Toyota Highlander vs Honda Pilot

Anyone have any experience with either of these (or comparing them)? We are comparing both but think we are leaning towards the Pilot. We have a large dog (greyhound) and the space behind the 3rd row of the Pilot shoud be large enough for him, but not in the Highlander.

I've checked Edmunds and they are very close in most other aspects including price. I've also gone thru Costco to get a better price quotes on them. I haven't gone thru Costco before as I usually just email the dealers and ask them what their best price is on the specific I am looking for.

Also, the Pilot we are looking at is a 2009 whereas the Highlander hasn't even come out with the 2009 yet, they are still selling the 2008's.

I have ridden in both quite a bit (not owned either).. I prefer the Pilot for 1) gas mileage, 2) roominess, 3) smoothness of ride. I have also owned many Toyota's and Honda's and found my Honda's to have a tad better quality (though these 2 are the highest of any of my other 20 or so vehicles I've owned)..

When Marianne and I looked at Pilots (early on) they didn't come w/ sunroofs. She ended up getting an Infiniti G35x instead, and I WISH we had this decision to make again.. life rarely offers "do-overs"..

Wayne

My aunt and uncle have a Pilot, and I'm very impressed by it. It's comfortable, gets good mileage, and is roomy. Most importantly, in my book at least, it has been very reliable over the last 3 or 4 years they have had it. They put a lot of miles on vehicles, drive them hard, and have 4 children. In other words: they beat the crap out of vehicles. And it has survived the storm remarkably well so far.

OH yeah, with two kids (and their friends) and the dog, the Pilot will hold 8 people with dog and the Highlander will only hold 7 people with no dog.

I am a long-time Toyota fan. I mostly drive a 24-year-old Toyota truck, and have bought several others. I was looking for a small SUV for the wife. I drove the Highlander and the Pilot. The Pilot offered a much better ride, didn't require premium gasoline, and was highly rated in the magazines. I bought it from over the internet, and was only in the dealership for a few minutes. We've been very happy with it.

They look pretty close to me, Art. The Highlander always seemed too car-like to me, but the new Pilot seems to have taken a step backwards in that direction. Heck, they're even roughly equal in towing capacity now. Some folks may not realize that the 2009 Pilot is a completely different vehicle than the 2008 and prior versions.

For me, unless the space for the dog is a deal-breaking consideration, I'd let it come down to price. I've given costco-type brokers a shot before, but have found their prices to be much higher than prices I negotiate by emailing fleet/internet sales managers at multiple dealers, telling them exactly what I want, when I want to buy it, and that I'll take the best offer I get back including all fees. That way, you skip the silly in-showroom negotiation games, you bypass the sales agent's commission system altogether, and you stand a chance of finding a dealer who's willing to pass unadvertised incentives for meeting sales targets along to you. Good luck!

Gruder said:

They look pretty close to me, Art. The Highlander always seemed too car-like to me, but the new Pilot seems to have taken a step backwards in that direction. Heck, they're even roughly equal in towing capacity now. Some folks may not realize that the 2009 Pilot is a completely different vehicle than the 2008 and prior versions.

For me, unless the space for the dog is a deal-breaking consideration, I'd let it come down to price. I've given costco-type brokers a shot before, but have found their prices to be much higher than prices I negotiate by emailing fleet/internet sales managers at multiple dealers, telling them exactly what I want, when I want to buy it, and that I'll take the best offer I get back including all fees. That way, you skip the silly in-showroom negotiation games, you bypass the sales agent's commission system altogether, and you stand a chance of finding a dealer who's willing to pass unadvertised incentives for meeting sales targets along to you. Good luck!

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My only difference here is "price" is different from "total cost of ownership"... I am going to 'guess' (hypothesise?) that the Highlander is going to be higher in cost and total cost of ownership... Wayne

We have a 2006 Pilot EX-L and compared it to the Highlander when we bought it. We bought it because

- The Pilot seemed less car/minivanish
- The Pilot was bigger inside (or at least seems to be)
- The Pilot gets better gas mileage due to the variable cylinder doohicky (*see below)
- The Pilot looks better (personal opinion)
- The Pilot had all options we wanted in a particular package.
- The Pilot drove better. i.e. felt sportier and quicker
- The Pilot had a better interior (again personal opinion)

* One thing about the gas mileage. On the freeways, we get about 25 mpg, which is great for an 8 passanger vehicle. However, it sucks gas around the city at about 13 mpg. Not sure about the Highlander.

The only thing that made the Highlander stand out is that it was much quieter, which is one thing Toyata does far better than Honda.

In the few years we've owned it, it's operated flawlessly except for one thing. The TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) has been a pain in the butt. Now, this is probably due to when my wife was hit by another car, but it's taking Honda forever to fix it. They're now planning on replacing half the system and getting the parts takes months. I don't know if it's the system itself or inept Honda technitians, but we've been trying to get it fixed for over 6 months.

