10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 4
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 1,968 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Vehicle shut down and failed to start at stoplight. It was as of it shifted off or in to neutral. Battery light showed red when initially tried to restart. Finally engine started after tuning off and back on again. I believe it was a failure of the auto engine stop system currently under investigation. It has had repeated issues lately getting going at stop lights but this was the first couple shutdown
- Happy Valley, OR, USA
On multiple occassions, my Engine Auto Idle Start/Stop has malfunctioned. In particular, when the car goes into idle while stopped at a traffic light, there are times when the car completely shuts off. This is dangerous at any time because it has been unpredictable. The problem gets more frequent until finally the car won't start. Upon taking the car to Keating Honda in Conroe TX twice for the inability to start the car, I have had my battery replaced twice within the last year. They have not been able to identify any parasitic drains to the battery. At 39,000 miles, my 2020 Honda Pilot Elite required it's 3rd battery. The problem has been labeled battery failure, but frankly the problem has been the Engine Auto Idle Start/Stop feature and I am certain this feature is directly related to the battery failing.
- Conroe, TX, USA
My Pilot has approximately 25,000 miles. I was stopped at a red light, my vehicle has the ignition shut off feature, which engaged while I was stopped. When the light changed and I went to accelerate, instead of the engine restarting, the entire car stalled and would not restart. There were a variety of flashing lights and the car appeared to have power but the engine would not turn over. I immediately turned my hazard lights on, but each time I tried to restart the car, the hazards would turn off which was particularly concerning. The police responded and we looked for options to get the car into neutral so we could move it out of the intersection but there appears to be no option for a layman to manually override the transmission and place the car in neutral. As a result I was stranded in my vehicle for nearly 3 hours in an intersection while I waited for a tow truck. There had been no prior indication of any issues with the vehicle. It was purchased used and I have only put approximately 2,000 miles on it since purchasing. The vehicle was towed to the dealership and is awaiting inspection. While my experience was terrible, I am terrified to think of how much worse this could have been if I had stalled in traffic on a highway or with my children in the car.
- Sykesville, MD, USA
Incident happened 3 times in 1 week (June 8th, 11th, & 15). When stopped at a light or in traffic the car shuts down. The engine does not restart when it's supposed to, leaving us with a dead vehicle. The car had to be jump-started to get the vehicle moving again. In worst cases, the battery doesn-€™t even hold a charge. Other issue would be when pressing the gas the car would stall sometimes before accelerating.
- Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Start/Stop function engaged at a red light, stopping the engine. Engine would not restart. Car and driver were stranded in the middle of a busy intersection for almost 2 hours until car could be jump started. Car would not restart on its own, leading to a very dangerous situation for driver and other motorists.
- Kirkwood, MO, USA
When engine auto-shutoff was on (as it is automatically every time the car is started) I came to a complete stop and the vehicle turned off completely. I was in the middle of the road on every occasion this occurred. The vehicle would not restart for at least 30 seconds.
- Denham Springs, LA, USA
Auto start/stop feature; engine failed to restart from a complete stop at a red light, happened on multiple occasions. I would have to press on the brake and accelerator and press the start button to start the car and be able to drive.
- Irvine, CA, USA
Auto Engine Idle engaged and the vehicle died and would not restart. The vehicle has died a couple of times in the past in similar circumstances but always restarted until the most recent incident. This left us stranded in the middle of the road at an intersection with no way to put the vehicle in neutral and push it to the side of the road which is another unrelated safety complaint. The car cannot be taken out of park when not running. The component has not been inspected as of the time of this complaint but is being scheduled for review by the service shop. There were no warnings or messages prior to the incidents occurring.
- Austin, TX, USA
Over the last few years, after a long highway drive of approx. 20 miles when I stop and sit and idle, a strong gasoline smell is entering the vehicle via the HVAC Heating system. Also, after the same longer drives, when I return home, turn off and park the suv in my garage, shortly after my garage smells of gasoline as well from the Front Passenger side of the suv nearest the hood cowl. It does not happen 100% of the time but this winter it has occurred more frequently (a few times a week) during our Mon-Fri commutes.
