10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
16,389 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #39

Jan 292022

Pilot

  • miles
There is a strong smell of gasoline inside the cabin. It is very intermittent, but seems to happen most after it is warm and is restarted after sitting less than 1 hour like going in somewhere to shop or eat. Other times it has happened in the summer when idling the car with the air conditioning running for 10-15 minutes. It is not an exhaust smell, but unburnt gasoline. The dealer smelled it when I dropped it off, but couldn't find anything wrong. It has been happening for over a year. After several months we got a check engine light, it was an issue with the evaporative canister. An $1,100 repair was made outside of warranty. We hoped this would at least fix the issue. It did not fix it. The smell happens regardless of gas tank level and is not from over filling the tank.

- Walker, IA, USA

problem #38

Oct 092021

Pilot

  • miles
In my 2017 Honda Pilot Elite the auto idle stop feature has more frequently failed to restart the vehicle when stopped at a traffic light. This leaves the car stalled in traffic instead of restarting after I take my foot off the brake (which is when the system should be restarting the engine). This failure occurs whether I press the gas pedal or just take my foot off the brake. It began happening around the 30,000 mile mark and the vehicle now has 56,000. I notice it most often occurs when the auto idle stop function engages at the first traffic light after a period (approx. more than 20 minutes) of freeway driving. The only way I have found to recover from the stall is to place depress the brake, place the car in Park, press the engine Start/Stop button twice (once to shut off the car then again to restart it), and then place the vehicle in drive and release the brake. Sometimes this process needs to be repeated. My vehicle is almost always in ECON mode. The issue happens whether or not the radio is on. My map is almost always displayed when I am driving.

- Huntington Woods, MI, USA

problem #37

May 132021

Pilot

  • miles
I had started noticing the radio clicking on/off at stoplights. After a while, it progressively got worse and noticed the car was also slightly jerking too as the car re-started. I called the dealer and they said they were not familiar with the issue. Days before my warranty expired in 2020, I took the vehicle in and they said they were not able to re-create the issue and did not see any error codes. I received the mil warranty extension letter recently and wondered if that was the same issue, but it does not appear so. However upon researching that, I found many similar complaints online about the auto idle stop issues. I am grateful my car has never stalled (yet) but that is probably because I have very low mileage. However I am scared to drive the car now and always disable the auto idle stop, hope that I don't forget which I do sometimes and am fearful should my teenagers ever have to drive my car! thankfully their Honda civics don't have this feature. This is a serious safety hazard! there are too many similar complaints so please force Honda to recall and fix the problem. I bought this new car since it was supposed to be more advanced and safer than the 15 year old car it replaced. It does have some great advances but should not be compromised or come at the cost of safety.

- Overland Park, KS, USA

problem #36

Apr 222021

Pilot

  • miles
The auto shut off when the brake is fully deployed fails when pressure is released and the car will not re-energize. Leaving a car dead at a light that just turned green. Requires me to put car in park, then restart then put into drive. This is a safety hazard. No error lights. Auto shop can't fix. Must remember to manually shut off the auto shut off each time the car is turned on. Not safe. I have almost been rear ended several times as the car behind expected to go at the just then green light. At one light no cars were stopped behind me but a car approached a light that had been green didn't realize I was stopped with a failed engine. Scary. It happens everyday.

- Lake Oswego, OR, USA

problem #35

Apr 052021

Pilot

  • 29,000 miles
While stopped at an intersection, the "auto-idle-stop" feature malfunctioned and: 1.) didn't properly "restart" the engine; 2.) caused the electrical systems in the car to turn off and essentially stalled the car; and 3.) made it difficult to restart the car using the ignition button as it wasn't clear what gear the car was in. Once the car was in park, it was able to be restarted using the ignition button. This occurance has happened several times. For safety (when we remember to), we now make a point to turn off the auto-idle-stop feature when using the car as the scenarios in which the issue appears could be at an intersection or situation with cross traffic.

- Longmeadow, MA, USA

problem #34

Apr 102021

Pilot

  • 59,121 miles
While at a red light, the auto idle engine feature completely stalls the vehicle. This has happened more times that I can count at this point. Basically, if I leave the feature on, at some point in route, it will stall. Of course, I have brought it in several times to the dealership to be told that nothing is wrong with the vehicle and the computer doesn't register/read any kind of code or error. When the brake pedal is completely depressed, the vehicle shuts down, radio, lights everything. When the brake is released, it seems to try to fire up, but stalls instead. Lights are projected onto the dash saying "to start engine: Brake + pedal". this does not immediately start the car. It takes several tries and lately I have found that I have to keep my foot off of the pedal and hit the start button to turn "off" the vehicle (even though it is already stalled). Then, I can start it. I am always in a busy intersection at a red light when this occurs which is frightening. It has taken up to two minutes to get it restarted and lights have turned green, horns have been blasted and I have been swerved around by oncoming (behind) vehicles.

- Prairieville, LA, USA

problem #33

Mar 272021

Pilot

  • 36,000 miles
Auto idle stopped engine waiting in traffic and then it would not restart. I took my foot off the brake, pressed the gas and nothing would work. Eventually, I was able to get the vehicle in park, turn it "off" and then turn it back on.

