10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
9,408 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #43

Feb 072021

Pilot

  • 35,000 miles
Electrical issues include keyless entry system failure, auto-lock no longer locking the vehicle as you walk away from it, crash mitigation system failure, radio stations no longer coming in clear. Has happened several times and the dealership says that they have adjusted something but then it happens again.

- Nephi, UT, USA

problem #42

Feb 012019

Pilot 6-cyl

  • miles
The keyless start system problem light will not shift off.

- Williamsburg, VA, USA

problem #41

Jan 012021

Pilot

  • miles
Stopping the full electrical system turns on then off. This happened at traffic lights in the city, on a hill with stop sign in san francisco or city, it also happens in drive through basically whenever you stop from a moving motion. The dash information system flashes and flickers, the Pilot then has to be put into park and push start button to turn the motor back on. This has.been dangerous as this issue has burned out a battery and had to tow the Pilot to the dealership and they didn't reimburse and said it was a maintenance battery issue. I have followed my wife in another car and the tail lights and the license plate light flicker. This is intermittent as the dealership will not investigate as they can't duplicate this issue,

- Rocklin, CA, USA

problem #40

Dec 242020

Pilot

  • 5 miles
The car would not go into reverse and when it finally did and we pulled out we received a transmission problem warning

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #39

Dec 222020

Pilot

  • 47,000 miles
Keyless start system problem error appearing on dashboard. Vehicle has 47,000 miles on it. Electrical is going haywire in that lights intermittently turn on, all error lights flash on dash and dash tries to boot through various ignition states (accessory mode, idle, etc). Car alarm will randomly go off, and it takes several minutes to disengage alarm because key fob not working correctly when alarm is engaged. Had to disconnect car battery to make it stop. Key fob batteries were replaced 6 months ago so not that. Dealership said that they needed to order a part and that Honda was aware of this issue and would pay for about 90% of the cost of parts and labor, so the manufacturer is aware that this is an issue. Dealership spent roughly 2 hours running diagnostics on it. Happens randomly (3 times over the course of 4 weeks) when vehicle is parked in garage, and key fobs are sitting out, face up, not being pressed in any manner that might accidentally engage a button.

- Covington, KY, USA

problem #38

Nov 112020

Pilot

  • 43,867 miles
My wife has reported on several occasions that when the idle-stop feature is turned on and the vehicle has come to a stop, the engine cuts as intended but will not restart when pressure is released from the brake. Numerous lights within the instrument panel, with the exception of the check engine light, illuminate, the transmission shifts itself into neutral. The vehicle says to shift into "park", press and hold the brake and restart the vehicle using the start/stop button. I have tried to duplicate this while driving the vehicle. Yesterday, this same occurrence happened to me only I was not able to readily restart the vehicle. This latest occurrence happened in heavy traffic at a busy intersection. My wife reports having had this occur at least six to seven times, once while in traffic on the freeway. I have brought the vehicle to Honda in the past because of the vehicle jjuttering at low speeds and because of this issue. Each time I was told that because no error code was found and the issue could not be duplicated, there was nothing they could do. This issue is a potential disaster waiting to happen.

- Eastvale, CA, USA

problem #37

Nov 102020

Pilot

  • 30,000 miles
While stopped the auto stop engages turns off the engine and if the ac is running at that time, instead of the the engine restarting when the gas pedal is engaged, the car stalls and shuts down. Dealer states cannot correct the issue (permanently turn off auto stop). I see multiple complaints so far related to this design error but no action in terms of recalls.

- San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA

problem #36

Oct 242020

Pilot

  • 32,000 miles
I have 30,000+ miles on my 2017 Pilot elite. About a year ago, I started experiencing issues with the auto idel stop feature. I first noticed that the auto idle-stop was hesitating when the engine would start up upon lifting my foot off of the gas. Later, in conjunction with the engine hesitation, I noticed that the radio would also "cut out" and the whole car would turn off and back before being able to drive. After that, the issue progressed to the vehicle completely stalling out and I would have to push park, put my foot on the brake and then push start in order to get the vehicle to move. These stall outs are happening just as I pull out into traffic, often leaving me and my family in harm's way. This is not safe. Upon taking the vehicle to the dealer I get the standard line of "we can't reproduce the issue" and I am sent on my way only to later continually experience the issue. Not happy with Honda. The NHTSA needs to make them address this issue.

- Oregon City, OR, USA

problem #35

Jan 012020

Pilot

  • 20,000 miles
The 2017 Pilot stalls while in operation due to a defect in the auto-off while idle feature. When you depress the brake pedal, the engine will shut off completely and will often not restart as intended when you release the brake. The engine will also shut off if you press the auto-engine-off while idle button to deactivate the idle-off feature if pressed while completely stopped. For all of these situations it is difficult to restart the vehicle and it remains stalled on the road for more than a minute. It's terrifying. This began before 25K miles on the car - which cost around $42,000. This is happening multiple times a week. It's unacceptable for a vehicle this young to be putting families in danger.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #34

Mar 012020

Pilot

  • 50,000 miles
At apprx 50K miles (March 2020), display panel intermittently indicated "keyless start system problem" and now (Sept 2020) that error code is constant. For a few days recently the error code disappeared, but it came back... the code shows when you start the car. The car does start every time but I am worrying that one day it may not. I googled the problem and did some of the remedies (change the fob battery, press the brake for 30 secs while the car is on) but the error code remains. Seems a lot of others are having this issue. I called the local Honda dealership and spoke with a service rep who said he comes across the problem a few times every week and does replace the keyless starter button.

