[Music] welcome everybody to car pinionated this is our fifth episode uh you'll notice that Glenn is not with us today uh Glenn is under the weather so we have uh my friend Keith Griffin who's here um I'm Doug Stewart I'm the senior digital content producer at Fox 61. and Keith introduce yourself sure thanks for having me out Doug my name is Keith Griffin I am a former president of the New England Motor press Association also a past member of the International waterpross Association and I've bee
n writing about cars following the car industry professionally for about 20 years now a little bit over uh well 21 years now I think about it drive a different car every week so I probably drive 60 to 75 different cars a year cars SUVs you name it and just uh love card sometimes a kid and it's starting to hear going sick Glenn and I used to work back at in print newspapers I won't say how long ago but well good so today we're gonna we're gonna talk about um the new Honda Pilot uh and for our sec
ond segment we're going to be attacking Flights of Fancy and talk about what you would buy if we uh won the lottery and then we're gonna wrap things up with a discussion of how car buying has changed over the past few years so on to our first segment Honda has been very busy over the past three years or so uh out of eight models that they sell they've redesigned five of them eight models in the US anyway yeah introduced the new Civic a new Accord a new CRV a new HRV and the new pilot for those o
f you keeping track at home the pilot is their big SUV seats up to eight people has available all-wheel drive up to five thousand dollars five thousand dollars five thousand owing capacity um and size wise it competes with the Explorer the Traverse the Durango the highlighter and the Pathfinder so Keith you had the opportunity to uh to check out the new pilot uh in Boston was it yep just outside of Boston at um we call it Nipa World Headquarters New England voter press Association the Honda brou
ght a couple models up for us to check out to look at unfortunately not to drive just it was a kind of a odd there's a foul weather day but so we weren't able to get behind the wheel and spend any time driving it but it gave us a chance to look at two of the uh to the new models the elite and the their Trail model and just uh this is a this is an important vehicle for Honda to do well with because the big SUVs are there big Breadwinners and so the Honda really wants to distinguish itself and mak
e itself equals to all those others that you you mentioned it makes them a strong consideration they automatically used to be you would check the Honda Pilot off the list first but the third generation was kind of nothing special and their competitors came out and just really started to up their game and I think Honda realize that and so they they did a lot of changes exterior and interior yeah it's gone from being just vague versions of the same all along to now it's it's got some style to it y
ep yeah I it's that take a little bit of a derivative style but it's a style that I think Honda realizes it works in that segment it's what people expect yeah and I and I think you're right people people have always that's that's kind of a given that that's the card that they'll look at right yeah but then you had other vehicles like the new Ford Explorer in the market make quite an impact and and like there's their Splash right and yeah okay well now so they kind of drift farther and farther to
the side what do you think is how does new styling uh language yeah yeah like I said I thought it was a it's maybe a little derivative they're trying to give it a more rugged look I thought they really succeeded in creating a uh Japanese version of Ford Explorer you know but which isn't necessarily a bad thing I don't I don't think I I honestly I don't think Hondas really ever been known for distinctive styling you know they tend to fine-tune but I think they this is a kind of a big departure f
or them you could really tell the difference when you park a third generation next to the new fourth generation and it it's good it's a handsome vehicle it looks substantive which I think is important it's it's going to make people feel comfortable driving it I think the third generation was slipping a little bit towards I hope you will get hate mail for me say this but towards soccer mom and this is a little bit more of a reason to appeal oddly enough to appeal to soccer moms so they're not see
n driving a soccer ball vehicle because we would still make up at least 665 percent of the the influence when it comes to buying new vehicles So It's oddly enough to make something that's attractive to that demographic by making it more rugged yeah and and more attractive in a in a way that is distinctive rather than oh what did you buy sort of yeah exactly I think that's where the Telluride and the um yeah I mean I think were those really like have presence you know yep and and I think that tha
t's and and that's what helps sell every one of them on the lot you know and they're also exceptionally great vehicles too but but what what Hyundai did did Kia did in those instances is they put a real as you say distinctive design on them so you know right away you're looking at a Kia or a Hyundai which was smart right right I still think I still think what the problem it doesn't immediately scream haunted to you which again isn't necessarily a bad thing right um Glenn and I have discussed thi
