Honda Pilot 2006

jay_24

About the narrowest booster seat we could find is 16 inches. Its the Graco turbo booster (seat bottom only) and the cup holders are pushed in.
When we shopped for a Pilot we found it just barely wide enough for 3 kids in the second row.(2 car seats and a booster). We didn't like the idea of always using the third row, because you loose too much storage space for the camping trips we take.
Even with our slightly wider Tahoe the kids (now 2 boosters and a car seat) still struggle with getting buckled. Not so much with the buckles being too close together, just not being able to get their hands between the boosters to buckle themselves.

I've resigned to the fact that having 3+ kids will always be a pain in a car/truck/SUV. Once they are out of booster seats it will become "She touched me..." and there will never be enough space. Maybe a suburban with second and third row bucket seats. then there is a buffer space between them

rgillies

Actually I gor 78,000 from the Goodyears on my Highlander

master1

This is an update about the letter I sent to Honda's Japan headquarters about the steering wheel vibrations.

Last month:
Honda Headquarters in Japan: RESPONSE LETTER RECIEVED
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOW: American Honda responded saying they will look into it. They sent a slightly rude letter which means they probably got into trouble for playing dum about ignoring a problem.

--> Anybody get contacted by Honda about this issue?
--> Anybody having the vibrations with the 06?

*[I will keep updating you with information they tell me.]*

toca

"Anybody having the vibrations with the 06"?

And '05, '04 and '03. I have an '03 and had the vibration at highway speeds - most noticable around 75mph and up. Other model year owners have mentioned it here over the years as well.

Dealer couldn't find anything wrong. Over time the vibration gradually diminished until it completely went away. I suspect it was the tires but really have no proof. I put a new set of Fortera's on last summer and there was no vibration at all.

tsy

Actually, a lot of newer cars with projector beam headlights or HIDs have a pretty sharp cutoff which can be annoying (it's more annoying if you're coming the other way- you see bright flashes as the headlight hits you)

I've had it on several of my cars and just get used to it. With our Pilot I just find I drive with my foglights on and I can see better.

tom

calg

Has anyone had the dealer adjust the headlights to project a bit higher? Is it even possible to do that? We had an 03 and now have an 06 and I really dislike the newer headlight design. I find myself using the high beams a lot more often than I did in the 03. I have also tried the fog lights with the low beams, but keep getting flashed from oncoming cars telling me it is too bright for them.

brucek1

I have an 06 EXL 4WD. I picked it up at the dealer at night time and experienced the problem of losing visibilty when going down hill or going over a dip. I took it back the next working day to the dealer and they were able to bring the beam up a little bit. Did it fix it? Not really, I still have problems going over dips so I have to slow down or put on the high beams. The mechanic basically said there was not too much to play around with.

mouac01

My 06 Pilot has 5500 miles and has 15% oil life. Can I do the oil change at Jiffy Lube (or similar) other than the dealer? Anyone done this? Thanks...

calg

Thanks for the reply. Next time I bring it in, I will ask them to do the adjustment... even a little bit would help.

green11

My wife has an 06 EX-L Pilot. Only complaint so far is the headlights. I did not like them from the first day. I took them in once to be adjusted, but it did not help. They said I could keep taking it back until it was better, but it was guess work as they adjust it during the daytime.

Mine are not adjusted evenly and there is a very narrow and bright beam. This narrow beam can blind other drivers or not point toward the road at the right angle to help with visibility if misaligned. I much prefer halogens or even regular headlights. Maybe if they ever get aligned I will feel differently (I do not want to go to the shop 10 times to fix this). They look nice during the day, and draw less power than most headlights, but my main criteria in a headlight is that they help me see the road better at night.

When you drive in front of the pilot at night (sometimes I can only see one light in my rear view mirror) or point at your garage at night you can tell how they are off. I was hoping the shop would have a more scientific way to adjust/calibrate other than we turned the light a little more how you asked, bring it back if needed.

I thought I was the only one dealing with this issue.

tsy

Usually the driver's side headlight is a little lower than the passenger side. They shouldn't be aligned exactly.

If it really bothers you you could replace the foglights with some driving lights. It would brighten up the road quite a bit (especially illegal ones! j/k )

Your dealer should be able to align the lights in the shop though, daytime or not!

tom

aspesisteve

mouac01,
of course you can change your oil at Jiffy Lube.

