Honda Pilot Complaints
9,418 consumer complaints on file.
- #11481085August 24, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
On my drive home this afternoon the auto idle stop feature on my 2019 Pilot touring began to hesitate to restart after releasing my foot from the brake. The result was an orange warning light telling me that there is a problem with the collision mitigation system and a shudder before the engine would resume running. I had to turn off the auto-start feature to avoid stalling in rush hour traffic.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480910August 24, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
With increasing frequency of occurrence, the car will not start after the auto stop/start mechanism has been invoked. For example, when stopped at a red light, the engine will turn off as the car is not moving. However, once the light turns to green and the brake is depressed, the car will not start and/or will start and then the engine will cut-out. To start the engine, the car needs to be fully turned off, gear put into Park and then restarted. There appears to be something at fault with the automatic stop-start mechanism and/software. My car is a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring with less than 28K miles.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480918August 24, 2022ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The automatic Stop-Start feature has had multiple issues in the last two years on my 2018 Honda Pilot Elite. The lesser issue has resulted in ALL systems turning off when the brake pedal is pushed all the way down. While the usual, expected result is just the engine cutting off, many times the entire electrical system shuts down. On two (seemingly random) cases, however, the car did NOT restart for quite some time. Once was at an interaction, the other was in stop/go traffic in the rain on the highway. Here is where it could have been catastrophic as I could not even turn on my flashers to warn (in low visibility) that I was stopped while all other traffic was flowing. In neither case did I require a jump start and I have never had any reason to blame the battery. Even in the winter, the car starts right up (here in Virginia). My local Honda dealership is claiming that I need a new battery and a software update. I have a claim in to Honda CustomerCare (even have a Case Manager assigned), but I have not heard from them in the last 3 days.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480919August 24, 2022POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
This has happened to me about 10 times in this vehicle: I am at a stoplight or stopsign and my "Idle-Stop" system in the Honda shuts down my engine and then when my foot comes off the brake it does not restart like it is supposed to leaving me stranded in the middle of traffic with a non moving vehicle. I think this is extremely dangerous and I am scared this will cause a terrible accident if not fixed. The only way the engine restarts is after about 30 seconds to a minute it finally is able to power back on. Please have Honda issue a recall for this issue.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480984August 24, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The auto start/stop on my vehicle doesn't always work. I come to a complete stop, the vehicle turns off and when I pick my foot up off the brake to restart the car sometimes it will stall. There is no warning message or indication whether or not the car is about to stall, it just happens randomly. We cannot consistently replicate the issue. In order to restart the car I have to hit the start button, wait for the car to completely shut off and then turn the car back on creating a huge safety issue especially if I'm in the middle of an intersection waiting to make a left-hand turn. This is an accident waiting to happen. I brought my car to a Honda dealership approximately 6 months ago and brought the issue up to them. They told me they could find no issue with the car, couldn't replicate it and told me they had never heard of it before. It wasn't until I did an online search a few days ago that I realized that I wasn't the only one having this issue. I drive my children in this car and would be willing to allow anyone to inspect my vehicle to try to get to the root of the issue. This is a huge safety issue for what is supposed to be a safe family vehicle.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480686August 23, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
we bought April 2021 and 1st issue not even 60 days after purchase, dealer removed warranty without us knowing! We have had problems ever since with warming lights coming on & flashing on multiple occasions, even while traveling @ 50 mph!. Huge safety issue as the vehicle jolts and then looses power and can't pick up speed and go with flow of traffic! Someone will get in an accident because of it and that will be a HUGE liability for honda as you all are ware of these issues and are doing NOTHING to recall them and fix the problem! This is a problem for many honda pilot owners from all the honda forums i have read and research ive been doing! i want the issue resolved as this is NOT a random. I just read that there was a service bulletin in 8/2019 pertaining to this specific car/VIN and it references faulty fuel injectors. i have no way to know if this was completed. i feel i should be able to have the injectors serviced/replaced at NO COST to me as this is a HUGE problem with 2016-2017 pilots and the fact a honda dealer pretty much sold us a LEMON of a car! I want our pilot fixed as it is a problem that Honda has been having with 2016-2017 pilots and Honda should be liable for this! Happened again today and has been happening more frequent in the past few months but have been dealing with it since we bought the vehicle. recent mechanic said the ECM/PCM may be faulty as you cant get a viable code as everytime it happens it throws all kinds of warning lights & codes that are not accurate.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480748August 23, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Car fails to start after a short drive and parked and always requires a jump start. Car also fails to restart after a stop/start at a complete stop! Has happened multiple times in busy intersections where you’re a sitting target for moving traffic. Always requires a jump start. Have checked battery many times and the battery checks out fine. Maybe electrical or charging system issue. Dealer can’t reproduce the problem as it happens sporadically. Can’t figure out problem and a hazard to drive with kids in car.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480835August 23, 2022ENGINE
When coming to a stop, vehicle shuts off with brakes. Once brake is released the automatic restart will not engage. You are stuck in traffic and unable to start the car for at least a minute. Honda replaced the starter and the battery. With the extended warranty, the starter was covered after deductable but the batt cost almost 300.00. I have since been using the battery they said was no good to power my camper with no problem.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480881August 23, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
My 2016 Honda Pilot Touring stalls out at a red light while using the auto stop-start. It happens occasionally when I take my foot off the brake and put my foot on the gas. Instead of coming out of idle with the engine starting up again, the car would stall completely and I would have to put the car in park, press the brake pedal and push the start button to get it on again. I took the car into the dealer and they told me that there was no software update and that they couldn’t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn’t on. Also have a issue with transmission not switching gears smoothly on take off. Jerks on take of. Once again they told me transmission was fine and there was no software update and that they couldn’t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn’t on.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480474August 22, 2022ENGINE
