Honda Pilot Complaints
9,418 consumer complaints on file.
- #11492319November 4, 2022ENGINE
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, the check engine warning light, the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) warning light, and the traction control warning light illuminated. The message "Emission Check" was displayed. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the cylinder #1 was misfiring due to oil leaking onto the spark plugs. The dealer diagnosed that the piston rings were beginning to fail; however, the spark plugs were replaced as a temporary repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V382000 (Engine) as the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 81,250.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492326November 4, 2022ENGINE
The vehicle is equipped with the Automatic Start/Stop feature. Three times in the past few months, the car has unexpectedly stalled at a red light in the middle of traffic, creating a hazard for us and drivers around us. The electric power steering system warning light came on momentarily, and the display screen said ‘Radio not available”. We were able to turn the car back on after a slight hesitation, but the radio and controls on the steering wheel stopped working. All controls, and the radio, were working again after leaving the car off for a few hours. The car was taken to our local Honda dealer, who did not find any diagnostic codes and was unable to duplicate the problem.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492350November 4, 2022ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was stopped at a stop light and the engine went into "idle" mode and then cut off completely and all power was lost. I put the vehicle in park and attempted to restart unsuccessfully. I was unable to restart the vehicle for several minutes.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492105November 3, 2022ENGINE
When driving the vehicle with the auto start/stop engaged upon stopping the engine will turn off at an intersection however it will not turn back on. It takes several tries for the vehicle to start back up.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492137November 3, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
I was stopped at a red light, the engine cycled down because of the environmentally friendly option. My foot was on the break. The transmission shifted to neutral and turned orange. I could not get it to shift back to Drive. I had to turn the car off and restart it. At that point I was able to put it in drive and move the car. This was very dangerous because I was on a busy highway and could have been rear ended by a driver not noticing the car was stopped and off.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492145November 3, 2022ENGINE
Car won’t start after auto stop engages at red lights. I was on a busy road at a red light when my car wouldn’t restart. I had to sit a few embarrassing minutes (felt longer) turning the car off and on until it finally restarted. I noticed the issue occurred a few months ago as well, but because it only happened once I wasn’t concerned. This time was on a very busy road with cars coming 45mph towards me. Since the first incident, I did notice when it auto starts 9/10 times it turns my radio off and my cabin lights cut on then off (as if I’m starting the whole car again). Sometimes it will flash lights on the dash as well but I cannot recall which ones (I know battery is one). I try to remember to turn the feature off every time I get in my car, because you can’t turn it off and leave it off.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491889November 2, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Emissions System Problem On 8-11-2022, multiple lights came on the dashboard with multiple systems errors. Brought to dealership and they replaced the fuel injectors. The dealership stated that this was a known problem with the 2016-2017 Honda Pilot's. Honda is giving a 10-year, 150,000 mile extended warranty from the date of purchase to cover fuel injectors and pipes leading up to the fuel injectors. On 9-27-2022, dash lit up with another Emissions System Problem. Brought to same dealership and they stated that the vehicle needed a software update. On 10-31-2022, dash lit up for the third time showing Emissions System Problem. Brought to same dealership. Currently waiting on diagnosis.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491898November 2, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Third time now that my speakers have been popping and crackling. All this leads to "Network Connection Lost" and the entire NAV screen goes black, also the main dashboard display sometimes...very unsafe. First couple of repairs were the connectors in the dash being replaced. This time my dealer has to call Honda for authorization. Received a call from dealer this morning that my battery was dead and this cleared out all of the warning codes, how convenient and it's only 3 years old. Now it needs to be kept until the warning codes "possibly" come back.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491937November 2, 2022ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My 2021 Honda Pilot's Idle-Stop System has been failing at random and dangerous times. The engine shuts off when Idle-Stop is engaged and as expected. However and until recently; when I release my foot from the break, nothing happens. The engine does not start. Restarting the engine has taken me to shift to park, turn the car off, wait a few minutes, and then it starts without any hesitation. Today this happened during a busy stop where I did not feel safe for myself or my passengers. The problem does not reproduce at my will or by performing any specific set of steps. After today, I'm nervous to drive with this system enabled. The problem never happens if I remember to manually disable the Idle-Stop System every time I start my car. Nevertheless, it's not a normal practice for me to have to disengage a feature that should work. This problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or any others. There were no warning lamps, sounds, messages, or other symptoms prior that would indicate an imminent failure.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491733November 1, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
We own a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring AWD. For many years we have experienced issues with the idle-stop system as the vehicle fails to restart after the engine is switched off. It appears that the battery lacks the power to restart the engine or there may be a deeper issue with the engine restart system itself. We have taken the vehicle to the dealership twice and they cannot detect any issues. We have changed the battery twice, at our own expense, and the issue seems to improve temporarily while the battery is new. This issue is concerning when the engine does not restart at a busy intersection or when turning into incoming lateral traffic. The engine just shuts off and we need to switch to park to restart.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491760November 1, 2022ENGINE
