Overview & Reviews

Although millions of full-size pickup trucks are sold each year, only a fraction of them actually see an off-road trail, a large travel trailer or a boat ramp. The rest are daily drivers that make an occasional trip to Home Depot for 2x4s and patio furniture. For those consumers who desire a less bulky, less thirsty alternative that can still handle those occasional jobs, there's the Honda Ridgeline. This four-door ("crew cab") pickup truck has a number of distinctive features and, true to Honda's philosophy, it makes sense for smart consumers.

Current Honda Ridgeline
The Honda Ridgeline pickup is available in just one four-door body style. There are five trim levels: RT, Sport, RTS, RTL and top-of-the line SE. The Ridgeline's sole powertrain is a 250-horsepower V6 mated to a five-speed automatic. All-wheel drive is standard.

Standard feature highlights for the base RT include a power-sliding rear window, air-conditioning, a 60/40-split lift-up rear seat, a rearview camera, full power accessories, and a six-speaker sound system with a CD player. Moving up through the other trims adds luxuries such as alloy wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, a power driver seat, upgraded audio systems, heated seats, leather seating and a navigation system with voice recognition and Bluetooth phone connectivity.

Rather than having a separate cab and bed, the Ridgeline's body unites the two. The Ridgeline's architecture combines the techniques of both unibody and full-frame construction. All Ridgelines include a hidden trunk in the cargo bed that doubles as an ice chest, a dent-proof bedliner, a four-wheel independent suspension (for a smoother ride and more agile handling) and a trailer hitch. Maximum towing capacity stands at 5,000 pounds.

In all but the most taxing situations, performance is respectable, and on the open highway the Honda Ridgeline is an effortless and quiet cruiser. As such, it is an ideal road trip vehicle, especially when said trip involves carrying bulky items. That easy-going demeanor, along with comfortable seats, plentiful storage cubbies, sound ergonomics and a relatively manageable size make the Honda Ridgeline a viable option as the sole family vehicle. While the cabin provides sedan-like comfort, the cargo bed effortlessly transports things such as camping gear or lawn supplies. Criticisms include the Ridgeline's aversion to off-road adventures, where its lack of a low-range gear and a tendency to bottom out don't help when tackling more rugged trails. Fuel economy for a V6-powered pickup is also disappointing.

If these shortcomings are meaningful to you, then you'll want to consider a pickup with true truck DNA. But if all you really need is the passenger space of an SUV and the utility of a pickup truck, the Ridgeline is an excellent choice.

Used Honda Ridgeline Models
The Ridgeline was introduced for the 2006 model year, available in RT, RTS and RTL trim levels. The following year the chrome-accented RTX debuted. There were only minor features updates until '09, when the RTX trim was dropped and the exterior and interior styling was updated.

Things stayed pat until 2012, when a new grille design and a new Sport trim level debuted, the latter slotted between the RT and RTS trims. That year also saw minor aerodynamic improvements and engine tweaks that boosted highway mileage by a single mpg. The following year brought a standard rearview camera for all trim levels.

User Reviews:

• 

  I didnt buy it to haul, push or pull - 2008 Honda Ridgeline
  By Gary Watts - July 31 - 11:36 pm

  I wanted a truck that drove like a car and would do the odd errand to Home Depot to pickup garden supplies or home renovation supplies, move the odd furniture and go camping. Its a quiet comfortable truck that really rides and feels like an expensive SUV.

• 

  Ground clearance - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Stewart Mark - July 24 - 2:05 pm

  Love the truck for highway and town driving - BUT. Gravel roads which are poorly maintained are a problem. Roads which can be driven uneventfully by Toyota and Big 3 trucks cause the Honda to scrape repeatedly and in my case a rear strut broke. Great highway vehicle but dont go too far from maintained roads.

• 

  Best everyday truck ever - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Tom - June 21 - 12:17 am

  This truck does exactly what I need - it carries in the bed stuff I would never want inside a car or SUV but doesnt suffer all the negatives a regular truck would (bad gas mileage, bad ride, etc.) It has plenty of power for everyday driving, as long as youre not trying to race. As for the complaints about gas mileage, if you drive the way you should to conserve gas, youll get what I get, which is 19-20 mpg every tank, and that is using the AC at all times, driving a mix of highway and surface roads. No one complains about the V6 4x4 Crew Cab Nissan Frontier getting 17 mpg, so why the complaints here?

