Honda Pilot Complaints

9,418 consumer complaints on file.

#11475453July 23, 2022
ENGINE
Auto stop start failed to restart the engine while in heavy traffic on an interstate. We had to put the car in park, turn on the hazards, turn the car off completely and restart it twice before engine would crank up completely. No warning lamps lit up prior to the car stalling out. We just had our emissions inspection and there were no error codes reported on the ODB scan. We took this to Honda in 2021 and they replaced the car battery but gave us no indication that the start stop feature was malfunctioning. Happy to have Honda or anyone else inspect the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475499July 23, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The engine start stop function failed to restart the car at an intersection. I tried to start the car few times but it did not start. I placed it into Neutral and tried restarting but it failed. I was not able to put it in Drive, there was a notification that the car needs to be started before going into D. Finally was able to turn off the car. It restarted and was back in drivable condition. It was a panic situation. We hope Honda can address this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475240July 22, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The idle stop on the car is defective, if not turned off which had to be turned off everytime we start the car, The car will randomly idle stop at intersections and won't come back on, will have to forcefully turn off the car and turn it back on. Couple this happened on dangerous intersection and traffic lights. Honda has not resolution, they just say turn off idle stop everytime.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475284July 22, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The auto idle stop function caused the vehicle to stop running, needing a full shutdown and restart. This happened on busy roadways, and it has happened two times with this vehicle, one time each in different years. I think the first time was in 2021 and the second was definitely in June 2022. We have had this vehicle into a dealership multiple times attempting to resolve the issue. Each time the battery has been replaced due to low voltage, and they were able to reproduce the issue at least once. The most recent time I was informed that Honda released a service bulletin recommending a change to engine compression that may be straining the battery when restarting the engine, but I am currently waiting on Honda to decide if they will cover the cost of this service before agreeing to it. We are currently operating the vehicle with the auto idle stop disabled. Other symptoms included the electrical system blinking off and on when restarting the engine after a stop. This was reproduceable after 3-4 consecutive stops in a short period of time, such as urban driving with traffic lights. This first appeared 3-6 months after a new battery is installed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475337July 22, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Auto Engine Idle Stop has failed to restart the vehicle in multiple situations, including at traffic lights and in stop and go traffic. Inspection is available upon request. When a trafic light turns green and I have tried to proceed the vehicle stalls and will not restart quickly, the cars behind me are surprised and not happy when I have to go through a procedure to get the car to restart. I have almost been hit by cars behind me several times as they expected me to go when the light turns green. Sometimes my vehicle will not restart for a minute or more. This could be a major issue if you were in traffic and ended up stuck in a place where you should not stop or stall. One time I had to call AAA to get my vehicle to start. They had to disconnect my battery and reattach so the system would reset itself. Only then would the vehicle start. The dealer said they have heard from other owners of Honda Pilots that they want this auto engine idle stop permanently turned off. But they told me they can’t turn it off. This should auto engine idle stop should be something you opt into not have to opt out every time you start your vehicle. There weren’t any lights or warnings that this system would fail ahead of time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475413July 22, 2022
ENGINE
I was at a stop light on a very busy roadway and when I let off the brake to start going, my engine wouldn’t start and completely shut down. I was using the engine idle option. I couldn’t do anything- my car just stalled. Some lights came on the dashboard. I tried to step on the brake to either change gears or shut the car off but it was like I pushing against a brick! The brake wouldn’t move. Eventually I was able to shut the car off completely. After a few minutes, I was able to turn the car on but it didn’t fully turn the engine on. After a few more minutes, I was able to turn the car like normal. I took my car to the Honda dealership near me but they couldn’t find any problems and said they hadn’t heard of this problem. I recommended that they Google it because I had seen a lot of complaints. I’m now nervous to drive my car!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475073July 21, 2022
POWER TRAIN
The transmission on this vehicle will will shudder when at high RPMs and low speed such as when leaving a stop sign or traffic light. This shudder delays acceleration and can cause a safety issue when pulling out into traffic and leaves you not able to get out of on-coming traffic's way quick enough.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475105July 21, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
After the car was stoped at a red light with the auto-idle feature on, the car stalled out when I pressed the gas petal to drive. The radio and A/C shut off and a PARK warning displayed. It took several attempts to turn the car back on. After the car started it took several minutes for the radio to start working again. None of the touch buttons for radio, phone or navigation would respond. This happened when I was at a light after getting off the highway. It almost caused a car accident with the drivers around me who were coming off the highway. Since this happened, every time I turn on the car, the radio stations can not be found. I have to turn the radio off/on once or twice for the car to find the stations. Frequently, when I go from stop to drive at lights or stop signs, the radio and AC will turn off for a second. This seems to only happen when the auto idle feature is on. The car transmission is also having lurching when going from 1st to 2nd gear.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475152July 21, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The auto idle start stop does not restart automatically while in traffic or stopped. Issue has occurred several times, I must turn off vehicle completely to restart vehicle. Huge safety factor when traffic is following again and I am unable to restart vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11475178July 21, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
