Honda Ridgeline owners : pros and cons ?

[tercel89]

To al the Honda Ridgeline owners , what are the pros and cons of these "cars with a bed" LOL . I am kinda old school but I do own a Japanese truck and cars. I am a pretty good mechanic and have did all kinds of work from to transmission replacement to engine placement and anywhere in between as long as I have the tools I can do it. I have been looking at the Honda Ridgeline. It is marketed as a truck but has a transverse engine AKA sideways engine like regular front wheel drive cars. This is a con for me . Regular maintenance is a #itch when doing belts and even timing belts and chains in a transverse engine. The other bad thing in my opinion is it is a "unit-body" and has no frame like regular trucks. I know that Honda says its all this and all that , but I like traditional frames on trucks. Don't get me wrong , I own a Honda right now , and have others in the past. They are great , but I just can't get myself to like this . What are your thoughts ? And I am sorry to bore you other guys with a car thread. It's raining and I am stuck inside the house with my dog LOL .  

Edited September 1, 2016 by tercel89

[peejman]

It's a very light duty truck, an SUV or minivan without the enclosed cargo area.  

Honestly, the vast majority of truck owners who very rarely ever use their truck like a truck would be well served by a Ridgeline. 

[tercel89]

38 minutes ago, peejman said:

It's a very light duty truck, an SUV or minivan without the enclosed cargo area.  

Honestly, the vast majority of truck owners who very rarely ever use their truck like a truck would be well served by a Ridgeline. 

That is a great description of them : an SUV without the enclosed cargo area. I have never thought of that .

 

[Oh Shoot]

2 hours ago, tercel89 said:

That is a great description of them : an SUV without the enclosed cargo area. I have never thought of that .

 

Or an El Camino with a back seat.

[hipower]

That's a nice El Camino!

[McGarrett]

I have a '07 Honda Pilot for my wife to drive, basically the same platform as the Ridgeline. We bought it new, it's been a great car, has 170,000 on it now. No problems, just regular maint, tires, brakes, etc. Drives great and the 3.5 V6 has plenty of power.

 

[Mark A]

I have one as a company vehicle. Would have never bought one on my own but I would now. The trunk is really nice for keep things like a BOB and other such stuff. It is just barely large enough to carry 3 of my customers to lunch. I drive most of my territory and it is great on the highway.

I say this from the position of also owning a quad cab 3/4 dodge diesel. If it were to be my only "truck" it would not work for me but for day to day stuff it is great. Kind of ugly but very functional.

Mark

[monkeylizard]

I wouldn't be caught dead in a 1st gen. That thing's just ugly. But the new 2017 is a complete redesign, including a larger bed and they got rid of those butt ugly buttresses. It looks a lot more like a Pilot with the back chopped off now. It doesn't have the chops of a full size work truck, or the off road abilities of a Toyota Taco, or the performance of a street truck, but if you need a vehicle with road manners and good mileage that can occasionally haul some stuff (but not really heavy stuff) and don't mind some of the weird things Honda always does that nobody but them seems to understand, it's worth a look.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2016 by monkeylizard

[Murgatroy]

It's a Honda. Which means it will be solid. If that is your bag. If it were what I wanted, I doubt I would have an issue with it.

 

I think the Subaru Baja was a better take on it. More car, same amount of truck, all awesome. Oh, and it came with a Turbo.

 

Myself, being blindly brand loyal, I keep hoping the World Ranger is released in the USDM market.

[peejman]

3 hours ago, monkeylizard said:

 It looks a lot more like a Pilot with the back chopped off now..

Because that's exactly what it is. 

[Wade195]

I have a 2008 Ridgeline.

It just rolled over to 100,000 miles.

it serves me for what I use it for. Love the trunk and the ability to store items.

It drives well, I like the fold up rear seats. 

In mine the fuel mileage is low around town. 15mpg maybe? On a trip 20mpg. The air conditioner is mediocre at best. 

I don't like that if you use 4wd it will only stay in up to 18 mph.

I have pulled a small trailer with my motorcycles on it and for that it was OK.

it looks a little goofy, but hey so am I. Lol.

Would I buy another one? Maybe. But mine is paid for and I put less than 10k a year on it so I am hoping it will go another 4 years until I retire.

I do like the looks of the new ones.

Hope that helps.

Doug

[TNWNGR]

The Ridgeline is a nice vehicle and as has already been stated is strongly related to the Honda Pilot. I have a friend who loves the Ridgeline so much he purchased three used ones. He didn’t think a full sized four door 4X4 PU truck could match the Ridgelines comfort level. Then he rode in my ’16 F-150 Supercab V-8 4x4. If you want a Ridgeline then buy one, but before you do there’s an awful lot of full sized four door 4x4 trucks out there, check them out.  

[monkeylizard]

Plus the Tacoma and the new Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon. Those twins from GM are nothing like their 1st gen versions. There's certainly no shortage of good choices in the small truck market right now. If only Nissan would release a new Frontier....

[peejman]

If only any of them would offer a manual transmission in something other than a stripped 4 cyl or $80,000 diesel.....

[monkeylizard]

Several Tacoma models above the base model get the manual as a choice.

[peejman]

59 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

Several Tacoma models above the base model get the manual as a choice.

Only with the 4 cylinder single cab or the short bed. What good is a 5 ft truck bed?

[monkeylizard]

The 2017 TRD Sport is available with the long bed, V6, and manual, but only in the Access Cab not the Crew Cab. The single cab is gone now.

[bud]

..

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by bud

[Mark A]

1 hour ago, bud said:

I'll confess that this is the "BOB" that I thought of when you mentioned hauling in the trunk. Also we've had great luck with our 2006 pilot at 200k mi. now.

Stick an AR, a backpack of MRE's and water plus some spare clothes and you've got a pretty nice all terrain set up there.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Mark A

[Patton]

16 hours ago, Wade195 said:

The air conditioner is mediocre at best. 

That has been my complaint on the last two, new Hondas I have bought. My 2015 Wrangler will freeze me to death, and so did my old Tacoma. 

[Mark A]

We have the Ridgeline and my wife drives a 2014 CR-V. Haven't had any a/c issues at all. She doesn't like it very cold and I don't spend significant time in the CR-V so it may not be adequate and I just don't know it.