I have noticed that my mileage is substantially worse when driving hills, especially longer grades. Using regular gas, I am consistently getting 19-21 MPG, mixed driving, over the past 15,000 miles, 21-23 highway only. Obviously driving 15,000 miles in 5 months guarantees quite a bit of highway driving. This is LA though, and much of the highway driving is stop and go. I would say on average tanks 65 % highway and 35 % city. I did notice a slight dip in mileage from 5,000 to 10,000 miles?
I am a rather "easy" driver though, seeing an average of 17mpg with my V8 Mountaineer.
I get close to 19.1 - 19.5 consistently in my MDX. I just passed 6000 miles. Highway miles are significantly better, I have gotten over 24 MPG gas station to gas station on the highway. I drive somewhat quickly.
I just purchased my Silver EX-L up at Friendly Honda in MI and drove back to Knoxville. I added fog lights, day/night mirror, and cross bars. I will be upgrading to Michelin cross terrains in the next couple of days. My two kids ages 3 and 4 loved the DVD entertainment system. I was quite impressed with the overall vehicle.
The dealer quoted me $1000 over invoice and delivered as promised... no hassles...no games. He is currently selling $1500 over invoice and will not drop the price back to $1000 over invoice until the demand drops to around a 1 month wait.
There were several posts in the past with reference to the head lights not being adequate. I drove the vehicle at night with the fog lights on and was impressed with the visibility. I decided to turn the fog lights off near my home to see the difference. The headlights did not seem to be nearly bright enough. I don't believe I will ever drive at night without the fog lights on and they are worth every penny spent on them.
Overall an A+ experience for my first Honda vehicle purchase.
Sell Price for EX-L with DVD $30,264.26. Dealer added accessories: Fog lights, Day/night mirror, cross bars $919.00. Dealer add ons were by choice not forced into package.
Automobile has a comparison of several crossovers, one being the Acura MDX. They tested them up in blizzard country to see if they really could handle the snow and ice. The reviewers seemed fairly impressed with the Acura's snow-conquering abilities.
Acceleration seemed to be a big positive. The MDX ran 0-60 in 8.2 seconds in dry conditions. It ran the same test in 9.4 seconds on a snowy track. No other vehicle did as well.
They felt that VTM4 would not be as effective at higher speeds. For that, they preferred the more sophisticated systems like those in the BMW, Volvo, and Audi.
Try follow the instruction from your garage door openner. This work for my Honda Accord and Lexus ES300. I tried follow the car manual, it didn't work. Then I followed the Garage Openner's manual and both worked. Good Luck.
Crikey, the total out the door price is as follows for EX-L with DVD $30,264.26, dealer installed options were $919.00 for fog lights, day/night mirror, and cross bars.
1. Purchase price plus dealer options $31,183.26 2. Doc Fee 40.00 3. MI sales tax 6%, license and title 2,026.40 4. Total delivered price $33,249.66
My wife is a MI resident and is why we paid MI sales tax rather than TN which is 9.25%. This dealer is selling vehicles to many individuals like myself that got the info based on a posting. Their no hassel no haggle approach plus a great price makes buying a vehicle from them a great deal.
Just wanted you to know I too have ordered a Havasu Blue EX-L RES from the Internet Sales Manager, and so far so good! It is supposed to arrive Mid-December. Thanks again for letting us all know about this awesome deal! My last thing I want to work out is financing. Did you lease or buy? If so what was your interest rate/money factor and over how many months? How was your experience with their finance guy? Did you negotiate it all over the phone before you arrived? Sorry for all the questions, but I too will be flying in from out of state and want to have all my ducks in a row...
We purchased the vehicle and used our credit union for financing. We were offered 5.2% for 60 months by Honda but opted for the 4.75%/60 months our credit union offered us.
Been looking for a replacement of my 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis that has also been used to tow a 3500 lb trailer & boat. Have loved the Grand Marquis but Mercury no longer offers a towing option and only rates their 2003 models at 1500 lbs. for towing. Looked and drove a Pilot today and liked it. Supposedly it will tow up to 4500 lbs with DIO hitch and cooler package.
Has anyone been towing much behind a Pilot and, if so, how well does it tow?
01r1, Thanks for old threads. I would still like to hear from someone that's actually towed a 3000 lb plus boat for a few hundred miles. I'm curious how well the Pilot handled cross winds and winding roads, while towing, like the roads one encounters frequently on his way into the Canadian walleye country.
