Topic: Day-by-Day Review: 2014 Honda Ridgeline Touring

[johngenx]

RL might be a good truck for us.  The missus would drive it thanks to the SUV -like visibility and car-like ride, and I could haul parts and junk, etc.  Might get one when they're old and cheap.

[PJ]

For all the minor jobs I find a utility trailer beats a pickup.  My brother and I split the cost of one about 8 years ago.  $1000 got us a 5'x 8' trailer with a 1500 lb payload at Home Depot.  Just over $50 /year for insurance/ licence and almost nothing for maintence. 

You can tow it with almost anything and the best thing is you can leave it home when you don't need it. 

[rrocket]

For all the minor jobs I find a utility trailer beats a pickup.  My brother and I split the cost of one about 8 years ago.  $1000 got us a 5'x 8' trailer with a 1500 lb payload at Home Depot.  Just over $50 /year for insurance/ licence and almost nothing for maintence. 

You can tow it with almost anything and the best thing is you can leave it home when you don't need it.

This.  I had a friend who insisted he needed a truck "for picking up stuff at Home Depot" if/when he needed to do renovations, work on his house etc.

The 2-3 time a year when I need something like that, I just rent the Home Depot truck.....Way, way way cheaper than buying, running a truck.

[Solstice2006]

For all the minor jobs I find a utility trailer beats a pickup.  My brother and I split the cost of one about 8 years ago.  $1000 got us a 5'x 8' trailer with a 1500 lb payload at Home Depot.  Just over $50 /year for insurance/ licence and almost nothing for maintence. 

You can tow it with almost anything and the best thing is you can leave it home when you don't need it.

This.  I had a friend who insisted he needed a truck "for picking up stuff at Home Depot" if/when he needed to do renovations, work on his house etc.

The 2-3 time a year when I need something like that, I just rent the Home Depot truck.....Way, way way cheaper than buying, running a truck.

That's what I say, but then Fobroader comes and beats me up, because I dissed truck owners... 

[Fobroader]

For all the minor jobs I find a utility trailer beats a pickup.  My brother and I split the cost of one about 8 years ago.  $1000 got us a 5'x 8' trailer with a 1500 lb payload at Home Depot.  Just over $50 /year for insurance/ licence and almost nothing for maintence. 

You can tow it with almost anything and the best thing is you can leave it home when you don't need it.

This.  I had a friend who insisted he needed a truck "for picking up stuff at Home Depot" if/when he needed to do renovations, work on his house etc.

The 2-3 time a year when I need something like that, I just rent the Home Depot truck.....Way, way way cheaper than buying, running a truck.

That's what I say, but then Fobroader comes and beats me up, because I dissed truck owners... 

I just like having a truck around the house because I always have it there for things, I hate borrowing or renting.

[wing]

Whoa what province do you need insurance and yearly plates on a trailer?  Sucky

[PJ]

Whoa what province do you need insurance and yearly plates on a trailer?  Sucky

BC.  You need to renew your vehicle licence each year and while I'm not sure it's required it's only just over twenty bucks for insurance so why not?

[PJ]

Whoa what province do you need insurance and yearly plates on a trailer?  Sucky

BC.  You need to renew your vehicle licence each year and while I'm not sure it's required it's only just over twenty bucks for insurance so why not?

And it would cost three time that much to fill a pick up just once and you'd have to do that 50 times a year if you had a commute like me.

[rrocket]

Whoa what province do you need insurance and yearly plates on a trailer?  Sucky

You have a policy that if you wreck your trailer in an accident it's covered?  I know my pals with their $30K race trailer carry a seperate policy for it.

[PJ]

Whoa what province do you need insurance and yearly plates on a trailer?  Sucky

You have a policy that if you wreck your trailer in an accident it's covered?  I know my pals with their $30K race trailer carry a seperate policy for it.

Just liability.  If someone else wrecks it it's covered but not if I do it.  It was only a grand new though and I've never had an accident so that's fine.

[wing]

I've got a policy for the race car which covers the trailer.   But normally nobody does for utility trailers.

[greengs]

I still think this is the best truck on the market when commuting is the main duty. Let's face it, it's better than RAM and all the others for hauling the #1 cargo, air.

I even saw a few contractors with these, in the usual fancy-truck-empty-but-for-tax-deduction-logos / closed trailer combination.

I'd like the Ridgeline's awd setup on the Odyssey!

I'd say a 4 cyl Tacoma is the best truck for commuting.   Better mileage and better truck.

Tacoma is a horrible truck for commuting compared to Ridgeline.  Ridgeline drives like a dream compared to the Tacoma.  Unless fuel mileage is the only concern but it's hard to compare a 4 cylinder to a V6.

[blotter]

My father purchased this truck in 2008.
It was from the US with 9,000 miles and got a smoking deal.

It replaced a Honda CRV which he ended not liking too much after years of driving a 1/2 ton.

What he wanted was the V6, some towing capacity and a box to haul his tools and other crap.
One of the biggest selling factors to him was the ride / handling and lower step in height from a 1/2 ton.
It's also a smaller truck that's really easy to move around, park and handle.

