2014 Honda Pilot Review
2014 Honda Pilot Review





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Edmunds' Expert Review
by the Edmunds Experts
Pros
- Comfortable ride
- roomy third-row seat
- useful interior storage areas.
Cons
- Feels slow and cumbersome to drive
- lackluster braking distances
- missing a few convenience and upscale safety features
- some cheap interior plastics.
What’s new
For 2014, the Honda Pilot sees no changes.
Edmunds says
The eight-passenger 2014 Honda Pilot scores well for overall comfort and utility. That counts for a lot in a family vehicle, but rival three-row crossover SUVs might prove more desirable overall.
Cost to DriveCost to drive estimates for the 2014 Honda Pilot LX 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 5A) and comparison vehicles are based on 15,000 miles per year (with a mix of 55% city and 45% highway driving) and energy estimates of $3.11 per gallon for regular unleaded in Virginia.
Monthly estimates based on costs in Virginia
$184/mo for Pilot LX
Pilot LX
vs
$192/mo
Avg. Midsize SUV
Vehicle overview
The 2014 Honda Pilot isn't the newest kid on the block. In contrast to many recently redesigned, large crossover SUV rivals, the Pilot remains largely unchanged since the second-generation model debuted back in 2009. Its age proves to be a disadvantage in a few key areas, though the 2014 Pilot still merits consideration, especially if you need seating for eight.
The big appeal about the 2014 Pilot is space. There's plenty of room on the inside. Even the third-row seats can accommodate adults, making this a true eight-passenger vehicle. And while the Pilot's boxy architecture may not win it any style points, it allows for a more usefully shaped cargo bay and ultimately makes life more convenient: Just drop those rear seats and you're ready to load up at Costco and Home Depot.
But the Honda's bulk hurts its performance, which is a step or two behind its more fleet-footed rivals. Further, this Honda's plush ride over broken pavement is offset by lazy handling around turns. The Pilot also shows its age in regard to feature availability. For example, you can't get blind-spot monitoring, keyless ignition/entry or second-row captain's chairs: useful features that are offered on competing crossovers.
Given that, we do suggest that you check out the competition. The Hyundai Santa Fe and Nissan Pathfinder both have comfortable three-row seating plus markedly more appealing interior designs. The same is true of the Chevy Traverse, which is even roomier and also capable of seating eight. If you're looking for more engaging performance, the Dodge Durango and Mazda CX-9 would be better choices. But if utility and a reputation for reliability are your primary desires, this segment's elder statesman still holds appeal.
Performance & mpg
Regardless of trim level, all 2014 Honda Pilots use the same powertrain: a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 250 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque that runs through a five-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard, but any Pilot can be ordered with an all-wheel-drive system that automatically shifts as much as 70 percent of power to the rear wheels if the front tires begin to slip. A driver-selectable "lock" feature routes maximum torque to the rear wheels in 1st or 2nd gear at low speeds to help free a stuck Pilot.
Edmunds performance testing saw an all-wheel-drive Pilot Touring accelerate from a standstill to 60 mph in 8.9 seconds, while a front-wheel-drive model did it in 8.3. Both are a bit slower than average. The Pilot's EPA-estimated economy stands at 21 mpg combined (18 mpg city/25 mpg highway) for front-drive models and 20 mpg combined (17 mpg city/24 mpg highway) for AWD variants.
A front-drive Pilot can tow 2,000 pounds, while the all-wheel-drive models are rated for 4,500 pounds when properly equipped.
Safety
The 2014 Honda Pilot's standard safety features include antilock brakes, traction and stability control, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. A rearview camera is also standard, and the Touring comes with parking sensors.
In Edmunds brake testing, the Pilot came to a stop from 60 mph in 130 feet. This is longer than average for a midsize to large three-row crossover.
In crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Pilot earned an overall rating of four stars out of a possible five, with four stars for frontal crash protection and five stars for side-impact crashes. In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests, the Pilot earned the top "Good" rating in the moderate-overlap frontal-offset, side-impact and roof strength tests. Its seat/head restraint design also earns a Good rating for whiplash protection in rear impacts.
