Honda Pilot or Hyundai Palisade or Kia Telluride?

[tfudtuckerpucker]

A long time ago, I bought a new car strictly on the basis of an absolutely glowing review in Consumer Reports. My previous one had died, and I needed a new one now. By coincidence, that month's CR (I was a loyal subscriber) showcased one that was right in my price range, the right size, and everything. I went right in and bought one.

Absolutely the worst car I have ever owned.

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Before the internet, CR was just about all there was. So I bought a Chrysler minivan. Was rated highly by CR, but by the time I sold it, it was on one of those "10 worst vehicle" lists. Both transmission and engine had to be rebuilt. That was the worst car for reliability I ever owned. Now I only buy Toyota/Lexus, and _maybe_ Honda/Acura, though Honda/Acura have had major problems in recent years, and you have to be careful which model you buy.

 

[REWahoo]

A long time ago, I bought a new car strictly on the basis of an absolutely glowing review in Consumer Reports. My previous one had died, and I needed a new one now. By coincidence, that month's CR (I was a loyal subscriber) showcased one that was right in my price range, the right size, and everything. I went right in and bought one.

Absolutely the worst car I have ever owned.

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Before the internet, CR was just about all there was. So I bought a Chrysler minivan. Was rated highly by CR, but by the time I sold it, it was on one of those "10 worst vehicle" lists.

Mutual funds aren't the only thing you can buy that should come with a "past performance is no guarantee of future results" warning label.

Over the past 50 years I've purchased many items based on CR reviews. There were a couple of things that turned out to be real losers - a TV set, a microwave and a Plymouth station wagon stand out. However, I've been very happy with the reliability and performance of the vast majority of my CR recommended purchases. YMMV of course.

 

[corn18]

I have owned two vehicles that were rated the worst ever by CR in all categories. Both gave me many trouble free miles.

 

[braumeister]

I have owned two vehicles that were rated the worst ever by CR in all categories. Both gave me many trouble free miles.

Yes, good to point out that their ratings can be wrong in both directions. I've also had things I thought were wonderful but rated quite low by CR.

 

[target2019]

My 2013 Sonata had the GDI engine and I sold it to Carvana with 77,000 miles and did have to take it in twice for recall inspections and it passed with flying colors both times. I never heard any knocking from the engine.

My 2011 got a new engine in 2019 after the engine seized. I stopped working in 2020. So I now have a 10-year old auto with a new engine and 55,000 miles. Mine passed those inspections too.

 

[freedomatlast]

Other issues with my daughter's 2016 Tucson (besides the blown engine) include both rear doors (one then the other) wouldn't open with either the outside or inside latch (no the child locks were not on). There is a cable inside the rear door panel that stretches and renders the latches useless. One was fixed by the dealer under warranty, the other by my son in law out of warranty. Dealer wanted $675 to fix the out of warranty one. Son in law fixed it himself with a $23 part. Tons of fun trying to figure out how to get the door open to pull the inside panel off to fix it. Luckily this is a very widespread problem on Hyundais so plenty of you tube videos available to help.

Another problem was the blend door actuator that failed. This is the door that controls whether outside air is introduced into the cabin or whether inside air is recirculated. Caused a super annoying air whistle noise around 65 MPH. Real fun trying to figure out where that noise was coming from. Took us several weeks and many hours to figure that one out. It started while the vehicle was under warranty but the dealer had no clue how to identify where the noise was coming from or how to fix it. We had to pull the cowling off under the hood and under dash pieces off to fix that.

Most of the original bulbs have been replaced already. Certainly don't seem to last very long. Many, many more repairs needed, too many to list right now. Got plenty of bonding time with the son in law fixing all the issues on that fairly new Hyundai.

 

[TOOLMAN]

Honda always seems slow to move forward... I remember when airbags were coming out and they did not offer them on any models... I had sales people tell me that they were still 'too new'...


BTW, Honda was one of the companies that had Takata airbags that killed people... it is not always that car company that makes a car bad...

The Takata airbag recall affected 67 million airbags, in 30 different car brands.

Honda is by far the worlds largest engine mfg, producing over 30 million engines per year.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have owned two vehicles that were rated the worst ever by CR in all categories. Both gave me many trouble free miles.

Yes, good to point out that their ratings can be wrong in both directions. I've also had things I thought were wonderful but rated quite low by CR.

Remember that they are rating the rate of problems, not saying that all the cars will have them...


I had a Chevy 3.4L OHC engine that I have read many times was one of the worst engines ever build by GM... I never had a problem with it over 95,000 miles and traded in on cash for clunkers... I got LUCKY...


But CR had black dots on that car all over the place...

 

[travelover]

Remember that they are rating the rate of problems, not saying that all the cars will have them...


I had a Chevy 3.4L OHC engine that I have read many times was one of the worst engines ever build by GM... I never had a problem with it over 95,000 miles and traded in on cash for clunkers... I got LUCKY...


But CR had black dots on that car all over the place...

That is kinda the difference between data and anecdotes.