My dad has no issues with a small box, uses it sometimes but for things like hauling dirt / rocks he has a utility trailer.    The truck, aside from back and forth to work and tools is often used towing a 16 foot double axle covered trailer and two big Harleys inside.    I'm pretty sure with the bikes, it's getting close to the 5,000 lbs capacity.   My dad feels it has no issues doing the job and loves this truck.

He admits to not liking the look of it when he first got it, but doesn't really care anymore and has actually learned to like it.   

I've used the truck many times and even towed with it.   While I don't think I've towed near capacity, it did the job fine.     

Compared to full-sized trucks, the RL costs more to buy and just as much to run. Flawed execution of a great concept.

A fully loaded RL is priced at $44,324
you get leather, power seat, sunroof, navigation. 
If you take away the huge incentives on the 1/2 tons, you're going to spend +$50K to match the features.
I'm not sure how this is a flawed execution?   When did Honda ever come out saying this made to go against the things like the F-150?   This is more of an urban truck and people who have them, love them.
It's not everyone's cup of tea but for what this was actually designed to do, it's great execution.
What Honda's problem is, is the fact they just haven't updated this thing since it came out. 

Tacoma is a horrible truck for commuting compared to Ridgeline.  Ridgeline drives like a dream compared to the Tacoma.  Unless fuel mileage is the only concern but it's hard to compare a 4 cylinder to a V6.

Since I'm considering both these, I've been spending some time in both as well and don't agree.
The Tacoma's ride is almost as good.   It is far from horrible.   One major different is the RL is a little wider and feels slightly more planted on corners.   While much has been said on the seating, I found the floor of the Taco is high, creating a legs out position.  After reading many reviews and options on this forum I noticed this much more on my 30 minute test drive yesterday.   I brought the truck to my dad and had him sit in it.   Funny thing is he said it didn't seem to have much of a different seating position to him.
What he did notice is the RL seats seemed wider.   

The Tacoma's priority isn't comfort, I think the seating position has been designed this way to give more ground clearence.   While the RL makes comfort a priority.

[mixmanmash]

Blotter, the thing is that there are constantly incentives and a fair bit of room on the price of loaded 1/2 tons making it a pretty easy choice to go with one versus the RL.  I think it's also the reason to go with a crew cab truck versus a truck based large SUV.

[Northernridge]

Blotter – excellent summary based on your dad's experience. That's how we see it...couldn't have said it better.

[Blueprint]

Waaayy back in the late '80s, my Dad had a Toyota SR-5 XTracab 4x4 truck, with the 2.4 litre and 5-speed stick. I had some fun driving that truck around, but the legs-out driving position would get really old for really older me, and with an empty bed the rear would jump around on every pavement blister. If today's Tacoma has similar rear-end issues, it would make a really bad commuter. The minivan has much more cargo room anyway and more practical for a suburbanite who's confident in his manhood. I liked trucks when they were simpler things with 8' beds, but today's tarted up horses just turn me off. Kinda like the Frontier and RL though.

[Snowman]

Great post Blotter about real world experiences with the RL. If we needed a vehicle with this type if utility it would be at the top of our list vs. a full size pick up.

[Solstice2006]

Blotter – excellent summary based on your dad's experience. That's how we see it...couldn't have said it better.

I agree as well.   I will never owner a "full size" truck, don't care about the incentives.  If I needed to tow around 3500lbs. Would consider a RL, Tacoma crew cab, the upcoming GM twins, and a coupe of SUVs like the new Highlander, new MDX.  Mostly because the full size trucks drive too big for me, and I don't need the large bed.

[nlm]

The Tacoma's ride is almost as good.   It is far from horrible.   One major different is the RL is a little wider and feels slightly more planted on corners.   While much has been said on the seating, I found the floor of the Taco is high, creating a legs out position.  After reading many reviews and options on this forum I noticed this much more on my 30 minute test drive yesterday.   I brought the truck to my dad and had him sit in it.   Funny thing is he said it didn't seem to have much of a different seating position to him.
What he did notice is the RL seats seemed wider.   

The Tacoma's priority isn't comfort, I think the seating position has been designed this way to give more ground clearence.   While the RL makes comfort a priority.

Agreed. I was in the same boat many years back, comparing a RL to a Taco crew. One other thing I would add is that the RL felt much roomier in the interior, both front and back. There's a lot of storage area in the RL between the two front seats including the floor area, like pick-ups of old or even "full size" cars from the 70s. I didn't feel kid seats in the back to be an issue with the RL.

Other than the horrible rear quarter sight lines that I am obligated to raise on every RL thread the other big difference between the two is that the RL drives more like a car and the Taco drives more like a proper truck, and since the Taco I was looking at was a TRD it had a much more off-road bias.

[Northernridge]

I agree the Taco is awesome. It's the clear off road choice and much more real truck like. Plus it's youthful and still cool. My 19 year old thinks the RL is a mom's car while the Tacoma is his top choice of vehicle to buy.