17th Dec 2010, 15:16
The same exact thing would have happened to any truck that other posters are saying is so much better than the Ridgeline on this thread. You can get a cap for the Ridgeline, just like any other truck, and the bed is shallow because there is a ton of storage underneath it, which makes this truck much more versatile than your average pickup.
17th Dec 2010, 17:10
I've seen many Ridgeline's being used by contractors, and towing well up to, if not over their 5,000 lb. towing capacity. I think the Ridgeline is a great truck for what it was (and wasn't!) designed for.
24th Feb 2011, 15:26
While I would agree that a Ridgeline isn't a "real" truck, in terms of payload, drivetrain, construction, they are good for the needs of the average homeowner. I have driven full-size Fords and GM trucks for years and love them. I work as an auto insurance adjuster, so when I started looking for a new truck, I considered mileage, reliability, and safety. The Ridgeline fit all those categories perfectly for me. It rides and drives like big Acura, can pull my utility trailer with ease, gets decent mileage and is as reliable as the sun coming up every day. With that said, if I pulled a 8k pound trailer everyday or went offroad often, I'd buy a regular body-on frame truck. I think the Tundra and Titan are good trucks as well, but it's hard to beat a nice GM or Ford!
7th Mar 2011, 09:33
My brother has an 07 Ridgeline with 61K miles on it. He was a service manager and mechanic for many years, and does all of his own servicing on his vehicle.
The vehicle broke down on him on the highway a few weeks ago, so he checked all of the fluids (about a 1/2 qt low on oil) and such, and then called a tow truck. The Honda dealer said it was lack of maintenance, and the 100K mile warranty will not cover an engine replacement. Apparently this is a known issue for this V6 engine. He has no receipts for his oil changes and service, so he now has to pay 10K for a new engine and owes 13K on the truck. He can MAYBE get 13K if he were to sell it in excellent condition. HONDA customer service has been terrible, and pretty much told him that since he has a 3rd party warranty, they won't do anything to help him. If this would have happened about a month before, when he was under 60K miles, Honda would have repaired it, so they say. Although I found a forum online where someone had the same thing AND receipts to prove oil changes and such, they still did not repair it. I just purchased my 7th Honda (a new Odyssey). After all of this, I am now going to own only Toyotas.
7th Mar 2011, 16:18
Wait, he is over the mileage on his warranty and you are blaming Honda for not honoring a third party warranty? He should be going after the third party here and getting them to pay for his engine. Honda has absolutely no obligation to him to honor any warranty that is not their own. ANY other company would do exactly the same (including Toyota). Seems he should have bought an extended warranty from Honda instead.
Also, how does a service manager/ mechanic not keep records for maintenance? I am sure he turned away people that had no records as a service manager. He should know better! Always keep good records if you do your own maintenance.
And $10K for an engine? Is it made of gold? I'd think if he was a good mechanic, he could swap that out for under $3K. It probably is just the block, so reuse all the other parts. There is no need to replace an entire engine if you only need certain parts. I could maybe see $10K for a brand new engine that was ready to drop in and go, but that is a waste on anything but a new car with a defect, or an old muscle car you are restoring. You also didn't elaborate on what was wrong with the engine. 1/2 quart low will not affect a good running engine much.
17th Oct 2011, 18:30
If Honda were to make a full size truck, the government would have to bail the big three out again, since Honda would blow the competition away. It's coming; Honda will stop making the Ridgeline for a year or two, then bring something new out, and school will be in session.
2nd Jan 2013, 17:30
Seriously? Not a truck huh? Looks like a truck to me, hauls 5000lbs, over 1000lbs payload, 4wd, rear window slider, the list goes on about things you find on just about every truck out there.
Of course you can't haul a 60 camper foot trailer or carry 4 million pounds, but who does that anyways? About 10 percent of the population? This truck does better for 99% of anyone's needs on a regular basis, with better fuel economy, more comfort, and FAR better design when it comes to actual usefulness.
And as for everyone saying it's not a truck because it drives primarily in front wheel drive, open your eyes! How good is rear wheel drive when you are stuck on snow, ice, mud, whatever. Honda has produced a vehicle that has the best of everything in it for almost everyone out there.
Those few of you who think you need the 900HP, dually, turbo diesel, mega cab, 40 feet in the air, tow a Learjet, but completely impractical on any road that is made for daily driving beast, go ahead and buy that. For the rest of us, we like the Ridgeline.
And please stop using PERIOD, there is never period, there will always be something out there for each person, respect that and move on. This is the part of the forum to talk about the Ridgeline and not any other vehicle, please respect that too.
3rd Jan 2013, 17:21
I think one of the smartest ideas of the Ridgeline is the location of the spare tire. Very convenient to have an access door on the floor of the bed, especially when you are hauling a pallet of sod or something else where a forklift was used to put large heavy items in the bed, then when you actually get a flat tire, you are pretty much screwed.
4th Jan 2013, 08:28
A bit extreme on the LEAR JET. I prefer a strong full frame truck to pull family boats, especially up slick ramps without harming the truck.
I tried small trucks. You pay insurance anyway. Why buy a limited, some of the time use truck? If you also own a Lear Jet, buy a new limo vs any truck.
4th Jan 2013, 17:18
Toyota tried competing with domestic trucks with the shoddily built Tundra and failed miserably.
Honda does not make a truck. The Ridgeline is a Pilot SUV with a tiny and virtually unusable bed. They added rear drive to the front-drive platform, but it is still basically a Pilot with the back left open. It is useless for hauling anything more substantial than groceries or golf clubs. To call it a "truck" does great injustice to real trucks such as the F-150, Silverado and Ram.
5th Jan 2013, 18:27
Sure the Ridgeline is "trucklike", but it's more like an SUV with an open bed than a truck. Front wheel drive??? Not a truck...
Maybe one day these will be used as commercial trucks or by trades people, but I think that day is pretty far off in the future.
The Ridgeline is a neat design, but it's more targeted to soccer moms and suburbanites than people who actually need and use a real truck.
The F-150, Silverado, Tundra and Ram are all better choices with higher towing capability, stronger engines, full size box, rear wheel drive, and body on frame, not to mention proven reliability and performance.
All I am saying is the Ridgeline has a long ways to go if it wants to compete with those other trucks mentioned.
17th Dec 2010, 02:03
So today for the first time ever, I saw someone actually carrying cargo in their Ridgeline.
They were carrying some small cardboard boxes.
Despite the high sides on the cargo bed, they could not stack a second layer on top, as the box is very shallow.
It was raining today, and the boxes were getting wet, as were the contents. A SUV keeps your goods dry and can take 4 times the boxes; even a small wagon could have carried more boxes. I'd still like to know how anyone would consider the Ridgeline a "practical" truck when it makes even a large SUV seem practical in comparison.