 

[Montecfo]

People claim that the Hyundai/Kia models are prone to theft but it looks like the hubcabs have already been stolen off the Honda in the pic. I will never understand the black wheel trend. Both DW & I think it really cheapens the look of the vehicle. And now people pay extra for it!





I'm also amazed by the people who buy all these foreign vehicles. I live on a fairly busy highway in town (~8,000 vehicles per day on average) and if I look out my window for a few minutes here's what I see go by... (not counting tractor-trailers or FedEx / UPS trucks)

F150

Ram

Silverado

Ram

Equinox

Explorer

Sierra

Tundra

F250

Harley

Silverado

Malibu

Silverado

Harley

Acadia

Edge

Silverado

Prius

Ram

Taurus

Equinox

Equinox

Edge

Trax

F150

Jeep CJ (70s model)

Challenger

Traverse



I rarely see anything by Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Mazda, Audi, Volkswagen, etc...

Of course, the only dealerships within 20 miles are two Chevrolet dealerships, a Ford dealership, a Dodge (Stellantis?) dealership and a Toyota dealership which has a very bad reputation for poor customer service. The nearest other Japanese or Korean dealerships are all over 100 miles away.



Good luck with your Honda. I've never even sat in one.

You must live in the Midwest.

 

[corn18]

That is kinda the difference between data and anecdotes.

Exactly.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Other issues with my daughter's 2016 Tucson (besides the blown engine)...

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?"

 

[Koolau]

You must live in the Midwest.

Sounds about right. Always driving Japanese cars, I felt very out of place in megacorp's parking lot. YMMV

 

[CRLLS]

That is kinda the difference between data and anecdotes.

Actually, it is the difference between a single data point and data from hundreds to thousands of cars.

 

[ncbill]

CR ratings are too short-term for me...daily driver is a 1996 Camry.

 

[Koolau]

CR ratings are too short-term for me...daily driver is a 1996 Camry.

Yeah, I've "faulted" them for the same thing on occasion. Most of the cars I've been interested in purchasing used, I had to go to the library and hope they had old copies of the CR big book to see what the repair history has been. My last car was a 2012. My other car is 2000. Not much data available on them but YMMV.

 

[travelover]

CR ratings are too short-term for me...daily driver is a 1996 Camry.

You should check Hemmings Motor News instead of Consumer Reports.

 

[Texas Proud]

That is kinda the difference between data and anecdotes.

But that is my point.... YOU might not have any problems (anecdote) but the car is still a POS (data)....


What you need to do is look at the data and see what the rate of failure is... it could be 10%... or it could be 80%... that makes a big difference in your decision (well, it does for me at least)...

 

[Koolau]

You should check Hemmings Motor News instead of Consumer Reports.

Where do you find the relative repair experience? I checked the site and couldn't find it though I have no experience with it. Thanks.

 

[Koolau]

But that is my point.... YOU might not have any problems (anecdote) but the car is still a POS (data)....


What you need to do is look at the data and see what the rate of failure is... it could be 10%... or it could be 80%... that makes a big difference in your decision (well, it does for me at least)...

I actually like the way CR lays out their repair experience: Each model/year has relative repair (compared to all other cars). At a glance, one can tell whether the car of interest is better, much better, worse, much worse, etc. than other cars in about 15 categories (brakes to electronics, etc.)

Between the family business and personally, we had (over the years) 5 Chrysler vans (from plymouth to dodge to chrysler). The "box" was perfect for our needs but we had lots of "issues" with repairs - especially transmissions. Guess what! Every model/year we had got horrible experience reviews in CR. Generally, the engines were great as were many other items. So, we just figured buying one of these vehicles would mean $2500 transmission repair around 65000 miles. On that basis, it was still a good deal vs, say, a Honda or Toyota (strictly on cost per mile.) YMMV

 

[freedomatlast]

And now Hyundai and Kia bring you the latest......the risk of fires!

It's ok though, Consumer Reports says they're fine.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/business/kia-hyundai-recall/index.html

 

[freedomatlast]

So, we just figured buying one of these vehicles would mean $2500 transmission repair around 65000 miles. On that basis, it was still a good deal vs, say, a Honda or Toyota (strictly on cost per mile.) YMMV

I guess that's one way to look at it as long as the breakdown doesn't happen catastrophically, hundreds of miles away from home along an interstate or isolated back road late at night in bad weather.

 

[travelover]

Where do you find the relative repair experience? I checked the site and couldn't find it though I have no experience with it. Thanks.

I was kidding. Hemmings is devoted to antique cars.

 

[Koolau]

I was kidding. Hemmings is devoted to antique cars.

Very funny

 

[Koolau]

I guess that's one way to look at it as long as the breakdown doesn't happen catastrophically, hundreds of miles away from home along an interstate or isolated back road late at night in bad weather.

Yeah, we always had a fair amount of warning that the transmission was on its way out. It would stop shifting properly or start making ominous noises. Our mechanic always knew how to fix them quickly. He'd ask why we kept buying them and we always said because they met our needs at a good price (repairs included.) I certainly don't recommend them but they filled the need we had. YMMV