10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
32,603 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #10

Aug 182016

Pilot

  • 9,200 miles
Two separate incidents in sacramento, ca where we experienced engine failure with our 2016 Honda pilate elite. The first incident occurred in May 2016 on a busy city street with our three young children in the car. While in motion, the car essentially shut down with the display screen showing a series of warnings indicating numerous system failures. There was no engine power but luckily I was able to coast the vehicle to a nearby parking lot. The dealer indicated there was no problem, just a computer glitch, and the only repair necessary was to reset the computer/software. The second incident occurred last week, only this time while driving on the freeway. We completely lost all engine power but luckily I was in the right lane and I was able to coast to the side and pull over on the shoulder. If I had been in the fast or middle lane with little opportunity to move over, there could have been a serious collision. Similar to the first incident, we were unable to start the car with the warning lights showing various system failures. We had the car towed to the same dealer who initially indicated they would just reboot the software again. So we pressed upon them to do a more thorough diagnosis since this is the second time its happened. They agreed to keep the vehicle and seek to identify the root cause of the problem. At this point no diagnosis has been made. We would have never expected this from a near brand new (purchased in December 2015 and currently has only 9,200 miles) Pilot elite loaded with safety and technology features. Again we experienced two separate incidents where the car immediately shut down while in motion with the most recent occurring on the freeway. And both times our three young children were in the vehicle. This is a huge safety risk and I certainly hope Honda does its due diligence in diagnosing and addressing this issue.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #9

Aug 112016

Pilot

  • 12,800 miles
This is a follow up to complaint 10881962 in which one of my fears has come to fruition. I was driving my car in the normal mode (acc and lkas disabled) on a normal two lane paved road when the car in front of me made a slow right turn. I was not following very closely and came to a complete stop on my own to avoid running into the other car. I stopped about 15 feet away from the other car. The other car then completed the turn to the extent that the other car was no longer in the way of me driving forward in a straight line. When I pushed the gas to then proceed the collision mitigation system started flashing the "brake" message and producing an audible warning. At this point I was possibly going 10 mph again. After verifying that there was definitely not anything in my way, I kept applying the gas. My car then started braking on its own, at which point I pushed the gas harder to presumably over-ride the braking. A moment or two later, my car then made a sudden and hard brake on its own that brought my car to a complete stop, despite the fact that I was pushing hard on the gas. The other car that had turned was well clear of the lane by this point, and was easily 1 ft away from my path of travel when I started accelerating in the first place. My only explanation is that the collision mitigation system was confused by the lack of a shoulder lane marker (only a raise cement curb was present) and somehow thought the car was still in the "road." In either case, the system malfunctioned to the point that my car was suddenly brought to a complete stop, and the car behind me very nearly rear-ended me in a situation where I had already come to a stop, and the obstacle in front of me had cleared / continued to become increasingly more clear of my path. The situation was dangerous and clearly misinterpreted by my car.

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA

problem #8

Jul 232016

Pilot

  • 2,400 miles
Honda Pilot 2016 touring. Vehicle battery drains overnight or in a few hours for no reason. The vehicle would not start and would have to be transported to the dealership or have battery recharged for a long time. After recharge, safety equipment such as sensors, emergency stop, etc. Stop working. Contacted Honda and took vehicle to dealership multiple times. One time they replaced the battery and other times did something else but they are unable to resolve the problem. We believe vehicle is unsafe to drive. This problem seems to be encountered by many Honda Pilot 2016 owners which is reported online. They all complain of taking their vehicle to Honda dealership only to be told the dealership unable to resolve the issue.

- Rancho Cucmaonga, CA, USA

problem #7

Jul 142016

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 100 miles
I had a 2014 Pilot. The navigation worked great. Now I own a 2016 Pilot and most of the navigation system is locked out while driving. I now have to pull over in the city or interstate to make changes--both dangerous. As a result, I am now using my iphone for navigation which defeats the purpose of the car navigation system and is much more dangerous. The Honda dealer indicated your Agency has required these changes. I am happy to discuss at [xxx]. thanks, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Shiloh, IL, USA

problem #6

Sep 012015

Pilot

  • 2,000 miles
My car has a variety of dangerous behaviors in the driver assist functionalities that could either cause or fail to prevent an accident. I have only driven it 2,000 miles but observed these many times. I reported these to the dealer and was told the car was fine. Adaptive cruise control issues: - fails to detect vehicles in odd situations, such as a truck where the rear of the body protrudes out from the rear wheels, as if the radar is only at ground level, or if a vehicle is driving in my lane but one tire is in the other lane, or a wide load which occupies all of the adjacent lane and half of my lane, or a "bobtail" truck. - after an empty stretch, upon coming up to a slower car, rather than slow gradually by easing off the gas, the car will get very close to the car and then rapidly brake, causing drivers behind me to nearly rear-end me. Collision mitigation: - all of these trigger "brake" messages to be displayed, which is just 1 step before the brakes being auto-applied, which could cause me to be rear-ended. - false alarms while merging from lefthand onramps where a pending collision with the jersey barrier is detected - false alarms by the hills adjacent to the road when going around a sharp turn on back roads - false alarms when cresting a hill with a curve after the hill and it thinks an oncoming car will be hit, because it can't see the lane markings past the hill lane keep assist: - partially goes into exit ramps on its own if in the right lane, causing other drivers to think I am leaving the lane and start to merge themselves - is confused by lines of tar and will depart the lane on its own - often "fights" with the lane departure mitigation around corners - tries to prevent me from giving other vehicles some buffer when passing them, if they are wider or drifting toward me. - does not alert when it stops being able to detect the lines