- Fullerton, CA, USA

problem #33

Sep 222020

Pilot

  • 38,500 miles
Car was fine all day. Parked with the engine shut off for two hours whole I was waiting for my kids. When I picked them up and started the car, it has a warning. My 2017 Honda Pilot only has a little more than 38,000 mi and now it's saying "keyless start system problem". I have read a lot of articles with the 2016 and 2017 Honda Pilot having the same problem. The problem persists even after I changed my battery for my key fob, thinking it could have been the problem. I tried both key fobs, problem is still there.

- Norwalk, CT, USA

problem #32

Sep 122020

Pilot

  • 57,000 miles
The engine with shuts off normally when I come to a stop when I have the system engaged. The problems begin when I take my foot off the break expecting the engine to start up again. What happens consistently (though not all the time) is that when I take my foot off the brake, the engine shuts off, shifts itself into nuetral, and I have trouble getting the engine to start up again. This occurred two separate times. I brought the car to the dealership and they can't find anything wrong with it.

- Higganum, CT, USA

problem #31

Jun 172020

Pilot

  • 31,750 miles
When my 2017 Honda Pilot touring enters idle stop mode, it has begun to stall when you release the brake to re-engage the engine. This happened first in a parking lot on 6/17/20 when leaving parking area to enter main road. Vehicle shifts into neutral. Must put it into park. Then hit start button. Then put vehicle back into drive. Took it to dealership (under warranty) on 6/23/20. Could not duplicate problem, but identified codes: P170B-dog clutch a abnormal operation, U0230-gauge lost comm w/ptg, U1281-gauge lost comm w/micu, U0199-micu lost comm w/master switch, U0180-climate control lost comm w/master switch. Technician noted in report that they inspected the freeze data, trans had no input speed, so code must have set during an idle stop. The technicians could not replicate the problem, so they reset the code and asked me to bring the vehicle back in if it happened again. While driving on the freeway on a bridge crossing the columbia river on 6/23/20, this happened again. I was in stop-and-go traffic in the center lane of the bridge. After one of many short idle stops (engine off for about 1 second) I took my foot off the brake and the engine stalled. Same issue. Shifts to neutral. Must put in park. Hit start button (twice). Engine starts. Shift back into drive. Took 30-60 seconds while traffic tries to maneuver around me. Lucky I was in the middle of the queue (not back) as taking my foot off the brakes would imply to the driver behind me that I will be moving again. Definitely a safety hazard that could ultimately lead to injury/death. I returned the vehicle to the dealership again. They did not find any codes this time. Tried to return my vehicle to me without doing anything. I argued per my previous visit that they had reset the codes and asked me to return if this recurred. Awaiting resolution.

- Olympia, WA, USA

problem #30

Jul 182020

Pilot

  • 35,000 miles
While traveling South on I-95 from baltimore, md to Washington D.C., near kenilworth avenue, the engine idle shutoff on my 2017 Honda Pilot touring engaged when I was forced to stop due to a traffic slowdown. When I took my foot off the brake, instead of restarting as it should have, all of the warning lights came on and the engine stalled. I shifted into "park", engaged my emergency flashers, and attempted to restart the engine several times without success. While stopped, I was nearly rear-ended several times because traffic started moving as soon as I took my foot off the brake. I was in a center lane and unable to exit the vehicle or move it from traffic. I was finally able to get restarted after a few minutes and several more tries. I had previously had the vehicle in for issues with the engine idle shutoff and the dealer had replaced the battery, which I thought had fixed the problem. When I took it in this time it happened they say the battery is good and "cannot duplicate the problem". there is a broad base of internet postings for this problem on 2016 - 2018 Pilot elite and touring vehicles, with the 9 speed transmission. There is no way to permanently turn this feature off and I believe it represents a serious safety hazard, especially for highway travel.

- Springfield, VA, USA

problem #29

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 #28

Jan 112017

Pilot

  • 1,000 miles
Smartphone linking functions defective and disconnects while operating vehicle, causing a driver distraction with loss of navigational functions and loss of hands-free phone operation. Has been in to dealer for this condition multiple occasions. This condition most often occurs while vehicle is in motion. The audio system loses ability to adjust volume, causing a danger to the driver who is unable to turn down the audio volume. This is a safety concern with the vehicle that is unresolved.

- Collierville, TN, USA

problem #27

May 202020

Pilot

  • 55,000 miles
Warning light "keyless start system problem." The system error warning light comes on and off. No other issues noted. I've been reading many blogs and reviews on this issue. My concern is that my car will stop while idle. I want to make sure the proper Agency is alerted to this issue in support of a recall.

- West Covina, CA, USA

problem #26

Aug 162020

Pilot

  • 70,000 miles
The auto idle doesn't always re engage when at a stop light. Very scary. Worried about being hit from behind.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

problem #25

Jul 022020

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 92,000 miles
Keyless start system problem

- Parker, CO, USA

problem #24

May 252020

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 36,500 miles
I was stopped at a stop light and my auto idle kicked in. When I took my foot off of the brake the engine died and wouldn't start back up. I was stuck in the street, blocking traffic. I tried to restart the vehicle multiple times with no success. After the tow truck arrived, the engine was jumped and I drove it to the dealership. Battery was checked and it was fine. They have been unable to repeat the problem.

- Keizer, OR, USA

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