re: Any thoughts on the Honda Pilot vs other 3 row SUVs?

Bought a new Pilot Special Edition (the EX-L but dressed like the black edition) good price compared to other suvs. We really liked the ride. Wife liked it the most. She wouldn't even go test drive the KIA with me. That brand still has the cheapo stigma to her but like I pointed out. At least it has a place to put your hand while driving. All the others have push button transmissions. No place to rest your hand.
So she got the suv she wanted even though I'm the one who's broker for it. Lol. It's nice. I'm just glad I don't have to keep tinkering with it like I did the Expedition that was out of warranty and starting to be a typical 125,000 mile truck.

Personally I wanted to look harder at the American brands (didn't even look because of poor resale) and Kia. It came down to the Highlander and the Pilot with the Palisade knocked out because they only had the over $50k models around and we had a $40k budget.

My parents have a 2020 model (higher end model with AWD). I have maybe driven it a couple of hundred miles at most, so take my review with a grain of salt.

I think it rides and handles extremely well, no doubt assisted by a torque vectoring rear end that helps it in the corners even on dry roads. Like all crossovers, it's a little compromised on space over a minivan, but Honda does a good job maximizing the interior room. I think it has more room than the Highlander, XC90, or Ascent. It's smaller than the VW Atlas or Chevy Traverse though.

The old school VTEC engine is awesome, and IMO the best mainstream V6 on the market. It revs quickly and has a lot of power, and you can hear the difference in engine note above 5,000 or so RPM when the cam lobes change phase. I think that's something Honda borrowed from their Indy/F1 engines. The only issue I have with the powertrain is that the 3.5L Honda/Acura V6 is an interference engine with a timing belt - so you need to budget for the eventual maintenance needs for that. You don't want to wait for the belt to break, because it will break the whole top half of the engine. It's about $1700-$2500 or so to replace the belt, but since you have the whole front of the engine open, you might as well replace the water pump too when that happens. I think you are supposed to change it every 75,000 miles.

I trust the 9 speed transmission in the Pilot over the CVT in the Ascent. The transmission shifts rough sometimes between first and second, but I think it actually starts in second gear unless you are driving aggressively. So you might not notice unless you are a speedy driver. ZF makes the 9 speed automatic for Honda. ZF is a German company but their transmissions are developed in Michigan and used by at least a half dozen major manufacturers (Chevy, BMW, Ford, Alpha, Toyota).

It would not shock me if the smaller Toyota Highlander was more reliable than the Pilot long term, but I've come across a lot of 2016/2017 Pilots with well over 175,000 miles that still look brand new. So I'm not that concerned with my parents having reliability issues with their Pilot. They are sturdy vehicles, even if they aren't bulletproof like a 4Runner or Tacoma.

A big complaint with ergonomics that I have is the front seat armrests. I do wish the fold down front center armrests were longer and wider. They are leather wrapped, but they are not much bigger than an airline armrest. That would prevent me from buying one myself, but it doesn't seem to bother my parents. They've driven it from Chicago to south Louisiana in one day without any issues, so they must find it reasonably comfortable.

The Pilot can tow about 5,000 lbs....but my parents have yet to install a tow hitch on theirs. So you can pull a decent sized boat behind it without much trouble. I don't think they have standard trailer brake controllers though, but you probably won't need one if you are under 5,000 lbs and generally stay off the highway when towing.

The DIC is digital and is very simple and clear, but not very fancy. It's basically the speedo, tach, and a few simple menu items. The center touchscreen infotainment looks like an old android based automotive system. It's not very intuitive and requires a lot of menu-hopping, but the screen resolution is very good and it responds quickly. The center screen could be larger though. The domestic car companies have a much better infotainment setup - particularly Chevy and Buick. The Subaru systems have been consistently worse until recently though.