2Q's: Anyone have a Honda Pilot? dvd player in their car?

~Lynchie~ · April 2011

I think we have decided that the Honda Pilot is going to be our new family car. Does anyone have one? I haven't test driven on yet, so I was wondering what other people thought of them?

Also, the one we are looking at now has flip down tv screens and dvd players. At first I that that was an awesome addition, but now I'm having second thoughts.. We do have a lakehouse about 7 hours away that we drive to a few times a year, so I think the dvd player would be great for that. But I'm worried about the potential for tantrums in the car on short trips wanting me to turn on the tvs, and then when I give in (which I most likely will) I'm worried about going completely insane listening to the first 15 min of the same movie over and over and over again. If you have TV's in your car, what has been your experience?

AnnetteWalker · April 2011

DH has one. It does not have the DVD player in it. DS watches too many movies anyway so for us it was a NO to have it in the car.

DH loves his car. It tows our trailer and fits everything in it that we ever need to do.

pinktulips · April 2011

We have portable dvd players in the car. We got them for long car trips, but more recently it has been my way of keeping Ella from taking a nap late in the day when I go pick up Luke from school. I would have to pick him up at 4:30, and if she didn't nap before that, she would pass out in the car. Then she would stay asleep coming into the house, often sleeping until 7:30. It was a horrible cycle. Now, she watches Kai-lan and stays awake.

She doesn't have tantrums about the dvd not being on, and for the relistening to the beginning bits... I don't always have it on, so it doesn't bother me too much. On the long car trips she listens with headphones and we listen to podcasts.

WatchPot · April 2011

My MIL has a Pilot and I would drive one in an instant (I hope to have one some day). I think I would just get some headphones and have there be a policy that the DVD is only for trips over 1 hour long. We listen to music in the car that he likes anyway so I bet your kids woudl adjust to the rules of only for long trips, just fine. Another option is to do Maters Tall Tales or Thomas the Train DVD's that just have short little segments so you can just skip to the next segment and not have to relisten to the entire first 15 minutes every day.

cmcmillan · April 2011

My car has dvd player. Our rule when we got it was only for long trips (over 2ish hours), we told M that and talked about how it's a special treat for long car rides. We used it to Gearhart last summer and home from Portland, but only after being on the road for 2ish hours. And actually after he napped, so it wasn't for very long, maybe an hour of a movie. He has never asked to use it, doesn't play with it or anything.

cmcmillan · April 2011

One thing I forgot.. my bff has a 2010 pilot, we looked at them last summer after loving hers. Make sure to think about the carseat situation, knowing we have 2 in carseats I didn't want to have to deal with popping up seats to use the 3rd row, needing to unhook/rehook seats eachtime.

Brynnie2010 · April 2011

My mom had a Pilot before she got her Hybrid Civic, and loved it! She loves, her Civic, but she does miss the Pilot. I drove it too and it was an awesome car.

For the DVD player, I obviously don't have to deal with tantrums (yet), but we have the one that came with our car, and a portable one since she can't see the installed one while she's rear facing. We only use it for "longer" trips. Memaw actually bought if for her while we were driving back from California. If I stop it in the middle of an episode, it picks up in the same spot, so I don't get the same "intro" over and over again. Also we use DVDs of shows, like Wow Wow Wubbzy and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Yes, I can recite most of those episodes by heart now, but that would happen any way I think.

tfarabians · April 2011

What did I do before the dvd player in my car??? I have no clue! Its great for long drives and times when Cruz is super tired and cranky. We don't use it very often driving around town. I don't listen to it, the radio still plays up front and the speakers for the boys are back by their heads. Ours also came with headsets so if we could hear it then they could put those on and we wouldn't have to listen. But the radio and the dvd player have two seperate volume controls so that works well. Honestly I wouldn't buy a family car without the dvd option. I've never had to hear "are we there yet?"!

KameronLee98 · April 2011

We have DVD flip down screen in our car and it also came with wireless headphones. They are amazing, Blake can listen to his movies and we can still listen to the radio. Also he was really interested in the DVD player at first, and now he only uses it every now and then and on long road trips. It really is a lifesaver though!

~Lynchie~ · April 2011

cmcmillan:
One thing I forgot.. my bff has a 2010 pilot, we looked at them last summer after loving hers. Make sure to think about the carseat situation, knowing we have 2 in carseats I didn't want to have to deal with popping up seats to use the 3rd row, needing to unhook/rehook seats eachtime.

Our neighbors have one, and they fit all 3 seats in the middle row, we only want the 3rd row for when #4 comes along

Seattle_JiLLn · April 2011

I am anti DVD player built in for a few reasons. 1 is that my kids already like TV too much and I do not want to deal with them thinking they should watch TV on the way to the grocery store. 2 is that those built in systems are expensive and if they break, it's a total PITA. You can buy a portable DVD player for $100 to use for your long drives.

~Lynchie~ · April 2011

Seattle_JiLLn:
I am anti DVD player built in for a few reasons. 1 is that my kids already like TV too much and I do not want to deal with them thinking they should watch TV on the way to the grocery store. 2 is that those built in systems are expensive and if they break, it's a total PITA. You can buy a portable DVD player for $100 to use for your long drives.

Your #1 is why I'm on the fence about it. We already have a portable dvd player that we use right now for long drives. We arent hunting down cars with the dvd player, the one we currently have our eye on just has one in it. Its a used car, so we're not paying extra for it or anything.

Seattle_JiLLn · April 2011

~Lynchie~:
Seattle_JiLLn:
I am anti DVD player built in for a few reasons. 1 is that my kids already like TV too much and I do not want to deal with them thinking they should watch TV on the way to the grocery store. 2 is that those built in systems are expensive and if they break, it's a total PITA. You can buy a portable DVD player for $100 to use for your long drives.
Your #1 is why I'm on the fence about it. We already have a portable dvd player that we use right now for long drives. We arent hunting down cars with the dvd player, the one we currently have our eye on just has one in it. Its a used car, so we're not paying extra for it or anything.

ah I see....

So it's tough to turn down a car just because it has it. But I wouldn't make one a requirement. I guess you could just make some rules about it. or make up some funny timer thing that "unlocks" it after you've been driving for 45 minutes or something.

MrsAmyB · April 2011

~Lynchie~:

cmcmillan:
One thing I forgot.. my bff has a 2010 pilot, we looked at them last summer after loving hers. Make sure to think about the carseat situation, knowing we have 2 in carseats I didn't want to have to deal with popping up seats to use the 3rd row, needing to unhook/rehook seats eachtime.

Our neighbors have one, and they fit all 3 seats in the middle row, we only want the 3rd row for when #4 comes along

This worked in my MDX, too. IMO, the DVD player is a must, especially for the 7 hour trips to my parents house! My friend has the portable ones and they keep breaking. My car warranty covers them.

indigo91804 · April 2011

We use a portable in our car and have done multiple long car trips to Montana, Colorado, Yellowstone. My next car will have a DVD player FOR SURE!! It is such a PITA to adjust for both kids to see. We have to prop it up between the seats. We almost need two separate players. If it isn't TV, then it will be leapster then they'll move on to the DS. You can't win. It is up to you to set the limits.

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2Q's: Anyone have a Honda Pilot? dvd player in their car?

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