# 2018 Honda Pilot - Best transmission choice

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** honda\
**Created:** [January 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610 "2025-01-06T16:43:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WW02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@WW02](https://community.cartalk.com/u/WW02)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/1 "2025-01-06T16:43:05Z")

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Which is the better tranny–the 6 speed or 9 speed for the 2018 Honda Pilot ?

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/2 "2025-01-07T14:18:49Z")

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On a seven year old car, why? I did not know they had two different automatic transmissions.

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**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/3 "2025-01-07T17:05:25Z")

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Higher trim levels have 9spd?

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**Author:** ![ledhed75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@ledhed75](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ledhed75)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/4 "2025-01-08T19:07:41Z")

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Go for the one that’s been better maintained. Meaning, regular fluid changes.

I know some folks have strong feelings on CarFax. More often than not, I find the listed maintenance histories helpful when looking at used cars.

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**Author:** ![wolyrobb](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wolyrobb/32/45497_2.png) [@wolyrobb](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wolyrobb)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/5 "2025-01-08T20:35:50Z")

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Elite or Touring have the 9spd, 6spd in lower trims is smoother,

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2018-honda-pilot-best-transmission-choice/198610/6 "2025-01-09T00:20:46Z")

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It may not make a difference on a 7 yo transmission, but when our daughter bought a new 2020 Pilot, the salesman advised her to buy the newer one with the 10 speed transmission. He said the 9 speed was suspect. According to [carcomplaints.com](http://carcomplaints.com), the 2019 with the 9-speed had significant problems.