My Pilot is suffering the auto stop/start fault that many others have reported online. The vehicle will sometimes fail to restart from the stopped state, forcing us to manually turn off, and restart the engine. As of this morning, the vehicle permanently reports an "Auto Engine Idle Stop System Problem" error.

- Campbell, CA, USA

I am reporting 2 safety issues in this report, both involving the AUTO STOP/START function in my car. SAFETY ISSUE #1: MALFUNCTIONING AUTO STOP/START (ASS) FUNCTION: At least 4 times during the past 2 months, I have had a serious safety issue with my 2017 Honda Pilot wherein it stalls and is completely inoperable for a short time, while I-??m stopped at an intersection. This has caused me undue stress and jeopardized the safety of myself and my passengers, and disrupted traffic. According to my best recollection, the situation occurs when the ASS function stalls the engine (when stopped), and I manually press the -??Disable ASS-?? button to restart the engine. But instead of the engine turning back, all systems completely -??black out-?? as I frantically try to re-start the engine, to no effect. After several scary seconds, somehow it re-starts. SAFETY ISSUE #2: CORRECTLY FUNCTIONING ASS FUNCTION: Even when functioning correctly, the ASS function has caused a safety issue for me at least twice. When the ASS function was automatically engaged, I was unable to immediately accelerate to avoid a potential collision. Although no collision resulted, these few scares -??trained me-?? to manually disengage the ASS function whenever I remember to do so. Based on my experiences, It would be safest to have no ASS function at all.

- Rochester, NY, USA

The auto start stop function has failed multiple times on this vehicle in different situations with multiple different drivers. When my mother in law was driving my vehicle with my kids in the car the vehicle would not restart at a stop light in the middle of town with moderately heavy traffic. It took several tries to get the vehicle started again. This has happened to me several times at stop signs and traffic lights since I don't primary drive the vehicle I forget to turn off the auto start stop function. It has failed several times on my wife as well in similar situations. I have not brought this to the dealerships attention due to no fix available and not want to pay to have them tell me the same thing I already know.

- Casstown, OH, USA

Auto Start does not work. Car frequently stalls when in traffic or at red light and fails to auto start when removing foot from brake.

- Germantown, TN, USA

The issue with our 2016 Honda Pilot pertains to the Auto Start/Stop feature. The pilot began stalling out after being at stop signs/traffic signals and the vehicle would attempt to re-start and then stall. When stalled it was very difficult to get the car restarted. On several occasions, the vehicle has stalled in the middle of intersections which has been highly dangerous as the vehicle was stalled for several minutes. We have first logged a complaint with the Honda dealership on 06/10/2020. The dealer claimed it could not replicate the issue. We filed another complaint on 04/23/2021 as the problem persisted. The dealer, again, claimed they could not replicate the issue and then stated we needed a new car battery. The dealer is not being honest as we took our vehicle to a local mechanic (Henn Automative in Waxhaw, NC) for general servicing and he called us to inform us of a dangerous problem with the Auto Start/Stop. This independent service center performed their review on 12/20/2022. He alerted us that a formal action number had been opened by ODI under -??PE22005-??. Currently our fix is to disable the Auto Start/Stop feature every time the vehicle is operated. In rare occasions when we forget to do so, the vehicle stalls consistently. There have been no alarms, warnings or the like. I believe the dealer & Honda are well aware of this problem but have not garnered the necessary resources to address the issue and pretend that their customers are imagining these occurrences.

- Waxhaw, NC, USA

This vehicle is equipped with an "idle off" feature meaning the engine stops for a period of time when the car is at zero speed (for example a stop light) then restarts when the brake is released or the steering wheel is turned. In 3 separate instances, my vehicle has stalled during the re-start process. The vehicle will restart for a second or two moving about 5 feet then stalls bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop. All instances have occurred in or approaching an intersection. Once stalled, the vehicle will not re-start immediately, it takes approximately 15 to 30 seconds to get the vehicle restarted. All 3 incidents have posed a safety concern for myself and other people traveling behind me.

- Johnston, RI, USA

Approximately 6 times in the last several weeks the engine of my Pilot has auto shut off at a stop light but then it will not restart when I try to go. I have to shut down the whole car and it takes several tries to get it restarted. The most recent time it would not restart for several minutes. I am then stuck in traffic unable to move. I have to remember to disable the auto shut-off/restart or this occurs.

- Cedar Rapids, IA, USA

Auto-stop feature failed to restart vehicle after auto-stop was engaged at a stop light. When letting off the brake, the auto-stop disengaged, but the vehicle engine failed to start, posing a safety risk as the vehicle did not restart in heavy traffic. This has been reproduced numerous times by the owner, but not by a dealer or independent service center. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, but the owner is an ASE certified mechanic. Warning lamps illuminate after vehicle fails to start, but the only way to restart the vehicle is to shift into park, completely shut off the vehicle electrical and attempt to restart. The system is receiving appropriate recharge from alternator, and battery is in acceptable condition.