• 

  2006 Honda Ridgeline - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By ccobb - June 12 - 1:03 am

  Having had minivans in the past, I have found that it holds three big people in the back seat with room to spare. I love the way it looks. It handles wonderful and is great for moving teenagers out of the house. I did get 23 mpg on the highway with it totally full.

• 

  Owned for over one year - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By 19ridgeline42 - June 1 - 2:28 pm

  Most reviews are written by new owners. Have had it for one year, longest trip 2000 miles. Very comfortable. Love the truck. Best recommendation I can give is "I would buy another". Gas mileage as expected. Ride excellent. Presently have in excess of 20000 miles. Lots of storage space. Meets my every expectation.

• 

  Impressed - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Blue - May 21 - 3:06 pm

  I just bought the ridgeline RTL with Moonroof. First Impression, impressed. To me it is the best blend of sedan, suv and truck. I submit that if you have to buy only one vehicle for all applications, this would be the one.You can take this one vacation, tow a 5000 load, go skiing, go pick up the 4x8 at home depot . The only limitation is carry more than 5 people.

• 

  Great truck, ready to go out of the box - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Old man Bryan - May 17 - 2:27 am

  I love all the fun things with this truck, but there are some down sides. Turning radius is not good. Headlight switch gets turned on when getting out at times (at your left knee). No bluetooth with nav. Some good things are I pull my ski boat (3000 lb) with no problems. In fact the truck handles great with a trailer behind it. The ride is very good. Stock sound system is good. Dash has a great looking display. Back seats fold up to make lots of room in the back.

• 

  Road trip - 2017 Honda Ridgeline
  By KWRT - May 11 - 4:30 am

  I just got back from a week long vacation, driving from Iowa to Dauphin island, AL. The total miles over 1600 miles and 20+ hours in the truck. I will say that after being in the seat that long I have no issues. The sit itself is firm, not too soft and not too hard; after driving for 12 hours straight in one stretch, no aches or pains. On the dash board it said the Ridgeline was averaging 26-27.6, but I found that it overestimates, on the trip down the mpg was 23-25 going about 5 mph over the speed limit and driving back was the same. The storage was great!! The in-bed trunk was awesome and extremely useful, between my wife and my 2 year olds stuff, we still had plenty of room. The only issue I found was that the cruise control and the 8 inch screen is lack luster. The problem with the cruise control was the pause between pushing the acceleration and the truck actually going was 3-4 seconds, this is with or without the eco button on. The screen and Honda link is not easy to use. It is like Honda tried to cram to much into and trying to navigate it is not intuitive. The drive of the Ridgeline is very smooth and it seems to just glide on the road. My wife is hearing impaired and with the very quiet cabin, we were able to have conversation, without me yelling over the road noise. I am quiet happy with the truck so far.

• 

  Nothing is perfect, but Honda is close. - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Kevin Krueger - May 5 - 11:26 pm

  Owned this vehicle for a year, use it for work pulling a trailer. Fantastic. I think the mileage is reasonable for an AWD truck. I average 16 city/20-21 hwy and about 14-15 when pulling a trailer, and it pulls a trailer sweet. Thanks Honda.

• 

  Just OK - 2006 Honda Ridgeline
  By Andy - April 11 - 9:27 pm

  A good truck to drive. Plenty of power when not pulling a load or loaded down. Mileage less than advertised. When pulling a lite trailer mileage at 65 mph dropped to 9 miles per gallon on a level road. Terrible wind noise. Has Honda heard of a wind tunnel? Temperature control/air flow instrument is ridiculous. forget trying to read it if you are farsighted. They are all clustered in a small poorly backlit gauge. Need reading glasses to see tiny icons. Same goes for for small compass in mirror. Need glasses to see direction.Lots of storage but layout is poor. Better if it had a single fold-down console. Thinking of trading it in for a Frontier.