Even if a dealer gives me a "free" oil change coupon, I'm still hesitant to use it because it takes way too long.

keep track of your reciepts in case warranty work requires you show a history of maintenence.

qbrozen

i responded to you in the Pilot maintenance thread, so I won't repeat myself here.

fordfan

I just bought a Pilot EX; I have driven at night a couple of toimes, even on dark roads. I don't see a problem; they sem to work fine.

ehtorg

ettamarna,

Do you have an update on your 2006 Honda Pilot. We purchased a new 2006 Honda Pilot just 2 weeks ago. Last night the oil light came on and stayed on. I checked oil levels and they were good. I am pretty certain the engine is now dry. I had it towed to the dealer late last night but they will not look at it until Monday (tomorrow) when they open. If I have a similar problem (which might be a good possibility given the lack of oil pressure our car seems to be having) what are my options. How did everything turn out in your case? Any update is appreciated. I hope mine is not a :lemon: as well.

Thanks.

steelblue1964

I purchased my new Pilot EX 4WD about 7 weeks ago, and I really love it!!! EXCEPT for the gas mileage. It cost about $46.00 to fill it yesterday. I took it to Pittsburgh from NJ, and it cost me about $78 for the trip.

I put the Sirius S50 receiver in my Pilot, and it works great!! I sit it just to the left of the "not an ashtray" drawer, and I draped the antennae over my dash and atop the lower part of the windshield. Gotta have Howard in the morning in the Pilot!!

qbrozen

so... what mileage are you getting?

if its far below epa estimates, search edmunds for "idle-learn procedure."

steelblue1964

It must be close to the lower end of the scale, or about 17 mpg. And Gas is about $2.70 a gallon here in NJ.

qbrozen

well, 17 is not too bad since its not broken in yet. And, depending on driving habits, routes, tire pressure, etc, you might not get much or any better than that. Time will tell. Good luck.

matt41

Just leased an 06 Pilot last month. I also noticed the issue with the headlights, especially on dark, unlit roads. Just installed PIAA Xtreme White HID bulbs, and had the dealer align the headlights; seemed to help a lot! I am also planning to get HID bulbs for the foglights, as they seem to be lighting up the side of the road more than the road in front of me. Dealer tells me the "projector" headlights throw light further down the road; comments or other solutions? Love the vehicle other than this minor point......

01mdx

No offense but foglights are designed to do that so you can see the road lines when fog is present without lighting up the fog in front of you. They are not driving lights.

master1

True, but they do help light up the area in front of the car a bit.

matt41

Thanks, Master1; To 01mdx, I only made the comment cause the foglights I had on my Jeep Cherokee shined ahead of the vehicle, not to the sides. Also, you need some light in front of the vehicle, since an SUV sits so high, there is a fairly good sized area in front of the vehicle the headlights don't cover very well.

kabill

To each his own, by all means, but the foglights on the 2006 Pilot are a couple of my favorite things about the vehicle. I need to see off to the sides of anything I drive because I do a lot of night and early morning driving on Minnesota lake roads--lots of deer and other critters out and about at these times-- and I've never seen beyond the ditch like you can with a Pilot. Obviously, that's not important to you. I hope you can adjust them the way you'd like.

tsy

You are technically correct about what foglights are supposed to do, but the fogs in the Piot do light up the road quite well and fill in the gap the headlights miss directly in front of the truck, which makes them quite useful. Perhaps not truly driving lights, but who cares what they're called if they work?

tom

01mdx

OK, I know many people use them that way. I guess I read the initial post as disappointed b/c the light was directed towards the side of the vehicle rather than forward, which is exactly what should be happening. Now if someone wants to change that it's fine provided that they do not raise the beams. I see way too many SUVs driving with "fog lights" that blind/distract oncoming traffic. I guess that's my point.

I do put them on when there is no fog sometimes, primarily when I am driving on a wooded road with not much shoulder to avoid any creatures that might pop out suddenly.

bobw3

Might be better to use 1/2 of the 3rd row for one of the kids, or put the camping gear on the roof. Except for the giant SUVs, about the only vehicle I can think of that can hold three across in the second row is a Toyota Sienna.

jay_24

Agree. However the bicycles are on the roof already.

I know an owner or two with a Sienna. Neither get the EPA mpg with them, so it ends up very close to what we get with our Tahoe.

