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Comments
John
One thing you can count on, is that Honda will come up with unexpected solutions to just about any problem. So don't be surprised if in a few years we see something like this offered by Honda...and yes, Honda would have to beef up the chassis, especially the front end, for such an application.
Bob
Your joking right ? NONE of the "imports" offer a snow plow prep pkg.
with FULL factory warranty for snowplowing related breakage on ANY
trucks in their line up..........
honda may try to all things for all people but they are miserably missing
the mark with the ridgeline.
Forget the high price, poor assembly quality, and poor sales................
The ridgeline will soon be a orphan along with the subie baja..... :lemon:
Ridgeline becoming an orphan soon? Don't hold your breath...
Bob
Bob
As for orphaning the Ridgeline... Geo minds me of when people poked fun of that silly little CVCC. What a joke that turned out to be.
Honda has done a lot of stange/unexpected things in the past. I wouldn't rule anything out. Also, the Ridgeline will continue to evolve over the years. Maybe we will see this on the next-generation model in 5 or so years, which should have the rumored V8?
Bob
the mark with the ridgeline.
Forget the high price, poor assembly quality, and poor sales................
The ridgeline will soon be a orphan along with the subie baja.
Yet another poorly misinformed soul.
Forget the high price,
At about 26,000 for an RT it's competitive with all its class competitors. compare all the features for yourself. I'll take the base RT against the interior of the upgraded interior of the Taco sport any day.
poor assembly quality,
This is an odd statement. I cross shopped the Ridgeline with all its competitors and it's head and shoulders above everything else in quality. I would put the 05 Taco as coming in second to the Ridgeline in quality. Fit and finish are impeccable in the RL and obviously second to none.
and poor sales................
The RL has been steadily climbing in sales for the last few months with August being the best month since release. I predict all truck sales will fall with if the gas prices continue as they are, but it won't be because people don't like the RL.
The RL is a class leading innovator. I will never own a pickup without the class leading exclusive feature of the huge inbed trunk and 2 way opening tailgate. All pickups are second rate alone just because they lack this feature. With tail gate down, the RL has a 6 1/2 flat loading floor with 4 feet between the wells. Try to find that in any midsize. Your opinion is probably more valuable than mine though, I've only driven it daily on and off road for the last 7 months and 5,000 miles. I'm more impressed every day that I have a no compromise large sedan with true truck ruggedness. This is my first Honda and I'm looking forward to my Civic Si. Honda has so impressed me with the Ridgeline, we're buying our car from them too. I've been loyal to Toyota for years with no complaints, but Honda is just producing better quality and obviously trying harder to earn my dollar.
Quite funny a poster or 2 there (now here) touted the "advances and innovations"
and gonna be a hit and take over the market yada, yada..................
Now that it failed..................The ridge is gonna be the new "champion"....... :confuse:
right here on Edmunds.............................
"Blew out ALL 4 struts traveling down a washboard dirt road at 10-15 mph"
and other not so great comments...................
I can see these "tough" vehicles sitting on the side of the road broke after
towing its 5000 lb max. after a season or 2. lets not talk transmission failures
to come.............
But we can ignore that drivel ! Edmunds must be trying to FOOL us !
We know honda is superior because we follow the sheep.................
Orphan status REAL soon............................. :P
right here on Edmunds.............................
"Blew out ALL 4 struts traveling down a washboard dirt road at 10-15 mph"
and other not so great comments...................
Hmmm.... I've been on long wash board roads as described in their long term test and my struts are fine, but they don't mention what distance was travelled under those conditions or how the the truck was driven by their other staff for the last 2 months did they? Of course I actually drove slow and really avoided pot holes as I actually paid for my truck, and it wasn't just given to me as a free loaner to abuse as I see fit with no consequences to me. Honda engineers said the struts had signs of wear consistent with long term abuse. Their wash board long drive could have been the cumulative effect of their other drivers, and the straw that broke the camels back. I guess we'll never really know. In any case Honda doesn't make their struts as far as I know. They should take it up with Mcpherson. You also left out half their staff that loves the RL. How convenient.
I can see these "tough" vehicles sitting on the side of the road broke after
towing its 5000 lb max. after a season or 2. lets not talk transmission failures
to come.............
Wow, what a gross assumption about something you know little about or have any experience with. A statement that isn't even worth responding to.
But we can ignore that drivel ! Edmunds must be trying to FOOL us !
We know honda is superior because we follow the sheep.................
I wouldn't ignore Edmunds at all. They had alot of great things say in that long term test. I'm not sure why you see it as negative. Oh that's right, I forgot, you have an ax to grind. Your motives and what you are, are pretty transparent.