Driving
On the move, the 2014 Honda Pilot feels like a heavy and large vehicle. On paper, the Pilot's 250-hp V6 engine looks like enough motivation for this family SUV, but in the real world, it rarely feels like it. Some of the performance deficit is attributable to the slow-shifting five-speed automatic transmission, and some can be chalked up to the Pilot's sheer heft.
Overall agility is also in short supply. Around corners and in tight spaces, the Pilot feels cumbersome due to its slow steering and boxy dimensions. But most of the time the 2014 Pilot is reasonably pleasant to drive, with a cushy ride that readily soaks up ruts and bumps. The interior stays quiet on the highway, too.
Interior
The biggest knock against the Honda Pilot's interior is the generally downmarket appearance of the cabin trim -- it's a couple steps down from the nicely appointed Honda Accord. Otherwise, the 2014 Pilot has a useful interior design with thoughtful details and clearly presented instrumentation. The standard automatic climate control helps reduce the number of buttons and knobs on the center stack, as does the 8-inch information screen for all trims. However, some of the controls have a chintzy feel and appearance.
Unlike some other three-row crossovers, the Pilot's third row provides genuinely acceptable room for adults. Unfortunately, the seat cushions for the second and third rows are too low, forcing longer-legged passengers into more of a squatting, knees-up position. The Chevy Traverse and Ford Flex are much more comfortable in this regard. That said, if you truly need eight-passenger capacity, the Pilot, along with the Traverse, is one of your few options in the crossover SUV class.
With the second- and third-row seats stowed, the Pilot can hold up to 87 cubic feet of cargo. This figure is technically less than some rivals, but the Pilot's boxy shape works to its advantage, allowing it to more easily accept bulkier items with ease. For smaller items, there are plenty of thoughtful storage bins and pockets throughout the cabin.
2014 Honda Pilot models
The 2014 Honda Pilot is a large, eight-passenger crossover SUV. It's sold in four trim levels: LX, EX, EX-L and Touring.
The 2014 Pilot's base LX trim comes standard with 17-inch steel wheels, automatic headlights, full power accessories, cruise control, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, tri-zone automatic climate control, 60/40-split second- and third-row seats, an 8-inch center display screen, Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity, a rearview camera and a seven-speaker sound system with a CD player, a USB/iPod interface and an auxiliary audio jack.
The Pilot EX adds 18-inch alloy wheels, foglights, heated mirrors (AWD models) and an eight-way power driver seat (with two-way power lumbar adjustment).
Moving to the Pilot EX-L brings leather upholstery, a sunroof, a power liftgate, heated front seats, a power passenger seat, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and satellite radio. The EX-L can be had with an available rear-seat entertainment system or a voice-activated navigation system. Note that this is an either/or proposition, as they can't be had together in an EX-L.
The top-of-the-line Touring trim features both of those EX-L options, as well as roof rails, parking sensors (for the rear and front corners), driver seat memory functions, a 115-volt power outlet and a 10-speaker premium sound system as standard equipment.
Consumer reviews
Read what other owners think about the Used 2014 Honda Pilot.
5 star(47%)
4 star(7%)
3 star(18%)
2 star(9%)
1 star(19%)
38 reviews
Trending topics in reviews
Most helpful consumer reviews
5 out of 5 stars
Just what I wanted!
