This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
After pulling out of a parking garage and driving about 4 city blocks, our 2005 Honda Pilot made a loud groaning sound and came to a complete stop in an intersection while turning left. From that point, for the next half mile, the car screeched to a complete stop every 15 to 20 seconds, even while only pressing the accelerator going speeds up to 20 mph. I instructed my wife to pull into the first available parking lot, at which point we saw that the vsa caution and off lights were on. I turned the ignition off, pulled the key out, put it back in and started the car back up. The vsa lights did not come back on. I pressed the vsa off button in order to avoid this malfunction on the way home. This is an extremely scary defect. I have read other owners' experiences of this same issue and I am convinced that it is a potentially life-threatening defect. We had our two year old and our newborn in a car which screeched to an unexpected full stop in the middle of an intersection halfway through a turn. There was no ice, the roads were dry, and the turn was controlled and normal. There was no reason for the vsa to engage. We were lucky no cars were coming the other direction to hit the Pilot in the intersection. I have also read of this unprompted full stop occurring at speeds up to 60 mph. The potential implications of this are devastating. We purchased this car used with 105,000 miles on it. It now has approximately 115,000 miles. We have been pleased with the vehicle until now, but this one issue is enough of a safety issue that I will immediately pursue getting rid of the vehicle and finding something safer.
I own a 2005 Honda Pilot since 2008 and this car has 95,000 + mileage. Recently the vsa light started coming on. I have taken this car to several shop for diagnostics and the codes coming up is not readable. I went online to research on this and discovered that so many people do have the same problem. Can you compel Honda to do something before the problems get out of hands pls?
Honda Pilot 2005 vsa issue and malfunctions: Sometimes the light came up even I drove on a flat road with low speed. There is a loud clunk noise and the brake and steering for a fraction of a second locks. One time it happened when I was in a turn and almost hit a wall. I am concerned that the vehicle stabilization system is not safe if I had to make an emergency turn and that the vehicle would roll.
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph the brakes decelerated on their own. The vehicle came to a complete stop and stalled. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. Updated 12/23/11... updated 02/17/12 the consumer stated the electronic stability control system was defective, which caused the steering to fail and the brakes to apply involuntarily. Updated 04/2412 updated 05/03/12
Beginning in September of 2010, my 2005 Honda Pilot made a groaning noise around the driver side area, swerved abruptly to the left on its own, while the cruise was set at 56mph. Following the incident the vsa warning light and the light illuminated. After first incident, it was towed to the dealership where they found diagnostic codes for yaw rate sensor failure and battery voltage failure. They found the battery negative terminal to be very loose and they tightened it. Tech's could not duplicate the problem. This occurred 7 more times over the following 3 weeks. When returned to dealership, they were advised by Honda tech's to clean the connectors on the yaw rate sensor. Codes went away and the car was returned to me. The following day the symptoms returned. Honda dealership says they must now replace the yaw rate sensor. We are waiting for our appointment for that to occur.
- Brazil, IN, USA
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While driving on a flat surface along I95 in good weather, I lost control of my steering/brakes for a second. The vsa light came on. I took the car to my local mechanic who ran several tests only resulting in an error code with the yaw rate sensor. The light went on again before I left the parking lot. He then ran more test, found the sensor "lost it's memory" and reset it. The next day it happened again, my mechanic then performed an alignment. Through this he only charged me a minimal fee for one of the visits. He stated that the sensor may have gone bad. This happens daily at various speeds, conditions etc. A few times I turned the car on and before I left my driveway the light was on, other times, drove over an hr and it did not come on. I contacted my dealership to which they told me they do not know of any issues concerning the vsa. I have looked up several forums on line and found quite a few complaints on the same issue. They have gone through the same steps my mechanic has done, some had transmissions replaces, others master cylinders and some it remained a mystery. I only lose control for a split second, but that's all it takes to cause an accident. I just wanted to report this problem. Thank you.