s in several episodes that how does delight design language in the in the last generations of any one of those Vehicles has been let's be generous chaotic uh and uh and they've really sort of what they've done now is is they've they've toned a lot of it down they've gone to you know what was good in that design language and then really kind of cleaned it all up and and given real brand consistency through all those models you know that that that really you can you can look at any one of those an
d say okay well that that makes sense that's a reasonable reasonable progression what did you think of the Interiors were you able to sit in it let me ask that first yep it will send a comfortable uh Ruby the new Pilot's a little bit bigger I think the figure they're looking at is maybe a couple more inches like two and a half let's say two and a half inches of legroom uh third row is never going to be a place you and I visit yeah not not without not without a gun pointing at us in a bag of gett
ing into a car yeah exactly the second world is going to be a tight fit for three grown men to sit but it's gonna be more than enough for say two adults and a kid that's a distinctive about the interior nothing it really jumps out it makes me a while yeah I think I think found this also been really really good at keeping some things physical controls and yeah not putting everything in the electronic display exactly and you're seeing a lot of car companies really realizing their mistake and going
back to it because Americans they want to be able to turn uh tune the radio you know and they want to be able to adjust the the air conditioning the Heat well it's it it's the same driver can drive the same vehicle for 10 years but every day they're going to want to adjust the heat they're going to want to tune the radio they're just turn on the air conditioning with a knob you know it just it's just the way life is it's just a fact that I don't car companies fought that so vigorously and poten
tially just it's physical lives have just have to be cheaper and easier to maintain two really there's there's no soft there's no software glitch right if you're trying to you know if you're trying to go from 102.1 to 102.9 was a knob so glad to see how to go back to that yeah they maintain that I should say right right yeah I think you're absolutely right I think I think car manufacturers like really discovered that there was a mistake you know and that's you know and and I've I've been into Te
sla and I've been in a Mustang Maki and the thing impressed me immediately about the Maki was that you know anyone could get in it and put it in drive and drive away I mean there wasn't there wasn't you know like I'm I'm shifting on this on this iPad you know in the test yeah exactly yeah I love that Maki by the way yeah that that'd be in my fleet for the next segment we're going to discuss I'm a practical lotto lottery winner [Laughter] sorry I didn't mean to jump ahead on you oh no that's okay
um any final thoughts on the on the Hondas the entire line or the uh or the pilot piloted the pilot is is a is going to be a good vehicle it's going to be a smart choice it's going to have Honda reliability it's it's going to be comfortable it's going to drive well the new uh to do 3.5 liter V6 puts out 285 horsepower I may not sound overly enthusiastic but there's nothing really that's going to disappoint you about the Honda how the smart thing they designed their vehicles for the middle 60 pe
rcent of the market and so I think that's why they continue to do so well year after year a decade after decade really don't ever hear of people having buyer's remorse when it comes to a Honda it's there's just there's companies that track buyer's remorse and they're just not they're not on that list for a reason that they're just good solid transportation it's it's not going to make your heart palpitate driving one but it's also it's also not going to make your heart palpitate driving one at th
e same time which is a contradiction yeah so it's good it's you know just just it was it's a winner it's got all the features it's uh for those people who like to think they drive their vehicles off-road even though five percent of owners have to most Drive these vehicles off road they'll they'll be excited that they have that capability you're not really gonna get much off the invoice when you buy a Honda because Honda knows it has people waiting to buy their cars yeah and there are some reason
their trucks Maybe not maybe not their trucks but the cars under SUVs let's move on to our second segment um so in the in the enviable um fantasy that you win the lottery what what vehicles are you buying uh that's a great question um it's I I throw electric with one of the vehicles you know it's it's uh I was saying I'd get the Maki but if I if I was a lottery winner um I have a friend who bought one and I would I for some other reason I'd buy a Hummer if I had that kind of money practical uh
for other ones new uh I I know it's fantasy but Echo Bentley I've also got a Bentley in the if they are driveway um I guess maybe I'd go with the SUV just because you had to you could you get the experience of owning it eventually with listen to me it's along with the practicality of an SUV plus the uh the better the better hit point I still remember is that a deadly introduction years ago and the uh definitely folks like to say that rolls royces are designed to be driven in Bentleys are designe
