Honda Pilot Complaints (2020)

493 consumer complaints on file.

#11489885October 18, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, POWER TRAIN
The vehicle is showing the same issues as found in the Honda Service Bulletin 20-029 for "9-Speed A/T Hard Upshift with Steady Acceleration", and an occasional hesitation or slip. Our Honda Pilot has a Honda 6-Speed Automatic Transmission and AWD. The transmission has just had a full service, which included a "transmission fluid exchange to include torque converter lines" and replacing the transmission filter. When watching the vehicle shift, the tachometer will spike RPMs, then drop well below, and rise to settle in-between with a hard upshift. This issue was extreme prior to the transmission service, especially given the vehicle has only 49k miles and was purchased brand new. The constant hard shift and slip is a safety hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489886October 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Our Honda Pilot displays and shakes the wheel for Forward Collision Warnings a minimum of 30 times a day over approximately 32 miles daily. The vehicle has on more than one occasion engaged the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) as well in situations where no vehicle was on the road ahead or beside us, nearly causing us to be rear ended at high speeds. This has also happened when pulling out into intersections where the closest vehicles are approximately 75 feet. This has happened while travelling at anywhere from 15 mph to 55 mph, and has occurred every 1 to 2 months since owning the vehicle. We have been nearly rear-ended at least 5 times since owning the vehicle. Honda has told us that the collision warning "can't be adjusted" to fix this, and that our "best option is to disable the alert or the system". Being told to disable safety systems as a fix rather than actually fixing the issue is wildly inappropriate and unsafe.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488638October 10, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. I was at an intersection at 10:30pm and it was extremely dangerous as my car would not start and was completely black. I could not even turn on hazards or put the car in nuetral to move out of the way. I had to call 911 and have the police assist. My car was towed to the dealership and I am waiting for an update. This will be the 4th time I have had my vehicle there for service for an electrical issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487760October 3, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My vehicle has had repeated instances of the audio "infotainment" system causing loud, unexpected popping and crackling noises. During these instances, the infotainment system sometimes quits working completely and often the handsfree telephone function quits working. When this occurs, the volume control and audio on off button have no effect whatsoever. It can occur with or without my telephone connected to the system. The only way to temporarily correct the condition (and it only works sometimes) is to pull off the road, turn the car off completely, and then restart it. This issue has occurred during three seperate time periods, and each time, it has progressed from intermittent to continuous. The first time I took it to the dealer and they replaced some small wiring harness connectors. The second time, they had a Honda Field Engineer look at the car and replaced the entire dashboard harness system (July 2022). Then today, it began doing it again. I have reported this to my Honda Dealer (Hendrick Honda Pompano Beach, FL) and they said they are contacting Honda for more information
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487405October 1, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When I drive the 2020 Honda Pilot it has started to make a cracking noise when I turn or go over any bumps in the road. It cuts off navigation and phone conversations from my infotainment system. The cracking noise happens if the system is on or off. It makes it difficult to even carry on a conversation with someone in the car. Not what I expected when I paid over $40k.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487042September 29, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving down the highway, we heard a loud, sudden pop and then wind. The sunroof shattered and the cover was closed so all glass ended up on the cover. There were no overpasses above us or vehicles in front of us that could have caused anything to fall on the sunroof. There was nothing other than glass found on the cover and no damage to the top of the vehicle (as if something would have hit the glass and bounced off). The driver was startled and, if the cover had not been closed, the glass would have ended up in the face of our backseat passenger. Prior to this, I had no problems with the sunroof and there had been no prior damage to it. When I took the Pilot in for repair at the Honda service center, I was told that they have heard of a few cases like this where the sunroof spontaneously imploded, but that it was not a safety recall or under warranty. I have photos of the shattered sunroof.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485814September 22, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When stopped at a red light, the car went into idle stop mode. When I released the brake, the car did not restart. The electrical flashed. An error message was displayed to put the car in park, press the brake and engine restart button. That did not resolve the problem. The car would not start. We could not shift it from park to move it. I was in the traffic lane on the down side of an overpass with limited visibility behind me. I was concerned about getting rear ended. The car had to be towed and the battery replaced. The original Honda dealership performs all routine maintenance with the most recent service in June 2022. There has been no prior indication that the battery was weak or needed to be replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483781September 10, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Stop/start system shutdown the engine and failed to restart while at stop light. It occurred twice on 9/8/2022 and twice on 9/9/2022.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483823September 10, 2022
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have owned the 2020 Honda Pilot Touring since Jan.2021. Up till now, theses similar situations have happened 4-5 times. It always happens when I am gradually slowing down to a complete stop at crossroads. My 2020 Honda Pilot has shut off a few times while stopping at a red light. Each time has been after coming to a complete stop at a red light and sitting there for a couple minutes. Suddenly there is a beep sound and the engine shuts down. Only the entertainment system is left on. The gear changes to N by itself and I am unable to change it to any other gear. With my foot on the brake, trying to change the gear and trying turn off the car for about 3 minute in the middle of traffic with my kids in the car, eventually I was able to shut off the engine completely off. I immediately try restart the car to avoid a car accident. It put itself in N (neural) and the dashboard screen said “Put it in P (Park) and hit bottom to restart car.” The car wouldn’t let me push anything. The power button did nothing and even if you pushed the P for park it stayed in N. The battery light immediately came on when this happened also. And went away as soon as it worked again. I scheduled an appointment after the third time the this happen leaving the car for them to run tests. They ran the tests and when I returned to pick it up, the technician said they tested the battery, wiring, and engine and that everything was good. Nothing was provided to me but they did show me the report as they talked about the results I am sure I can obtain if requested. They almost changed me for the testing but waived the fee which I was thankful. I am concerned and at times scared for the safety of my kids and I. I really hope Honda finds a fix for this and recalls for whatever the issues are as quickly as possible. I like the car but it really is making me want to get a new car and never purchase from Honda again.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483251September 7, 2022
