You’ll be hard-pressed to find an owner of a 2018 Honda Ridgeline that has anything bad to say about their vehicle. Designed to be a nice all-around truck, the 2018 Ridgeline has developed quite a reputation for being a vehicle that’s relatively affordable, comfortable enough to serve as a daily commuter vehicle and tough enough to serve as an entry-level farm truck or construction vehicle.

A quick rundown of the 2018 Honda Ridgeline

The 2018 Honda Ridgeline is equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 engine rated at 280 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. The solid engine is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. Drivers have 12 different trim levels to choose from. The base model features include keyless ignition, a dual-action tailgate, a rear-view camera, Bluetooth connectivity, one USB port, 60/40 split-folding rear seats, and a 4.2-inch multi-information display.

The average fuel economy depends on if the Ridgeline a driver has selected is front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The front-wheel-drive Ridgeline gets 19/26 mpg city/highway and the all-wheel-drive model achieves 18/25 mpg.

The 2018 Ridgeline’s towing capacity isn’t enough for people who routinely haul horses, livestock, or heavy equipment, but the all-wheel-drive model offers a 5,000-pound towing capacity that should serve landscapers, dirt bikers, and drivers who are helping their friends move quite well.

Driving the 2018 Honda Ridgeline

One of the first things that drivers notice when they test-drive the Honda Ridgeline is how easy it is to drive. Instead of the stiff, sometimes cumbersome feel drivers often expect from trucks, the Ridgeline provides smooth handling, easy steering, and fantastic suspension. The reason for this is that the Ridgeline is a unibody truck. The Ridgeline’s chief engineer, Kerry McClure, explained how the design differed:

“From the front of this vehicle to the back, we have framerails, just like any other truck would have,” McClure explained to TruckTrend.com “The body itself—instead of being bolted onto that framerail structure—is integrated so the floor panel sits on top of it and it is all welded together.”

While the Honda Ridgeline is one of only two trucks that use the unibody design, it’s not a new idea; it’s how cars are constructed. The reason trucks continued to be designed with a body-on-frame style was to help increases the truck’s payload. Now that Honda has proved that a unibody truck is possible, comfortable, and marketable, it will be interesting to see if more manufacturers turn to this design in the future.

Consumer Reports and the 2018 Honda Ridgeline

All it takes is one glance at Consumer Reports to see that the 2018 Honda Ridgeline is a very special vehicle. The most impressive thing about the vehicle is that it has a five out of five owner satisfaction rating. Not many vehicles earn such high marks in owner satisfaction. The approach Consumer Reports uses to calculate the owner satisfaction score is how many people responded yes when asked if they would purchase another 2018 Honda Ridgeline.

In the Consumer Reports annual auto survey, drivers are asked to consider a variety of factors including how reliable the vehicle is, if they felt it was a good deal for the purchase price, and if they enjoyed driving the 2018 Ridgeline. 81 percent of the drivers who responded said they’d definitely purchase the Ridgeline again. 

The vehicle scored 81 out of a possible 100 points in comfort, driving experience, and styling. The only place if failed to score an 81 was in price. When asked about the price, only 63 percent felt that it was a great value.

Based on how happy drivers are with the Honda Ridgeline, it’s reasonable to expect that the vehicle will maintain a high resale value.