Great ride and handling

It's been unusually expensive to maintain

I would beware of buying this vehicle. my 04 is a money pit. just out of warranty new AC condenser $500 front control bushings $400. This car has 35K miles and has been hwy driven. This is not a dependable vehicle Get an ext warranty. Rides great great in the snow but.....

Acceleration.
Roominess.

Cold start.
Wind noise.
Windshield wiper problems.
Stereo.
Tire pressure indicator problems.
Size made for large man.
Bad in snow.
Bad in rain.
Turn signals.

Lots of problems with this vehicle. Major disapointment. I would not recommend one, nor do I intend to keep this thing once the lease is up.
Where do I start with all the glitches?
In very cold weather it has trouble starting.
There's a very loud leaking noise at high speeds in the diver window from a tiny hole in the rubber.
The wind noise in general is so loud that on highways I often have to double check my windows to make sure they are not opened becuase it sounds like they are. And forget about having the rear-seat windows open when you drive. It sounds like someone is pounding on the roof with a rubber mallet.
When I turn on the radio/CD player, the volume will often mysteriously be lowered to zero all by itself. And speaking of the stereo, I just got the basic one with 6 CD changer, no bells & whistles, & it's the worst stereo I have ever heardin a car. I don't even listen to music anymore in it. Strictly talk radio, as I love music & everything sounds so tinny & muddy, it's painful.
The windshield wipers don't work in the intermittent mode about half the time. You end up with two choices: super-fast speed only, or no wipers at all. You have to turn them on & off a few times to get the intermittent sunction to start working. Also, when you pull the wipers towards you, to spray the windows with water, the wipers are supposed to wipe a few times automatically (all cars do this). well, the Pilot doesn't. the water splashes, but the wipers don't move. You have to manually turn them on to wipe the water away. A woman I work with has a 2006 Pilot also, & has the same problem.
All during the autumn, the dashboard panel kept telling me that one (or two) of my tires had low pressure. I'd add air to them, & low & behold, the nest day, same thing. This would happen AT LEAST three or four times a week. The dealer told me that the system is sensitive to changing weather when the outside air starts to turn cold. That's all well & good, but it's unnerving to see that indicator on the dash every other day. How do I know when I REALLY have low pressure? Very annoying. The woman I work with who also owns a Pilot also has this same problem.
The turn signals are also a pain, because when you push lightly to signal a turn, the signals are supposed to automatically return to center after you've made the turn. Well, the Pilot's turn signals are too sensitive. They ALWAYS go back to center as soon as I touch the steering wheel, which means that they have turned off before I've even begun to turn.
A major, major problem: This vehicle is TERRIBLE in the snow & rain. I'm not kidding! I had two Grand Prix for 6 years & THEY were better than this Pilot! My husband thought I was exaggerating, until he drove this thing in the snow. HIS BMW with snow tires is better than the Pilot! I kid you not! I can't even get up the back part of my driveway in the winter (uphill). I thought that's what SUVs were for??
Last week I was at a stop light & was rear-ended by a man in a Ford Escort. Would you believe that his little car had only a scratch & a cracked headlight, but my Pilot's entire right bumper is destroyed & misaligned?? It will be over $3,000 damage! The Escort is safer than this giant suv!!!!
Gas milage is about 21 MPG. Could be worse, I guess. And last but not least, ladies, this car was made for a 6 foot-tall man. I am a 5'6" female, and everything in this vehicle is too far to reach. To get to the gas tank lever, I have to come to a stop & open the driver's door so that I can reach down to get at the lever. In order to reach the pedals & dashboard controls, I have to move my seat up a bit, & that means that the seat is right over the gas cap lever. My hand will not fit in that tight space between the driver's door & the driver's seat all the way down to the floor to pull that lever. The seatbelt does not sit on my shoulder, it falls down on my arm, even at the lowest setting, because THIS CAR WAS MADE FOR A GIANT MAN. When buckled in, I have to really reach over to get to the stereo, the glove box, etc.
In conclusion, I hate this vehicle, & cannot wait to get rid of it. It has only two plusses that I can think of:
It's roomy, & the acceleration is really smooth & fast. That's it.

