Towing - Honda Pilot

I am glad my catch phrase wasn't suckin gas and hauling a$$.

It might have got lost in translation here.

Guess I have never been that worried about fuel economy, that I would be willing to trade either of my F-series for a vehicle that just barely cuts the mustard. I will keep the average fuel economy and keep a truck that gets the job done and still has some left to give you at the end of the day.

Myself, I tow with a '95 Tahoe 4WD with a V8. Excellent Tow vehicle. It still runs over 50 psi oil pressure and get's 18 mpg with 130,000 miles. Put the Tahoe in 4 Low and it will still scratch all 4 on the pavement or run through a foot of water on top of gumbo mud and drag any huge Wakeboard boat out of a launch that's wet and steep. Some of our launch's are gravel.

I even buy American tools and own a Harley. I'm not anti-foreign, but for some reason buying foreign doesn't sit as well with me. Maybe it's because I'm almost 50 and have a Landcruiser as a Company vehicle. The Toyota is OK at best, but then I'm partial to American Muscle, Milwaukee tools and Miller Beer.

Another thought...the Sales taxes you pay on new vehicles or even a used one is more expensive than a years fuel. Buy a real truck for towing, don't finance and drive it 180,000 miles.

Even if your Tow is relatively short; the Insurance Comapnies say most accidents occur close to home. Add a boat on the back of a small SUV and that just increases your risk.

Something that did erk me quite a bit. When I bought my 06 F150, I really liked the HD grille. Using pieces from the stock grille and the HD, I had a couple of left over parts, one being the blue oval, right off the nose of the truck. I didn't buy it because I was "Buying American" but come on - the friggin logo? Perhaps I should drive with the back of the emblem showing....

The days of "American" cars are gone.

"General Motors and Ford have always been global companies whose corporate headquarters happen to be in the United States. Daimler-Chrysler is a global company whose headquarters happens to be in Germany." A Toyota Camry or Honda Accord has a much higher domestic content (80 percent) than a Chevy Tahoe (67 percent) or Ford Mustang (60 percent)."

Car competition: Make more vroom

The content gap is closing between "domestic" and "foreign" vehicles

66Skylark wrote: 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?

Thanks 66....I would be interested if you could find it. Or even just which issue, and I can swing by the library.


Rob

As far as the foreign vs american trucks go, there are more Japenese trucks built in the US by american auto workers than the domestic brands.
Check it out and you will see for yourself.
Also quality is far superior with the Japs, just wait untill the new 3/4 ton Toyota turbo deisel is released in summer of 2007. Then the Big 3 will really be in trouble.

Funding/profit/incentives

I thought that the majority of profits go to shareholders. (I think it's at 34 a share)Majority Japanese owned? Sure, but since it's publicly traded, anyone, anywhere can own it. Tax breaks and such? Most states will give huge breaks to ANY major mfg. that creates jobs in their state.
I'm not saying I love the foriegn vehicles, but their quaility and resale is hard to argue. Heck the only foreign motor I own is the Honda 50. Now for my TV...

WHAAAA??? 49 pocket bike??? Got a picture? New topic coming up!

In drive a Dodge Ram 4X4, 5.9L, heavy Dana rear end and towing package. I towed a flat bed trailer with 6000 pounds on it 150 miles. Handled great. That's the only time I pulled that much. I only tow the boat a couple of times a year (when I need to pull it out to work on it) and that's only about 3 or 4 miles.

Anyway, I've owned several Japanese cars and trucks and a couple of American cars and trucks. The Japanese cars are much better built and engineered and are of much better quality than the American. I've owned four Mazdas and they were oustanding. That is expect for the last one when Ford took them over. Now the only Mazda I'd buy is the RX8 -- it's pretty impressive. My wife has had Hondas and Toyotas and they are outstanding.

I could run down the list of problems I've had with American cars and trucks but it's long and depressing.