Burt, 07/27/2016
2014 Honda Pilot EX 4dr SUV 4WD (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
I purchased my pilot used/off lease in January of 2016 and I think it was quite pricy. I test drove this pilot and a 2014 Durango and I thought the Durango may have been a notch above the pilot in handling however the pilot was by far the smoothest. The Pilot is quiet, tight and a great highway vehicle. Now, I owned a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 for 10 years and switching to this pilot was … night and day! Now, the interior does have a lot of hard surfaces but I think this keeps with the intended mission of the Pilot, it's designed to be a sport utility vehicle. If I wanted plush I sure as hell wouldn't buy a Pilot! Our regular weekend trips to the Poconos was far more enjoyable for me because after 3 hours in the Pilot my back and left leg was no longer sore and numb, this Pilot has great seats! I read the reviews before buying and was concerned about the VCM issue however I have never felt any vibration, as a matter of fact the only way to know is seeing the little ECO light flash on and off. I think the driving position in the Pilot is great, how the pedals, the steering wheel and controls all fall within easy reach. I spent some time setting up the audio and blue tooth and never had any problems. The stereo system works quite well however a few stations I used to pick up with an antenna I can't get with my Pilot. I think the final decision for me was the shape and interior storage, the second row can easily seat 3 adults and the third can easily seat 3 teenagers, with the rear seats down the storage is amazing. With the looks, storage and Honda's stellar reputation this was an easy decision.
3 out of 5 stars
Meh - if you want no surprises and can settle....
Alvin, 01/05/2016
2014 Honda Pilot Touring 4dr SUV w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
Brief summary - If you want a predictable vehicle with good resale value, good safety and plenty of room, the 2009-2015 Honda Pilot is the right vehicle for you. If you want some comfort, good looks, updated design (Pilot hasn't changed much since 2009) and modern technology advances (touch screen navigation), look elsewhere.
Coming from previous Honda vehicles (Accord, CRV), we almost … purchased the Odyssey before settling on the Pilot. Starting with the trim levels, Honda has these pre-designated so it doesn't confuse consumers. The only way to get both navigation and factory entertainment (DVD) system was the Pilot, which had a MSRP of $42k. Note that for the "top of the line" vehicle in 2014, this thing was well behind the times. Not only has there been no major updates to this Pilot since 2009 (when the first ever Samsung Galaxy smartphone was released), it was well behind the competition. The 14 Toyota Highlander came with LED's, adaptive cruise control, panoramic moonroof, blu-ray DVD player, heated steering wheel and the 12-speaker JBL system. The Honda Pilot came with regular lights, regular cruise control, regular moonroof, regular DVD player, regular steering wheel, and regular "premium" sound system. FOR ALMOST THE SAME PRICE ($42k Pilot Touring 4WD vs $43k Highlander Platinum AWD)
The Honda is very utilitarian; meaning it serves it's purpose. You want a dependable vehicle that has history of few mechanical issues, good resale value, a lot of interior passenger & cargo room, it is a good vehicle. But on top of a lack of value, it actually is uncomfortable (comparably). Hard leather seats that are far from plush, very hard-plastic interior (same materials as the base Pilot LX...) covers the interior of the vehicle, and a less-than-plush ride. Took a 19 hour road trip over Thanksgiving and it was less-than-desired comfortable, though I have been in worse vehicles. The navigation is an outdated & un-intuitive input system that requires the user to use a knob and turn to the right character, one alphabet at a time...think of a rotary phone but with the whole keyboard as possible options. Also note at 15k and 30k miles, Honda recommends the rear differential fluid to be flushed (~$80-$100 per instance) which wasn't an expected maintenance item. It's in the manual. Also for those who swear by Honda reliablity, google "Honda Pilot VCM" to read through the horror stories many Pilot owners have had with their ENGINE.
With the new re-designed 2016 Pilot's now out, you can really get a good deal on a low-mileage late model Pilot because the new one fixes a lot of the issues a lot of the old ones have. We got a decent deal (over $4k off MSRP) when we purchased the 14 Pilot 4WD, at the time of this posting new 15 Pilot 4WD Touring's could be had around the $35k mark with all incentives which is a great deal.
PLUS
- Good gas mileage (23-24mpg highway is realistic)
- Aside from the VCM issue, no major concerns around reliability; a lot of over 100k mile Pilot's still on the road
- Great resale value, Honda has done a good job here
- Stellar interior room; middle row seats has much leg/hip room as a minivan...without being a minivan
- Boxy shape means flexibility to haul a lot of cargo like oversized gifts, bicycles and such
- Sound system, for being no-brand, sounds pretty decent
NEGATIVE
- Comfort, comfort, comfort...almost 2 years into ownership, the seats haven't gotten any better.
