The Honda Ridgeline: Great Snow Truck, Questionable Looks, and a Valvoline Oil Experiment
Introduction
I like doing things as a family. A car is a pretty important tool for getting the family out of the house. You can buy the most reliable car on the planet, but if you don’t take care of the car, then you are going to have issues.
The ladies in my family have fallen in love with the Honda Ridgeline. In fact, when my daughter shopped for her first car, guess what she wanted? Well, a Ridgeline. I guess I sort of led you to that conclusion. So, what is the story with the Ridgeline? What does Valvoline oil have to do with it?
Ridgeline Back Story
In order to answer that question, we need the backstory. It was a cold and stormy season. Well, that can sum up many Montana winters. We moved to the snowy and cold northwest in 2013. We realized quickly that Montana has the motto, “It snows here! Deal with it!” Montana Department of Transportation will prioritize plowing the interstate during a snowstorm; major roads will get plowed as a second priority, but the side roads may take a few days before getting cleared.
The other thing is that Montana can still get so much snow in storms that major roads are even closed. If you are driving through Montana in the fall/winter/spring, you better check the road conditions. I am 100 percent serious on this point. Our police have found people frozen to death on the interstate after they had car trouble during the night. I agree that people should have been more prepared, but it sucks for the family to learn that hard lesson. I think our modern-day conveniences allow us to be complacent. If you are driving through this state in the winter, at least have a blanket and a way to charge a cell phone if the car dies. Please, take that warning very seriously!
Public service announcement aside, I learned that it is important to have a vehicle with Four Wheel Drive. The other thing about Montana is we don’t cancel things. Our attitude is: if it snowed today, it might be snowing when we reschedule it, so figure winter out. I learned that snow tires are great, but if the snow is deep enough, then your tires can potentially spin in the air. So, you want a little clearance to get to your destinations in winter.
I wanted to get a Tacoma because I am more of a Toyota fanboy, but I don’t like the Toyota tax. I should start a cheapskate anonymous: “Hi, I am Paulie, and I am a cheapskate.” Cheapskate aside, I think that the older Toyotas are great if you can find one at an affordable price with maintenance records. Seriously, people! It is not that hard to scan receipts and keep a record of what you have done to your vehicle! The Fuelly app is 4 bucks per year! So, back to the point, I set out to find a Tacoma, ideally.
I knew a salesman over at our local Honda dealership and told him I was on the hunt. He knew I wanted a Tacoma, but salesmen are salesmen. He called me about a ’06 Ridgeline that came on the lot as a trade back in 2015. Remember that Honda announced in 2014 that they were discontinuing the Ridgeline. Honda had a problem selling these trucks. I was not excited to look at a vehicle that might be permanently discontinued, but there were credible announcements that Honda was in the process of redesigning the Ridgeline. I decided to take a look at it because I trusted the salesman. He kept assuring me that I really wanted to check this thing out even though I said I wanted a Tacoma.
I went to the dealership. I thought the 2006 Ridgeline was funny-looking. I looked at it and speculated that a Pontiac Aztek and Chevy Avalanche were left alone at a Honda test facility, only to get freaky after drinking some old gas. The Ridgeline was the by-product of that night. Honda had to keep this under wraps, and so they produced the Ridgeline. Yes, my mind goes to strange places, and I make myself laugh a lot! I think that the Ridgeline has the looks that only a blind mother could love. So, I was about to dismiss it.
Then he told me the price. I could not argue with the price. Then he insisted that I drive it. My internal dialogue: “Well, you don’t look at it while you drive it.” It drove like a really nice car. I bought it because it was cheap, drove solid, and only had 60K miles. I figured I could wear a hat and a fake beard as part of my driving kit. I figured if it was crashed in the winter, then that is no skin off my back. I don’t really love the thing. I drove the half-truck as a daily for about 4 years until my daughter started driving. It has been a great vehicle.
My daughter took this Ridgeline to nursing school and drove it around ND in bad winter conditions. She drove our Ridgeline down to her clinicals that were sometimes a couple of hours from her school. She made it to every clinical despite ND winter road conditions. She never ended up in the ditch. Not even once! This thing survived some brutal North Dakota snow and ice storms. In fact, I drove her back to college after her first Christmas break when she woke up with the flu. She had to get back for her first class, and so she had to make it on time to stay in the program! I made it work to drive her back and fly home. The day we left, I drove through a horrible storm that rolled into town. I-90 was a sheet of ice all the way to Billings. Cars were going in the ditches all around us, but we just kept plugging away. That was about 100-some miles of white-knuckled driving on my part. So, there is some serious voodoo that Honda put into the AWD system.
So, our Ridgeline experience has been great. I still don’t like the looks, but the thing is comfortable transportation. In fact, today it has just over 170K miles on it and is still going strong. I did not know it, but my daughter ended up bonding with the vehicle. She named it, but no one in my house will tell me the name she gave it.
