I recently purchased a 2021 Ridgeline HPD package. I absolutely love the design of the 2021 and the new package options are also nice.

The thing about trucks is most people purchase way too much truck and pay way too much money. That's why, where I live in Houston, the roads are packed with people driving Ford Raptors and F-250 diesels.....to their office jobs. Like you need a 20k pound towing capacity to haul that bag of mulch or tow your jet skis. People buy them as status symbols and, like bench racers, use the brochure bullet points as bragging rights. They also fall for the tough guy commercials and act like they are going to really use their $60k truck as an off road rock crawler. We all know they wind up as mall crawlers that never leave the pavement. All that buffness for no reason.

The Ridgeline IS a truck. It says it right on the registration when you buy one. People like to get hung up on "But it's a unibody". The biggest piece of crap I ever owned was a 2018 F-150 crew cab with the 5.0 V8. That was a cab on chassis. It also drank oil, caused me to hire an attorney for the first time in my life, resulted in a lawsuit and a year of my life tied up in litigation with Ford over why they can't build a proper truck anymore. I'll never own another Ford because of that truck. 

In my case, I don't tow too much...maybe a car now and then. Couldn't care less about it being a unibody. It rides smooth, gets good MPG (Average around 25MPG per tank so far in the first 2,500 miles), is cheap to insure, and does everything I need it to do. I don't need a truck to hide any insecurities or personal shortcomings. I need a truck to get me where I need to go reliably and get me home. The Honda has been good on that front, and the 3.5L V6 has been around for some time now with very good reliability. Some say the 9 speed has its problems. It's too early to tell, but so far I've no complaints. Of course, people said the 10 speed in my 2020 Accord was problematic but nearly 30k miles in I haven't had a single issue. Maybe I'm just lucky.

At any rate, it is a good truck and if you need a light duty truck, I'd recommend it. The only thing I will say I didn't like was I felt the price was steep. My truck stickered right at $41k, and with dealer markup was $43k. I'm not getting into what I actually paid because this is the internet and everyone gets their cars for $20k below invoice, but I got a good deal and didn't have to pay for the dealer added extras like window tint, paint protection, free touch ups and washes once a year, etc. 

There's nothing wrong with the Tacoma either. I know quite a few people with them who are very happy. Some have had some minor issues (mystery CEL's that didn't amount to anything, etc.), but nothing major as I would expect from Toyota. I would say drive both and see which one you like better. It is nice that Honda made AWD standard for 2021. They also gave Ridgeline the Honda Sensing suite, so you get radar cruise, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic monitoring, etc. as standard. The 5 star safety rating also doesn't hurt. 

@mod_man recently bought a Honda Ridgeline 2021. Those engines have cylinder deactivation from what @daywalker said. The 9 speed transmissions are somewhat new so jury is out on it. I would get the 10 speed from Honda if they do a redesign because the 9 speed have some problems.

It is what it is and it’s not what it’s not.  Great for what it is (crossover suv with AWD and a bed in back).  Fantastic for daily driving and light duty trucky things.  Useless off road and for heavy hauling.

read and watch the reviews; universally they admit grudging admiration.

Its  a mini van with a truck bed but it has some really great features, I like the lockable storage compartment in the bed.

I never thought of myself as a truck person, and I haven’t driven them much. I usually default to a Tacoma or Tundra, just because it is a “real truck”. 

But I think Honda fills a void in the market nicely with the Ridgeline. They think of things that other car makes don’t. Especially with the latest iterations tailgate. And depending on your need (or non need) it could be the right solution for many people’s needs. 

The Ridgeline isn't a real truck. It has a unibody instead of a body on frame build. Its capacity isn't compatible to other mid-size trucks either. Tell her to look at the Tacoma which is a real truck.

I've always thought of the Ridgeline as the transgender vehicle of the automotive world. It's looks are cringe-worthy and I always laugh at anyone that calls that monstrosity a truck. However, it's a Honda and will probably be pretty reliable....just don't refer to it as a truck. 🤣