Honda Pilot Complaints

9,418 consumer complaints on file.

#11485087September 18, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The auto-idle system causes the car to stall quite often and poses a major safety hazard. We bought the car brand-new in May 2018. The problem started happening approximately 2 years after buying the car. The car fails to restart when you lift the foot off the break and instead, stalls the car. My husband and I have had the car stall at red lights, at stop signs, and recently while we were in the left lane of a major highway in traffic. Just this past weekend, it stalled on me twice in less than 24 hours. It takes quite a bit of time to restart because you have to put the car in park and make sure it is completely shut down before trying to start it again, while also trying to remember to put on hazard lights. I did bring it to Lia Honda in Albany NY on Sept. 24, 2021, 3.5 years after buying the car, specifically for this issue. They could not recreate it in the shop. They suggested I needed a new battery and proceeded to install a new batter at a cost of approximately $500 (it is my understanding batteries should be replaced every 5 years typically). This helped for about 6 months but now the car is stalling quite often again. While they have a button to disable this system, it defaults to "on" every time you power the car off/on, and it is easy to forget to turn it off. This is a major safety issue as the cars behind me don't realize I have stalled. I realize this is a known issue as other Pilot owners have filed similar complaints, and I hope Honda fixes this issue because we paid a lot of money for this car and will have teenagers driving it soon. We are happy to have the car inspected further if necessary. Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485033September 18, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Auto restart stalls the car when reengaging the engine after coming to a full stop
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484960September 17, 2022
ENGINE
While driving between 30-45 MPH the engine RPM’s will start bouncing by around 500 RPM’s up and down. Usually on flat to slight grade with RPM’s in the area of 1500. The engine will bounce between 1200 up to 1800 RPM’s. Vehicle has 52,000 miles, just started in last couple thousand miles. Doing a Google search I found numerous complaints of same issue. This is a safety issue when the engine will unexpectedly surge or slow down.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484961September 17, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Twice now and it seems to be worse in the summer when the air conditioning is running the auto shut off at a stoplight fails to restart the engine and the car dies at an intersection. This feature is dangerous and very frustrating to the point where I turn this feature off every time I get in the car now. This is happened both to me and to my 16-year-old son. Many times when it tries to reengage it has a hard time starting right back up. This is in addition to the two times it completely died.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484969September 17, 2022
ENGINE
Car's auto start feature for fuel savings has failed to function on numerous occasions and required shutoff and manual restart. There is no provision to permanently disable this feature but requires disabling every time car is started.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484978September 17, 2022
ENGINE
When stopped the engine shuts off. It does not always turn back on when attempting to accelerate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484965September 17, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
When driving on highways and interstate the vehicle flashes BRAKE when the is no reason to brake. This happens multiple times per day, in my commute. The 2nd thing (and most dangerous) is the automatic braking. Several times on the interstate the car has done a HARD brake while travelling at high speeds, only there wasn’t a reason for it No other vehicles were in front of us at the time. It has also happened several times on the state road that we drive daily. It’s not. I have contacted Honda and have note heard back as of yet. This is a very dangerous and possibly fatal flaw. The issue is definitely ongoing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484824September 16, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On multiple occasions the idle stop feature will engage and upon re-engage it will stall my vehicle. When I place the vehicle in park, press the brake and press the ignition start, nothing happens. Upon multiple attempts to restart the car it will either do nothing or making a chug without restarting. Continuing my attempts to restart the vehicle it will finally restart. During these times I will be stalled at a stop sign or traffic light with impatient drivers going around me which I believe is unsafe for motorists or pedestrians. If this happens while I'm in an intersection or other location with moving traffic it could be very unsafe for myself, other motorists and/or pedestrians.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484852September 16, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
Was in the middle of an intersection and pressed the button to turn off Engine Idle Mode as I have had instances where it was very slow to go when this mode is on and it delays getting out of the way of other drivers. When I pressed the Idle Off button - the car “shut down” and went into neutral. I could not get it out of neutral. Pressed D, R, P. Multiple times. Didn’t work. Had to press the turn off car button twice to turn off car then it finally restarted. I was stranded in the intersection and almost got hit by several cars. Once it started I pulled into a gas station and the radio stopped working. I turned off the car and restarted. Then the engine wasn’t shifting properly. Shut off the car again and went to the dealer. Dealer ran diagnostics and couldn’t find a problem. Checked the battery and all other items - no issues. Somebody is going to get killed and now I’m scared to drive my car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484548September 15, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The start- stop function will turn the vehicle off at a light, stop sign, or while stopped in traffic. Once the brake is released the vehicle fails to restart. The vehicle is now obstructing traffic and vulnerable to a rear in collision. Took the vehicle to the dealer five times and the were never able to reproduce the problem. The dealer replaced the battery staying out was low thus it was unable to restart the vehicle once it stopped. There had been not warnings when the start-stop was going to fail. It randomly happens in multiple driving conditions, i.e. highway or city driving conditions. For the vehicle to malfunction at random times puts my family and other drivers at risk each time it happens. Currently the Dealer can not find or duplicate the problem. They have been made fully aware of the problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484551September 15, 2022