A roof moulding flew off my vehicle on the expressway. Apparently there is a Honda Service Bulletin that came out to the dealership that indicates these mouldings need to be secured better. However, they listed only some of the VINs and mine wasn't one of them, but the moulding ended up flying off anyway. It sounds like is a problem for other VINs that Honda didn't indicate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474837July 20, 2022
ENGINE
While waiting for green light,the gear transfer from D to P automatically and stuck there, the only thing I can do is turn off the engine and restart it, that happened four times in recent three months , the car became unreliable, I don’t know when it will happen again.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474874July 20, 2022
SEATS
Per dealer service center the front passenger defect seat frame need to be replaced. This is a manufacturer defect although this vehicle was not on the recall list of Honda Service Bulletin 18-042, it should have been. This vehicle has not been any accident to cause a seat frame problem. Could cause harm if in accident. The dealer service and Honda American is offering to pay half on the $1,853.60. This a manufacturer defect and I should not have to pay.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474919July 20, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
While driving the vehicle home after purchase on 6/11/2022 the vehicle experienced automatic, minor brake application. However, when we applied the brakes it was as if they fully locked up. By the time we got to the side of the road all of the brakes were smoking. It has been returned to the dealership 3 times for the same issue and they currently have the vehicle. They have experienced the same issue when they were trying to fix the issue but they cannot seem to figure it out. While I was investigating, I noticed that the 2005 Honda Pilot had the same issue, and the recall was started for the 2007 Honda Pilot also but was never issued. It makes it very unsafe to drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474937July 20, 2022
ENGINE
At lights when the vehicle stops for a short period, the engine goes off and is supposed to restart. Many times the engine is kicking off, this is not normal, it has almost caused us to get rear-ended a couple of times because the car goes off completely. You have to put the car in park and turn it off and on again to restart. As you can imagine this also frustrates drivers behind us. Please look into this, it is a HUGE safety issue. I don't see it as a recall as of yet, but read people have been reporting the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474902July 20, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When driving on highways and interstate the vehicle flashes BRAKE when the is no reason to brake. This happens multiple times per day, in our commute. The 2nd thing (and most dangerous) is the auto braking. Several times on the interstate the car has done a HARD brake while going interstate 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. We have taken it to the dealership and were told it is functioning normal. It’s not. I have contacted Honda and I have a case number with them, but they have failed to contact me when they said they would (2 weeks late) We see this as an absolute danger to our family. We need an advocate. The issue is ongoing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474808July 19, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I am writing to report that I believe there is a problem with the start/stop function of my 2019 Honda Pilot. My vehicle has failed to restart from a complete stop (three different times) when the automatic idle-stop feature is engaged. I have taken the car to a Honda dealership and they are unable to replicate the problem/can not find the problem. I have read that this is already an open investigation-- I just wanted to provide my information to add to the report.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474666July 19, 2022
ENGINE
The car stalled on highway while I was driving it . The check engine light went on randomly and it just stopped . Had it towed to our local gas / service station and they replaced #2 cylinder spark plug . They told us it should be seen by a mechanic bc they thought engine was bad. We took it to mechanic , ( took over 10 days to get it in ) and they said the #2 spark plug that had just been replaced was saturated in oil bc the oil was getting past piston rings . This car has only 86k miles on it .
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11474697July 19, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Vehicle does not start back up after auto shut off activates. It is also stopping suddenly on the road
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
#11474505July 18, 2022
ENGINE, STEERING
While driving on the highway on cruise mode, the car was driving fine. Then suddenly, cruise mode turns off, and the following four lights appeared on the dash: emissions system problem, vehicle stability assist problem, hill stability assist problem, and steering problem. When the car attempted to accelerate, it would not go above 50 mph on a 70mph highway. When it did go above 50mph, the car would bounce as if it was on a bumpy road even though the road was smooth. Additionally, when the problem would appear again, the car would suddenly slow down, increasing risk for an accident with the other cars driving so fast. We have bought many cars in the past but this was the first time we have ever experienced a problem like this with a Honda vehicle. I came on here to send this message to make other drivers aware that this is a common problem that 2016 Honda pilots have been experiencing, according to some mechanics.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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