- Charleston, SC, USA

problem #32

Mar 232021

Pilot

  • 58,000 miles
I got a warning on my dashboard says "emissions system problem" my vehicle has only 58K miles on it. I checked the recall but is not there. I chat one of the agent "renee' told me to file complaint if I want. Is my vehicle still under warranty for this issue? thank you.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

problem #31

Jan 052021

Pilot

  • 50,000 miles
2017 Honda Pilot, emissions light came on around 50,000. Service light came on at highway speeds. Codes were PO301, po219A. Honda service confirmed 2016 Pilot and some 2017 Pilot received an extended warranty, covering repair of the fuel injectors. This specific VIN was out of range. Mechanic had to replace the fuel injectors to remedy the issue. Honda America advised me to do the repair and see if a warranty is extended.

- Oostburg, WI, USA

problem #30

Dec 062020

Pilot

  • 38,000 miles
Occasionally when stopped at a red light the car's auto engine cut off during idle will not restart as it should when I try to go. I must then put the car in park, wait 2-3 minutes, then it will finally restart. I took it to my dealership who told me they were aware of the problem and did not know how it could be fixed. Stalling at a red light while cars are beeping is dangerous and can cause an accident or road rage. Please help.

- Lake Wales, FL, USA

problem #29

Dec 032020

Pilot

  • 43,000 miles
Check engine light came on at 43,000 miles. Then every other light on dash came on while driving. Error code for fuel injectors and Honda dealer charging 2,000 to replace injectors. Wife will not drive the Pilot now due to injector issues. Vehicle is only 3 years old! known issue with my model year Pilot and Honda is silent on recall. Dealer can't even fix the issue due to not having the parts (back ordered)!

- Emporium, PA, USA

problem #28

Sep 092020

Pilot

  • 23,355 miles
Emissions light went on and I smelled gas. Brought the car in for service at 23,391 miles. Fuel injectors needed to be replaced. This is a known problem with the Pilot, according to the service manager, who stated "luckily it was still under warranty."

- Flanders, NJ, USA

problem #27

Oct 062020

Pilot

  • 25,400 miles
Check engine light for emissions system problem. Code P219A came up. They ended up having to replaced the fuel injectors at 25,400 miles. Our warranty is up in March. I called Honda to see if they would still fix the issue after the warranty is up. They advised that any issues would be an out of pocket expense. They are aware it is a known issue with 2016-2018 Pilot.

- Minot Afb, ND, USA

problem #26

Sep 112020

Pilot

  • 80,000 miles
For roughly the last 4 months, my car stalls at a stop (stop sign, traffic light, etc) by shifting itself into neutral. The car has a push button gear shift and the warning light says to shift the car into park. Sometimes, I can shift the car into park and sometimes I can't shift the buttons at all. If I am able to shift into park, a message on my dashboard lights up and stays 'to shift from P, engine must be running'. either way, I have to turn my car off and back on again in order to be able to drive. The first time this problem happened, I called the dealer and they thought that possibly something got lodged in the gear shift. However, as time goes on, these events become more and more common. Our local Honda dealer had my car for roughly a week in June and tried to recreate the problem. They were unable to duplicate it and did a factory reset. That worked for about a month. Now, the stalling happens at least once a week and yesterday it happened three times in the matter of an hour. When I took the car to the dealer in June, it had also stalled three times in an hour. I feel at high risk driving the vehicle because cars get impatient behind me and start moving when the light turns green even though I can't move. Or, if cars are approaching a green light, they probably won't realize that I am unable to move making this a huge safety concern. This problem happens everywhere but on the highway.

- Caseyville, IL, USA

problem #25

Sep 082020

Pilot

  • 38,000 miles
Engine malfunction light comes on and indicates emission control problem.. low and erratic power. Checked code and it was P0430 related to fuel injectors and fuel pump.

- Mechanicsburg, PA, USA

problem #24

Jul 012020

Pilot

  • 35 miles
Different warning problems shows up on dashboard comes on and off sometimes. Took it to a Honda dealership and they say its fuel injectors.

- Wylie, TX, USA

problem #23

Jul 202020

Pilot

  • 32,690 miles
Emissions warning light came on while driving down the road about 30mph. Code reader shows code P0430.

- Forest Hill, MD, USA

problem #22

Jul 162020

Pilot 6-cyl

  • miles
My 'emissions system issue' light comes on all the time. The light comes on mostly while the car is in motion I first had this check light come in within months of owning the car. Honda has fixed this every year since. I put about 30,000 miles/yr on the car and do not have the time to continually bring the car in for service. During the last service for this issue (my car was out of warranty) and I was told it would cost almost $2000 to fix. They agreed to cover 75% of the cost as this has been a problem every year. Within days of leaving the dealership, the light came on again. The 2017 Pilot is a lemon. This is some fuel injector issue. It could cause a serious accident as the ultimate result of this issue is engine misfire... I have had moments of misfire when entering an intersection and could have caused a serious accident. There appears to be no permanent fix for this issue. This Honda just fixes it and it's not a big deal to the owner until you are out of warranty. This is incredibly frustrating. I love the car, but this is disappointing as I have the Pilot elite which is one of the most expensive cars they offer. The local dealership has been good about it. However, I fear the next time I return to complain about this issue, they may not be as accommodating.

- Wayne, PA, USA

problem #21

Nov 142019

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 51,005 miles
At 50K miles several warning lights came on (vsa, check engine, trac control, brakes). Dealership scan indicated several misfire dtcs and P219A. Informed that this was a known issue and required replacement of entire fuel rail system costing me over $1,700.

- Lilburn, GA, USA

problem #20

Feb 142020

Pilot

  • 33,000 miles
Engine hesitation at low speeds, more dramatic going uphill.

- Patillas, PR, USA

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