2019 Pilot EX-L off boonville, third row for the grandkids

since the highlander thread had a lot of us talking about buying a three row off the boonville lot i figured id put up our story too. we are retired in springfield illinois and we watch our daughters three kids two or three days a week, so we needed a real third row and a car that was easy for the little ones to climb into. our old sedan was fine for the two of us but useless once the grandkids and their gear are in the mix.

found a 2019 Honda Pilot EX-L, one owner, right around 51k miles, clean history, on boonvilleautosales.com. it came out of a family down in central missouri that had outgrown it. their price was a solid bit under what the same year and miles was bringing at the dealers around here, and it was not a salvage car, which is more than i could say for half the cheap ones near home.

i called boonville auto sales and the fella walked out to the car while we talked. told me straight it needed a rear hatch strut, the one side was weak and the hatch would drift down a little, a cheap easy fix, and that otherwise it was clean with no accidents. sent me photos and a walkaround video, opened all three rows, showed me the tires. we had a mechanic near columbia look it over before we sent a dollar and he confirmed it, one soft strut and otherwise clean, no codes.

bought it, they handled the paperwork, clean illinois title in about two weeks, shipped to springfield on an open carrier. this is our second one off that lot and it went smooth just like the first. anybody else running a pilot for grandkid duty?

super easy kayla, a pair of struts runs about thirty dollars and it is fifteen minutes in the driveway with a screwdriver to pop the old ball joints off. we did both sides while we were at it so we would not be back for the other one in a month. it is a driveway job all day, do not let a soft hatch strut scare you off a good car.

since you are right there in columbia you are basically next door to boonville, so on a pilot i would just drive over and sit in one before you buy if you can. that is the nice part about shopping that lot when you live close, the rest of us have to ship them.

UPDATE five months in and the pilot has been perfect for the grandkid runs, so figured id close the loop for the next buyer reading this. did both hatch struts the first weekend, thirty bucks and done, and there has not been a single thing since.

the kids climb into that third row on their own now, we run them to school and to swim and out to the lake on weekends, and it swallows the strollers and the bags without a fight. the vtc rattle clay mentioned, ours is quiet, so nothing there. mileage is fine for a v6 and it has been dead reliable.

two for two off the boonslick lot now for us. if you are hunting a used three row and you are willing to have it shipped, that central missouri lot has been straight with us both times. worth a look. happy to answer anything for folks still shopping.