I'm buying a Ridgeline.

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

OP wants a Ridgeline. 

I would lease if your state doesn't tax on the full MSRP. Ridgelines have good resale value so the lease cost should be relatively low- lower than a four year finance anyway. 

I apologize for helping push this into the inevitable battle of truck subcategories. Honestly, I think that this is an educated group that already knows 95 percent of the answers, so really we are just flapping our gums at this point. 

Thank you and have a good day.   

Where in NY are you? Most shops just plug it in to the ODB and kick you out the door, unless it's a flagrant safety violation. 

In reply to fatallightning :

Back in the 70's Illinois did a safety lane sticker on every truck.  The joke was to get out at the lane and accidentally leave a $20 bill on the seat.

2017 RTL-T owner here. They're great sporks. Good ride quality, capability for the size, decent mileage. I went RTL-T since it had carplay and heated seats, but no sunroof. Bought mine used in 2020 with 45k mi. 

The transmission/torque converter issues on the 6 spd gen 2's are mostly due to needing the trans fluid changed. There's a PCM programming update (TSB) to help the fluid last longer (utlizes the trans fluid cooler better), but doing a flush on the fluid also generally does the trick (did for mine at 95k mi).

There's also a high pressure fuel pump issue that can cause the injectors to have issues, resulting in misfires. Looked like mine had that fixed under warranty before I bought it. 

Start/stop push button also is a known issue (at least on the early gen 2s). It has an extended warranty but it's also a relatively cheap part and a 5 min install to do yourself. 

One common complaint is that the rear doors don't open very far. They fixed that in the newer ones (within the last few years maybe?) but on the earlier gen 2s you just buy a pair of the front door detent parts and swap them into the rear doors for better opening. A must for fitting any decently sized square boxes in the back seat or getting kids in/out of a car seat.  A cheap mod that is just better.

They're halfway pre-wired for a trailer brake controller. They were all delivered with the needed wiring harness adapter in the glove box. You plug that in under the dash, add a fuse to an empty spot in the fuse box, and plug your aftermarket trailer brake controller in. The used one I bought still had the harness in the glove box. 

Consumables all seem to be standard Honda Pilot/Passport stuff, so lots of options for brakes, belts, etc. Not much of an aftermarket (even for stuff like shocks). 

Thanx McD, rear doors are for dog use only.   I heard of the transmission issues but not the start button, I'm sure there's a forum for it somewhere.

Dan

There is a forum, and it's been a good resource during our decades of Ridgeline ownership: https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com

Margie

So... MiniShinnyGroove got accepted to Georgia Tech and thanks to our state scholarship program, tuition will be on the house. I told her that as a reward for her hard work I would get her a new car (so she can come visit Dad more often, I hope) which brought me to the Honda dealer yesterday to buy an incredibly nice Civic Touring for her. But while I was there I was checking out the Ridgeline, which got my wheels turning.

I sold my ND2 last week and have been commuting in the F-250, which is as awful as you would expect.  I figured I would get myself an Accord hybrid at some point, but I do fantasize about getting down to one vehicle and the Ridgeline seems awesome. Car-like handling, just the right size, and the trunk in the bed floor is ingenious.  Which leads me to my question:

My 8x20 enclosed race trailer is probably just under 5k pounds, the exact towing limit for the Ridgeline. Is it completely irresponsible to try this?  I rarely tow more than 4 hours any more and it's mostly flat here in the Southeast.

I should probably keep the F-250 for trailer duty and get the Accord, but it seems a little silly to keep a whole truck hanging around for this one job if I could avoid it. 

I can't answer that, but Tom or Tim posted something about towing heavy and or cross country.  I've towed close to the limit with a C-10, did OK until we got the the hills in Pennsylvania.  Nothing dangerous, just more down shifting and less speed than I would have liked.

We have towed at the truck's capacity. Avoid cruise and overdrive, especially in any kind of hills and/or on warm days, or you will have issues with the transmission overheating. And yeah, you'll notice how hard it's working to get up those hills. A pox on every clueless shiny happy person who ever passed at the crest of the hill and pulled back in front to kneecap us as we tried to gather speed on the downhill.

Margie

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

I think the wheelbase of the ridgeline and the aero drag of an enclosed that size would be a no go. 

 Weight is less a factor than the drag,and any cross winds and it'd be pretty sketchy.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

Cruise control.  Cruise control removes driver awareness.  They don't even realize what they are doing because they don't even consider that going uphill is harder than going downhill.

Also your fuel economy goes up a lot if you gather momentum downhill and gradually lose it uphill, with ANY vehicle.

kevlarcorolla said:

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

I think the wheelbase of the ridgeline and the aero drag of an enclosed that size would be a no go. 

 Weight is less a factor than the drag,and any cross winds and it'd be pretty sketchy.

+1 to this. Not enough wheelbase and too much aero drag.

Yeah, none of this is making me want to move on from the F-250. Thanks for the feedback. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

Of course moving to an open trailer changes the topic of max tow weight dramatically.

 Before christmas I hauled a 7x14 tandem enclosed 1000 miles empty with my tundra,it was shockingly close in mpg to hauling the 28' toyhauler the same trip.

 And returned the same mpg loaded with full roll away tool chests,motorcycles,tools etc etc on the return trip as it did empty.

 Total weight was well under max capacity,drag is everything.

93gsxturbo said:

The Ridgelines certainly do appear to a certain white New Balance, jean shorts, bug deflector, "i have a truck" crowd. 