d to be driven ah so that's for some reason it's always stuck with me yeah no that makes sense yeah the uh this company this year slated to make 50 of these it's called a donkey pure it's just this Sleek beautiful two passenger it's all engine so there's you see there's nothing behind you pretty much type of thing and it's like I said they're only making about 50 of them it's coming out of the Netherlands and it's 500 horsepower but it only weighs three quarters of a ton wow so yeah so we're loo
king at like what's that 1500 1600 so yeah so that it I showed it to a friend of mine he said where did I put my groceries yeah I'm like is this a cart but I guess I would take the Bentley to the grocery store yeah at least this one just just to drive whatever but it's it's something you haven't heard of and it's just I figure if you have Lottery money that's you really want to be able to have every head turned right right yeah in your house in Europe you can keep it there yeah exactly and then
uh I I think you said maybe a classic car for the fourth choice yeah I go maybe because it's a real first sports car I ever reviewed is the uh they're one of the first ones it's the first generation Acura NSX oh yeah yeah that that was a car that just cornered handled like it was on Rails you know it so that that'd be my uh beautiful too beautiful yeah yeah that'd be my aspirational vehicle I remember the second generation one and uh egress you know exhibit and entry into it was a challenge mayb
e that's because I was 20 years older but it but I still like the I still like the looks and the handling better again it's memory you know I'll go back 20 years but uh it's the NSX would it again it's not a it's not a car that people are thirsting for you know so I would say uh a plastic Porsche or something like that but I think I still think that there's a there's a there's a hefty interest in it I don't I don't I I don't think it's something that no one wants I think oh yeah those that there
's a good market for those still yeah what in good condition that hasn't been you know modified to beat the band you know exactly but yeah but it's it's again it's a little bit distinctive yeah I would go with a Lincoln Aviator I think you were at the unveiling in New York I know I was yeah and it was like one of the few times I've ever been at a press event uh at an auto show where the car was unveiled and there was like a a gasp in the room almost yeah and just a beautiful lines just you know
and it's not intable interior too that that's a really stunning interior it's just a everything that works for me um I really like that vehicle I'd also do a Ford F-150 Raptor oh sure because it makes a lot of noise and you can put stuff in the back dirt in the back if you wanted to do you know I just I I always look at those think yes they're a statement of a lot of things oh yeah but um I find them I just find them really sharp I do what about the Raptor Arc would you go for the yeah I had a l
ot of everybody yeah go with the raptor r the um the last of the new cars that I would get a ct5v black wing okay I just those are oh my God I just love those you know just stealth car you know yeah that's yeah that's interesting I've always thought the uh Cadillac made a station wagon with a v model of their station wagon we're talking about a stealth car yeah it's kind of character stuff well yeah um and for a classic vehicle I mean there's a lot of them uh you know uh but um a 1994 Mercedes 5
00e oh that's Choice yeah uh something about something about having you know uh a huge engine in a basically a mid-sized car uh yeah nice compact car depending on yeah how you look and the the way the the fenders flare out there and just I don't know everything about it from from the moment they introduced it that that was that was like I want that let's move on to our our last segment here over the over the years if if we were lottery winners we'd be buying a lot and I you know you and I are bo
th old enough to remember what car buying what used to be like oh yeah you know remember yeah the literal you had to know somebody worked at a bank you had the NADA guides that gave me the trading value that's the only way you're going to find them out unless otherwise you're totally reliant on the car dealer yeah and I worked for that car rental company um and we had them we had those books all the time they were invaluable you'd have to go to dealer after dealer after dealer and like they they
wouldn't talk to you on the phone you had to because they wanted building you know that they gave you the test drive and you know that's that's the way it was you know that you had you had to do a lot of leg work and what you were doing a lot of it in the dark if you're buying a new car you you didn't see a list of options and how much they cost you know so arguably it's so much easier today I mean you have so much information at your fingertips and and I think that I think that to a lot of deg
