Towing - Honda Pilot

OK, here's my situation. We currently tow our 97 SNOB with a 2002 Ford Explorer with the 4.0 v-6. The boat sits on a new tandem axle trailer with brakes. I don't think the Explorer does all that well towing it, and it get's horrible gas mileage with boat in tow (9-10 mpg). The wife has been on me forever to trade it in and get a Honda Pilot. The problem is, the Pilot is only rated to tow 4500 lbs. I think the boat and trailer combination is under that weight, just not by very much. Ideally, I'd love to step up into an Expedition, or Yukon, but with gas the way it is, smaller is better. The local Honda dealer, who is a friend of the family, has a great deal going on Pilots right now. Does anyone on here tow anything with a Pilot? Let me know, as this is obviously a huge consideration in a new vehicle purchase.

Thanks
Rob

I don't know your current situation, but I'd get that boat fixed up right before messing around with tow vehicles.

Rob,

The Pilot is a unibody vehicle, like most cars today. It's also a front-drive platform (sending power to the rear optionally with a 4WD system). It also has independant rear suspension, which although catching on in most SUV designs is not generally preferred for towing. Basically it is a heavy-duty car, not a truck. My in-laws really wanted this car as well, and would be towing their Sea Ray with it. They compared it to the 4Runner, which is a real body-on-frame truck with truck-grade components and solid rear axle. They ended up going with the 4Runner, so now the inlaws and I both have matching 2006 4Runner V8s. I get 13-15MPG towing and 19-21 hwy and the V8 tows with a vengance. It also offers an excellent ride and carlike handling. If you are looking at any mid-size SUV in that price range, get over to Toyota and take a look! Your rig will kill a Pilot/MDX over time, IMO.

EDIT: Heck, just take mine for a spin around the block this weekend.

"smaller is better."
not entirely

Not enough ma$$ nor wheelbase.

I concur with bkhallpa$$

my wife's 2000 Sierra extracab SB with the 4.8 v8 gets 21 mpg highway repeatedly. over 255 hp

I agree the Pilot won't do the job very long.
Unless you get a boat storage close to the lake,then it might do you ok.

Munday

02 Avalanche does the job very well!

quinner wrote: I am with 87BFN, I just cannot understand how so many people would even consider buying a Foriegn car

I like the GM full-size SUVs a lot, but they are just too huge of a car for me. If there was a good american mid-size SUV out there I'd seriously consider it, but the Envoy/Trailblazer/Bravada/Ascender platform is pretty sub-par and the Explorer doesn't do it for me either, sorry. America makes awesome full-sizers, but that's about where it ends for me.

quinner wrote: I am with 87BFN, I just cannot understand how so many people would even consider buying a Foriegn car, it especially fries my a$$ when I see one with an american flag bumper sticker!

A lot of "foriegn" cars are built right here in the US, and there are a lot of American cars that are a$$embled in Mexico and Canada.

Id love to support the American car companies, but I refuse to spend my hard earned money on substandard products. The only market that we still dominate is in full size trucks- and that gap is closing quickly with the introduction of the Titan and Tundra.

Just went through the same dilema back in May. Had a 2000 Montero Sport 4x4 that absolutley sucked at towing my boat. Looked at all the imports and midsize SUV's........ ended up buying the 2007 Chevy Tahoe 4x4 with the 320hp 5.3L motor. It's my wifes daily driver around town, and my tow vehicle for the lake outings. She got use to the larger size rather quickly and loves it.

You will be sorry if you don't get something that can handle the towing effectively and safely.

I also heard that the Honda Pilot was based on the Honda Oddessy minivan chasis....... Maybe the Hoonda Ridgeline might suit you better, since your are going for dealer invoice pricing.

M3Fan wrote: quinner wrote: I am with 87BFN, I just cannot understand how so many people would even consider buying a Foriegn car I like the GM full-size SUVs a lot, but they are just too huge of a car for me. If there was a good american mid-size SUV out there I'd seriously consider it, but the Envoy/Trailblazer/Bravada/Ascender platform is pretty sub-par and the Explorer doesn't do it for me either, sorry. America makes awesome full-sizers, but that's about where it ends for me.

