Posts: 88
Location: Des Plaines, IL | After what may be the most frustrating search ever, we ended up getting a 2018 Honda Ridgeline. It's a unibody mid-size truck, so the drive is basically like a Pilot (which my wife has) and the trim level we got has the advanced safety features (important to us because we have a little one). Towing the boat for the last two years with the Pilot yielded an average of 16.2 MPG, which I was pretty happy with. The engine in the Ridgeline is the same, so I expect that number to be within 1-2 this year.
While I found many quality vehicles during my search, I couldn't justify the higher level trims of the F150, Silverado, or Ram, which would end up in the mid $50s and up. Unfortunately the advanced safety features like adaptive cruise, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, etc. aren't filtering down the trim lines as far as I had hoped yet. As for the Ridgeline, it's got a payload capacity of 1500 lbs (good for a midsize), and a towing capacity of 5000 (less good). I tow a 17' Crestliner, so the weight is no problem. Additional features that we enjoy are "tailgate friendly" with an in-bed trunk that is pretty good size (you can make it a cooler) and the in-bed speaker system. All in all, if you aren't worried about off-roading but want something to tow and haul at the DIY level, I think this is a great urban/suburban truck. |