The engine idle stop is extremely dangerous and is going to cause someone to be seriously injured or killed. Ever since I have owned the vehicle, I have had a problem with the engine auto idle stop malfunctioning. The dealership can never find an issue. It has become so bad that if I forget to disable the idle stop, as soon as I step on the brake my entire car resets/shuts down and will not turn back on for several seconds. I was left in the middle of an intersection with other drivers blaring their horns at me, scaring my children, because my car shut off in the intersection as I was attempting a left turn. As soon as I take my foot off of the brake, the car resets and the dash tells me to shift to P. Which I cannot do. Then it shuts down again and I am at the mercy of the vehicle and other drivers to not collide with me until my vehicle decides to turn back on. It is extremely dangerous.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491783November 1, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Frightening experiences with Auto Engine Idle Stop feature. My local mechanic, as well as the dealership where I purchased my brand new 2020 Honda Pilot Elite AWD were unable to address the issue. Have been experiencing electrical failures associated with my AEIS for about a year that have gotten progressively worse. At first, once disengaging from AEIS at a red light (by releasing my foot from the brake pedal) the radio would shut off and switch back on, but to AM radio. What seemed like a few months later, when AEIS was disengaging, my whole dashboard went blank and I received a message to "Shift to Park + restart engine". I have tried to be diligent in turning off AEIS immediately after starting my vehicle, but in the few times I have forgotten, and my AEIS has failed, the dashboard goes blank and the car shifts to neutral (indicated by the red light becoming illuminated around N). My local mechanic looked at this issue in June of 2022, and said that my battery was only holding a 30% charge, so we replaced it. After my most recent Pilot engine electrical failure, I called Honda, and was advised to contact my dealership since I was still covered by the powertrain warranty (<60k miles). To have a vehicle stalled in the middle of the road, once on I75 in stopped traffic in downtown Atlanta, is an OBVIOUS safety hazard. I was trusting HONDA with my family's safety when I purchased my Pilot, but that trust has been lost. Today, November 01, the dealer told me my battery was bad; it's less than 5 months old, mind you. Went straight to my mechanic, they ran a diagnostic on my battery, and was told it's fine. Called Honda Corporate and set up a case investigation today.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491649October 31, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Auto restart after stop does not seem to be functioning. After stopping at a light, auto restart did not start the car again.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491654October 31, 2022ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
A couple of times, while sitting at a stop light, the auto stop feature has failed to restart the car, resulting in a need to completely turn the car off and restart it in traffic. We have also had it occur when stopped at a stop sign and not having the car restart, as we've attempted to pull out in to traffic. We have not taken it to a dealer or service center, and have elected to turn the feature off to mitigate the system failure. There are zero indications that the car won't restart. Occassionally, when we forget to turn the auto start feature off "when it does work correctly" radio audio drops out while the car restarts. This problem has been ongoing for about three years.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491679October 31, 2022LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES, STRUCTURE
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the hood was shaking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The dealer performed the recall repair by replacing the hood latch striker. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle had previously been serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491425October 29, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Car fails to restart when the engine auto shut off engages. The engine will attempt to restart, but then nothing happens. The car is essentially stalled in traffic. This has happened three times. The car has to be put in park and fully shut off before it will restart using the car’s on/off button. One time it took a few minutes before the car would restart. This happened even after having the battery replaced. I informed the dealer about the problem, and the dealer acknowledged that there is some sort of problem with the auto shut off feature.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491437October 29, 2022ENGINE
Auto start/stop feature fail to restart multiple times. Leave me stranded on a busy highway and road.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491440October 29, 2022ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Multiple times while driving with the auto start/stop engaged, the vehicle will turn off when coming to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign and then need to be restarted with the actual start/stop button. Call to purchasing dealer was met with unrealistic demand that the vehicle be left there for an undeterminable amount of time so that it could be inspected. No other lamps have come on or warned against this. Only way to make it not happen is to turn off the auto start/stop after the vehicle is started.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491267October 28, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car alarm keeps going off randomly and the electronic dashboard flickers repeatedly while the car is parked. I recently left the car at a parking garage and apparently the alarm was triggered and ran all day - I came back to the car that evening and there was clicking sound coming from the engine (not turned on, of course). The battery was drained and when I got a jump start, the alarm went off and the dashboard went crazy again. I wonder what would might happen when the car is being driven. There's clearly something wrong with the electronics. The dealer said I needed a new body control module (BCM), but the part is hard to come by apparently. Having done some research on the the issue, this appears to be a common problem with Honda Pilots. My car only has 50k miles on it and seems out of character to have this part fail. The short-term solution is to leave the car unlocked which in turn disarms the car alarm, but I've seen the dashboard and cabin lights flicker off and on in this state. This problem has been ongoing for months now.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491081October 27, 2022ENGINE
I was driving on a city street, during traffic I came to a complete stop and the car turned off the engine automatically by the idle-stop feature. When traffic was moving, I lifted my foot off the brake pedal expecting the engine turn back on and move forward but the engine never started and I tried to start the engine manually stepping on the brake and press the Engine Start button but in didn't work either, all the while I could have easily gotten rear-ended by driver behind me. Luckily other drivers were paying attention but nonetheless I was pressure to move my car. After struggling for 5 minutes, I finally manage to restart the engine again. I am the original owner and service my car at the dealer and the car only have 39160 miles on it. This problem happened before but is happening more often now, which is causing more safety concerns for me.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0