Honda Pilot Complaints

9,418 consumer complaints on file.

#11677539July 31, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Auto idle system is faulty. I repeatedly experience a failure when this system is not turned off. It causes my engine to shut off when I step on the gas - or (mostly) it causes my car to almost shut off (the dashboard shuts off and flashes back on when I step on gas at a stop sign or other stops, also when I’m driving and accelerate there is a lag of nothing like the car almost turns off followed by a big jerk or jolt when it turns back on again. I’ve asked Honda dealer in town about this and they said it’s just the transmission and could get it replaced but now I see (via a class action suit I read about) that this is a big problem and it’s not just my personal issue with the car. I’m concerned someone will get hurt if these problems are not recalled and fixed by Honda.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677681July 31, 2025
ENGINE
I am writing to formally report a serious and dangerous mechanical failure that occurred while I was driving my 2016 Honda Pilot, which was later diagnosed by a certified Bell Honda dealership as a rod bearing failure. On July 25 2025, I was driving on the freeway at approximately 65 mph when, without warning, the vehicle began to shake violently, and I lost power and control of the car. The engine began making a loud knocking sound, and the vehicle decelerated rapidly, creating a hazardous situation in the middle of high-speed traffic. I narrowly avoided a collision while attempting to safely maneuver the car to the shoulder of the road. After the vehicle was towed to my home and to Bell Honda Dealership when they open, their inspection confirmed that the engine had suffered a rod bearing failure, which ultimately led to catastrophic engine damage. I was informed that the entire engine would need to be replaced at significant cost. This vehicle has been regularly maintained, including a recent [60K/other] mile service. It has never missed scheduled maintenance, and I have always followed Honda’s service recommendations. Despite this, I was told my VIN is not included in any current recall, even though this type of failure is a well-documented issue for 2016 Honda Pilots and is currently under NHTSA investigation. Honda of America has since denied my goodwill repair request, citing the age of the vehicle — despite the clear evidence that this was not due to owner neglect, but due to a manufacturing defect that poses a major safety risk. I am requesting that this incident be reviewed carefully, as it represents not just a financial burden, but a life-threatening mechanical failure. I am pursuing further action, including reporting this to the NHTSA, filing through BBB Auto Line, and seeking legal counsel if necessary. Please contact me if you need additional documentation, including the dealership’s diagnosis, repair estimates, maintenance records.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677649July 31, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
* The brakes failed on the car resulting in an at fault accident. The recalled was issued 3 weeks after the accident. * safety is put at risk as this resulted in a car accident because the car would not stop. It endangered the occupants of the Honda and the vehicle that was hit. *No as the recall was issued a little late, insurance had already handled the claim. * No Honda refuses to go to the car to inspect, the car is not able to be moved to the dealership *No warning messages *
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677635July 31, 2025
AIR BAGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
The car's steering wheel got locked out and air bags came out suddenly while car is still moving on the road and driver blocked and not able to do anything and hit the parked car on the street due to car's system malfunction. Since incident happened in the housing community area with speed 20-25 miles and not majorly hit anyone but reported to and inspected by city police inspected. This was the first time this situation happed and however, had other incidents with the car auto feature malfunction, when stop on the red signal and suddenly the card shutdown with lot of beeps. This mentioned to the service center where normally go for servicing activities like oil change etc.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677513July 31, 2025
SUSPENSION:FRONT, WHEELS
The contact owns a 2024 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the passenger's side front wheel. The contact stated that the sound became louder while driving over uneven pavement. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677420July 31, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
My 2021 Honda Pilot SE FWD would not restart after the auto off/on turned my engine off at a stop light. Of course this happened at a busy intersection causing backup and an unsafe environment to get out and inspect the vehicle. The car had to be jump started by a kind individual.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676883July 29, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
The fuel injection system routinely fails or misfires. Not only does this cause an issue with said system but it also triggers a host of other dashboard alerts. The alerts display all wheel drive problem, emission system problem, power steering problem, hill start problem, vehicle stability assist problem. This is a safety issue because the amount of alerts especially unrelated alerts is obfuscating any actual problems and making it difficult to diagnose the real issue. Investigation shows many other drivers having the same issues with this model only going away when the fuel injection system is replaced. It's also safety issue because if the fuel injection is failing then the car may shut off at a danger to the driver and the public. Given that it is known and chronic it should be a recall