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I understand there may be an investigation of Honda's stop-start system, the system which is meant to improve fuel economy by shutting the engine off when the vehicle comes to a stop. I experienced this one (1) time while stopping at a traffic light, date unknown. The engine went off, as it was supposed to, but when I took my foot off the brake and pressed on the accelerator nothing happened, the engine had not restarted. I attempted to restart the car by pressing on the start button but since I was in Drive it wouldn't start. I think I tried to shift the transmission into Park (it's been several months since the incident) but I'm not sure if it shifted or not. I turned the car off by pressing the start button, waited briefly and then pressed the start button again to start, which it did. I shifted into drive and pulled away. That was a long time, probably not as long as it seemed, sitting at the light as others were going around me or blowing their horn at me. I have not had any further incidents since that time but wanted to register this one with you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11482344September 1, 2022
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I can't remember if I reported this already but here goes. My daughter was driving my 2020 Honda Pilot with 41,400 miles on it. She had baby in the back and was in slow traffic in Millsboro Delaware. She thought she smelled something burning. Then she got out of the vehicle, took the baby out and called 911. Fire started coming out of the engine compartment and the vehicle totally burned up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11482029August 30, 2022
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately at 65 mph the brother who was in a second vehicle ahead could see flames present in the front grill of the vehicle. White smoke began to enter the cabin of the vehicle and the contact pulled over, parked and exited the vehicle. Smoke and flames were present coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed away. A fire and police report was taken at the scene. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11479504August 16, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Issues with infotainment system, a continuous crackling sound, sounds like electric spark. This occurs for several days and now the system is not working and this affects the operation of backup camera.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478835August 11, 2022
ENGINE
My 2020 Honda Pilot (Touring edition) has begun having a rough restart after stopping and the Auto Engine Idle function has turned the engine off. Once it seemed to turn the vehicle off and the radio turned off and back on quickly. I've read about the investigation into Pilots with this issue and wanted to add my car to those that are affected. I called the dealership where I bought the car and explained the issue to a service technician and he indicated that he'd never heard of the issue. Since it just started having the issue in the last couple of weeks and so far it happens intermittently, I haven't taken it into the service department yet.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11477008August 1, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while his daughter was driving at an unknown speed when she smelled an odor of smoke coming from the vehicle, then she noticed fire coming from the vehicle. She was able to exit the vehicle safely as it started to burn. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. No one was injured, and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a Collision center. The manufacturer was contacted, and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 42,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11477040August 1, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Vehicle has died when at a stop light, would not automatically restart. Days later the vehicle’s electrical system would not allow the car to start, many code warnings on display. Have had it towed. Battery would not jump and vehicle would not shift into neutral. Found out it needed a specialized tool only the Honda service had.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476567July 29, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The auto emergency braking (forward collision mitigation) will trigger and brake hard frequently on 2 lane roads. This has surprised me multiple times. Honda service says that this is normal and they don't seem interested in fixing it. I have read that there is an investigation into this issue on certain Honda sedan models, and wanted to be sure that the Honda Pilot was included in the investigation. This has occured multiple times since I've purchased the vehicle new.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476331July 28, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
died and switched into neutral by itself, wouldnt start or switch into drive mode- in the middle of a busy intersection! it was scary and dangerous trunk doesn't open/close properly Infotainment center dies unexpectedly, freezes, won't restart on it's own. Have to pull over and restart car a few times or let the car sit off for a while speakers crackle at random times Took the car numerous times to Marin Honda, the computer they plug the car into showed "no codes" so they said there wasn't an issue. No warning lights of any kind. electrical just shuts down
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476090July 27, 2022
EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT
The vehicle radio/nav, display goes completely out. Sometimes it just goes full volume. Makes full volume popping noises out of the blue. Sometimes is blacked out and sometimes it just won't turn on or shut off. Symptoms have be getting progressively worse and worse. I'm afraid of the other systems this will effect due to the bus system. It is very scary to my wife when it just goes full blast and I'm afraid it's going to cause an accident. It's been doing things for a year since 12000 miles or so, but it had just recently gotten terrible.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474424July 18, 2022
ENGINE
Upon acceleration up a hill of speeds 10 mph -25 mph the transmission "lurches" causing the RPM to jog up and down. While traveling the speeds of 35 mph - 60 mph, regardless of being on flat ground or not, the transmission has the same "slipping" and "lurching" feeling while jogging the Rpm up and down (can happen on cruise control as well). Both incidents will shake the honda pilot. These incidents havae increased in frequency and intensified in sensation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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