Gruder said:

I negotiate by emailing fleet/internet sales managers at multiple dealers, telling them exactly what I want, when I want to buy it, and that I'll take the best offer I get back including all fees. That way, you skip the silly in-showroom negotiation games, you bypass the sales agent's commission system altogether, and you stand a chance of finding a dealer who's willing to pass unadvertised incentives for meeting sales targets along to you. Good luck!

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This is my plan for my next car purchase. There are services that find the best 'price' by shopping around for you...and they basically call or email saying that they have a buyer who will be buying a car garunteed etc. Do it yourself to save some $$. You just have to know what you want ahead of time.

txengineer said:

I am a long-time Toyota fan. I mostly drive a 24-year-old Toyota truck, and have bought several others. I was looking for a small SUV for the wife. I drove the Highlander and the Pilot. The Pilot offered a much better ride, didn't require premium gasoline, and was highly rated in the magazines. I bought it from over the internet, and was only in the dealership for a few minutes. We've been very happy with it.

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My family has been a long-time Toyota fan too. My mom wanted a new car and was looking at the Highlander. My dad convinced her to get the Pilot. All in all, she has no complaints. It was definitely a very good buy. Go for the Pilot.

The best way to buy a car is through email. Email the fleet/internet managers at all of your local and a couple out of area dealers (be 100% willing to drive a bit to save). Let them know exactly what you want and when you plan on buying. Ask for their best prices OTD and then play them off one another a bit (i.e., "A" says 21k, can you beat it?). You'll get a great offer and don't worry if some of them are rude. Also, do your research and know EXACTLY what incentives and offers are available from Honda in your area (edmunds.com and honda.com are good places to look). If you do your research it is very hard not to get a good deal.

Good luck.

I have a different approach. After research online is done and I've narrowed it down, I research dealers near me and try to find a small, family owned, independent shop.

I bought my VW and Subaru at such places and the service you get is phenomenal. Right now, if I had to buy another car, it would be one of those two and from one of those dealers.

Unit 91 said:

The best way to buy a car is through email. Email the fleet/internet managers at all of your local and a couple out of area dealers (be 100% willing to drive a bit to save). Let them know exactly what you want and when you plan on buying. Ask for their best prices OTD and then play them off one another a bit (i.e., "A" says 21k, can you beat it?). You'll get a great offer and don't worry if some of them are rude. Also, do your research and know EXACTLY what incentives and offers are available from Honda in your area (edmunds.com and honda.com are good places to look). If you do your research it is very hard not to get a good deal.

Good luck.

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Why would they be rude?

TstebinsB said:

Why would they be rude?

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I have no idea. All I do know is some of them are. Like you're being insulting by asking for their best deal.

TstebinsB said:

Why would they be rude?

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I wouldn't say I've ever gotten rude responses to such emails, but a person would do well to expect: 1) that some of the messages sent will simply be ignored; and 2) that some of the folks who respond won't give you full numbers, but instead will offer a sales pitch. If I've received a couple of workable responses back, I ignore the folks who haven't followed my instructions. If I want another offer to play with, I respond, reiterating my desire for a complete set of numbers for a specific vehicle. In all cases, this approach works best if you're able to buy within a week, not within a month or more. Of course, it also requires financing in hand. A trade would complicate things, I'd think.

It often helps, I believe, to make your connection to each dealer a bit personal if possible (e.g. "a friend of mine bought a Highlander from your dealership last October, and has been quite impressed by your service..."). Of course, I don't add the personal touch if it isn't true. YMMV, and good luck!

I dont think you can ever go wrong with a Honda! I just bought a brand new mazda 3 because I liked the looks better than the civic but the rest of my family has been driving hondas/acuras for years and never any problems.

Yes, some will ignore you. Personal references are a plus. Some will be rude.

I'll see if I can get copies of emails from a friend that had an interesting experience recently. Some sales people are just flat out rude. Both ones I've worked with and ones I've come across buying cars.

We did the same thing back in 2003, emailed some dealers for our current CR-V. I got a few rude emails back, one saying "I can sell these at MSRP without having to give any discount, they are selling like hotcakes." Needless to say, he did not get a responding email. The one we did buy from was patient and fair and we had the pleasure of dealing with him.

Oh, and ironically, the CR-V we DID buy had to be transferred from another dealer, and guess who's it came from, the guy that was "selling them like hotcakes." Apparently they weren't THAT hot!

Oh, and don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to cheat the dealer, but the dealer is in the business to make as much money as he can, I am in the business to save as much money as I can....If he want's to be rude, I'll just go somewhere else.

I did like someone else with the CR-V purchase, I drove over an hour to get to the dealer to pick it up.

We did the whole email/internet fleet manager approach with the Pilot. One place responded within an hour with an incredible offer, about $6k less than any other dealer we had talked to. I shopped the offer around and got the following responses via phone:

- "<click>" The guy hung up on me.
- "If you can get it at that price, buy two and I'll buy one from you."
- "HAHAHAH ha ha hahahah HaAAAHHAahaha!"
- "They're lying." He then proceeded to tell me all the "private" dealer numbers and how he would get in trouble if the boss found out he was giving out that info.

Needless to say, we bought it from that internet manager.