are very bad also. However I am begining to believe that the high profile of the Pilot lends itself to road noise especially on the hwy above 45mph. All other aspects of the Pilot are quite rewarding and weigh out against the hwy road noise. Look forward to hearing from other memebers possible solution to the problem.
Thanks for the more detail answer. That's how it works, I can e-mail the author of that car review (again) and point out that was a mistake confirmed by a sales manger. Thanks
May I ask, if you want to share, that if you reflect all these complaints (from this and the other forum) to the the Honda, do they really care ?
Are the Honda dealers able to order the Pilots based on what the customer wants, or are they just matching up the orders with pre-determined allocation? In other words, when I go and plunk down my deposit, are they building the car for me?
Pilots are made according to Honda's specs, and that's all. The dealer may request a preference of color, but the car isn't really "made" for you the way, say, a BMW can be.
Are the Honda dealers able to order the Pilots based on what the customer wants, or are they just matching up the orders with pre-determined allocation? In other words, when I go and plunk down my deposit, are they building the car for me?
I have been patiently waiting (or waiting patiently) for the last 2 months for my Pilot. I am fourth on the list at our dealer, Buerkle in White Bear Lake, MN, for a silver EX-L. I was originally told early September for my Pilot. I am now being told that it will be end of September before it is delivered. Does anyone know why that would be? The dealer said that they are receiving 3 of the silver EX-L's this week, but the 4th won't be in until the end of the month. I guess that answers the purchasing question, dealers have little/no say over what allocations they will get, particularly on a new model vehicle. I believe this fall dealers will begin to be able to specify what colors/models that they get allocated. So if you see a lot of undesirable colors on the lot right now, that is probably why.
I was guessing aloud that the 'factory' allocated so many silver, so many black, so many EX, so many LX et cetera -- BUT several salespeople reported back that this is JUST NOT THE CASE!
Apparently the Honda dealers CAN order a vehicle "for a specfic request"!
There are limits as to how many total units the dealer gets, by model, but not as to the colors/option level.
At the very start of production there have been delays for various combinations, but not currently.
I suspect that many, many dealers do play games with their 'orders' and try to maximize the price the get for EVERY Pilot. If this involves selling vehicles to "highest bidder" I can only guess...
Simply put, too many Honda dealers are just not honest.
Whether they do not understand the information that Honda's ordering systems gives them, or deliberately mislead buyers, the fact remains that too many DO NOT give straight answers.
Apparently if a dealer has the "allocation" to order 10 Pilots for a month the factory DOES allow them to order all black, all siler, all EX, all LX or ANY COMBINATION!
So, why do other dealers behave so much better when you 'order' say a new Chevy or Ford? I suspect that Honda does 'throttle' supply much more tightly. Chevy doesn't really seem to give a hoot if there is 70 or 150 day supply of unsold vehicles in the 'pipeline' but Honda will NOT increase a dealer's allocation until they have sold MORE than their target allocation. This is one reason why Honda rarely if ever offers incentives-- they prevent dealers from accumulating 'excess inventory'. Of course the other is they don't run the factories flat out unless demand is very high, and that is a big difference between them and GM/Ford/Chrysler.
I do think that survey show Honda buyers ARE NOT HAPPY with the treatment they get when shopping. Perhaps they can take a lesson from the dealers that treat "ordering customers" more seriously/respectfully.
I just had our pilot in a couple weeks ago for 6 noises/rattles. The windows were my number 1 gripe. So far their fix seems to have worked. They mentioned about reforming the top of the doors. The BIG drawback is now the doors are even harder to close with just a push or pull. You really have to concentrate to close them. I hate slamming car doors but that is about what it has come to. But no more creeking. Yeahhhh.
They also took care of the strut noise but were unsuccessful with a nasty rattle behind the radio area in the dash. Good luck. I guess my expectations were too high for the pilot in some areas. My wife takes it in tomorrow for them to hear the radio area rattle. We'll see what they do this time.
My dealer can't seem to fix the noise in the driver's door, although they did fix a similar noise in the passenger door last month.
I have narrowed it down to the chincy, black trim piece on rear of the door. They claim to have put some thick double-sided tape there on the passenger door.
Someone at the office suggested I try some spray foam insulation found at home improvement stores. I think I'll try fixing it myself. Remember the old adage, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT....
By the way, I got 22 mpg on my last tank - combination city and highway, mostly city. I have been averaging about 17-18.
most orders of hondas are not actually "from scratch" if you order a silver pilot ex, then you will get the next one available, whether it be by dealer trade, one on allocation, or not yet built...
dealers order a certail # of vehicles to be built each mont...where they fall in the factory's production schedule is at the factory's discretion...you may order one for october allocation, but it may be built oct 1st or oct. 31st. this may be the reason behind waiting an extra 3-4 weeks
some dealers may not have the firmest grasp on how this works, but if you look at it closer, its really rather simple.
the only obstacle is actually telling the buyer that it MAY take longer if they want to order one from scratch than if they take one out of the dealers pre-determined allocation...neither one will have miles on it, and both are built to exactly the same specifications...the decision is usually an easy one for the buyer.