I did notice during my test drive that the Pilot wanted to follow road variations a little. I can't help but wonder what would happen with the back filled with baggage and 300 lbs of tongue weight on the back.
I have the Acura MDX and not the Pilot but the towing characteristics should be pretty close. I towed my boat from San Francisco to lake Shasta and back (several hundred miles each way). I have a 20 ft Regal that weighs about 3700 - 3900 lbs with trailer and filled with gas. I knew that boat was behind me the entire way. The car handles the wind ok but if you are buying a vehicle with a lot of towing in mind (and the boat is much more than 3000 lbs.), I suggest you look at a different vehicle. I will tow my boat again on short distances but will never do a long trip again. Otherwise, great vehicle.
in the owner's manual, there is a 1-800 number. park in front of the garage with a cordless or cell, call that #, and they will walk you right through it in under 5 minutes. this way, if it doesn't take, you have them on the phone with you the whole time.
i advise my customers with the homelink to do this, and all have been very pleased with this process.
It turns out my garage door opener (Wayne-Dalton Quantum) is not compatible with Homelink. However they sell an attachment kit that will make it work for $68 so I'm getting that.
I live in Northern New Jersey and placed an order for a EX-L in Sagebrush Pearl back in August. Granted, the Pilot brochure says this color will be available in "Fall 2002", but the dealer I'm using continues to say they see zero Pilot's available in this color...not only for their dealership, but for the entire state of New Jersey. Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem? I read other messages where people talk of getting them back in September/October. Was just wondering where other Sagebrush Pearl purchasers live and how long it took to get your vehicle?
We live in metro DC and I've seen lots of them. If you're willing to make the drive to DC, I can hook you up with the salesperson from whom we purchased our Pilot for $1,000 under MSRP, no extraneous fees or add-ons. It's a high-volume dealership that values volume more than per vehicle profit. I'm sure that they have several on delivery.
I got my Sagebrush EX-L in Sacramento, CA on Sept 25. I saw another Sagebrush on different dealer's lot but I still haven't seen another on the road yet.
We bought our Sandstone EX at College Park Honda last week for $1,000 under MSRP, no other fees or dealer add-ons. All of their Pilots sell for $1,000 under. We had a similar offer from Sport Honda, but we had already signed a buyer's order with College Park. Make sure you go through the dealer's website to get to the correct person. Good luck.
I have an order placed for a EX-L Nav and it's for list. Now I see there are dealers selling for 1000.00 below? I won't for out of state since the 1000.00 isn't enough to get involved in all the problems of getting the car home. But I'm concerned that I'm overpaying in my back yard.
(By the way - Westport CN Honda told us there was a year wait on all the EX's)
Now that the Pilot has been out for a while, and winter is upon us, does anyone have any real snow experience to relate? How well does the 4wd system handle the snow and ice, and slick grades? Cheers Pat
At our local dealer here in Southeastern PA, there are 7 Pilots on the lot. All are EX models, three are EX-L's (none with nav). Not sure why your dealer would say there is a one-year wait. Seems they are readily available (in this area anyway). Has your dealer tried a dealer search and swap?
Not sure what kind of dealing they are doing, but probably not very much as the Pilots here are usually off the lot in less than a week.
While bowke28 is essentially correct that the factory allocation operates with approximately a one month lead, AND I am last person to defend a dealer, there IS a real possibility that a givven dealer could have a 'projected' wait of one year -- here is how:
Suppose that the dealer's TYPICAL allocation has been running at about 10 Pilots/month or 120 a year for the past year. If they have taken 'pre-orders' on more than 120 Pilots, they would project that it would take a year to get a new order...
But what about dealer-to-dealer exchanges? Well, as bowke28 states, any dealer that is "fat dumb & happy" has probably BURNED so many other dealers that they surrounding dealers would rather starve out this b@st@rd than let 'em have a Pilot from their allocation...
Pilots remain among the shortest supply of all Honda vehicles, but there are definately dealers with lower demand...
Sorry for inquiry if already covered previously: In addition to the obvious comparisons, e.g.: sunroof, tranny, engine, interior accuterments, etc. are there very basic or significant differences between Pilot and MDX?
For instance, do both vehicles have the same sound-proofing? Are seats, frame, suspension essentially the same?
Thanks for any input...I'm trying to establish value vs money difference between each vehicle.
