What would Honda have to do to Snag Tacoma Buyers

@Tunngavik is this better:

 

Huge mistake. My brother's stickered for over $60k for his LTZ in 2011. Paid $55K. Has every option on it. Just flipped over 50k mi yesterday. Only worth $34k on KBB. It's kept in flawless condition.

However...
-It get 15 mpg in city, if he's lucky.
-Eats brakes
-Eats tires
-Displacement on Demand (DOD) is a ticking time bomb (lifters)
-Random little things are an issue a lot... move the visor and the dash lights go out, paint comes off the nav buttons, steering rack leaks, broken endlinks, tires leak air due to chrome wheel corroding at the bead.

I'll drive it and it is certainly large and floaty going down the road. High center of gravity and not connect like a Tacoma. I've owned full size trucks and it is just their behavior. I just prefer midsize or less SUVs and trucks if I don't need to move sincere payload or tow large objects.

A Pilot or Ridgeline is more enjoyable to drive for commuting or people moving.

 

My parents owned Yukons/Tahoes when I was a kid. I learned to drive on one. Theirs always had one electrical issue or another but it was always a good truck. The steering in them is intentionally light to attract older buyers who want that which does make the drive feel awefully mushy even compared to a Silverado. The short wheelbase for the frame design doesn't help that either. However, it would be difficult to find a better combination of people hauler, tow vehicle, and weekend team mover. My parents could take us to the doctor, the mountains camping with our travel trailer, or 3 kids to a weekend hockey tournament on terrible roads all without that truck breaking a sweat. The Pilot can't do that.

Now that my parents don't tow anything, they sold the trailer when we left home, they've owned a Ford Edge and a Ford Explorer since trading off the last Yukon. My mom loved both but she sometimes misses the size and safety of the larger truck. They are thinking of trying an Expedition next time just because of that.

The funny thing is, if you aren't dead set on new, you can find the Yukon for less than 40K easy after 2-3 years depending on trim level. At that level the price isn't bad. Lots of them are government lease expiry too and in good shape. It's definitely not the worse purchase for a rural family at that price.

 

Depending on the weight of the trailer... that may be the only thing the Pilot "can't" do...

 

Ours was a 26 footer. About 6500 lbs IIRC. It was a Terry Aluminum frame. The trailer was one of the only ones that company made totally out of aluminum before they went tits up. It still wasn't as light as modern day ultra lights. There is no way, even at half that weight, I'd use a Pilot to tow a trailer into the Rockies. Personal preference of course.

Hockey bags aren't small. Our friends couldn't use their Explorer as a 5 seater and take 4 kids worth of hockey equipment too. The Yukon had more cargo capacity. It still does have more than the Pilot with the rear seats used.

The Yukon is bigger. Whether you need bigger or not is the same argument that goes on between a Tacoma and a fullsize.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXmZeeHKp74

 

Thanks for the video. At ~1:15 and ~4:00 you can really see how shallow that box is! Holy cow, I wouldn't want to throw something like a Hockey bag in there and hit the highway.

The tailgating music is kind of neat but I wouldn't use it and I wonder how many people would. The fold up seats and flat floor are much like an F150 and very very nice to have. Trust me on that.

Again, the guy really emphasized that towing and payload numbers are just guesses. Hopefully Honda decides to join the alliance of truck companies and use the SAE J2807 standard to rate the trucks towing. I know on the Ridgeline forums that's come up as a bit of a sticking point. If Honda chooses to ignore that standard then this truck will likely be over rated, and I mean literally, for towing compared to other trucks in the class.

 

just watched the Ridgeline release video.. The 'in bed' stereo speakers looks pretty cool. Not that I'd ever find a time and place where I'd actually use it.

 

Throw it in the bed's gigantic trunk

He said the towing will be mid-truck, class leading... AKA... better than Tacoma.

Also the payload capacity is 16xx. lb... Ram 1500 is 15xx lb.... HA

 

Yeah, that trunk is nice. Something tells me that between the unibody, IRS, trunk, and spare they didn't leave much space for box height lol.

If Honda doesn't use SAE J2807 to rate the Ridgeline their towing numbers will mean dick all. In the video I only heard him confirm that the mpg will be class leading. The Canyon can load 1620 lbs of payload on the gas job V6 and tow 8000 lbs in the Diesel configuration. I doubt they will go there and grab the class leading specification. Expect this truck to tow what the Pilot does and maybe a few hundred pounds more. The 2016 Pilot can tow 5000 lbs AWD, and 3500 lbs FWD.

Yes, the Ram has pathetic payload numbers. Roughly 700 lbs lower than either GM or Ford in the same class and style of truck! It was an issue with the last company I worked with.

 

Not sure why this is in the 3rd Gen forum...but I'll play your little games.

I think the only shot Honda has is to sell this:



Later.

 

I gotta say I liked it a lot.. If there was no Taco, or I had absolutely not been happy with it, I'd get a new Ridgeline.. Folks tend to forget that midsize trucks are all about utility.. The new Ridgeline seems to have it in spades.

 

I have no idea as to the GEN2 Ridgeline but I have a 2014 and just went out and quickly measured the bed height and it was about 18.5" at the tailgate. Not saying exact as I have a cover and everything is frozen. Having said that, I would think the GEN2 is similar.

 

Watch the posted video. The wheel fenders in the rear barely put a dent in the bed... I'm guessing the bed is similar in height to the first gen Tacoma at best. I could be wrong but in the Video it looks shallower than even the 2nd gen box.

 

Oh, I agree with you looking at the video but doubt there is much change if any. Of course, there is no slope towards the "cab" area on the GEN2.

 

I think the Ridgeline is comparable to the Tacoma's depth... if it's more shallow, not by a dramatic amount.

My 2014 Tacoma's bed isn't that "deep", especially compared to my Dad's 2014 Silverado.

The bed with a flat cargo area, 5 ft wide, is great. Far out weighs it to being too "shallow".

The huge trunk is awesome. I dig that. Groceries. Shopping items. Tie down accessories, umbrellas, ice scrapers, gloves, etc... really useful

 

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016...-powered-grand-cherokee-in-works/?intcmp=hpff

Not sure how Toyota can't bring the LC70 pickup to the NA to compete directly against this Jeep Pickup...

 

I like the look other than the front end. I think they screwed up by trying to make it look like a car. If it had a more truck-like front end, I think they'd sell more to the truck crowd.

 

Do you mean "truck" or do you mean "utilitarian"

The majority of the actual "truck" crowd, as shown by statistics, now buys them for luxury and people movers for shuttling kids and vacation gear.

Jeep Wrangler, Tacoma OR editions and F150 Raptor editions are a "utilitarian" crowd . SAS front and rear, lockers, etc... (mostly wanna-be folk anyways)