Are you saying the "allocation" pre-determines color & options?
Several dealers have told me that is just not true. Basically all vehicles 'count' toward the the allocation whether they are ordered for a specific customer on for 'inventory'.With "high demand" vehicles like Pilot, CR-V & Oddy the dealers don't need to guess what vehicles to 'order' to fill their allocation-- mostly they have buyers willing to wait for the color/option combination they want.
The dealers may end up having one or two 'allocation slots' with no specific buyers, and then they WILL 'order' vehicles similar to "the most popular combination" to have on the floor for a 'drop-in' buyer or two, but this is not like with some of the lower demand vehicles where they pick two or three of each color/trim level to have whole range "available for immeadiate delivery"...
Of course many dealers have waiting lists and their 'allocation' is full up for several months. If, however, somebody "on the list" changes their mind or gets a Pilot from another dealer that one then becomes available to whoever was on the list for an identical vehicle OR it goes "on the floor" if doesn't match the wants of anybody on the list...
no, allocation does not pre-determine color and trim, but a "from scratch" order uses an allocation slot in the dealers inventory order...basically its rare to do this as ther are ony a few combinations with hondas, and at larger dealers, they will have pretty much at least 1 of everything each month.
Comments
Bought ours Aug 13
Thanks.
no, the pilot ex's passenger seat does not have height adjustment.
* Leather is less comfortable, hot in the summer, cold in the winter.
* Leather needs continuous armorall to keep up, vs. a quick vacuum.
* If it tears, it's very difficult to repair
The cloth is treated so stains shouldn't be a problem if they're wiped up fairly quickly. We have a 3 year old Odyssey, 4 kids, and daily carpool to school with no stains.
On the other hand, my wife loves the heated leather seats in the winter.
If you want to see in writing that a Pilot test drive review recently (1 to 2 weeks ago)from canadiandriver.com web site.
Any owner later than Aug 13 can confirm that ?
The better the leather, the less sticky it is. the better the leather, the less they crack and feel especially cold.
You have young kids but cleaning up barf off lether is infinitely better than on cloth and the insides of the vehicles are less dusty.
IMO, once kids are old enough, I would switch to cloth but as long as they are youn and in boosters, leather seems best.
Honda's leather (the actual leather) is moderately thin and only surface dyed. It's probably average stuff by industry standards. My wife's TL hasn't shown any excessive wear.
I don't know how much of the Pilot's seat is real vs faux. In most Acuras, the seating surfaces are real leather, but the sides, back, and headrests are faux. But in the last gen CR-V (SE model), they had "leather-trimmed" seats. Only a pair of inch wide strips on the cushion were actual leather.
FWIW. Honda's faux leather is really good. I'd rather have the faux stuff than the genuine article. There's less worry and it's almost as good. (That, and my cow-happy friends won't give me grief!)
IMO, the Pilot has a very high quality cloth interior. All things considered, I don't think the leather in the Pilot is worth the premium. But if you have young kids that have a habit of throwing up or spilling things, then.......
THE PILOT DOES NOT HAVE A HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE PASSENGER SEAT!!!
That is the reason I want to confirm with some reasons/background.
As I said, the author of a test drive review, canadiandriver.com, wrote that the Pilot has a
power passenger seat.
So do you base on the latest dealer information, or yourself maybe a salesman, or you took delivery of Pilot later than 21 Aug 2002, that you come up with the answer?
So far I have not seen a Pilot with power passenger seat, even in the dealer show room.
Any owner later than 21 Aug 2002 can confirm that ?
Often in a review some details are plain wrong.
Or call up Honda.
I did e-amil the author of the review, he has not reply yet.
I do not want to call up Honda.
I just causally posted up a question so that new owners happen to has this NEW feature will confirm that. At least till the author of the review reply to me. Thanks for all the comment.
This might explain why he claims to get 20MPG City and 29MPG Hwy. FYI.
I've emailed NHTSA, the EPA, and IIHS on a number of questions, and you'd be surprised at how they can be responsive. Sometimes you get something that looks like a canned email, but more often than not you get decent information.
How I wish for it in the Ody. Leather IMHO is much easier to maintain than the cloth and makes the cleanup of the inevitable much easier.
I will admit that the leather will get hot in direct sunlight but cools off pretty quickly. Is it cold in the winter - maybe, but then again I've got pants and a winter coat on!!
Leather - I park my Pilot in the Arizona sun all day while at work (100 degrees plus). I have never felt uncomfortable in my leather seats on the way home. The black leather steering wheel is another story. I'm looking for an insulated or reflective cover for it.
Noise - Just had my Pilot in the shop to fix the vibration noise coming from the passenger and driver door areas, especially on rough roads, which is just about all roads.
One of the two local Honda service centers kept my pilot for two days this time. Noise seems to gone on the passenger side, but not the driver's side.
The noise is at ear level and is driving me nuts! I'm going to see what I can get for a trade in a Sequoia deal. Maybe I'll advertise in the LA Times.
Anyone interested in a green, leather, EXL with some extras, 4200 miles?
tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
Leather is as was earlier stated "cold in winter (no seat heaters available in U.S. Pilot's) and hot in summer (It is perforated though)".