Where I am challenged to see the value is when you actually start comparing the numbers.

• Horsepower and Torque - F150 by a landslide
• Interior Volume (Crew Cab) - F150 by a landslide
• Towing - F150 (see a pattern yet?)
• MPG - Even money in real world driving.
• Tech - F150 all day every day and twice on Sunday
• Price - Depends on how you option it up.  With current discounts they are gonna be close.  
• F150 is bigger - almost 2 feet longer in the comparable Super Crew/5.5 foot box config, but its all between the wheelbase, so that just makes it ride nicer and tow/haul better.  

all the ridgeline needs to be a winner is an extra 5mpg. 

I've had dozens of F-150's for work trucks and a ridgeline. NVH the F-150 wins hands down because of the body on frame, but ride quality is leaps better in the ridgeline. All F-150's have an annoying bounce to them which is very irritating if you notice...if you don't, ignorance is bliss.

The real value is the trunk, it's really priceless. We go dirt biking on the weekends, muddy gear, helmets and boots, tools, gas, coolers all go in the trunk. It's one of those things that if you never need to use, you won't understand. When we take an F-150 that is all crammed in the back seat, stinks, muddying up and scratching up the interior. When you stop somewhere you're always worried about smash and grab. 

In reply to fatallightning :

NY is cracking down; window tint is their pet peeve now, but they eyeball the frame and actually pull a wheel off now days.  Huge fines, State cops make an appointment and show up in civilian clothes.

twowheeled said:

93gsxturbo said:

The Ridgelines certainly do appear to a certain white New Balance, jean shorts, bug deflector, "i have a truck" crowd. 

Where I am challenged to see the value is when you actually start comparing the numbers.

• Horsepower and Torque - F150 by a landslide
• Interior Volume (Crew Cab) - F150 by a landslide
• Towing - F150 (see a pattern yet?)
• MPG - Even money in real world driving.
• Tech - F150 all day every day and twice on Sunday
• Price - Depends on how you option it up.  With current discounts they are gonna be close.  
• F150 is bigger - almost 2 feet longer in the comparable Super Crew/5.5 foot box config, but its all between the wheelbase, so that just makes it ride nicer and tow/haul better.  

all the ridgeline needs to be a winner is an extra 5mpg. 

I've had dozens of F-150's for work trucks and a ridgeline. NVH the F-150 wins hands down because of the body on frame, but ride quality is leaps better in the ridgeline. All F-150's have an annoying bounce to them which is very irritating if you notice...if you don't, ignorance is bliss.

...or 150 more horsepower

...or a trans that doesnt overheat when using it at the published specs.

...or more interior volume.

...or....

There has been talk that the earlier aluminum body F150s rode like crap because they didn't look close enough at the spring and shock settings when moving to a significantly lighter body, my 21 rides real nice as a crew cab/short box.  Can't say I have noticed any chop.  Of course it will/should ride a bit like a truck because..you know..it is.

I do wish the F150 had the box like the RAM does with the little lockable boxes on either side of the bed, that would be slick.  

I keep seeing these Ridgeline vs F-150 comparisons. I really don't see these two trucks as competitors at all. The Ridgeline is not a half-ton truck and I don't think it's even trying to be. It is a ridiculously versatile truck that covers the 'truck' needs of the vast majority of consumers. This is my driveway, I like them both but they are very different classes of vehicle.

In reply to karplus2 :

Exactly,its only butt hurt half ton guys that wanna prove to the world they have a "real" truck.

 The Ridgeline has very obviously(to most at least) been targeted to those that DON'T need or want a full size truck.

 Its not pretending to be an HD truck and an F150 isn't pretending to be a Prius.....its really that simple.

It's the same issue with Jeep Gladiators, apparently they're not a "real truck". I'm ok with that as I see it as a Wrangler with the convenience of a truck bed for dirty and/or bulky stuff. I see the Ridgeline as a SUV with the convenience of a truck bed. Where do you want these sand covered beach chairs, umbrella, coolers, etc? In the back of a Pilot or in the bed of a Ridgeline? I'll take Ridgeline every time. 

SaxyHero is in the market for a double cab truck with a tonneau so we sat in a bunch today.

We didn't drive any because of time but just sitting in them we were astonished how cheap the Ridgeline felt inside. It was a 2010, maybe the newer ones are a bit nicer?

Avalanche so far is her first choice, followed by a Titan ( flip up seats are nice for the dogs, huge desk like middle console was great. Also comfy seats). Newer Sport Trac felt very small inside, Frontier double cab was ok but nothing was better than ok, F150 she liked but not as much as the Avalanche or Titan, gmt800 double cab was just "big" somehow, newer Tacoma was just uncomfortable.

Obviously a test drive might change everything too.

I drove a 2022, looks and feels like my wife's CRV.  I've never been in a 2010 Ridgeline, but the sail behind the rear seat makes me think blind spot.  I've had C-10s, F-100 & 150s and two 3/4 ton Dodges.  I still believe a Ridgeline will do what I want, though I don't see it in the Santa Cruz class.

In reply to 914Driver :

I looked at the santa cruz as well,its a little quicker then the ridgeline with its turbo engine and dct trans.

 However loads of problems with Hyundai dct's across all its models.

 I think the Honda is the safer bet long term for sure on many fronts.

The new Ranger Raptor is the truck I'd buy if I could fit any of them in my garage.  Because who doesn't want a truck that tries to act like a sports car?