Anybody tow with a Honda Pilot

N

nipper

God
I am thinking of replacing my Wife's 1998 Suburban. I think Suburbans are top notch tow vehicles, but I hate feeding it the gas it likes to consume when driving around town without towing. I am considering a Honda Pilot. Any of you ever towed a V or similar size boat with a Pilot?
 
My wife has a pilot and she loves it. As far as space goes it's huge inside. Three rows of seats (comfortably) are great. I don't have a hitch on it so I can't tell you how it tows, but otherwise they are great vehicles.
 
Thanks, Captain J. I have read some materials regarding the Pilot and towing, and the concensus seems to be that it is a terrific vehicle, but only so so at towing, especially when getting near the towing capacity of 4500 lbs. I would think my V20 cuddy loaded with stuff and fuel would be right at that capacity.
 
I have towed my 18 with my grandmothers Pilot. Its an 05. It does ok for what it is....fairly peppy and will do the job. The one thing I was NOT impressed with however was the gas mileage. I borrowed it for a long distance hunting trip last year in order to save on gas in my V8 Dakota and I DIDNT save. It sucks gas! I was figured 15 on the highway tops...thats about what my Kota gets. I know its a few years older than these new ones, but everytime I see that commercial on ESPN "Get the Honda Pilot, its the do anything truck that gets 24 mpg" I just laugh.:you:
 
Stinky_Hooker said:
I have towed my 18 with my grandmothers Pilot. Its an 05. It does ok for what it is....fairly peppy and will do the job. The one thing I was NOT impressed with however was the gas mileage. I borrowed it for a long distance hunting trip last year in order to save on gas in my V8 Dakota and I DIDNT save. It sucks gas! I was figured 15 on the highway tops...thats about what my Kota gets. I know its a few years older than these new ones, but everytime I see that commercial on ESPN "Get the Honda Pilot, its the do anything truck that gets 24 mpg" I just laugh.:you:
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My wife has the '04 and it does really good on the highway. we can go from Wilmington, NC to Bristol TN on just over a tank of gas. So that's about 390 miles on about 16 gallons of gas which figures out to be around 24.5 mpg. And that's going anywhere between 70-85mph. We can usually get about 350 miles on a tank of gas in town just driving back and forth to work and errands. That's about 18-20 mpg.
 
Edmunds tested an 03 Pilot for a year and averaged 18.3 mpg. Said it was an average tow vehicle with not alot of low end torque. Honda rated it (6 cylinder) for 17/22 mpg. It's really about what you like. 17 mpg around town isn't too bad for an SUV that's also used to tow a boat. Honda rated the 03 for 3500 lb. tow rating unless you tow a boat (aerodynamics), then it was 4500 lbs. Edmunds also tested a v8 explorer and got 14.5 mpg. I know Willy (he had major issues with his) might disagree, but my 04 Trailblazer gets 20 (most I ever got was 21) on a trip and it's rated for 6300 lb. towing capacity with a 4.2 liter inline six rated at 275 hp and 290 ft lbs of torque. Yeah, I had to have the dash changed out twice by Chevrolet, but they paid for it. That's been the only issue it 70k miles so far. Alot of torque at low rpm's. There's alot of excellent vehicles available to choose from that can pull 4-6k lbs. Not to mention good deals too. Good luck!
 
HONDA's are good vehicles, but lately they have been sc&wing up.
My wifes 02 CR-V has that problem with the diff case oil breaking down too early.
HONDA says, it is not life threatening, so you have to pay for the repair,
I say he77 no, you made the mistake, the only mistake I made was trusting
a car company.
Needles to say, after owning 6 HONDA's, even my wife is considering
NOT being a repeat customer.


Anyway, when we were looking for the CR-V, the dealer said that the CR-V
would tow my V-20, I should have known right then and there
a car dealer is a car dealer, anything to make a deal.
Anyway, I always tow with my F150.
 
I tow my V-20 with my wifes 05 Pilot. It is no Suburban, but it does the job fine.

We averaged 22.8 mpg on our recent Fla trip, thats with 5 people aboard and their luggage.

Get around 18 mpg in town.

Lots of room, seating for 8, as long a 3 of them are small, built in dvd playa.

The only thing you have to watch is tounge weight. It has an independant rear suspension that, coupled with a shorter wheel base, can give you some swaying at higher speeds.....above 65 mph is where I've felt it, and I did not like it at all.

I guess the big question is, are you towing a lot and long distance, or just locally? (I tow back and forth to the coast which is 200 miles.....at least I used to before gas blew up).

Hope that helps.
 
Funny you should ask, sold 2000 durango tow vehicle two years ago when mom offered me her 2003 Honda Pilot with 35000 miles for a loving parents price. I was hesitant about putting a hitch on but got sick of asking friends to help me out and put a hitch on about two months ago. Tows great but I haven't gone any good distances with it. Then again I towed my v20 for 4 years with a Jeep wrangler, talk about hairy.
 
PINKY1.jpg


NUFF SAID!:nice::haha:
 
AAAHHHHHH, the PINK JEEP!!!!!


I highly suggest you get the factory installed tow package if you are buying new, it comes with the trans cooler, hitch, wiring harness for the trailer lights, and the insert for the hitch. Sure it was high dollar, but it will help if there is waranty issue.
 
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