Some Bonds Can’t Be Broken
My daughter is now an RN, so it is time for her to buy her own car. Our 2006 Ridgeline is now the vehicle our second kid uses to drive to work and school events. I tried to get my oldest daughter to buy a Tacoma because she wanted a small pickup with 4wd so she could easily go down fire roads to go mountain biking. The thought of wheeling with me was also on the horizon. The same Toyota tax problem still lurks today. She liked a 4Runner, but the thing was too much money for what it was. I told her to keep looking.
I found her a Ridgeline pretty much just like ours, but with fewer miles. I would not say this one was junk, but it was not pristine. The owner towed a trailer with it a LOT! These things are not real pickups. Sorry, Ridgeline fanboys, but they are not. Sure, tow a trailer once in a while, but don’t buy this thing as a tow vehicle. So, the transmission fluid smelled pretty burnt. I told her to walk away.
After looking at this Ridgeline, we went to a used car dealership in town. We looked at a 4Runner and a Tacoma. They were really high-priced and high-mileage. She was sort of intrigued, but not really into it. The salesmen mentioned that they have a Ridgeline coming their way that they just bought at auction. We told them to call us when it rolls on the lot. A few weeks later, the truck arrived at their lot. We looked at it, and my daughter bought it.
I Like This Truck, but with one qualification
The truck drove amazingly. Everything felt tight. However, one thing that concerned me is that the oil cap had some roly-poly residue on the fill cap. You know the weird armor-shaped bugs? Well, it looked like some of them were breeding in the engine. Basically, this is evidence that the oil has not been changed every 5K miles, but probably closer to the manufacturer’s recommendation. My mechanic noted that the dipstick was squeaky clean, so he just said, “Change your oil soon, and keep changing it till that goes away, and you’ll be fine.” I trust my mechanic, and so 500 miles after her purchase, I changed the oil. I am not sure how many miles she had on the oil. The indicator said 60% oil life, but I decided to change it despite having 60 percent life in it.
I am a bit OCD in terms of focus. In fact, my Nephew will have fun asking me different number questions and then tell me to write up a spreadsheet. The pathetic part is that I am OCD enough to put together the spreadsheet and do a series of calculations to summarize my research findings. He appreciates it, and knows how to benefit from my research skills. I was a history major, so research is pretty much what history majors do. I would say that I hate researching, but that would be a lie. So, I went to town researching engine cleaners and engine cleaning strategies. We got a good price on the truck, and worst case we drop a used motor into the thing. However, we are nowhere near that stage of the game. I want her truck to go at least 200K.
I watch the Oil Geek’s channel, and he keeps doing infomercials for Valvoline. Lake, the Oil Geek, does admit that he is a Valvoline fanboy, but only because the data drives him to be one. Honestly, I value his opinion. Personally, I was a dedicated Mobil 1 guy, but I kept watching his videos showing the benefits of Valvoline. I saw his video on Valvoline’s “Restore and Protect.” It really intrigued me. He claimed he wasn't paid, and I believed him; the results looked pretty impressive.
So, now I had a new research project. Some might call it procrastination, but I call it serious work. I kept drilling down into the YouTube thing on the internet. I found Repair Geek. I was like, “Wow! I need to show my nephew that someone is more committed and OCD than I am!” Seriously, the video is long, but it made me want to try this oil. It does seem that this stuff is not just marketing hype, and the Repair Geek confirms that the Oil Geek might be onto something.
So, we did her first oil change. Her oil was darker than the night the Aztec and Avalanche got freaky! I put the Valvoline Restore and Protect into her Ridgeline. I took a picture of the oil fill cap (pictured above) to note the roly-polies in the cap. I also want to watch the oil color. When the oil gets dark again, I am changing the oil. I want to see if I can wait 5K. If the oil is dark, it is being changed regardless of mileage. I also bought an oil filter cutter. I mean, all the cool kids open the filters. Honestly, I want to see if there are some clumps in the filter. I am curious to see the results.
Conclusion
What do you think will happen? Is this just a bunch of paid influencers doing some marketing? I paid for the oil myself, and the filter myself. I will post again when I do the next oil change. I do think that Lake the Motor Oil Geek and Repair Geek are sincere when they say they are not paid.
If you are reading this because you want to consider a Ridgeline, well, I would encourage you to look past the looks. If you are looking for a decent adventure vehicle to get you outside, check out a Ridgeline. Our family has some great memories of exploring gravel roads in our Ridgeline. I know I joke about the Ridgeline’s appearance, and still don’t like the looks. However, the practical functionality of the vehicle is amazing. One advantage I failed to mention is that you can also have fun with people who brag about an El Camino SS with a 454. You just have to look them in the eye and say, “Yeah, but does it have VTEC?” This is my humor test. People without a sense of humor start explaining the significance of a number-matching El Camino SS. People with a sense of humor just start busting up. You have a Ridgeline? What has been your experience?
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