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676897July 29, 2025
POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that he had stopped the vehicle and had depressed the brake pedal. The contact stated that he opened the driver's side door and as he stepped out with his left leg, the vehicle started to move forward, and the engine was still running. The contact stated that the vehicle had a safety feature that automatically placed the vehicle into park (P) when the driver depressed the brake pedal and opened the driver's side door. The contact stated that as he exited the vehicle, it started to roll; he had parked on a slope with the hood of the vehicle aimed downhill. The contact stated that the driver's side rear tire ran over both his legs below his knees. The vehicle rolled downhill into a ravine and was not damaged. The contact stated that he called the police, who arrived and asked if he needed medical attention. The contact stated that no report was issued. The contact declined and later drove himself to a hospital emergency room. The contact stated that he was x-rayed and examined and only had abrasions and bruises. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined it had low battery power and had contacted the manufacturer for further guidance. The contact stated that the vehicle had a 9-speed automatic transmission that used a push button. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 71,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11677062July 29, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
2019 Honda Pilot Touring AWD, the backup camera image just became way more colorful than it used to be. I tried turning off the guidelines but that didn't help, it's a safety risk when backing up and rare cross traffic alert, almost caused collision.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677068July 29, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Transmission hesitates upon acceleration from a stop, intermittently. Yes, available for inspection upon request. When pulling out into traffic it will roll out and then no response...catastrophic results if taking a left turn or pulling on to highway. The transmission will then jerk abruptly when more gas is added while you are trying desperately to get going. No, they deny it every time...at one point they reset the block learn saying it was the way we were driving. Inspected by dealership. CEL comes on with various warning messages and tech confirmed customer concern and scanned for codes. Codes were misfires on 4,5,6...and random. changed injectors etc. under extended warranty... The hesitation from stop has occured many times
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677041July 29, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
7/25/2025 i was driving my wife’s pilot between 55 and 60 mph when the vehicle alerted me to several warnings and the braking system stuck at the top of the pedal not allowing the vehicle to slow in a construction zone. I was able to limp the vehicle home but the vehicle was extremely difficult to slow at red lights. The vehicle was towed from residence after sitting and the tow truck driver said the vehicle was not showing any warning signs. The dealership in paducah test drove the vehicle and did not see anything wrong with it. They subsequently checked and there was a diagnostic for brake booster failure. The vehicle has 41,000 miles on it. In addition it went to the dealership at 9,981 miles for electronic parking brake sticking and the ike dealership said there was nothing wrong. There are other reports of woners on youtube who have had this failure or similar with one member having to ditch the vehicle. I almost wrecked and hit a vehicle that slowed in front of me. The system thew error codes to include failure in electronic steering, transmission, hill descent, electronic braking, and others. I recorded the errors on the dash. This vehicle has also thrown airbag error with only a few thousand miles. The vehicle has side panels that have fallen off and and seals on the panoramic sunroof that have failed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676811July 28, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INSTRUMENT PANEL:SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2011 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 55,653 and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 225,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676635July 28, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
Failure occurred at highway speed. A host is warning light came on and the car lost power. Lights that came on included emissions, traction control, power steering, all wheel drive and towing (I wasn’t towing anything). No lights were on before the incident. The vehicle lost power and could not maintain any speed. I was able to roll into the breakdown lane. The vehicle was brought to a local Honda dealer who preformed the diagnosis and determined the issue to be a failure of the high pressure fuel pump. Seems this has been the source of several recalls including the 2017 pilot but not my vin. It seems like the recall my need to be expanded
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676719July 28, 2025