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

On Sun NOV 13th, 2022 I was on I-75 going north and had to slow down and then stop at a 'stop and go' traffic in the beginning of or just before the construction zone. With my foot on the brake, complete stop on the highway, the Honda Pilot suddenly went into Neutral and I was unable to put it in drive mode. I panicked, as there was a lot of traffic behind and I put the blinkers on, put the vehicle in park, tried to restart and didn't work. After a couple of tries, fortunately the engine restarted. In the middle of the one lane construction, I had to stop once again as the traffic was stopped. Once again the Pilot did the same thing. It stalled, and I had to restart the engine. It was very scary and a big safety problem. I have placed a call into Honda service but no response as yet. It is scary now to stop at red lights and stop signs! It happened 2 times in the same construction zone within 5 minutes.

- Freeland, MI, USA

The engine would not restart at the red light. Start/Stop system was active, came to a red light and the vehicle turned off as normal with my foot on the brake, when the brakes were released the vehicle did not restart and I heard a click sound. I had to manually(push the start button) to completely turn off the car and then press it again to start the car. I had my entire family in the car including my child, with vehicles behind me on a main multi lane road. I almost got rear ended due to this malfunction.

- Melville, NY, USA

Problem with the auto engine idle stop system. With the Honda stopped at a traffic light, the engine turned off completely and pressing the accelerator pedal did not restart the car. And continually pressing the Start button didn-??t start the engine, either.?It has happened three times so far. My family and I were unexpectedly immobile in the middle of traffic, with vehicles driving around our stranded automobile. We were nervous that an accident would occur. The brake pedal locked and I had to press the brake pedal firmly numerous times before the Start button would allow the car to start.

- Madison, CT, USA

Auto engine start/stop has failed multiple times causing dangerous conditions in traffic. Engine will not restart for minutes after cutting off due to start/stop component.

- North Carolina , NC, USA

When driving the vehicle with the auto start/stop engaged upon stopping the engine will turn off at an intersection however it will not turn back on. It takes several tries for the vehicle to start back up.

- Fuquay Varina, NC, USA

The engine idle stop is extremely dangerous and is going to cause someone to be seriously injured or killed. Ever since I have owned the vehicle, I have had a problem with the engine auto idle stop malfunctioning. The dealership can never find an issue. It has become so bad that if I forget to disable the idle stop, as soon as I step on the brake my entire car resets/shuts down and will not turn back on for several seconds. I was left in the middle of an intersection with other drivers blaring their horns at me, scaring my children, because my car shut off in the intersection as I was attempting a left turn. As soon as I take my foot off of the brake, the car resets and the dash tells me to shift to P. Which I cannot do. Then it shuts down again and I am at the mercy of the vehicle and other drivers to not collide with me until my vehicle decides to turn back on. It is extremely dangerous.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

Multiple times while driving with the auto start/stop engaged, the vehicle will turn off when coming to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign and then need to be restarted with the actual start/stop button. Call to purchasing dealer was met with unrealistic demand that the vehicle be left there for an undeterminable amount of time so that it could be inspected. No other lamps have come on or warned against this. Only way to make it not happen is to turn off the auto start/stop after the vehicle is started.

- River Ridge, LA, USA

When at a red light the engine turns off when you press the brake. When you life you foot it should restart automatically. Multiple times my car has no restarted. It sends me a message to put the car in park, press the brake again, and restart with the push button. But it did not work immediately. I had to do the process 5-15 times before it restarted. This is a safety issue because I-??m in a stalled car at a red light with traffic trying to get around my car or worse cars coming at a regular speed who don-??t see I-??m stopped. After researching I have seen that this issue has happened to other owners as well. I called my local dealership who said to bring it in so they could inspect it - which I have not done so yet. Just today there was a brief flash of an alert right after it restarts mentioning the collision assist or one of the other safety issues but it disappeared before I was able to fully read it.

- Altadena, CA, USA

While the vehicle was stop, the auto shut off went off, and upon moving the foot from brake and depress accelerator, the Honda Pilot 2017 turned off and restarted requiring driver to depress Engine Start again.

- Grimesland, NC, USA

Our 2017 Honda Pilot is having issues with the idle stop feature at a stop light or other standard stops. The engine completely shuts off and all electronics also shut off. It then needs to be placed in park and restarted. However, it sometimes takes multiple attempts to restart the engine. We are now having trouble with it even starting when the engine has been off. All the dashboard lights come on and it sometimes takes several attempts to start the engine. This issue is very unsafe when traveling and having your engine completely shut off while in traffic and could easily lead to a traffic accident. We have spoken to our local Honda dealer several times about this issue and they have said that Honda knows about this issue but does not have any solutions for the problem. Something needs to be done about this before a serious accident happens because of it.

- Bennington, NE, USA

The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. This has happened infrequently in the past but is now occurring more often, multiple times a month.

- Portage, WI, USA

While driving the car has been giving quick warnings that we weren't able to capture when the start stop was active. Today while at a light at a complete stop and about to make a right the car suddenly shifts to Neutral and prompts us to put in park, then once on park the car shut off completely. While at the light still on park we tried to restart the call, but it would not. It took a few tries to finally start.

- Little Elm, TX, USA