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Reliability, features, gas mileage, good experiences getting it serviced, etc.

Body styling, hard to get in/out of backseat as an adult - even though kids fit in there fairly well, when I have to put my toddler in the back in his carseat, his little feet are smooshed against the middle seats.

Overall a great purchase. Purchasing it from the dealer was by far the most painful thing. It hasn't had any major problems so far, just a small glitch with the tire pressure sensor, which the dealer promptly fixed without hassle. I don't like the styling so much, but it has been reliable and solid.

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This is a solid and comfortable vehicle; everybody who's ridden in it has had nothing but great things to say about it. I love that it handles well in all kinds of weather. Having heated heats in the winter in great. As a do-it-yourselfer and wannabee-woodworker, I love the size for carrying large loads of lumber and sheets of plywood.
And I love-love-love my Nagivational System, which has gotten me out of some nasty traffic nightmares on many occasions.

The 5-CD changer keeps failing.
Access to the rear seating isn't easy for older adults, but is a snap for kids.

My Pilot is two and a half years old and already has close to 41,000 miles on it. I commute 46 miles to work and back in the Philadelphia area; I'ved also taken it on long road trips to Maine and Maryland. I no longer fear trips, whether local or away, because my Pilot makes me feel safe (great design, great construction), and confident (able to negotiate unknown territory because of the Navigational System). These are important features to have for anyone, and especially a single woman like me.

I marvel at how well such a large vehicle does on fuel, especially after recently renting a new Kia Sorento while my Pilot was in the body shop due to a minor accident. The Sorento felt cheap, handled poorly, and sucked up gas like it was water; needless to say, I couldn't wait to get back to my Pilot!

My Pilot has had regular servicing from the dealership, with very little outlay (the largest sum was approximately $600). I have never regretted getting many additional features (backup sensors, mirror upgrade, fog lights, running boards, locking wheel covers, roof rack, etc.), for I know I'll be wanting to keep this vehicle for years, which means it is a great investment.

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leak in the front floor board, have had it fixed 4 times now, going through lemon law process

Looks great, comfortable, safe, lots of room

Overall, I am very pleased with the car. My only concern is a very disturbing reverberation in the cab whenever I roll both back window down and am going about 30 mph. Hard to describe the noise/pressure (almost like the pressure you feel when you swim down to the deep end of a pool). My wife describes it as "wub-wub-wub" which if you are sitting in the car or you have heard it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Am I the only one here with that problem?

Very roomy, no maintanience problems at this time.

The windows drip water on seats and can not roll down rear windows without cracking the front windows!

I really do like my pilot. The only complain that I have would be that if you open the doors while it is raining the water drips on the seats. One other complain would be that you can not put down the back windows without cracking the front window. If you do then there is a REALLY load noise.

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ride,great open highway trip taking performance.very smooth transmission,very good engine power,ultra honda reliable.

lower plastic door threshold at floor would not stay snapped in place.

good ride, lots of room,24 mpg on highway.great family vehicle. in 2 years of owning replaced rear a/c fan motor resistor and it was covered under extended warranty.

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Size: My wife and I aren't big people and our 3 year old looks tiny in the backseat but we are expecting twins soon and often make big purchases that would have left us stuck using store delivery services. Before this car we owned a Subaru Impreza that transformed me into a packing engineer trying to fit strollers and other misc. baby stuff into the trunk and often spilling into the rear seats. That tight space grew with the purchase of a long wheelbase Chrysler Town and Country. The problem with the Chrysler was having to remove the seats if I needed to carry something big. Honda designed the rear seats to fold into the floor which has allowed me to take home a 42" Plasma tv standing up as well as a new full-size dishwasher. I've also been able to fit washers, dryers, mowers, snowblowers, 20 bags of mulch, metal storage and filing cabinets, etc with more than enough space. Being able to fit 4X6 plywood flat on the floor between the wheels wells has also been a nice feature since I like to do a lot of DIY projects. 8' lengths of 2"x4" lumber fit as well.