The Honda Pilot vs Acura MDX board ran out of steam, but it's been reopened for more discussion. Maybe if you repost over there, some good comparisons will come forth. Thanks!
bowke: If you are saying that omly "non-preordered" vehicle count toward 'allocation' that is counter to everything that is being said about Pilot/CR-V/Accord/MDX/Oddy availability...
The way it has been explained (several times, by several posters who seem to have been honest about other Honda/Acura policies) is: The factory decides how many UNITS it can build profitably. That number is then ALLOCATED to all dealers based on some established formula. The primary input to that formula is, of course, prior sales volume for that dealer, but there are other inputs, like upgrading showroom, earning 'top satisfaction' distinction, et cetera. As the units are sold and delivered, the factory may ramp up production and have the ability to dole out 'extra' units, but the factory WILL NOT produce more vehicles than it deems is PROFITABLE...
There has been no indication that the factory 'knows' about a particular dealer's "waiting list" , or that they plan/allocate/build units in response to such a list.
As a practical matter, if such a system of increasing allocation based on IMMEADIATE month's prior sales existed, there would be NO prospective buyers waiting months, and that certainly SEEMS to be still happening...
I defense of the dealer, I'm sure that it's true. he didn't try to leverage that information to and say "but if you pay x amount I can get you one." He was NOT taking orders. I recall in the heyday of the long wait for the Odyssey tha the same dealer had the same problem. Incredibly I think that people from that area would rather just shop there. I guess... I'm getting mine on Long Island in about 2 months.
I have a new Pilot EX and have experienced cutting my fingers on the steering wheel. Has anyone else noticed this problem? The cruise control and the radio control buttons on the steering wheel have very sharp edges on the back. When turning the wheel for parking it has cut me pretty good.
Comparing this to other vehicles even an Accord shows that it is too sharp. Honda has told me it is not a problem, they can only replace the buttons wih new ones. Seems like all they need to do is to modify those buttons.
Yes, ljay1, my EX-L has the same problem. Every time I grab the wheel in the area of those buttons, I end up catching those sharp edges. My wife's little hands don't seem to have any problem, so I figured it was just me. I may just file mine down a little.
The MDX buttons don't have any sharp edges. I thought the two would have similar plastic components. I guess the buttons are different. I wonder if the control stalks are? I have read reviews which said that the MDX shares those with the accord?
Anyone know if the Pilot has seat warmers for the leather seating option?? I went to the SF auto show this past weekend and sat in the leather version. I couldn't find a seat warmer button to save my life.
Does anyone know when the 2004's will be available? Anyone heard if what changes there will be? I feel like I should wait to avoid issues with the first model year, but I'd love to have an excuse just to go for it now. Have there been problems that will need correction next year? Anyone have on opinion on whether the price may have gone way down a year from now?
...Honda is still looking at VERY STRONG demand for the Pilot. There will almost certainly be a minor increase, barring drastic economic downturn.
The 03 Pilot is VERY VERY similar to the 01&02 MDX, so the concerns about 'first year' should be MINIMAL. There have been "scrunges 'n thuds" but nothing major, and fixes to these minor noise issues may have already been put into production
The 04 Pilot will not be out early, you would be looking at about a 10 month wait.
Very little certainty about how much like the 03 MDX the 04 Pilot will be...
Not much reason to wait, unless you have a very long time to shop!
I've also noticed the buttons on the steeering wheel have sharp edges - no cuts yet. I figure I can just smooth the edges with a little sandpaper to round them off a bit. It just seems they weren't smoothed off before being installed. I now have over 4000 miles and still very happy with my Pilot.
Comments
Thank you
I am a rather "easy" driver though, seeing an average of 17mpg with my V8 Mountaineer.
Enjoy the Pilot.
The dealer quoted me $1000 over invoice and delivered as promised... no hassles...no games. He is currently selling $1500 over invoice and will not drop the price back to $1000 over invoice until the demand drops to around a 1 month wait.
There were several posts in the past with reference to the head lights not being adequate. I drove the vehicle at night with the fog lights on and was impressed with the visibility. I decided to turn the fog lights off near my home to see the difference. The headlights did not seem to be nearly bright enough. I don't believe I will ever drive at night without the fog lights on and they are worth every penny spent on them.
Overall an A+ experience for my first Honda vehicle purchase.
Acceleration seemed to be a big positive. The MDX ran 0-60 in 8.2 seconds in dry conditions. It ran the same test in 9.4 seconds on a snowy track. No other vehicle did as well.