My Yukon XL actually gets just as good of mileage as the midsize chevies. The midsizes do even worse when towing because the small engines have to work so hard. So much more room - Saw no sense in buying smaller. The Tahoe/Yukon are really no longer than most of the midsizes. They are taller and roomier inside. I'm considering a pilot or Tahoe only because the wife uses the car around town, etc. and it's easier to park.

My XL actually gets better mileage than my old 4 Runner.

I have a 2500 chevy pickup as well, and I agree with quinner, that it is a little better for towing than my Yukon XL 1500. However, the 1500 gets much better mileage and is much better. Given that only a small fraction of time is spent towing, I find the 1500 to be more than sufficient. BKH

Rob,

I think it was Boating World just had an article on a couple of tow vehicles, one of which was the Pilot. As I recall, they tested a 2WD model and had some nice things to say about it. If I can find the article would you be interested?

I purchased a Pilot about a month ago. (Before I saw the atricle in BW.) My previous car, an Aztek, was totaled in an accident so I had to get a new car.

There are a lot of reasons I bought a Pilot, towing was only one of the considerations in the purchase.

I don't tow very far or very often so I didn't need a big vehicle. I wanted something that could tow the 66 and maybe handle a 176 in the future. (More on that in another post!)
My commute is about 50 miles round trip so, with gas prices the way they were, I wanted something ‘good’ on gas.
While I wasn’t looking for something with a third row, the fact that the Pilot has one is a bonus.
Here in New England, I had to think about the vehicle’s ability in bad whether.
The safety options on the car – Front/Side and Curtain airbags, ABS, Electronic Brake Force Distribution, Vehicle Stability a$$ist, etc… where all considerations.
Let’s face it… My wife will be driving my daughter around in it, so reliability figured in.
Plus, the fact I bought an ’06 means they took a good amount of money off the sticker and a good finance rate.

I looked at cars for a month before deciding on the Pilot. I would love to have stuck with something from an American manufacturer and I looked extensively at Ford and GMs, but nothing I looked at from them appealed to me. OK, that’s not true… I would have LOVED an ’07 Avalanche, but I just didn’t have the money!

Do I feel like Benedict Arnold because I bought a Pilot? No. The purchase I made was based on what worked best for my needs.

Good luck Rob.
Kyle

Great Post. I've got almost an identical situation to BKHALL. 2000 Yukon XL with 132,000 miles. 5 litre 1500 cha$$is. It feels like it could pull the Titanic. Very strong engine, great tranny. No complaints on the gas milage for what you get in reliability and performance. Unfortunately, my wife drives it day to day, and she says she's ready to downsize the vehicle. For the 1% of the time we really need the towing power, its tough to justify driving such a large vehicle. She likes the Pilot as well. I pull twice a year for a total milage of about 100 miles. So, I 'could' consider something like a Pilot or similar size. However, the XL is PAID-FOR, just like the '92SNOB, so I'll pa$$ on spending $35K right now...thank you.

   Rob,
If the local Honda dealer is a friend of the family,I would convince him to let you take a pilot for an extended testdrive(even if it's a used one),and tow your boat with it.You will find out quickly if it will work for you.I previously owned a 2000 Chevy Silverado with the 327,great truck-but it was a lease.When it was time to turn it in,they wanted all the money to buy it out,but didn't want to give me anything on a trade.So I turned it in and bought my father in laws 2 year old v-8 Tundra.Great truck also,However it does not have the newer enhanced v-8 and it struggles to tow the Super Air.Also being a smaller truck it seems like the boat is always in control.If you tow a lot,you will miss the full size truck-trust me.I only tow my boat 5-6 times a year for no more than 30 miles at a time,and I hate every minute of it.Good luck.


     Mike

Oops,just realized your coming from an Explorer,not a full size truck.

   On a side note,I agree with M3Fan and TRBenj about the 4 runner.My wife buys a new rig every year(long story)and had a 4 runner a couple of years ago.It was BY FAR the nicest vehicle she has owned(did everything well) and I'm still pissed at her for trading it in!They don't give 'em away,but they are well worth it and the resale is excellent.

     Mike

bkhallpa$$ wrote: The midsizes do even worse when towing because the small engines have to work so hard. S ... My XL actually gets better mileage than my old 4 Runner.

My 4Runner has the exact same V8 as the full-size Tundra.

My 06 4Runner V8 gets way better mileage than my 99 4Runner V6.