Compare the2025 Hyundai PalisadeVS 2025 Honda Pilot

Both the Palisade and Pilot have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Palisade has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Pilot’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Both the Palisade and Pilot have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Palisade has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Pilot’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Palisade and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Palisade comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Pilot’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Palisade 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Honda covers the Pilot. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Pilot ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Palisade’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Pilot’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Palisade for 2 years and 24,000 miles longer than Honda pays for maintenance for the Pilot (3/36,000 vs. 1/12000).

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Palisade’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Pilot’s camshafts. If the Pilot’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Palisade has a standard 800-amp battery. The Pilot’s 650-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Palisade’s reliability 23 points higher than the Pilot.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 19 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 10th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Honda With 8 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Hyundai higher than Honda.

The Palisade’s 3.8 DOHC V6 produces 6 more horsepower (291 vs. 285) than the Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Hyundai Palisade is faster than the Honda Pilot:

On the EPA test cycle the Palisade HTRAC gets better fuel mileage than the Pilot TrailSport 4WD (19 city/24 hwy vs. 18 city/23 hwy).

The Palisade stops much shorter than the Pilot:

The Palisade has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Pilot’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Palisade offers an optional automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Pilot doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

The Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC handles at .82 G’s, while the Pilot Elite pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Pilot TrailSport (27 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .66 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Palisade has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Pilot (7.9 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Palisade to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Palisade is 3.2 inches shorter than the Pilot, making the Palisade easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Palisade Limited HTRAC is quieter than the Pilot Elite:

The Palisade has .2 inches more front headroom, 3.1 inches more front legroom, 1.6 inches more rear legroom and .3 inches more rear hip room than the Pilot.

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Palisade easier. The Palisade’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 29.6 inches, while the Pilot’s liftover is 33.2 inches.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Palisade’s second row seats and pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Palisade Limited/Calligraphy/Night’s third row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Pilot doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Palisade’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Pilot’s (5000 vs. 3500 pounds).

The Palisade uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Pilot uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Consumer Reports rated the Palisade’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Pilot’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

The Palisade’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition.

The Palisade SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Night has standard heated front seats and second and third row heated seats also avaiable, which keep the driver and passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Honda doesn’t offer heated seats in the third row of the Pilot.

Standard air conditioned seats in the front and second seat rows keep the Palisade SEL Premium/Limited/Calligraphy/Night’s passengers comfortable and take the sting out of hot leather in summer. The Pilot doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

The Palisade Calligraphy/Night has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Pilot.

The Palisade Calligraphy/Night’s Remote Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Pilot doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Palisade will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Palisade will retain 56.92% to 57.78% of its original price after five years, while the Pilot only retains 55.18% to 56.17%.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Palisade and the Honda Pilot, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its August 2023 issue and they ranked the Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC first. They ranked the Honda Pilot Elite third.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Palisade third among upper midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Pilot isn’t in the top three.