ENGINE, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
When the car stopped at red light, sometimes it can not restart. I got a few time too hard to restart to drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484591September 15, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that on several occasions without warning, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the contact stated that a year ago, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the battery was replaced and the contact was informed that the Start/Stop switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact stated that she was informed that there was no fix for the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that an appointment was scheduled for September 20th for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 89,529.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484599September 15, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
In the past I have reported an issue with the auto stop to Price Honda. They sent me away saying nothing was wrong. Last night my car died while coming to a stop. No warning. No engine check lights. The emergency flashers wouldn't work nor doors or windows and I was stuck in the middle of the road with my children without Hazzard lights. No way to put car into neutral unless you have a special tool which even the Honda dealership couldn't help me with. This was not disclosed when we bought the car and was stuck in high traffic for over 2 hours until a mechanic came and finally got my car to start and move to side by switching the battery along with other stuff. He stated the battery should not have died in Drive and something is wrong. I see this is a known issue when looking at your website. I do not feel safe driving this Honda pilot. It can shut down at any time without warning and leave us stranded. Not being able to move into neutral in its self is safety Hazzard especially with no hazard lights. Price Honda [XXX] was very rude and brushed me off telling me no one is going to call me back over this. However their manager [XXX] called me shortly after and even acknowledged the known issue and said could take years to recall. This is not ok and why wasn't any of this disclosed. We should know that we need a tool (and know how to do it since in the engine) to save us if our car breaks down so we can at least get to side of road! I see This issue is being investigated by you, not sure why it was not disclosed especially when I already reported to Honda. My kids and I could have died yesterday. Single lane road no shoulders no flashers and cars flying past us. Not ok especially for this type of car that I bought brand new! I need assistance with this please before someone does get hurt. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484601September 15, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the engine would not immediately restart after the START/STOP feature was activated. The contact indicated that the vehicle occasionally restarted approximately three seconds after releasing the brake pedal. On other occasions, the vehicle would not restart. The vehicle was able to be restarted by pressing the START/STOP button. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure and a service appointment was scheduled. The contact referenced the NHTSA Investigation Number: PE22005 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the investigation. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 47,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484603September 15, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
For years, dating back to 2018, our 2016 Honda Pilot Elite auto on/off switch operations has been failing. Vehicle will not restart the engine after its engaged the auto start off. Engine and all components including electrical are off. Dashboard indications light up and essentially we are stalled, at risk of not being able to drive. It requires to place the car into park and restart the engine. This is serious safety issue that could result in being struct by another vehicle without being able to move. I have been taking the car to several authorized Honda service dealerships to address the issue. They have replaced multiple times the auto on/off switch, battery, adjusted values and updated software with no resolution. One dealership claimed to disable the auto on/off switch but this is NOT feasible. With the latest inspection, another local Honda dealership contacted Honda Corp Tech Line for assistance. Once again they instructed the dealer to perform all the potential fixes above and to ignore a code P2638. After investigating this online, Honda and NHTSA have opened an investigation June 2022 on this issue after 220+ complaints. There is no known fix, yet Honda Corp Tech Line informed local dealer to conduct value adjustments yet again, at a labor cost to us.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484470September 14, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The 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. This is the third time has occurred. Many people online are reporting the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484496September 14, 2022
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle failed to restart when stopped at signal light the idle function shut the vehicle down but I had to completely restart the engine rather than it automatically restart as usual. A real traffic hazard
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484175September 13, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY, SEAT BELTS
Hood - flutters and wobbles significantly at highway speeds. Per recall check, this vehicle is not included. Seat belt - more of a personal thing, but the driver's seat belt cuts into the driver's neck, even when high of shoulder strap is adjusted. When using a device to help control where the shoulder strap lays, it was found that the driver's seat belt is MUCH shorter than all other in the vehicle. Therefore not allowing the driver to use something to adjust the shoulder portion and still safely check blind spots.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484194September 13, 2022
POWER TRAIN
Moving from a stationary position while driving under 10 mph the vehicle shifts from 1st gear to 2nd gear with a heavy jerk motion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484228September 13, 2022
ENGINE
Engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or intersection with the Auto-Idle Stop engaged.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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