I like the Pilot, and if what you say about the rear seat room is true, that would be a consideration. My question would be, is that an appreciable enough difference to make up for the better handling and better reliability of the Highlander. The latter 2 points are only my opinion (and Consumer Reports).

 

looking at getting a used 2018 or 19 or 20 highlander. Also looking at honda pilots which have a lot larger 3rd row seating.
would you buy the highlander again or a pilot?

Without a doubt we would buy our Highlander again, (have a 2017 HiHy Limited Platinum), unless we could swing the cost for a Tesla SUV. It’s been relatively trouble free with great MPG for its size.

I like the Pilot, and if what you say about the rear seat room is true, that would be a consideration. My question would be, is that an appreciable enough difference to make up for the better handling and better reliability of the Highlander. The latter 2 points are only my opinion (and Consumer Reports).

 

I have 2018 Highlander LE AWD. I am not familiar with the Pilot.
I would NOT buy the Highlander again. It isn't aging particularly well - lot's of rattles, squeaks, already can hear knocking in steering / front suspension, with only 33k miles. Handling, steering, ride comfort, noise are below average. The 3rd row seat is a joke. To make things worse, if you use the 3rd row you need to push the 2nd row seats all the way forward making then almost unusable. The Highlander is 5-adults OR Snow White and the 7 dwarfs vehicle. There is no way you can comfortable fit 7/8 adults (or even teenagers) in this car. And resale value doesn't look good either (https://www.kbb.com/best-cars/best-resale-value-three-row-midsize-suv/).
My choice would be KIA Telluride or Hyundai Palisade.

 

I have a 2018 Highlander XLE and it has been pretty close to bullet proof. I had previously owned a Honda Pilot and our other vehicle is a 2016 CRV. We test drove a 2018 Pilot and were left unimpressed, it was noisy on the highway and did not seem to have the build quality of our Highlander plus the fact the Honda dealer would not match the price of an EXL with Navi Pilot to our XLE Highlander. We are very happy with our choice and truly it depends on the individual. Oh and we use the back set infrequently and only for small children so it works for us.

 

I would buy the Highlander again. I've driven a 2018 Pilot and I wasn't impressed at all. I bought the Civic Type R back in 2018. This car has its turbocharger replaced. It got towed to my local dealership 2 weeks ago due to misfire and oil leak. The misfire is due to water leaking into the #4 cylinder. My first new, and last Honda.

 

If I had to choose between the HL and Pilot, I'd go with the HL again. I just can't get over the ugly styling of the Pilot. It looks like a raised, bloated minivan.

If 3rd row room is important to you, then you probably shouldn't go with a HL.

 

I have over 150k miles on my 14. So far - ZERO issues. Just normal maintenance.

 

Neither, I would be more interested in the Kia Telluride now.

 

Yeah, Consumer Reports raved about it in their annual auto issue, April I believe.

 

I test drove the lower trim 2019 Pilot with the Honda made 6 speed, and the upper trim came with a German made ZF 9 speed that had many issues, also in the Jeeps.
The 6 speed drove nice, but all have timing belts with an interference engine. Also with no MPFI, it will have carbon build up issues on a DI only engine. Cheaper for Honda to build them. Sad for a modern 2019 V6. Even my 1983 Toyota Supra had a non-interference engine. Glad I got the smaller, and more reliable HL.

 

I went with the Highlander for many reasons that are still valid today.

Almost all highlanders come with the factory tow prep package. I tow so this is a big deal for me. The Honda only comes with towing upgrades if you order the factory hitch. I bought used. Pilots with the tow package were rare and you never know how heavy the towing duty was when you buy used with a hitch.

The Highlander has a more reliable transmission. Mine is the 6 speed but when I did my research I learned that behind Honda’s reputation for being mechanically “bulletproof” is a history of making weak transmissions. My research on this seemed to indicate that with fluid changes the Honda transmission (6 speed) should be pretty good but it does not hold up well neglected or abused.

Honda has the same issue with carbon buildup on the intake valves as every other manufacturer that uses direct injection does. Toyota gets around this by combining port and direct injection.

Finally, I really like the shelf that runs the length of the dash. I guess I just prefer the interior of the Highlander. I also didn’t like that you needed the top trim on the pilot to get captains chairs. Also, the leather Honda uses seems to show more wear. I bought used and the pilots always had worse creasing on the drivers lower bolster.