Traffic light turned green I proceeded through an intersection going straight between 10-15mph my brakes suddenly started pumping hard I tried to apply a little more gas the brakes started again, I hit the hazard light and managed to get out of the rush hour traffic into a parking lot, read my manual the vsa light came on the dash and the triangle below it came on as well. I turned the ignition off and then restarted the 2005 Honda Pilot exl the dash indicaters did not light up I drove the twenty or so miles home trying to stay in the shoulder lane just in case the brakes malfunctioned again. I did a lttle researching on the net there are a few other Pilot owners that have had the same problem with no definitive solution.
My wife was cruising down the highway at 50 mph a week ago, under very good road condition, with her foot on the gas pedal, when she tried to Dodge the passenger car from the next lane, her brake wasn't working properly, suddenly her car made lousy banging sound and sled 3 times in rapid toward left after toward right, and left again. Luckily no contacts was made while in devastating moment. Before heading to dealer, today snowy day, driving 10 mph to my daughter's school dropping, it happened again as similar but not so panoramic. Barely avoid to collision with police patrol car on opposite lane.
Our 2005 Honda Pilot vehicle statbility system (vsa) malfunctioned. On six seperate occasions and over the course of 7 days, starting January 10, 2010 the vehicle would brake spontaneously and abruptly at different speeds. This occurred at speeds from 10 mph to 60 mph. After each incident, the vsa light would come on. The temporary remedy was to turn off the vsa before before driving the Pilot. The Pilot was repaired at our Honda dealer on January 27, 2010. A yaw rate sensor was replaced for $720 including labor.
2005 Honda Pilot went into a full brake mode (slammed) without anyone touching the brakes from 45 mph. After the car stopped in the middle of the road we limped onto a side street with the brakes continuing to catch off and on. Parked the car and returned later to get it to the dealer. We could not get it to duplicate the problem. This could have been a disaster if someone had been following the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle slammed into brake mode and came to a complete and sudden stop. The failure continued for several minutes, causing items to be thrown from the seat onto the floor. During the failure, the vehicle stability assist warning indicator was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing, which produced a low battery voltage code and a brake sensor code. The dealer tested and replaced the battery. They also notified the manufacturer and opened a case. The failure and current mileages were less than 58,000.
Yesterday, my daughter's 2005 Honda Pilot with 71K miles since new, was rolling along at 60 mph on interstate 66 when brakes engaged bringing car to sudden stop. Several cars behind her had to take defensive action to prevent piling up. Vsa light and ABS lights were on. This happened several more times to a point where car was undriveable and had to be pulled to side of the road. Car was towed to Honda by aaa. Same thing happened in Oct 2008 (about four months ago) but occurred only intermittently and car could be driven to dealership. Diagnosis from dealer was need for new battery. Original battery was replaced and car worked fine until yesterday. It appears that the Honda diagnostic system at the dealers cannot properly identify this problem although it is surely serious enough to warrant a recall. According to members posting at hondapilot.org forum, this has happened to others and with the same potentially hazardous results. More troubling is the fact that Honda dealers are unable to diagnose the problem with current technology. Some have replaced tire pressure sensors, some have replaced steering wheel sensors and others have replaced side crash sensors and brake systems. In my case, the dealer replaced the battery. The fact remains, however, that the problem could not be the result of malfunctions of all these systems and the current diagnostic codes apparently are insufficient to pinpoint the exact component that failed. This level of uncertainty only compounds the original problem and increases the likelihood of a multi-car pileup when the vsa system engages for no good reason.
In May 2008 while approaching a curve at approx 30 mph lightly applied brakes. Brakes locked up and vsa light came on. Had the car checked by dealership and no issues found and no parts replaced. In October 2008, 5,000 miles later, the same issue happened at approx the same speed - applying the brakes to execute a turn, no vsa light indicator came on. Took the car to the dealership a second time and filed a safety compliant with Honda of America (ref case # N012008-10-22-00221) again no issues were found and no parts were replaced. Honda would not commit to the safety of the car.
On 10/30/2008 my wife left home at approximate 6:00 am. At about 6:05 am the brakes on her 2005 Honda Pilot ex-L applied themselves without any pressure applied to the brake pedal. When she did push on the brake pedal, there was no effect. The brake pedal went to the floor. The vsa indicator light came on and a vsa activation indicator light came on. The vehicle behind her nearly rear-ended her.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Nashville, TN, USA