2014 Honda Pilot: buying a new car

First off, I apologize for the boring car, but very recently my mother purchased at 2014 Honda Pilot, and I learned some interesting things about car salesmen. The Pilot was not our first choice when my mom decided it was time to part with our '96 Toyota Previa. My first choice for her was a Mitsubishi Evolution 10, for its superb all-wheel-drive, which she soon realized was too small and I, that my dreams of having a Evo 10 would not happen. However, the Pilot is a much more reasonable car for my mom, who forgets she is driving a van, but still finds ways to put massive objects into her "small" van. What I mean by that is, the Pilot is a pretty good at handling for its size, but can still carry very big objects in the back or on a trailer.

That brings me to the part of the blog that I find the most interesting: the specs. When compared to the 2013 Toyota Highlander, which we were also looking at, the Pilot actually seems like the better choice, and so far it seems like we made the right decision. The Highlander has a whopping 270 hp compared to the Pilots 250 hp. However the Pilot has 253 ft-lb of torque compared to the Highlanders 248 ft-lb. The Pilot also gets better gas millage, a combined 20 mpg instead of 19 mpg.  Its cheeper too, only $33,520 for the 4WD EX instead of $36,010 for the SE 4x4. However you should keep in mind that the 2014 Highlander is a better competitor toe the Pilot, but my mom did not like how it looks. The big selling point was the fact that three people could sit in the middle row normally and how the power got to the ground. The Highlander has an AWD (not 4x4 like what they say for the 2013 but they corrected that for 2014) system whereas the Pilot has a 4x4 system. Its not the kind of 4x4 system you would find on a FJ or Wrangler, so you would no take the Pilot through the Rubicon, but you could try, because the Pilot has a rear locking differential, and when my mom is at the wheel, that is a good idea.

The most interesting thing about the two cars is when we did the test drives. Because when we drove the Pilot, the salesman was perfectly fine with us going off on our own, but the Toyota guy was not. Which is weird, giving the fact that earlier in the month my mom went and drove a Highlander and the guy did not need to be with her on the test drive. Also when my dad and I went and test drove a FJ Cruiser back in 2008, at the same dealer, the salesman did not need to go with us. He seemed like a grouchy person, so it might have just been him.

Next week I will bring something with a little more spice, but If you want a comfortable, reliable, and neat looking SUV, the Pilot would be a pretty good choice.

(These are 2012 but the 2014 looks exactly the same)