CAR and Driver - March 2017

quent metalwork and some new plastic trim pulled $986 out of our

indiscretionary spending account. Not even three months later, a

post ambushed the same corner, but this time the damage was less.

A new plastic trim piece cost only $23.

As satisfying as the Pilot is when stationary, the logbook was

filled with numerous, er, off-color comments. Honda found a star-

tling array of fussy ways to make the Pilot call negative attention to

itself. The annoyances begin before you even start driving, with a

nonsensical push-button shifter in which park and neutral are the

same size buttons in different planes, drive is a different size and

shape (and nested at an angle in a chrome

trim ring), and reverse is a pull switch. That

these buttons and switches take up precisely

as much space on the console as a regular

shifter won them no friends.

And yet, while the Pilot is naturally pre-

disposed to road trips, every staffer who’s

driven Honda’s Ridgeline—with which

the Pilot shares its underpinnings—has

climbed out of the pickup and wondered

change, tire rotation, and

rear-differential-fluid

replacement, $242

August 29, 2016

31,198 miles: Change

oil, rotate tires, replace

cabin and engine air

filters, $154

September 2, 2016

31,490 miles:

Replace damaged

left-rear wheel-well trim,

$23

September 13, 2016

32,064 miles: Swap

back to winter tires for

trip to Montana

November 28, 2016

40,913 miles: Oil

change, tire rotation, and

inspections, $153

40,914 miles: Long-

term test concludes

TOTAL COSTS

MAINTENANCE ������������������������������������������������������� $595

NORMAL WEAR ���������������������������������������������������������� $0

REPAIR ������������������������������������������������������������������������� $0

DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION ��������������������������� $1009

GASOLINE (@ $2.05 PER GALLON) ����������������� $3727

SERVICE

DEALER VISITS (SCHEDULED/UNSCHEDULED) ��� 4/0

DAYS OUT OF SERVICE ������������������������������������������������ 4

UNSCHEDULED OIL ADDITIONS ��������������������������� 0 qt

AUG/16 SEP/16 OCT/16 NOV/16 DEC/16

Almost like a pickup

in that the ride quality

improves when it’s

loaded down�

—Joseph Capparella

If only there were

knobs and physical

buttons for the info-

tainment system�

—Jennifer Harrington

There are way too

many annoyances here

for me to recommend

this vehicle to anyone�

—John Phillips

MAZE BY MARTIN LAKSMAN

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