The big three have been behind the curve on inovation since the 70s and they haven't really caught up. The biggest problem for and GM are facing is funding their pensions. The Unions have run the American auto industry into the ground and I don't think Ford will be able to recover. GM may be ok because of their other holdings. I haven't heard of Dymlier having problems (other than the Chrysler problems of the 80's). I saw a piece on 60 minutes years ago that sums things up. They interviewed a worker from Ford or GM and his job was to put together a certain number of widgets a day. Once he put together his quota for the day, he would sit there and read a book. He didn't see anything wrong with that. I've always thought the best policy is to let the marketplace decide. If Japan can built a better product cheaper then that's what I buy. Unfortunately, some people are going to loose their jobs because of mistakes in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

By the way, GM has finaly put a good Diesel engine in their trucks. The Duramax is an Isuzu engine.

The thing that kills me about GM is the arrogance of brand marketing. Take the same car (keep in mind, whole vehicle, not platform) and brand it 5 ways. Hell, even brand one as a japenese sounding name for people that think they are buying Japanese (the Izuzu Ascender, being the most blatent example of this as of late). Brand marketing on the scale that GM does it is really insulting to the buyer's intelligence. What if they consolidated the 5 or so weak brands they have and have one brand that makes a good car?

Rob, if your boat has max out your Explorer with a towing capacity of about 5,500lbs just think what it will do to the Pilot with a capacity of 1,000lbs less. I have owned 2 Explorers and until this year have never had a need to tow – so they were fine (for two adults that is) no complaints with the Explorers. Now I have a Fish Nautique, with the trailer & gear its over 5,500lbs…so the Explorer is max out. Like you I have a short ride to the ramp a couple of times a year but what are you going to do when you need to travel for service or just want to boat on another river or lake? You’re stuck, can’t handle the load, even with the Explorer not mention the Pilot. Well this topic is very timely, for me anyway. Last week we got a call from a friend who buys a new Denali XL every 2 years, his new one just came in and offered me the ’05 at a great price, my wife just test drove the Denali last night (she is the driver of the Explorer) and loves it. Should be no problem to pull the ‘Fish’ plus I do not have to make apologies when adults have to ride in the back seat. No decent tow vehicle is going to get great gas mileage; if that is your priority, like Chris said earlier maybe your wife needs her own ride and then keep your Explorer for the boat and Home Depot runs. Good luck with your decission, my wife just made ours! The Denali gets inspected next week. Jerry

Feelgood M.D. wrote: At least you were able to total the Aztek, 1 less of those to look at on the road...

I was thinking that, but didn't say it!

Busted Knuckle wrote: 1. I'm surprised a SNOB on trailer weighs close to 4000 lbs , ouch

Dry weight in my manual is listed at 2340. I figure the trailer (tandem, surge brakes) is probably around 1000. Add in fuel and gear, plus water weight, and there you have it. My concern is what happens when you add in 4 or 5 friends in the vehicle, plus coolers, etc, and then ask the vehicle to go down the interstate. Probably not going to be too safe.


Rob

Feelgood,the bottom line is what will happen on a panic stop situation,even with surge brakes,if tow weight exceeds that of the vehicle pulling said load?????????sometimes we will make bad choices based on good info.Thats what is called an accident.Good choice on the Honda, bad choice to pull a C/C of any flavor........boat dr

boat and trailer weight=3750 lbs
Honda Pilot weight=??????

get the point???????

Interesting that several of the foreign car guy’s bashed the domestics however I do not believe I saw the contrary. Could it be the same as a Moomba or Malibu guy saying what a bucket of bolts a CC is? I have owned quite a few vehicles, with the exception of 2, all being domestic. Quite frankly the domestics have all served me well, mid size and full size SUV’s have all towed well, doubt I would own a mid size again but they did just fine and my Nautiques at that time were single axle no brakes. Foreign competition has probably been a good thing for the Auto industry however with vehicles being my third largest expenditure it gives me a sense of patriotism to support the “Local” brand and the individuals and corporations they represent and I do believe it is also better for our economy as a whole if the majority bought domestic. As far as what others choose, to each his own, personally I am grateful that I have a freedom of choice and that our Grandfathers and their fathers were willing to fight the Pearl Harbor attackers or whoever to ensure that our choice was not lost.

Rob, good luck with whatever you decide, hopefully we will see you at Alan’s this weekend, that is if my domestic vehicle holds up long enough to get me there.

Signed,

Domestics only and that includes Beer!