Heated leather in winter does makeup for the heat in the summer.
I drove both leather and cloth Pilot's, I chose the cloth.
The seat design has a raised area of the seat bottom. The cloth feels fine but the leather is much stiffer under your legs.
A nice feature with leather in a Pilot is the center console and the door armrest are also leather. With cloth the console pad is vinyl and the door has rubber.
Thanks
http://moeb397.netfirms.com/hondapilot.html
In general people are saying it is darker than they expected and has more gray (with a hint of blue even) than they thought it would (and less green)...most still like it.
I've got a build date of 9/24 for mine.
Just a joke. Sorry. Can't anyone take a joke anymore. Three building blocks of humor...
They are three pillars of sales and, in this location, it's sometimes difficult to discern parody, satire and sarcasm. :-)
Thanks for the clarification!
BTW - is La Fuente still doing business in Tucson? It was one of the best Mexican Restaurants I've ever been to.
tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
That's how it works, I can e-mail the author of that car review (again) and point out that was a mistake confirmed by a sales manger. Thanks
May I ask, if you want to share, that if you reflect all these complaints (from this and the other forum) to the the Honda, do they really care ?
In other words, when I go and plunk down my deposit, are they building the car for me?
Thanks.
In other words, when I go and plunk down my deposit, are they building the car for me?
Thanks.
Apparently the Honda dealers CAN order a vehicle "for a specfic request"!
There are limits as to how many total units the dealer gets, by model, but not as to the colors/option level.
At the very start of production there have been delays for various combinations, but not currently.
I suspect that many, many dealers do play games with their 'orders' and try to maximize the price the get for EVERY Pilot. If this involves selling vehicles to "highest bidder" I can only guess...
Simply put, too many Honda dealers are just not honest.
Whether they do not understand the information that Honda's ordering systems gives them, or deliberately mislead buyers, the fact remains that too many DO NOT give straight answers.
Apparently if a dealer has the "allocation" to order 10 Pilots for a month the factory DOES allow them to order all black, all siler, all EX, all LX or ANY COMBINATION!
So, why do other dealers behave so much better when you 'order' say a new Chevy or Ford? I suspect that Honda does 'throttle' supply much more tightly. Chevy doesn't really seem to give a hoot if there is 70 or 150 day supply of unsold vehicles in the 'pipeline' but Honda will NOT increase a dealer's allocation until they have sold MORE than their target allocation. This is one reason why Honda rarely if ever offers incentives-- they prevent dealers from accumulating 'excess inventory'. Of course the other is they don't run the factories flat out unless demand is very high, and that is a big difference between them and GM/Ford/Chrysler.
I do think that survey show Honda buyers ARE NOT HAPPY with the treatment they get when shopping. Perhaps they can take a lesson from the dealers that treat "ordering customers" more seriously/respectfully.
They also took care of the strut noise but were unsuccessful with a nasty rattle behind the radio area in the dash. Good luck. I guess my expectations were too high for the pilot in some areas. My wife takes it in tomorrow for them to hear the radio area rattle. We'll see what they do this time.
I have narrowed it down to the chincy, black trim piece on rear of the door. They claim to have put some thick double-sided tape there on the passenger door.
Someone at the office suggested I try some spray foam insulation found at home improvement stores. I think I'll try fixing it myself. Remember the old adage, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT....
By the way, I got 22 mpg on my last tank - combination city and highway, mostly city. I have been averaging about 17-18.
most orders of hondas are not actually "from scratch" if you order a silver pilot ex, then you will get the next one available, whether it be by dealer trade, one on allocation, or not yet built...
dealers order a certail # of vehicles to be built each mont...where they fall in the factory's production schedule is at the factory's discretion...you may order one for october allocation, but it may be built oct 1st or oct. 31st. this may be the reason behind waiting an extra 3-4 weeks
some dealers may not have the firmest grasp on how this works, but if you look at it closer, its really rather simple.
the only obstacle is actually telling the buyer that it MAY take longer if they want to order one from scratch than if they take one out of the dealers pre-determined allocation...neither one will have miles on it, and both are built to exactly the same specifications...the decision is usually an easy one for the buyer.
Several dealers have told me that is just not true. Basically all vehicles 'count' toward the the allocation whether they are ordered for a specific customer on for 'inventory'.With "high demand" vehicles like Pilot, CR-V & Oddy the dealers don't need to guess what vehicles to 'order' to fill their allocation-- mostly they have buyers willing to wait for the color/option combination they want.
The dealers may end up having one or two 'allocation slots' with no specific buyers, and then they WILL 'order' vehicles similar to "the most popular combination" to have on the floor for a 'drop-in' buyer or two, but this is not like with some of the lower demand vehicles where they pick two or three of each color/trim level to have whole range "available for immeadiate delivery"...
Of course many dealers have waiting lists and their 'allocation' is full up for several months. If, however, somebody "on the list" changes their mind or gets a Pilot from another dealer that one then becomes available to whoever was on the list for an identical vehicle OR it goes "on the floor" if doesn't match the wants of anybody on the list...