Research: Toyota Highlander vs. Honda Pilot
Published about 3 years ago
We are looking at getting a new car. I drive a Subaru Outback wagon and really like it. It handles great in the snow, the gas mileage is pretty good for an all-wheel drive car, it's safe, all good for me. But my husband is just over 6 ft tall, and my car is what we use for all family outings (he has a truck) so he gets cramped fast. It would be fine if he has no one behind him and can move back all the way, but that isn't the case.
Now we are not desperate for a new car, thankfully, because my husband is a methodical researcher so we need time to have that process completed. But there's been a lot of reading done so far and we have more or less narrowed it down to the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot. Now I am not an SUV person, in fact I am fairly opposed to them. But here I am considering one because I really don't like minivans! So this is where I have landed.
On paper they both look great - as usual with Toyota and Honda, one stand out detail is the gas mileage is a bit better with the Highlander. But other than that its a few inches here and there, body length, headroom, 8 passenger or 7, etc. Safety reviews on both are overall good to great. I admit I think the Highlander is a bit slicker looking than the new updated Pilot's look that's a bit more - chunky? mean? angular? This past weekend we decided to look at them in person and take them for a drive.
We went to Honda first and got to check out the Pilot on the showroom floor (that was nice since it was in the 30's outside). Right off the bat, it is roomy, especially coming from a Subaru. I have to say I was impressed with all the storage space throughout the vehicle. There was a lot of thought behind the fact that this will be a family car with all sorts of toys and gadgets making there way into the car. I appreciate that since I have toys and small items all over the place in my wagon- and the bins we tried to use to organize them were just in the way. The 3rd row seat was nice and roomy and my husband got in with my daughter to check it out. He was satisfied with the head and leg room. I really liked the 60/40 split for the 2nd and 3rd rows. The test drive was really nice, it was a very smooth ride, really pretty quiet despite the reviews claiming it was a bit noisy. I left thinking very little about the exterior look and thinking about all the nice features it had.
Onto the Toyota dealership. First off, incidentally for the review, but impacted my feelings, the place was a zoo. I felt like a donut on a beach with a flock of seagulls above. The Honda dealership was mellow and relaxed- this place felt like the trading floor a the stock exchange. Anyway, it was annoying but I was eager to check out the car. No indoor showroom- ugh. We had to wait a while before they could shuffle out the model we wanted to check out. They pulled it up and we combed through it in the cold. It was nice looking, the interior is nice. But I found the interior space to be a bit underwhelming esp. since we were told it was classier than the more industrial Pilot interior. I would say nice, not classy. But what was screaming out at me- was cramped!! Yes roomier than my Subaru, but with the 2nd row really a captains chair on each end and some very small strip of what they claimed was a seat I was sort of surprised this vehicle is 7 passengers and not 6. There was no LATCH system on that center seat or the back row- just lower anchor. So there are only 2 LATCH seats in the Highlander. And the 3rd row was sooo cramped I really can't see anyone older than 8 being able to sit comfortably back there. I felt like this was really 4 person car- the way I feel my Subaru really is. The test drive was fine, pick up was decent, handling was fine. But I left the dealership pretty disappointed.
I thought I was going to prefer the Highlander as I had heard great things about it and liked the exterior look. But it was very so-so. And I ended up really liking the Pilot better. I am still grappling with the fact that it is a little bigger than the Highlander, and the gas mileage is a little worse- two points that made me really like the Highlander better on paper. *Funny I just found this review that echos what I am feeling about these two SUVs.