- Fairview, PA, USA
My 2020 Honda Pilot has stalled 4 times in the past two weeks after the auto engine idle occurs at a red light. The engine will shut off automatically, but when I lift my foot from the brake, the car engine does not turn back on, and the car shifts into park, and acts as if stalled. In order to get the car to restart, I have to power down completely, open the driver side door(!!!) and -€œreset-€ the whole system before I can apply the brake and press the ignition button. Even then a couple of times it doesn-€™t start for me doing that, and I have to cycle through the entire process a second time. This happened to me with my 3 children in the car twice on very busy (50mph) roads, and is incredibly dangerous. The second major issue I have noticed, but less frequently (about 3-4 times in the past 6 months), is that the auto braking system will randomly alert and apply the brakes while I-€™m driving down a straight road with no traffic in front of me! Needless to say, terrifying. This thankfully only lasts a few seconds before I regain control of the car, but also incredibly dangerous. I am scheduling service with Honda to evaluate ASAP, but I have read *many* accounts of the exact same problem online and every single person says Honda has never been able to find any cause. Some say replacing the battery helps, others say the stalling issue remains after battery replacement. If we can-€™t solve this problem, or have the auto engine idle completely and permanently disabled, I will be selling this car very soon. 16,104 miles driven as of today.
- The Woodlands, TX, USA
I've taken my vehicle in 4 times now for electrical issues and the sensors randomly going off. Today while driving, I got a notification of an engine system problem as well as an emissions failure and AWD failure. I purchased my vehicle brand new from the dealership and this will now be the 5th time going in for electrical issues and now whatever this engine failure is. The dealership is closed right now so I do not have a full diagnosis but the warning on the screen tells me to limit driving and keep the car off due to potential fire. This should absolutely be investigated.
- Coal Valley, IL, USA
Purchased my 2020 Pilot on 12/30/2019 in fresno, ca. Recently this month December 2020, I started hearing a cracking and popping noise from the speakers. The popping noise happens whether or not music is on. I also started hearing this weird noise that almost sounded like there was a compressor in my vehicle. I did some research on several Honda Pilot threads and it seems to be the ac compressor and the speakers. Apparently the wiring harness needs to be changed. I've looked over the NHTSA website and seen multiple complaints regarding the speakers popping issue. I have not taken my vehicle to the dealer yet, I dont completely trust dealership service centers and they prey on customers and over charge and make you think there's other things wrong with the vehicle. I like to do my research prior to taking my cars to any repair shops. I also video and voice recorded all the weird sounds that the Pilot is making. Honda needs to fix this, if this in fact is a wiring issue, this can possibly cause a short out thus a safety issue. I will be printing out several of these complaints and showing them to the dealer before they try to swindle me out of an excess amount of money. Although since it hasn't even been a year my vehicle should be under warranty.
- Daly City, CA, USA
Brakes are too low and soft.idling is rough during cold start.I brought to the dealer last September 28,2020 but dealer did nothing.technician said there is nothing wrong with it.the dealer is holler Honda in orlando Florida.this is my fourth Honda and only experience this.brakes are like that all the time.always stopping too close to the vehicle in front of me.
- Orlando, FL, USA
Stopped at a red light waiting to make a right turn. After traffic cleared pressed on the gas and car immediately started revving really loud. Looked and it said it was at 6000 RPM even though I was barely touching the gas. The car then started decreasing speed without me taking my foot off the gas. I quickly pulled off the road and it wasn't until I put the car in park that it finally stopped revving so loud. I shut the car off and let it sit for a few minutes before starting it again and driving. It then started flipping from showing the blu-ray info to apple carplay repeatedly on the info screen.
- Eagle Mountain, UT, USA
I got this car only 1 week; I heard the noise from steering wheel and the problem when I hit gas and shift the transmission. On July 13, I drop the car to fix for 2 days. Then, only 2 week after I have experienced cannot hit gas and I cannot hit the brakes. The all engine light, break light, tsa light and other 3 lights is coming. I have to tow my car to dealer shop. This car is bad car
- The Colony, TX, USA
Bought new 2020 black edition Honda Pilot on May 2,2020 with 11 miles on it. It caught on fire on 6/15/20 after driving only 3 miles I noticed a bad burnt smell as I was entering a parking garage, not thinking it was my car because it was new and there were no display lights indicating anything. I then noticed smoke coming from my hood about 30 seconds later. I immediately parked and turned engine off. Got out of vehicle to see a fire ball drop from under the front of my hood. There had been no previous alerts on the car panel that anything was wrong. We hadn't driven this car much due to covid, probably only had around 400 miles on the car. Car fire is being investigated as far as I know.
- Houston, TX, USA
- Santa Rosa Beach , FL, USA