Maybe the Honda Ody if they improve the second row seat configuation. A buddy of mine has one with the cylinder de-activation. He gets 26+ on the hwy fully loaded.

--j

master1

You're welcome!

wiedman

Just drove my "NEW" 2006 Pilot off the lot and discovered a low and sometimes loud rumble , between 1500 and 2000 rpm at a steady cruise, in any gear. The sound is coming from the rear of the vehicle. Rode with a Honda tech who said he has no idea what the sound is! Any ideas?

01mdx

Some configurations might fit a box and two bikes on the top. Beyond that you might consider putting the bikes on the back via hitch OR putting a cargo box on the back. OR maybe just realize that with cargo and bikes, things are going to be cramped.

Personally, I have a third on the way and will probably get a box for the top eventually. If I need more than two bikes, they are probably going in back.

matt41

Oh OK, I had just made a comment about the new headlights, and how it was taking some adjusting to the type of light they provided. The foglights also threw me off, cause I had not experienced the light on the side of the road. By the way, can the foglights be adjusted? And I do agree with your point about blinding foglights as well.

matt41

Just averaged 20.2 MPG on my 06 4WD EX-L, on a trip of 184 miles mostly highway. Have 1200 miles so far on my Pilot, and I thought that MPG pretty good on a very new vehicle. Gas here is $2.95 in upstate NY, by the way ! And we have to pump our own !

master1

I live in NY too - the gas is 10% alchoal in NY so the engine practically chokes a bit on the gas. New Jersey has good gas and it lasts longer because there isn't any alchoal in it.

rockfan

Can you confirm if you bought the 2WD LX model? I just bought one last week and heard a low to loud rumble whenever the VCM system would turn on or off. A couple of times the noise was there even before the VCM (ECO) light kicked on. Its been at the dealer all this week and they sound that the sound dampening for the LX is a lot cheaper than the EX and that is causing you to hear the noise. I will find out tomorrow if it is taken care. Its been driving me nuts but you are the first person on the forum to bring it up. Hope this helps.

bobw3

Off topic, but why is there no self-serve gas in NJ? I drove through there once and it was a real pain trying to get gas with one guy trying to fill up all the cars. And he was so slow. I could have done it myself a whole lot quicker, and he didn't even fill it up all the way. Are there any other states like that?

wiedman

I bought the 2WD LX model. Yes, I've noticed the low rumbling noise gets louder in VCM[ECO] mode while cruise control is on between 1500 - 1900 RPM. Gets real loud at 55mph/1900 rpm. Seemed to be coming mainly through rear hatch. Released the rear hatch lock and really loud noise went away but still hearing low rumble or vibration. Auto tech brother-in-law thought it might be a vibration in the exhaust system? Please let me know how yours turns out, mine heads to the shop on Weds.!

rockfan

I got an update for you. The dealer mechanic called the Honda Techline and they identified the problem as a connection problem between the microphone and speakers. I don't know what a mic is doing in the car but thats the way the mechanic explained it. He said the location is right above you near the center console by the roof. He fixed that and ordered some clips to hold the head liner in place. This whole thing may be related to a recent shipment of cars as another brand new LX model with no miles had the same noise at the same dealer. I'm going to pick it up today and am crossing my fingers to see if the noise goes away.

master1

Not sure, but probably so they can charge you more money. lol

master1

The microphone might because of the active noise cancellation system? I think that the acn system is really useless - I prefer more insulation instead.

toca

Not true! New Jersey has some of the lowest prices for gasoline in the Northeast. I'm not from N.J., but if I recall correctly, it might be a state law that requires a gas station attendant pump your fuel.

master1

Yea, NJ is still cheap comparible

gunga64

I think I read that the next gen Pilot comes out in 2007. Anyone have any links, also any know if MPG will get better on the next Gen?

master1

Of course the gas will get bigger, and the next Pilot will be about the Murano's size, and the new Toyota Highlander's size. The gas mpg will most likely go up to 19 or 20 EPA city.

markjenn

With the facelift in the 2006 MY, it is highly unlikely there will be any major changes for the 2007 MY. Many expect a heavily revised model from the 2008 MY, which if on a normal schedule would mean fall 2007.

The Pilot is Honda's bread/butter SUV and I wouldn't expect any major changes in size - it's ability to carry 8 people in reasonable comfort is probably it's best feature. I expect we'll see a hybrid version and perhaps a slight improvement in gas mileage with the standard model, but not much - there is only so much you can do with a big 4700 lb SUV.

