2010 Honda Pilot On Sale Today, No Updates

The 2010 Honda Pilot went on sale nationally today. The model sees no equipment changes on any trim levels, and pricing also remains relatively unchanged. The 2010 Pilot is about $150-$300 more, depending on trim level, than the 2009 model.

You may not find 2010 models on all dealer lots today, but there are still significant inventories of 2009 models out there. We found more than 500 in Cars.com's new-car inventory in the Chicago area.  

There are currently no advertised incentives on the 2009 model, but dealers will often make deals to make way for new-model-year vehicles. Full pricing for the 2010 models is below.

Weekend Athlete: 2009 Honda Pilot

Normally, three-row crossovers like the Honda Pilot breeze through Weekend Athlete tests with such ease that I don’t always bend over backward to test them. But, with a slow week and a new 2009 Honda Pilot in the office, I gave it a shot and found a few surprises.

Honda Dials Back Odyssey, Pilot Production

Honda will scale back production of its new Pilot SUV and Odyssey minivans by 32,000 units to compensate for shifting consumer demand. The loss in family-hauler production will be made up by increasing output of the popular Accord sedan. Sales of the Accord are up 2.4% this year through September.

While increased Accord production won’t impact supply in the states — Honda will simply import fewer Japan-built Accords — fewer Pilots and Odysseys will mean a tighter supply if demand returns. Honda will also be able to keep incentive spending down for those two models.

Honda says that with this increase in Accord production, it will now be producing more than 80% of the cars it sells in the U.S. domestically.

Honda to produce more cars, fewer minivans, SUVs (Detroit Free Press)

Suburban Dad: And the Vacation Winner Is...

After more than 2,500 miles, the votes are in and tabulated. My wife and I, along with our three kids, have finished our 15 days on the road, going from Chicago to Rochester, N.Y., then Gettysburg, Pa.; Washington, D.C.; Burlington, N.C.; and home again. We made the journey in four three-row SUVs, including a Ford Flex, Dodge Journey, Mazda CX-9 and Honda Pilot, and each was as idiosyncratic as my kids.

First, we'll take a look at the stats from our trip, which seems a lot longer on paper than it did in person:

• 2,706 miles over 15 days
• 50 hours (more or less) behind the wheel
• 145 gallons of gas
• $568.75 spent on gas
• Average gas mileage of 18.67 mpg (which, frankly, is higher than I expected)
• $3.49 a gallon was the cheapest gas price we saw (and paid) on our trip, and that was in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
• $4.39 a gallon was the highest gas price we saw (and didn't pay, though it wasn’t far from the cheapest gas around) in Washington, D.C.

Now, here’s how each of the cars fared in different categories:

2009 Honda Pilot Packing and Gas Mileage

Now that Leg 4 of the trip is complete, and we can take a look at how the Pilot fared on mileage and packing. Here’s the damage for the 2009 Honda Pilot Touring:

• 882.9 miles of driving, the longest of the four legs
• 17 hours (split over five days)
• An average of 18.56 mpg
• Roughly 48 gallons of gas consumed
• Average cost of $3.84 a gallon
• Total fuel cost: $182.72
• Highest gas price seen on this leg: $4.05 a gallon in Bolingbrook, Ill. (suburban Chicago)
• Lowest gas price: $3.53 a gallon in Wyethville, Va.

That mileage number makes the Pilot competitive with the other three cars on our vacation, although it clearly had the biggest profile of all four. Only about 80 miles were driven in city traffic, so I didn’t break that mileage out.

Little Things Add Up for Honda Pilot

There were no “wow” factors for my family in the 2009 Honda Pilot, but there were a lot of little touches that were noticed and appreciated.

First off, the third row splits 60/40. While that may not seem like a big deal compared to the 50/50 split in the other third rows we tested, it was a huge help. We returned home in a 14-hour trip over two days, and giving the kid in the third row that extra 10% of space made things much more comfortable. In addition, as my 11-year-old pointed out (and his siblings agreed with him), the Pilot had the most legroom of any of the four cars we tested. That meant a lot more peace and quiet for my wife and I up in the front row, I can tell you.

Cars.com Faceoff: 2009 Dodge Journey, 2009 Honda Pilot, 2008 Toyota Highlander

High gas prices are here at the same time almost every automaker is rolling out a highly visible crossover. While they get better fuel economy than truck-based SUVs, they’re no econobox. The editors at Cars.com took on two all-new models — the 2009 Dodge Journey and 2009 Honda Pilot — and pitted them against the 2008 Toyota Highlander, which was redesigned last year. These three models are strictly for families, and we decide which is the best and which is the best value. Check out the winner and let us know what you think of our decision in the comments below.

Cars.comparison: Kings of Suburbia

Movers and Losers: May Top 10

May’s numbers are in, and the Top 10 fastest selling models in the country looks familiar, but with even more of an emphasis on fuel-efficient gasoline and hybrid models, interspersed with brand-new SUVs. It’s a surprising combination. The new Honda Pilot seems to be immune to high gas prices in its first month on sale. The Honda Fit and Scion xB forced cars like the 2009 Subaru Forester and Jaguar XF out of the top 10, but both are still going strong, taking 18 and 23 days to sell, respectively. 

After the jump, we discuss the losers and how we calculate the charts. May’s average amount of time to sell a car from the moment it hit the lot to the keys being handed over to a new owner was 62 days.

Top 10 Movers

• 2009 Honda Pilot: 6 days
• 2009 Scion xB: 6 days
• 2008 Lexus LX 570: 8 days
• 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL550: 9 days
• 2008 BMW 135i coupe and convertible: 10 days
• 2008 Toyota Prius: 11 days
• 2008 Honda Fit: 14 days
• 2009 Acura TSX: 15 days
• 2008 BMW 528 xi: 16 days
• 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid: 17 days

Suburban Dad: 2009 Honda Pilot

Honda threw a curveball with the new Pilot — an SUV/crossover that’s very popular in suburbia — when it decided to butch up the car’s appearance. Gone was the sorta-SUV, sorta-wagon look of the first generation, replaced with a clearly truck-looking vehicle that could easily be mistaken for a Jeep Grand Cherokee from the side or a Nissan Pathfinder from the back. My first impression? Honda’s already got Suburban Mom in its pocket; now it wants Suburban Dad to buy in as well. 

Inside, of course, the Pilot was all Honda. Very refined (albeit with a few glitches, likely because this seemed to be a preproduction model) with tons of buttons on the center stack (Kelsey Mays counted more than 40). The ride and amenities, though, fairly shouted happy family truckster. In order to really get a feeling for how much the Pilot had shifted course, I dragged in a buddy of mine who owns the previous generation. He was, for the most part, happy with the improvements.

Prices Announced for 2009 Honda Pilot, On Sale Tomorrow

We’ve already reviewed the new Pilot and even had a Touring trim in the fleet recently, but the public’s first chance to test drive one will be this week, as it hits dealerships starting tomorrow. Here are the prices for each trim:

• LX FWD: $27,595
• LX AWD: $29,195
• EX FWD: $30,395
• EX AWD: $31,995
• EX-L FWD: $33,595
• EX-L AWD: $35,195
• Touring FWD: $36,795
• Touring AWD: $38,395

Check out our comparisons to the 2008’s pricing — which might surprise you — and what each trim level packs for the punch below.