rees that the the the advantage has shifted more much more towards the consumer and I think that's a really good thing you know where people can you know get out there and arm themselves if they want with it um yeah yeah it's interesting they uh you you could people totally go out build the car spec it out and then kind of buy it stupid you know it's so amazing to me the stories I hear from people like they've they've done all their research they've got every last feature they want on the car th
ey go out to test drive it the they totally get skunked by the dealer when it comes to actually paying for the car right right you know but but there's there's so many great tools out there I mean I love the feature that you could uh go to an oem website like Chevy and look for dealers within 75 miles to see who has the vehicle you're looking for and you're like no more this one let me get on the phone and see if I can find it for you somewhere you can say no it's it's out in Peekskill yeah you
know bring it to me yeah or go get it or go get it too because oh yeah true sometimes like you know you know that you don't ever want to deal with dealer X you know but to buy the car but you'll certainly get a service there but you go you know 40 50 miles away to to buy the car itself and you know exactly yeah I've known people who've gone multiple states away to buy a car but that new car I I don't know if that everybody it might be on a cartoon will buying a used car say a recent recent used
car yeah from uh Missouri but there are people who who go out so I picked up a car to drive it back to Illinois there's a there's a huge business in car auctions you have eBay you know brand trailer uh cars and bids you know Bunches of them where you know you're all you're looking at is 150 pictures and yeah I don't know if I'd do that you know and I'm sure there's some sort of you know return policy or something but man that just seems that just I know that's a wing and a prayer to me so you kn
ow and I used to write about used cars for about.com and so I'm just always very suspicious you know it's again I I I I don't think I could do that unless I had like an independent mechanic um out there inspect it you know but yeah I'd have to have some pretty hard you trust an awful lot to give me a good good give me a good thumbs up on a vehicle before I could buy it just based on its pictures right I I that was my one thing about I I remember looking at a car at Carmax once and I really like
the car um but uh you know obviously because what I've always done with the used cars brought it to a mechanic yeah and no no you can you can return the car after seven days if you don't want it yeah but then I've played it I've you know I've done it you know and I I just you know that's that's not an option I mean you know I realize I get cars are more reliable these days I get you know I get that part of it but still it just I don't know if that's that's and you know then you have like carvana
and those sorts of types of companies where you know you're all it's all online you don't see the used car until it shows up you know exactly and that's kind of back to the point I was talking about before it's where people probably stupid so to speak to it they're really smart they research the card you know everything about it but then the the guy again I'm not necessarily saying CarMax is a bad place but so the guy CarMax is saying oh you can return it in seven days counting on the fact that
you will return it seven days you're not gonna have that fire remorse for at least 30 days [Music] I realize that you've bought the wrong car overpaid for it the other thing there was a there's a uh they built a carvana it's you know it's no secret that they have had a lot of uh a lot of issues and yeah it was Illinois where they weren't being able to sell Illinois Michigan I think uh where they they couldn't sell cars any longer and and they built the car elevator right yeah they built one of
these in Denver and it sat there empty and it's just this empty glass box and they just recently started uh filling it with cars it was it was it was it was it because I had no inventory to fill it oh no it's just like the whole structure the whole building everything there was nothing in the building signage up there and people knew it was a carvana site but they you know they oh geez you know there could have been a lot of reasons for it you know that's funny the least of which is you know car
vana is just general financial situation yeah oh yeah I mean once once used car prices start to go through the roof it just became carvana could exist it just because they weren't able to beat their markets you know they have to make a certain profit and it's hard when you're paying way over value for used cars I have a friend of mine disease who has a used car dealership down in Atlanta and he just talked about how crazy the auctions have gone where cars that are legitimately were really worth
fifteen thousand dollars and selling for 20 22 000 at auction and then they have to turn around and add markup on top of that and it's just not sustainable all right uh well Keith I appreciate you taking the time we'll we'll have you back the three of us and chat about cars and stuff thanks everyone for watching if you have any um comments if you're watching on the YouTube version of this leave a comment down below give us a subscribe and a like um if you're watching it on one of the Ott channel
s I appreciate that um and we'll be back next month thank you
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