- Mark

master1

Did you see the new coming Highlander? Did you see the new coming MDX? Do you see a lot of Muranos on the street - YES. The size of these SUV's are getting smaller - it doesn't matter if it is big and seats eight, the sizes of SUV's are getting smaller so the gas mileage improves, and so the sales improve. Besides, the Pilot needs a redesign especially because of many complaints about steering wheel vibrations (I know some of you are not experiencing this, but there are a lot of people who are), the Pilot also has a slightly odd suspension design, and it's starting to age. By the suspension design, the Pilot's suspension seems overly complicated. There is much more hanging underneath the car, and when I took a close look at it, it looks like it has more unnecessary parts to it. Highlanders suspension is more modern. The wheels also tilt outwards when weight is put on the car, which is because of an old style suspension. I'm not saying it's a bad car, but it needs a redesign.
[Do not take any of this personally, or make this upset anyone because I am not trying to offend anyone]

bamacar

Please provide the before and after dimensions of all of these shrinking SUVs. The new Highlander and MDX look different, but I have seen no dimensions that prove either is getting smaller. Muranos don't sell all that well here though I do see a ton of the new full size GM and Chevy SUVs.

Also when the more complex, but many feel better multilink suspension (Pilot)was dropped in 2001 on the Honda Civic in favor of the cheaper strut (Highlander) suspension, people were so dissappointed in the handling. Guess what say a $15k Toyota Corolla has? (Highlander style suspension) Guess what say the ($68-122k)Audi A8 has? (Pilot style suspension) If you want cheap, the Highlander suspension is the way to go.

The Highlander needs a redesign much worse than the Pilot. The Highlander still looks like a Suzuki from about 8-10 years ago. It was based on the Camry from what 2 or 3 generations ago? The Pilot will change for 2008, but it remains to be seen if it will shrink in size. I for one hope they don't go cheapo on the suspension.

master1

What do you mean by Highlanders having a cheap suspension? Listen, you don't need dimensions - I'm not trying to win a law suit, just talking -- The New Highlander is smaller and lower to achieve better fuel economy. Yes, you are right about the Highlander needing a redesign, but the Highlander does have better quality.(in my opinion) The wheels don't stick out when weight is put on it so it keeps the tread even on the tires, unlike the Pilot. Corolla!? Where did you read that the Highlander has the same suspension as the Corolla? If you mean design, that's different, but it works and never breaks. Consumer Reports gave the Honda Pilot a very good reliability rating while the Highlander has an excellent. I do own a Highlander and it works flawlessly. Do I own a Pilot - used to.

I know what you are talking about the 01 Civic. Understand that it doesn't mean it is garbuage or cheap. They did that to achieve a slightly smoother ride since most Americans like smooth rides - I don't, and you most likely don't, but it increases sales. But it doesn't make it a cheap suspension, it's just for less performance, but such a performance suspension isn't necessary. Performance = Civic SI.

The rollover percentage rates are very similiar in the Pilot to Highlander. I think the Pilot was 15%, and the Highlander 16%. Both were 4 star

bamacar

I have been through this before. I own a Pilot and drive a family member's Highlander all the time. There is less road noise with the Highlander. In every other category I care about, Pilot wins with me. Much roomier, less like a Buick interior and ride, and the engine was much smoother than the old 3.0 Toyota.

The Corolla and Highlander have basically the same basic strut suspension design as do most any "cheaper" independent suspension cars or light SUVs on the road. The better and more expensive handling vehicles use a design similar to the Pilot multi-link or wishbone.

I think the next Highlander will be lower but it may actually be longer and wider than the present one. It might even be as large as the Freestyle or Pacifica. My Mom who seems to fit the typical Highlander customer hates the look of the new Highlander. If it looks much like that design, she will probably switch brands next go round. Will the new Highlander get better fuel economy? Hopefully, but I think it may actually get a little larger.

tinatina

Good points. I heard the Highlander was based on the pre 2002 Camry suspension. This suspension has been updated now twice by Toyota

The Pilot is a better vehicle than the Highlander. It handles better and has the better powertrain. The Highlander is the second best vehicle in its class.

Master1, your claim that the Highlander will be shrunken down is not true. The next generation Highlander will be longer and wider. However, it may not be taller. If it shrunk down it would be too close size wise to the RAV-4, which increased in size considerably.