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Summary and Description of Incident: - Owner was driving the vehicle in traffic when the failure occurred. - While shopping, parked the vehicle, opened drivers door, manually pressed inside door lock on driver's door, closed door. While walking away, the car began to beep. Returned to the car, unlocked the car with the remote key, opened the driver's door, closed the driver's door, and locked with the remote key button. Proceeded back to the shopping center. - Returned to the car 3 hours later, entered the vehicle, put on seat belt and started car. All instrument panel lights come on and stayed on. This looked strange, so the car was shut off, and restarted. Instrument panel appeared normal and departed shopping center to return home. - While traveling with the flow of traffic in the center lane of 3 travel lanes, the vehicles engine died while at road speed (45-50 mph). Applied the brake and kept in the center lane coming to a complete stop (brake and power steering stiff as happens when motor is not running). The center lane traffic behind also slowed to a stop, remaining in the center lane. Once stopped, transmission put into park, pressed stop button to turn off, pressed again to restart vehicle, transmission put into drive and proceeded to drive, cautiously coming up to driving speed. - Travelled 0.3 mile and vehicle engine died a second time. Same scenario as before with stiff steering, stiff brakes, staying in center lane, stopping, putting in park, stop, restart, putting into drive and proceeding to drive. Traffic behind did not stop, they moved either left or right to go around. They did not appear to slow down while passing. - Travelled 0.1 mile and vehicle engine died a third time. Same scenario as both incidents before, with traffic behind not stopping and going left or right. - Proceeded to drive home and made dealer appt. 2 visits. Weeks in shop, no repair completed, stated "nothing more can be done". Same response from manufacturer.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676458July 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Car intermittently won’t start due to insufficient battery charge. Jump starting will start the car. Dealership testing of battery and charging system determined no issues. However, issue reoccurs. Suspect charging doesn’t occur until battery reaches a minimum voltage level which is currently set too low. Safety issue in that car starting is unreliable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676493July 27, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The Vehicle Stability Assit (VSA) system in activating inappropriately causing the vehicle to brake unexpectedly. There is a Honda Service Bulletin (13-026) for this problem for 2005 Honda Pilots. Well, the same problem is happening to my 2006 Pilot.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676342July 26, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Transmission shift from 2nd to 3rd gear is extremely violent and inconsistent. This is not a normal "transmission slip" but rather a miscalculation of how much RPM to input post shift. This causes the car to "jump" or slow drastically while driving through city. Typically felt between 25 and 35 mph. When I took car in for diagnostic, the dealership said "oh, that's just how these cars a made. I hear about this many times with now problems." There are no engine lights on as a result of the shifting, but the reported concern has been present on car since first owner.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676385July 26, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
ACC, LKAS, collision avoidance, and other safety features lights all came on at once.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676312July 25, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The auto idle stop caused my Pilot to not restart as I was taking my foot off the brake turning left on a busy road. I had to be towed as my car would not start. The Honda repair center said there is an Engineering Request ([XXX]) trying to gather information about the issue, but no fix other than having to turn off the feature every time I restart the car. I am now extremely concerned about my safety and others because if I forget to turn off this feature, my car could unexpectedly now stop working and I could immediately be put in an unsafe situation. Honda said they can’t automatically turn off the feature. They have shifted this responsibility to the driver of the car. This is not right and they don’t seem to care when I call 1-800-880-1072. All they said is it your responsibility to turn off the feature each time you get in the car rather than give me options. I asked repeatedly if I were to forget and my car won’t restart after an auto idle stop, what can I do. Could not answer other than I need to be mindful before putting the car in drive. This is so wrong, I could come up with several scenarios now my car could cause me danger and others if it stalled suddenly in a heavy traffic area. What are my option? 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
#11676179July 25, 2025
STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while shifted into reverse, there was an abnormal popping and cracking sound coming from the driver’s side roof. The failure became worse over time. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the struts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that there were improper welds underneath the third-row seats on the cross member, and that the cross member needed to be properly welded. The vehicle was taken to a body shop and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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