zannej
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Until a couple of years ago, I wasn't even aware that Honda made pickup trucks. They only make one and it is called the Ridgeline. Basically it is the body of a Honda Pilot with the top of the back chopped off. Since it is one solid piece, it handles better than most trucks.
It has pretty good gas mileage and turns nicely.
My previous vehicles were a 2005 Ford Expedition and 2010 Honda CR-V but on New Year's day, a 300 year old oak tree decided it was tired of vehicles driving over its roots so it keeled over and crushed the car port and both vehicles.
A branch had previously dropped off of it and totaled our 1999 Ford Ranger. We had an arborist look at the tree and he said it was fine because it looked ok from the outside. He didn't realize that it had gotten hollow on the inside.
Anyway, we used various car search sites to find a good replacement. We wanted something that could haul people similar to the Expedition but could also fill in for the old pickup to kill two birds with one stone. We found a good contender and it just so happened to be 15 minutes away from my cousin's house.
Long story short, we are now the proud owners of a white 2013 Honda Ridgeline RTL.
We got it from a place called Planet Ford (which is HUGE-- and must make a ton of $ because they had DocuPad desks-- tablets built in to the desks).
The only feature on the truck I don't like is the moon roof. I would rather have a cargo rack on the roof.
I was hoping to get the silver one, but the white was what was available and I was getting nagged by the insurance company about getting out of the rental vehicle-- little side story on that: My insurance covered a rental for me so I paid in advance for 20 days. 10 days in, I was driving to the post office (since I don't get mail delivery at my house) and a tired/distracted woman ran a red light and took off the front end of the rental and totaled it. To add insult to injury, Hertz refused to let me have another rental until their vehicle was towed but it took a week. I ended up going with Enterprise at the expense of the other driver's insurance. I'd had the second rental less than 5 days when her claims agent called me before 8am to gripe at me that I needed to get out of the rental because it wasn't fair for his agency to have to pay for it for too long. I should have told him where to shove it, but he woke me up and I was half asleep so I just told him I would be done with the rental when I got a new vehicle and I first had to get the money for my totaled vehicles from my insurance company. The good news is, Planet Ford has an Enterprise office on the lot so I was able to turn the vehicle over when we bought the truck.
Anyway, the RTL is the top grade model of the Ridgelines and starting in 2013, backup cameras became standard equipment in pretty much all Hondas.
It has AWD, bluetooth, gray leather seats, heated front seats (butt cushion only for passenger side but butt and lower back for driver), navigation system, backup camera, air conditioning in front and back, separate temperature settings for driver and passenger, multidisk CD changer (6 CDs), an AC plug, multiple 12v outlets, and upgraded mud catching floor mats.
The advertisement claimed it had automatic headlights, but that turned out to be false.
Here is a front view after we purchased it and drove it down our road a few times:
Angled side view
One of the cooler features is that in addition to folding down like a normal tailgate, it also opens sideways like a door.
And what I think is one of the coolest features is the in-bed trunk (patented by Honda)
It can hold a full size cooler, sometimes people fill their trunks with ice and canned or bottled beverages. There is a plug in the bottom to drain it if it fills with water. Having the spare tire tucked away in there is also nice because it is harder to steal and it doesn't get covered in dirt on my road. The weight capacity of the trunk is about 200lbs.
It has pretty good gas mileage and turns nicely.
My previous vehicles were a 2005 Ford Expedition and 2010 Honda CR-V but on New Year's day, a 300 year old oak tree decided it was tired of vehicles driving over its roots so it keeled over and crushed the car port and both vehicles.
A branch had previously dropped off of it and totaled our 1999 Ford Ranger. We had an arborist look at the tree and he said it was fine because it looked ok from the outside. He didn't realize that it had gotten hollow on the inside.
Anyway, we used various car search sites to find a good replacement. We wanted something that could haul people similar to the Expedition but could also fill in for the old pickup to kill two birds with one stone. We found a good contender and it just so happened to be 15 minutes away from my cousin's house.
Long story short, we are now the proud owners of a white 2013 Honda Ridgeline RTL.
We got it from a place called Planet Ford (which is HUGE-- and must make a ton of $ because they had DocuPad desks-- tablets built in to the desks).
The only feature on the truck I don't like is the moon roof. I would rather have a cargo rack on the roof.
I was hoping to get the silver one, but the white was what was available and I was getting nagged by the insurance company about getting out of the rental vehicle-- little side story on that: My insurance covered a rental for me so I paid in advance for 20 days. 10 days in, I was driving to the post office (since I don't get mail delivery at my house) and a tired/distracted woman ran a red light and took off the front end of the rental and totaled it. To add insult to injury, Hertz refused to let me have another rental until their vehicle was towed but it took a week. I ended up going with Enterprise at the expense of the other driver's insurance. I'd had the second rental less than 5 days when her claims agent called me before 8am to gripe at me that I needed to get out of the rental because it wasn't fair for his agency to have to pay for it for too long. I should have told him where to shove it, but he woke me up and I was half asleep so I just told him I would be done with the rental when I got a new vehicle and I first had to get the money for my totaled vehicles from my insurance company. The good news is, Planet Ford has an Enterprise office on the lot so I was able to turn the vehicle over when we bought the truck.
Anyway, the RTL is the top grade model of the Ridgelines and starting in 2013, backup cameras became standard equipment in pretty much all Hondas.
It has AWD, bluetooth, gray leather seats, heated front seats (butt cushion only for passenger side but butt and lower back for driver), navigation system, backup camera, air conditioning in front and back, separate temperature settings for driver and passenger, multidisk CD changer (6 CDs), an AC plug, multiple 12v outlets, and upgraded mud catching floor mats.
The advertisement claimed it had automatic headlights, but that turned out to be false.
Here is a front view after we purchased it and drove it down our road a few times:
Angled side view
One of the cooler features is that in addition to folding down like a normal tailgate, it also opens sideways like a door.
And what I think is one of the coolest features is the in-bed trunk (patented by Honda)
It can hold a full size cooler, sometimes people fill their trunks with ice and canned or bottled beverages. There is a plug in the bottom to drain it if it fills with water. Having the spare tire tucked away in there is also nice because it is harder to steal and it doesn't get covered in dirt on my road. The weight capacity of the trunk is about 200lbs.