They felt that VTM4 would not be as effective at higher speeds. For that, they preferred the more sophisticated systems like those in the BMW, Volvo, and Audi.
This work for my Honda Accord and Lexus ES300.
I tried follow the car manual, it didn't work.
Then I followed the Garage Openner's manual and both worked.
Good Luck.
1. Purchase price plus dealer options $31,183.26
2. Doc Fee 40.00
3. MI sales tax 6%, license and title 2,026.40
4. Total delivered price $33,249.66
My wife is a MI resident and is why we paid MI sales tax rather than TN which is 9.25%. This dealer is selling vehicles to many individuals like myself that got the info based on a posting. Their no hassel no haggle approach plus a great price makes buying a vehicle from them a great deal.
Has anyone been towing much behind a Pilot and, if so, how well does it tow?
Thanks for any feedback.
http://www.honda-pilot.org/forums/showthread.php?s=c39a0a0a040bb00817c23f9b24f01caa&threadid=1836
You can find other towing threads with their search function.
I did notice during my test drive that the Pilot wanted to follow road variations a little. I can't help but wonder what would happen with the back filled with baggage and 300 lbs of tongue weight on the back.
i advise my customers with the homelink to do this, and all have been very pleased with this process.
Thank you.
tidester, host
We bought our Sandstone EX at College Park Honda last week for $1,000 under MSRP, no other fees or dealer add-ons. All of their Pilots sell for $1,000 under. We had a similar offer from Sport Honda, but we had already signed a buyer's order with College Park. Make sure you go through the dealer's website to get to the correct person. Good luck.
(By the way - Westport CN Honda told us there was a year wait on all the EX's)
Cheers
Pat
At our local dealer here in Southeastern PA, there are 7 Pilots on the lot. All are EX models, three are EX-L's (none with nav). Not sure why your dealer would say there is a one-year wait. Seems they are readily available (in this area anyway). Has your dealer tried a dealer search and swap?
Not sure what kind of dealing they are doing, but probably not very much as the Pilots here are usually off the lot in less than a week.
Suppose that the dealer's TYPICAL allocation has been running at about 10 Pilots/month or 120 a year for the past year. If they have taken 'pre-orders' on more than 120 Pilots, they would project that it would take a year to get a new order...
But what about dealer-to-dealer exchanges? Well, as bowke28 states, any dealer that is "fat dumb & happy" has probably BURNED so many other dealers that they surrounding dealers would rather starve out this b@st@rd than let 'em have a Pilot from their allocation...
Pilots remain among the shortest supply of all Honda vehicles, but there are definately dealers with lower demand...
For instance, do both vehicles have the same sound-proofing? Are seats, frame, suspension essentially the same?
Thanks for any input...I'm trying to establish value vs money difference between each vehicle.
Steve, Host
If you are saying that omly "non-preordered" vehicle count toward 'allocation' that is counter to everything that is being said about Pilot/CR-V/Accord/MDX/Oddy availability...
The way it has been explained (several times, by several posters who seem to have been honest about other Honda/Acura policies) is:
The factory decides how many UNITS it can build profitably. That number is then ALLOCATED to all dealers based on some established formula. The primary input to that formula is, of course, prior sales volume for that dealer, but there are other inputs, like upgrading showroom, earning 'top satisfaction' distinction, et cetera. As the units are sold and delivered, the factory may ramp up production and have the ability to dole out 'extra' units, but the factory WILL NOT produce more vehicles than it deems is PROFITABLE...
There has been no indication that the factory 'knows' about a particular dealer's "waiting list" , or that they plan/allocate/build units in response to such a list.
As a practical matter, if such a system of increasing allocation based on IMMEADIATE month's prior sales existed, there would be NO prospective buyers waiting months, and that certainly SEEMS to be still happening...
Comparing this to other vehicles even an Accord shows that it is too sharp. Honda has told me it is not a problem, they can only replace the buttons wih new ones. Seems like all they need to do is to modify those buttons.
Any comments?? Any help??
There are also aftermarket units, just like the sunroofs...
The 03 Pilot is VERY VERY similar to the 01&02 MDX, so the concerns about 'first year' should be MINIMAL. There have been "scrunges 'n thuds" but nothing major, and fixes to these minor noise issues may have already been put into production
The 04 Pilot will not be out early, you would be looking at about a 10 month wait.
Very little certainty about how much like the 03 MDX the 04 Pilot will be...
Not much reason to wait, unless you have a very long time to shop!
Thus far, I'm a very happy owner!