Orphan status REAL soon........
Real soon? Not really. The long term plan for the RL is a hybrid in 2009, and a V8 in 2011-2012. You have high hopes I know, but you'll be sadly dissapointed.
and gonna be a hit and take over the market yada, yada..................
If you can't tell the difference between the Baja and the RL, you don't know anything about the RL. I would suggest you at least read something about the subject your posting about.
The Baja is little more than a car with some California beach style. If it works for peoples needs then it is the best car for them. I would never critisize it. I, however; needed a truck with some true capability, and the RL has proven itself again and again since I've owned it.
That's it. The expert has spoken.
My first tank of gas was used with about 1/3 of it city driving and 2/3 highway miles and I was pleasantly surprised when I got 22.3 mpg.
Also like the convenience of carrying my golf clubs in the trunk and out of sight.
Truck rides and handles great and is quite an attention grabber.
I was getting approx 16 mpg when it was new as well. Don't worry about it. I've got nearly 6,000 miles and am now getting 19-19.7 mpg with mixed driving. Leave the factory oil in for the full time. Looks like it will be around 7,000 miles till my first change. I've got 30% oil life left at nearly 6,000 miles.
right here on Edmunds.............................
"Blew out ALL 4 struts traveling down a washboard dirt road at 10-15 mph"
and other not so great comments...................
From someone in the know:
Honda has one of the toughest shock durability requirements in the industry as noted in the quote. Ask several of the damper suppliers if you would like to verify that information. Edmunds has a track record of not evaluating vehicles in a engineering manner (ie duplicate conditions – same temperature – same speed - etc).
Given the road they drove on, it is widely known this is a severe surface and road that must be treated with respect. They also failed to mention they failed two tires in this run due to the sharp shale on the surface. Due to the ride damping qualities of the Ridgeline, I suspect the vehicle was driven very fast over this surface at a high ambient temperature. Based on the description, the seals failed in the struts as well as the dust shield. The temperature extreme that was required to trigger this failure is so severe, there must have been an extreme input (temps greater than 300F).
I doubt that a Tacoma could be driven controllably on that surface at the same speed/duration as the R-L. With the live rear axle, there would be so much axle hop it would be impossible to replicate the speed that is possible in a Ridgeline. During a recent trip an acquaintance made on that same road on a rental SUV, they experienced 2 flat tires that had to be replaced and saw numerous other vehicles broken down along the route. Edmund’s conveniently left out the detailed facts describing the route.
I am confident when the rest of the FACTS are available and collaborated by an engineering team, the truth will be told.
daylights out of the 'ridge.........................
They just reported a FAILURE of the struts after driving on a washboard
surfaced road. Remember this is the much ballyhooed and rugged honda
TRUCK not a civic.................
They show it in the commercials bombing thru a rough desert area with
a motorcycle in the bed don't they?
A FAILURE is a FAILURE no matter what ! I wouldn't be a happy "sheep"
after buying a much overated and overpriced vehicle and having such a
MAJOR failure on a 4x4 truck wannabe !
HECK...........If this failure would of happened on the X brand vehicle we
would be seeing "see those vehicles from X company are junk!" comments
from the honda faithful...............
Instead its the old " they flogged it too hard" excuse !
I agree that the shocks shouldn't have failed. Does that mean the vehicle is cursed? Of course not. As this article (and others have pointed out), there's a lot to like about the vehicle. No question that Honda needs to look into this shock issue. It is "fixable," however.
The real question is, is it a problem that other Ridgeline owners have experienced? Is there a trend or pattern showing up here, like that found with Nissan Titan brakes? So far this is the only instance of shock failure that I've heard of.
As much as I like the Ridgeline, I've felt from Day One that it's off-road capability is marginal compared to the Tacoma and Frontier, and others in this class. If it were me, I would have engineered it to have a proper "lockable" low-range in the transfer case and beefier shocks from the get-go. Hopefully Honda will offer these features in the not-to-distant future.
This is a good example of why I'm wary of buying first-year models of any brand. Back in '86 I bought a then all-new Saab 9000 turbo. That vehicle was fraught with problems, that in time Saab corrected; but as a customer, that didn't help me any. After that experience, I swore off buying a first-year model, from any company.
Bob
But I guess when its a honda...............The "sheep" have excuses!
The titan STILL is a problematic vehicle ! One of our fellow posters has
had 2. Problems with both and broken drivetrain parts on a vehicle that
was neither towed or off roaded are not good !
Especially one being a 04 and the other being a 05...........
So forget the 1st. year build EXCUSE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HINT: Take a trip to the armada or the q forums posts here at Edmunds!
