Talk me out of...

About that... https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/2006-ridgeline-blown-head-gasket-twice.44455/ Seems to be a problem with Honda's 3.5L engine of that generation.

 

I'd own one except for the fact that I wanted to do harder 4wd trails then the RL could do comfortably. One of my riding buddies has one and it hauls two dual-sport MC's over some pretty tall grades in the Eastern Sierra pretty easily. Goes down some graded fire roads pretty easily to get to Trailheads too, though my friend does have more aggressive Toyo tires on his which probably helps.

I'd tell him to go for it! Especially if he's already a fan of Honda products.

I also don't understand why the 4Runner doesn't have an auto-closing liftgate. My GF has a '13 Highlander which has that feature. At first I thought it was kind of a gimmick but it does come in handy.

 

Huh? Is this in response to my original post? I'm not trying to talk anyone into something they won't like....just gathering information.

 

Ridgeline is fine, its just a Pilot with a truck bed