Honda does have a better third row and car play/android auto available but these were not as high on my list as I’m sure they are for others.

 

Honda has the same issue with carbon buildup on the intake valves as every other manufacturer that uses direct injection does. Toyota gets around this by combining port and direct injection.

Please cite your source for that. My 2013 Accord has 160,000 miles on it and I have not had any problems with carbon build up. Update to follow in another 100,000. Don't know if I can generalize that to other Hondas though.

 

Highlander is a Camry, Pilot is a Oddessy. Don't forget that.

 

I only buy used and I was torn between the two choices as well. There are items I dislike about both, but I can workaround most in the HL. The big turnoff from the Pilot for me was the ZF transmission ( the HL 8 speed is a close second in some circumstances). The interior of the Pilot wasn't anything special, but it would have been nice to have android auto in the HL, because the nav in the is atrocious. There is slightly more cargo room in the Pilot, which I wish was available in the HL. An inch or two wider and the HL would have been a very easy choice. The shelf inside the HL has really been quite a hand feature. Looking at the 2020 models, I feel like they are less functionable. If I were to do it again, I would get the HL slightly ahead of the Pilot.

 

Highlander…

 

Also other turn offs to me in the 2019 Pilot were, you could not order any options from the factory, only the color, and AWD. The dealership charged what they wanted for all options with no set price listed as a Honda standard. Honda claims 5000 towing compacity, but that's with a dealer installed transmission cooler, and the dealer installed hitch. And on the EX, you can only get Black interior on a white color Pilot. Not even black one came with Black interior. Saves more at the Honda Factory, and more for the dealerships to make.
No way would I get the ZF transmission over the Honda made 6 speed. But with the lower trim 6 speed, you could not manually shift all the gears as needed going down a mountain. You could only keep in 2nd, and 4th, not 1st, 3rd, and OD drive off for 5th, and 6th. You have no control for 1st, 3rd, and 5th. so its over revving, or riding the brakes. For a 2019 Pilot, no thanks Honda.
I like to have control of all 8 gears on my lower trim HL.

 

My 2004 Pilot was a turd. It was my 1st disappointment with with a honda. Their V6 engines just arent like their 4 cylinder options. Between the engine and transmission I had a oil leak. If it were still under warranty, honda replaced the engine free; not under warranty - honda repaired this at the owners expense with JB weld(TSB 01-009) . The AC also stopped operating because of a sensor that burned out( no reason why). Owned for 4 years and at the time, it was my 6th honda. I wouldn't purchase another V6 honda.

 

True. Only Civics and Accords with the standard base 4 cylinder engines are well known for reliability.

 

I have a 2008 Honda Ridgeline that shares components from the Pilot and Oddessey. It’s been a great vehicle and the engine is solid but it is port injected and does not have cylinder deactivation. I have not upgraded to the new Ridgeline for those 2 reasons. Those were also the reasons that we went with a Highlander in 2015 versus Honda, although we were upgrading from a 2005 RAV4, the last ones built in Japan. Anyway, direct injection and cylinder deactivation are risky especially when combined.

 

If I have to do it again. I will buy a Honda Pilot. Storage on those Honda Pilots are amazing. I have test driven a couple to a few and I was impressed it the handling. I thought that the handling was better compared to my highlander. I've driven Honda's like Civic, Honda Fit and Honda Accord. The handling of the Highlander compared to the Pilot is like comparing the handling of the Civic vs Corolla. To me the Civic's are more fun to drive compared to the Corolla's. The 3rd row has more leg room. When the 3rd row seats are up, the storage in the back is still ample and also deeper or can be configured to be deeper that can keep the items in the back from rolling down when you open the back door.

This is just my personal experience. I still love my Highlander and I will be holding on to the Highlander for a long time.

 

We were looking for a new Highlander but the difficult access to the 3rd row and lack of storage space behind the 3rd row was not for us. We started looking at a Sienna, then a Highlander and went back to a Sienna. I think of it as a long Highlander with better 3rd row access and more space. It has the dreaded mini van look but it was a better family vehicle for us. The engine and transmissions are the same. The new Sienna has more lumps and curves to try to look more like a Highlander or a crossover. With either one you get the Toyota reliability which may be better than the other choices.