Our 2017 Honda Pilot has been having issues restarting after the automatic start-stop system idles the engine after a complete stop. The automatic start-stop feature shuts down the engine when coming to a complete stop, and then the engine doesn’t turn back on after shutting off. This happened the first time about a year ago, of all places on the I-95 interstate highway during a backup. It then happened only sporadically but has since been happing more often. Last week, it happened multiple times on the same day (8/17/22) and became dangerous and stressful to the entire family. It is always annoying, but it is very much a safety hazard in most situations.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480476August 22, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
As previously described on the NHTSA website, this model has the 9 speed transmission and it randomly turns the vehicle off at intersections/red lights when the vehicle is stopped. It is different than the engine start/stop system since the full vehicle turns off. It is very random and stressful when it happens since other vehicles are then waiting on our Pilot to get moving again.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480488August 22, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Auto engine shut off will turn off engine at stoplight but fail to restart engine when brake is released. Extremely unsafe. It has happened multiple times and each time we are afraid there will be an accident because we are sitting ducks and not accelerating when traffic expects us to.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480531August 22, 2022ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a traffic light, the Auto START/STOP feature failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact was informed by the dealer to replace the battery; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480547August 22, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
When start-stop feature is "on," the car will not start again in certain instances when the engine is shut down after a complete stop. The NHTSA currently has an investigation opened in this matter (opened in June 2022)
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480633August 22, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
On multiple occasions / almost daily the engine auto shut off kills the engine completely. The vehicle needs to be restarted to get moving. This poses as a significant safety hazard. This delay is going to get someone killed. The engine dies at stop lights, stops signs, off ramps and sitting in traffic. A complaint was made to the Honda dealer on 4 or more occasions with them informing us they can not replicate the issue and there isn’t a safety recall on it yet. This issue has gotten so bad that I am thinking about selling this car do to a safety issue. Honda is usually a trustable brand and stand by their brand, but some reason they will not admit to this reoccurring problem in the Honda Pilots.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480645August 22, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
There is a problem with the auto engine idle stop system. If I don't turn it off every time I start the car, then the car has a really difficult time re-starting when it automatically turns off at a stop light. This is especially true if the A/C is running. Sometimes, the car has a difficult time restarting or it has to try a few times. A couple of times, it has shifted itself into neutral and a couple of times, it has turned itself entirely off. The problem seems to be getting worse over time. Twice recently my car wouldn't start at all and had to be jumped to start again. I took it to the Honda Dealership and they confirmed they had heard of the issue and that another customer had brought their Pilot into service for the same reason the week before. They told me that the first step was to try a new battery. I've done that but am worried my car will stop on the middle of the freeway somewhere...
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480591August 22, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I have only owned this car, purchased new from the dealer, for a few weeks. Three times already the Collision Mitigation Braking System has almost gotten me rear-ended (and almost got me punched by one of them who thought I slammed on my brakes on purpose.) -Once was on the expressway when I was changing lanes. I guess the car thought I was too close to the car in the lane I had already left, but it slammed on its brakes anyway causing a car behind me to have to avoid a collision with me. - The second was at a stop light waiting for a left turn arrow. There were several of us in line (obviously in close proximity to each other) and, when the green arrow came on to allow the turn, I started moving and the car slammed on its own brakes. The car behind me had to panic brake to avoid rear-ending me. He then started getting out of his car; furious that I'd just done that. - The third time was again from a stop at a red light, but going straight this time. The light turned green, I started moving, and after a couple seconds the car slammed on its brakes again almost getting me hit. There needs to be a way to permanently disable this feature rather than defaulting to "On" at every start. I will work on remembering to manually turn it off every start-up, and hopefully I can remember 100% of the time before someone gets injured.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480407August 21, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have had multiple (5 times) over the past month where when stopped at a stop light or other stopping point my Pilot failed to re-start on it's own. In all 5 instances I had to put the car in park and restart the vehicle. It is August (warm weather) in Chicago and there were no other weather/local environmental issues that should have caused this issue. There were no warning messages prior to the automatic re-start failure. I have not yet reported this issue to Honda but plan to do so.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480413August 21, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The auto engine idle feature malfunctions. When stopped in traffic and at intersections the auto engine idle feature turns off the engine; however fails to restart. I can put the car into park, but the brake remains engaged and the ignition button blinks white. I have attempted many different things to 'reset' the computer. Putting the car in park, waiting, unlocking seatbelt, open/shut door. The last time, i had to walk away from the vehicle with the key fob in traffic. Locking and unlocking the car seemed to reset the computer. This placed me in dangerous traffic. It has happened in a construction zone on interstate, at intersections several times, during rush hour when it was impossible to leave the vehicle due to high speed traffic, and once while towing. Each episode has generally taken about 15 minutes for computer to shut down/reset. There is no message on the dash before , during or after. I now disengage the auto engine idle button when driving due to fear of being stranded in dangerous traffic situations. If I forget to turn it off, it is likely to malfunction. I have contacted the dealership about this problem before. There was no code, so the problem was deemed a mystery and remains unresoved by Honda.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480432August 21, 2022ENGINE
Auto Stop/Start failure to restart issue With my 2016 Honda Pilot touring whenever I stop at red light, engine stops and it suppose to start when I release brake pedal but fails to restart when I release brake pedal which is creating a serious safety issue, I have to turn off the engine and restart it, even that may not work and it may take 1-2 minutes to restart. I have seen multiple reports regarding this same issue. Please investigate the issue. Thank you
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0