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA

problem #5

Dec 232015

Pilot

  • 6,500 miles
We are experiencing a snap/clunk that can be heard and slightly felt through foot when applying or releasing the accelerator and also application of the brake. This only occurs when the vehicle is in a colder (probably less than 30 degrees Fahrenheit) outside temps. Honda dealer had look at it twice and its been in the shop 3 three times so far with the fourth visit being this morning 2/10/2016. So far they adjusted bolts and fasteners on visit one. On visit three they replaced the center drive shaft. Problem still exists. Because there is no know diagnosis at this time its unclear if this is a safety issue.

- Bismarck, ND, USA

problem #4

Feb 032016

Pilot

  • 600 miles
2016 Honda Pilot surge while trying to stop on a city street and 2 times ended up part way in the intersection. No warning lights on dash. Had Pilot about a month. Only drove about 500 miles. Concerned, so keep longer distances in traffic. Setup an appointment today with local dealer to inspect per his schedule in 4 days.

- Frankfort, KY, USA

problem #3

Jan 212016

Pilot

  • 2,800 miles
While driving straight on a highway, I heard a loud noise from the top of my car. The sunroof glass had spontaneously shattered. When I looked through my rear view mirror I could see some pieces flying. Thankfully, the car behind me was far away enough that they were not hit by these glass pieces and also had my interior slider closed. A serious accident could have occurred if both my slider wasn't closed and/or the car behind me was close to me. I've had the car for less than 3 months, I contacted Honda and advised them of the incident and brought it in to their service department. They claimed to have never heard of anything like this happening before. They have ordered a replacement glass for my sunroof. I'm still waiting for it come in. I also went online and researched sunroofs breaking out of nowhere and did come across many other similar complaints. It seems that it may be happening more frequently with newer vehicles because they are built lighter with thinner metals and thinner glass. The glass used on sunroofs more commonly is tempered glass, not laminated glass. Tempered glass is more prone to shattering when pressure builds up inside the car. When I spoke to Honda corporate and the dealer, neither one could tell me what kind of glass was on the sunroof because they didn't know. I hope this matter can be further looked into. I hope it doesn't happen again. This was a very frightening experience that could have very easily been worse.

- Yonkers, NY, USA

problem #2

Nov 042015

Pilot

  • 3,000 miles
I write to you to convey my safety concerns regarding a new Honda 2016 Pilot. My attempts to resolve my concerns with american Honda motor co., Inc. Were met with tepid reluctance and a cavalier neglectful attitude. 1.at high speeds (55-75 mph) the vehicle oversteers and during emergency avoidance maneuvers becomes unstable. Twice while avoiding dear on interstate highways, I have almost lost control and was seriously concerned about rolling the vehicle over. I own and have driven a 2003 Pilot for over 180,000 miles and never experienced this sort of issue. I believe the suspension is incorrectly designed and that unexpected and unnecessary rollovers are imminent. 2.the 'auto idle off' feature turns the engine completely off at certain times and under certain circumstances. It takes between 900 and 1,300 milliseconds to recover power to the wheels when this happens. Unlike hybrid vehicles (from which this feature was taken), there is no alternative electrical motor to provide torque to the drivetrain while the engine restarts and as a result, there is delay in accelerating. In the vast majority of times, this is of no consequence however in a small fraction this delay increases the risk of collision. About once per week, I experience a delay in entering dense traffic within short interstate merge lanes. This delay of about one second is enough to remove my margin of error and increases the risk of collision during a merging maneuver. While there is a switch to defeat this feature, it resets every time the vehicle is turned off and remembering to override it every time is inconsistent with human memory and performance.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #1

Nov 042015

Pilot

  • 400 miles
I had just pulled out of my garage when the tailgate window on my eight day old, 2016 Honda Pilot forcefully exploded. It blew shards of glass 15 feet behind the vehicle. The force broke the rear window wiper and bent the window wiper arm down. All this occurred while I was travelling about 5 to 10 miles an hour. The car was completely out of the garage, but not far from it. No one was around the car. My husband was in the back yard and heard the explosion. Our Honda dealer said we pressed the wiper into the window causing pressure which broke the window. I was driving alone in the car. If anyone had been behind the vehicle they would have been shredded by flying glass. It didn't drop to the ground it flew 15 feet behind the car. This presents a dangerous situation if people are nearby as on a city street or parking lot. From the internet I see this has happened to many other vehicle makers, not just Honda.

- Fairport, NY, USA