I DO notice the posters with problems here are shouted down and chased
off when they complain about the "flawless" ridgeline.................
I note at another ridgeline forum other posters with waterleak, roofrack,
navigation system, and other problems are also quickly dismissed !
....................... :confuse:
engines instead of the old truimph designed motor after that huh?
Remember this is 2005......Things have progressed and sometimes NOT
for the better..............
I could compain about my 70s and 80s toyota headgasket failures and the
wonderful 1yr/12k mile warranty at the time........................ :P
No it's not a problem that others have experienced. I'm quite familiar with almost everything that has bween posted about the RL on the net and this incident is an anomaly. One or 2 struts might fail, but when all 4 fail, it points to only to one thing.
Bob
If you folks have a problem with Edmunds test too BAD !
Thats their opinion(s) and experience...................
STILL.....ALL 4 struts failed..............LOL!!!!
What a pile!
I own Ridgeline, and it is a best truck I ever had -period. I had Tacoma and S10 before, I also owned Jeep Wrangler many moons ago.
I don't baby my truck and living in Arizona I have many opportunities to go off road, just last weekend, for the fun I drove up dry creek road used only by RTV and cross bikes, I went a couple miles up the hill trough the rocks and deep sand and except from one minor scratch on the side from the branch (I buffed it out already), I had no problem at all. It was fun to see huge cloud of dust behind me I scared one RTV driver who was not expecting to see anyone there.
I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do some things I have done with my Jeep, but I doubt I could do those things in any other truck (simply base is too long and they all don't have enough clearance).
I don't want to put down any other trucks, because I'm sure they are also good (I liked Tacoma, but I needed more cabin space, S10 was one big mistake, I bought it used because it seemed like bargain), I just don't understand why some people like to call Ridgeline piece of crap.
I know my Ridgeline fits my life style perfectly, and after driving it for a few months I can't say one bad thing about it.
Happy trucking everyone.
What a pile!
Your reasoning skills are seriously diminished, and I suspect we have another teenager trying to show off on the net. Before you imply a sweeping generalization that the RL is not a quality product, you had better have more examples of strut failures than just one. This incident means nothing unless I see other owners report in with it. Believe me, I'm aware of 1,000 other owners on the net and this problem is non-existent. This incident points directly to abuse especially since all 4 failed. Try to be polite and talk intelligently if your going to post here rather than just trolling to provoke a response.
I've been on wash board roads here in the south west in high ambient temps, and my struts have not failed. Please explain this confict to me. I've also been on rough BLM trails repeatedly and still no failure. Please explain this. I can only say the edmunds test is an anomaly and the struts tell a different story than what the editor does.
The complaints from actual owners (water leaks, roof rack wind noise,
and the outdated navi. system) on these forums, PUTC and ridgelineowner.
the strut issue is new to me.
I am sure time will tell.......................
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I have read the report and find it very difficult to believe that all 4 struts failed. Couldn't be any worse driving conditions than our farm, especially this dry summer we're having, so had to comment since I haven't had any problems with mine. None of the folks on the ROC website have encountered this and we're a pretty vocal, "shoot from the hip" kinda club. Wish this report were more objective than what it is...credibility issues make it a very hard to take seriously, especially from people who acutally own them and use them in a variety of scenarios...
Couldn't be happier with my Ridgeline. Hats off to the engineers that brought it to market...
I myself have had my Ridgeline for about 2.5 months now and couldn't be happier with it, although I don't do any off-roading so I would be able to tell you how my struts performed.
True, but to replicate and be meaningfull the test must be performed in the same ambient air temp. A cooler day would not do. The temps in this region are severe. Also the nature of these kinds of roads though I'm not familiar with this one, but it sounds treacherous as it has sharp shale managed to fail 2 Michelin tires. Anyway the nature of washboard roads is that they are always changing depending on the weather, so coming back on a different day although the same road, it may not be the same surface. It's difficult to replicate.
But we have this statement below from a Honda insider. I don't think Honda will let this go. I'm looking forward to these results as my personal experience off road with the Ridgeline just doesn't jive with 4 struts failing.
I am confident when the rest of the FACTS are available and collaborated by an engineering team, the truth will be told.
Is there a link to this "insider"?
Just curious...........
Bob
Bob
His addy is in his profile :P ......................
Does this "insider" work at a Honda dealership or American Honda in Torrance?
Like I said, just curious.......
Does this "insider" work at a Honda dealership or American Honda in Torrance?
Like I said, just curious.......
sent you a private message
As with any thing, there will always be problems from time to time with certain things, can't be perfect all the time, but they seem to have a winner from my point of view.
www.cloud-rider.com/