Ride: Although the Pilot doesn't ride like a Subaru Impreza WRX it also doesn't feel like a Chrysler Town and Country. The ride is somewhere in between and more like a Japanese big-sized family sedan. Meaning it is sporty enough to drive in the city and around parking lots and is a nice cruiser on the highway with plenty of power for merging and passing. Along with big side mirrors and lots of windows visibility is excellent. On the other hand it is certainly a big vehicle which requires plenty of space to slow it down and care to guide it around curves on highway on and off ramps. Still, the suspension and brakes are much stiffer and sporty than the Chrysler Town and Country.

Comfort: The ride is stiff and sporty when compared to minivan but soft enough that it feels comfortable for long rides. And with the all the leg, shoulder and headroom it feels much more open than even the biggest sedans.

The climate control has recently gotten stuck on auto and will not blow air out the rear vents.

The seats are on the stiff side making very long rides a little bit uncomfortable, especially to a person that is carrying twins for the 28th week.

There is a noise in the passenger side chair rail that only appears when my 200lb father-in-law sits in it. The center arm-rest tends to squeak also when my father-in-law leans on it.

The best vehicle I have ever owned or driven. It fits my lifestyle perfectly and has been a pleasure to own with over 60,000 miles on the odometer. To date the only services it has required are oil and filter changes, new tires, and in the near future new front brakes and possible climate control module.

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I have driven a 1996 Toyota Forerunner a lot and in comparison the Toyota feels a lot more cramped, awkward seating and truck-like. I have also driven a 1990 Ford full-sized Bronco. The Ford actually felt more like the Honda Pilot except the Ford was a litle bit less refined. In comparison the Pilot's steering comes back to center much more naturally so it tracks better. The Pilot also feels a little bit more solid even though the Ford probably weighed a 1000lbs more. The Pilot also takes bumps more like a car while the Ford felt had less of a truck-like feel when compared to the Toyota.

Compared to the $29,600, 2005 Chrysler Town and Country, the interior has similar level of plastic fit and finish with the Honda having better ergonomics. And even though the Chrysler was about 12" longer than the Pilot I haven't found any reason to miss that extra space except maybe when I placed 8' length lumber on the Pilot's center arm rest so I could close the rear hatch.

Fuel economy: The Pilot sips gas on the highway compared to the other vehicles I mentioned once getting about 26 mpg on a long cruise at slightly higher than the posted speed limit. Even when the vehicle is pushed and driven mostly around stop-light laden Philadelphia's RT-1 it will average 17-18 mpg with two passengers and the A/C on high.

The 2005 Chrysler Minivan comes next averaging 16/22mpg in similar driving.

The 1996 Toyota forerunner gets 16/21 mpg in similar driving.

The 1990 Ford full-sized Bronco Eddie Bauer edition with 5.0 liter V/8 gets 8/11 mpg in similar driving.

Good visibility, comfortable, good ride and handling, good in snow, stable feel

Road noises, anemic sound systems, CD/DVD, cheap materials used in construction, Deaf service dept personnel

I purchased a new 2005 Pilot. Honda and their dealers claim Honda is the only "worthwile" car on the market. Shortly after trading my 2004 GMC Denali for a Pilot, disappointment began. Lots of road noise, marginal fuel economy, electrical problems, back hatch problems, tire pressure monitor problems. It seems the dealers don't listen to problems. They flat out told me they don't have problems with Hondas. It usually takes three visits to convince a dealer that the car has a problem. You have to take a service advisor for a test drive to convince them a problem exists. The car has never made a liar out of me yet. The leather seats have stretched out of shape by 6000 miles, but Honda dealers claim it's because of soft comfortable leather. The paint is peeling off the front bumper. The most important item to carry with the car is a set of jumper cables. Do I just have over exaggerated hysteria about mere token annoyances, or is this the best I'm to expect from the "best, and most reliable automobile on the planet", Honda. Tell your service departments that even Hondas have problems needing attention!

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