- Cheap-ish interior material; the fact the leather stains so easily to the very hard plastic that covers the interior of the vehicle from the dash to the door panels, even in the "top of the line" trim is disappointing
- Less than plush ride, especially compared to the 14 Pathfinder, 14 Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon, 14 Highlander, 14 Enclave/Traverse/Acadia and even the 14 Durango
- Old design, this thing hasn't been refreshed since 2009 when almost all its competitors have come with something new
Would I do it again? Absolutely not. Do I regret it? Not really, I am confident this vehicle will run for a long time to come and hold its value respectably. But when you itch to trade the car in almost every month because making car payments on a car that you "settle for", it isn't a good feeling.
5 out of 5 stars
From the Pilot of a 2014 Honda Pilot Touring
Jill, 03/09/2018
2014 Honda Pilot Touring 4dr SUV 4WD w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
This is a great SUV! Probably one of the best I have had. Very comfortable ride, handles very well, very roomy and also looks classy. The only downfall is the Bluetooth for the phone. It is very crackly and is difficult to hear sometimes. Other than that, I absolutely love, love, love this vehicle and will more than likely purchase another when it comes time to get a new vehicle in … the future. Also, this is the first time I have searched out a car on Edmunds and actually driven almost a hundred miles to purchase the car just from a picture on a website. I was very happy when I got to the dealership to see the car looking exactly as it did in the pics online. I will definitely use Edmunds again when I purchase. Thank you so much ...this was a great car buying experience for me, and I have purchased a lot of cars in the past. Thanks again Edmunds. I love my Pilot!
2.5 out of 5 stars
Avoid Variable Cylinder Management (VCM)
dph1, 05/13/2015
2014 Honda Pilot Touring 4dr SUV w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
I am a long time Honda owner (all Accords). I purchased a 2014 Honda Pilot new in April 2014. After two days of owning it, I realized I made a huge mistake. The VCM system causes vibrations and jerks when it transitions from 6, 4 and 3 cylinders. You will not notice on a test drive because the engine has to warm up first for it to engage. Honda posted a software update TSB that … helps but did not resolve the problem. If you want to buy a Honda V6 with VCM, insist on a long test drive at speeds greater than 60 on flat roads. I just sold my Pilot for a Sienna - best move ever even if it is a minivan. Toyota knows V6s should run on all 6 cylinders.
2014 Pilot Highlights
LX
Base MSRP | $29,670 |
---|---|
Engine Type | Gas |
Combined MPG | 21 MPG |
Cost to Drive | $184/month |
Seating | 8 seats |
Cargo Capacity All Seats In Place | 18.0 cu.ft. |
Drivetrain | front wheel drive |
Warranty | 3 years / 36,000 miles |
Safety
NHTSA Overall Rating
4 out of 5 starsThe National Highway Transportation Safety Administration offers independent analysis.
- Frontal Barrier Crash RatingOverall4 / 5Driver5 / 5Passenger4 / 5
- Side Crash RatingOverall5 / 5
- Side Barrier RatingOverall5 / 5Driver5 / 5Passenger4 / 5
- Combined Side Barrier & Pole RatingsFront Seat5 / 5Back Seat4 / 5
- RolloverRollover4 / 5Dynamic Test ResultNo TipRisk Of Rollover17.4%
IIHS Rating
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uses extensive crash tests to determine car safety.
- Small Overlap Front Driver-Side TestPoor
- Small Overlap Front Passenger-Side TestNot Tested
- Moderate Overlap Front Test – OriginalGood
- Moderate Overlap Front Test – UpdatedNot Tested
- Side Impact Test – OriginalGood
- Side Impact Test – UpdatedNot Tested
- Roof Strength TestGood
- Rear Crash Protection / Head RestraintNot Tested
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