Picture this: the time has come to grow up. Your family is growing to the point where your trusty hatchback or sedan simply isn’t cutting it anymore, and you have concluded that you’ll need to wave goodbye to the superior driving experience afforded by such a car, and embrace the added practicality of a taller and larger SUV instead. You’ll find they’re not exactly cheap, though a base Honda Pilot with added all-wheel drive can be had for a reasonable price.
It may feel a little underwhelming, but don’t pull the trigger just yet – those Swedes are here to make your decision harder.
The Pilot Works Great As A Conventional SUV
2026 Honda Pilot heroJared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet
There’snothing wrong with optingfor a brand-new Pilot. It may not look particularly inspiring, but there is plenty of space on the inside, and it is pretty well-equipped even in its base Sport trim. You’ll get powered and heated front seats for the price of admission, albeit these are covered with cloth rather than more premium leather. There is also tri-zone climate control, as well as a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system that boasts Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability.
You’ll also be graced with plenty of safety equipment to help keep your family safe, like Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Departure Warning, as well as Adaptive Cruise Control that reacts to whatever the car in front of you is doing. It also comes with Honda’s dependable J35Y8 V6 engine lurking beneath the hood, which is one of the Japanese brand’s longest-standing and most venerable power plants. While it may not be the most efficient engine on the planet, you can count on it getting you to your destination without so much as a mild complaint as long as you properly look after it.
All in all, if you want a Sport with optional AWD, you’ll need to shell out $44,495, which includes destination charges. That’s very reasonable, with the vehicle slotting in comfortably below the average US new-car price of $50k. If buying a used SUV with some miles on the clock is on your radar, the2023 Volvo XC90 is a far more inspiring choice that comes with a far more appealing cabin.
For $44,495, the Pilot is hard to fault – unless you knew that the same money could put you behind the wheel of a vehicle that originally cost $70,000.
A Range-Topping Used XC90 Can Be Had For The Same Outlay
2023 Volvo XC90 RechargeVolvo
And no ordinary XC90 either – for the same $44,495, you could net yourself a three-year-old B6 AWD Ultimate variant, which was the top-of-the-line version of the 2023 XC90. That means it gets all the high-end luxury features you’d expect from an SUV that demanded just shy of $70,000 when it was new. Rather than having to settle for the cloth seats found in the Pilot, the Volvo brings sumptuous chairs coated in Nappa leather. Like the Honda, they’re powered and heated, but they also come with ventilation capability as well.
You also get a natural-light-boosting panoramic glass roof, upgraded four-zone climate control, a Harman Kardon audio setup, and a heated leather steering wheel. Classy wood trim ribbons throughout the interior, helping to bolster the rich leather, with the decorations further enhanced by an exquisite crystal gear selector mounted in the center of the vehicle. You even get more when it comes to safety gear, with the B6 AWD Ultimate being equipped with a 360-degree camera that informs you of any hazard around every inch of the vehicle.
The XC90 is simply on another level when it comes to comfort and style, since its arguably prettier body and more prestigious badge further enhance the feeling of it being a fully fledged luxury SUV.
Low Mileage XC90 Ultimates Can Be Had For New Pilot Money
2023 Volvo XC90 RechargeVolvo
Should this option pique your interest, then let us continue to tempt you. Thanks to the stiff depreciation that takes hold of the XC90 from the moment it leaves the showroom – a process that’s even more devastating to the values of higher-end and more expensive versions – they become amazing used deals just a few years after their first owners take delivery.
According to CarEdge, the XC90 sheds an eye-opening 50% of its original value over just five years. That means the B6 AWD Ultimate, which retailed for $69,700 in 2023, will be worth around $35k half a decade after it first leaves the showroom.
This steep depreciation curve is being borne out in the real world, too, with the average value of a 2023 Ultimate currently sitting at just $45,351, well over $20k down on its original MSRP. Give it another couple of years, and you’ll be waving goodbye to another $10,000. Should losing that kind of money in depreciation not matter to you – given the Pilot will fare much better in this regard – you can have a very well-maintained, low-mileage car for the same sort of money as a Pilot Sport AWD.
Finding a car with less than 30,000 miles on the clock at this price is common, and if you’re lucky, you can even find some very well-priced machines sporting less than 25,000 miles on their odometers. That said, prioritize service history when you’re looking around, and make sure you put your money towards a car that has been serviced yearly, just to ensure it lasts long-term. And that’s true even if you have to spend the same money on something with more miles, as frequent maintenance is much more important than simply having covered fewer miles.
The XC90 Is Even Faster And More Efficient
White 2020 Volvo XC90 rear endVolvo
While we’ve talked about the elevated luxury and class you get with a range-topping XC90 over a base Pilot, there’s also the fact that the Volvo sneaks ahead of the Honda technically, as well. While both cars get AWD and a smooth automatic transmission, the XC90’s turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four engine is more advanced than the Pilot’s V6. Not only is it smaller and lighter, it also comes packing a small mild hybrid system, which helps to save fuel at a variety of speeds.
Thanks to the turbocharger and the small 13-hp boost provided by the compact electric motor, the XC90 pumps out 295 combined hp, which is 10 hp more than the Pilot can manage. TheXC90 really makes the differencewhen it comes to torque, though, as the extra power brought by its turbo and electric motor combination results in 310 lb-ft, whereas the Honda can only muster 262 lb-ft. When the car is loaded up with your family and cargo, you’ll be very grateful for that extra pulling power.
Despite all this extra grunt, and even though it tips the scales at around 200 lbs heavier than the Pilot, the XC90 B6 AWD Ultimate is still more fuel-efficient than its V6-powered rival. While the Pilot achieves 21 MPG over the combined cycle, the XC90 edges it with 22 MPG. The odds are certainly stacking up in the Volvo’s favor, though there is one metric where the Honda clearly comes out on top.
The Plush Volvo Will Cost More To Maintain
2023 Volvo XC90 RechargeVolvo
Because the Volvo is filled with more advanced, but more expensive parts, your wallet will be more heavily punished when they finally need replacing. Its engine is also more complicated and highly strung compared to the tried-and-tested V6 found in the Pilot, so maintenance demands and minor issues are more likely to arise. CarEdgereports that while the Pilot should only cost you around $2,500 in maintenance over a five-year stretch, an XC90 will cost you closer to $4,200.
The more expensive Volvo also costs around $2,000 more to insure over the same timeframe, while you’ll lose considerably more in terms of depreciation. The XC90 may be more fuel-efficient, but odds are you’ll be spending considerably more over the medium- and long-term to own the Volvo when compared to Honda’s family-friendly SUV.
As with most higher-end vehicles, spending more throughout your ownership experience is the primary cost of having such a car. It pays you back by providing a better-equipped and more comfortable cabin, a more refined driving experience, and a greater sense of prestige. In this case, it’s also faster and more fuel-efficient.
The only thing to determine is whether the elevated ownership costs, compared to the more sensible Pilot, are worth it.
Sources: CarEdge, Honda, Volvo.
