CarComplaints.com Notes: Previously we had awarded the 2010 Pilot "Seal of Pretty Good", but have since removed that honor due to all the continuing complaints about excessive oil consumption.

This Honda Pilot oil consumption defect was subject to a class action lawsuit in 2013. However not all 2010 Honda Pilots were covered by the settlement & by now the warranty extension has expired. The oil consumption complaints keep coming in.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,170 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2010 Honda Pilot engine problems

engine problem

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2010 Honda Pilot Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #28

Apr 212023

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

oil burning

- Los Banos, CA, USA

problem #27

Aug 082022

Pilot

  • 185,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and making right turns, the steering wheel lost power steering. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while the vehicle was in idle position. The low pressure oil warning light and the check engine warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 185,000.

- Fort Wayne, IN, USA

problem #26

Jul 082022

Pilot

  • 114,361 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Hondo Pilot. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle was vibrating. The contact pulled over safely to the side of the road. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. The dealer diagnosed a failure with the piston and spark plug. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 114,361.

- Montpelier, VA, USA

problem #25

Dec 272021

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I drove back from Atlanta airport on highway I-85 on December 27, 2021, the car started shaking and check engine light was flashing. It was very dangerous on the highway. I immediately drove to nearest Gwinnett place Honda. The dealer found the second cylinder misfired and replaced piston rings 1-3.

- Suwanee, GA, USA

problem #24

Mar 252021

Pilot

  • miles
Blinking check engine light, van-4 and vsa light are all on. I went to get a code and it was a misfire. This happened the past summer and I got it replaced. Happened again a few weeks later and they fixed it. Every since then it happens from time to time. I looked this up on the internet and it said Honda was fixing the issue free of charge 2017 and earlier. I didn't purchase my vehicle until October of 2017. And was told none of this.

- Sicklerville, NJ, USA

problem #23

Feb 012017

Pilot

  • 100,000 miles
We were told by several service technicians at the wolfchase Honda in bartlett, tn that there was a recall on all 2010 Honda Pilot, (ours is a touring fwd), due to a miss-firing issue. We purchased our Pilot 9/2015 and repeatedly reported that the car was miss-firing, which caused the check engine light to appear. When we took it in for oil changes, the techs would tell us to do a gas treatment, such as lucas (they did it once themselves), or to change the air and cabin filters. We did that, and the problem persisted. Upon each oil change, the dealership would just reset the check engine light and tell us nothing else was wrong. We have since checked for complaints on the web, and saw that numerous consumers have the same issue & a law suit settlement. We have contacted american Honda, and now that the recall is out of their timeframe for repairs, (ended 10/2017) they refuse to do anything about it. We have complained about the problem even before the recall period ended, but all they did was a "quick fix" of changing the spark plugs to "appear" to correct the issue. There have been unexpected "surges" of the engine while in motion on a city street, which almost caused an accident that could've injured or killed our family, which includes 2 elementary aged children. They never did the second step of replacing the piston rings if the problem persisted, because of the recall date. This was by design so the buyer would have to eat the cost ($2448 + tax). American Honda and wolfchase Honda (dealership), knew about the recall on this model of Pilot, even at purchase time, but did not tell us, nor did american Honda ever send a recall notice for it. Although they did send one for the takata airbags that was all over the news. Since apparently, the media hasn't heard of this problem, Honda decided to just ignore it and deny any claims Honda consumers have.

- Memphis, TN, USA

problem #22

Dec 272018

Pilot

  • 128,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Excessive oil consumption cause engine pistons to blow. Seems to be a common issue. No check oil light came on or any indication that the car was low on oil. Received oil change 2K miles prior. Mechanic said this is a common issue he has seen with my year and motor. I owe $12K on a car worth nothing that I can no longer drive.

- Indian Hills, CO, USA

problem #21

Jan 232016

Pilot 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 85,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Honda Pilot. While driving at an unknown speed, the engine failed without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the engine failed due to premature oil consumption, which caused the engine camshaft to fail. The mechanic replaced the engine; however, the engine failed again due to premature oil consumption. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer denied assistance with the repair. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was 85,000. The VIN was not available. Consumer stated engine stopped working twice. Updated 11/28/18

- Exeter, PA, USA

problem #20

May 312018

Pilot

  • 109,369 miles
Engine seized at 109.369mi unexpectedly on the highway with regular maintenance and clean full oil and gasoline. Honda is aware of the potential as per their class action settlement settlement-claims.com/enginemisfire/courtdocuments.html. https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Pilot/2009/engine/engine_failure.shtml https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Pilot/2009/engine/excessive_oil_consumption.shtml after complaints of oil burning and misfiring and lack of acceleration, Honda did not address the issue and is allowing vehicles such as this to remain in service risking the lives of thousands of unsuspecting owners of these family vehicles as well as owners of their civics and odysees. Please do something before people die. These cars are coming up on the mileage where the engines will seize!

- Kenmore, WA, USA

problem #19

Jan 022018

Pilot

  • 80,800 miles
Having trouble with oil! there's no shown leakage and no smoke like it's burning the oil! has been going on the last 2-3 months! also bad gas mileage, going thru gas pretty quickly! my mechanic has checked several times, sees nothing noticeable, he remembered hearing this problem on other Honda vehicles!

- Huntington Station, NY, USA

problem #18

Jan 182018

Pilot

  • 123,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Excessive oil burning issue. Between standard oil change mileage distance, the engine can burn so much oil that it no longer registers on the dipstick setting a faulty positive for a bad rocker arm oil pressure switch. Obviously if the engine get so low on oil it can be catastrophic and if that happens at speed then it could be deadly. I've caught it early enough that so far it hasn't caused catastrophic failure but I'm told by my dealership and Honda that there is nothing to be done and to just let it break.

- Kalamazoo, MI, USA

problem #17

Dec 222017

Pilot

  • miles
2010 Honda Pilot exl with approx 100,000 miles with the following issues: Check engine light code P3400, very low oil pressure, replaced two oil pressure switches, torque converter beginning to fail causing vibration and shuddering at 45 - 50 mph with low accelerator pressure. Car is burning excessive oil approx 1qt per 1,000 miles.

- Cumming, GA, USA

problem #16

Jul 132017

Pilot

  • miles
Strong gas/exhaust smell in car cabin. Replaced air and cabin filters. Brought to Honda dealership in morgan hill, ca and they say nothing was wrong, or that the diagnostic information did not return any issues. The smell was acute. Happening all of a sudden and we did not notice it getting stronger with time. The smell is evident in the cabin with the A/C on/off, heat on/off, even with the recirculation set to off. Have to drive with the windows down to deal with the fumes.

- Morgan Hill, CA, USA

problem #15

Jun 162017

Pilot

  • 120,000 miles
At 7:15am in a public parking lot of a strip mall setup, I approached a parking place but first letting an employee of panera bread cross in front of me before I approached the space. Upon approaching I was gliding in using the brake to slow me when all at once the engine reved while my foot was on the brake accelerating me and the vehichle into a tree 8 feet past the parking space, deploying the air bag and bouncing me back around 16 feet. The vehichle had at least accelerated to 20mph to accomplish what had happend. My husband had told me as well as the officer at the scene, that this had happened to him 3 times in the recent past on a graduated intensity. I suffered hand lacerations as well as forehead with chest bruising from the seat belt and a hand burn from the deployed air bag. I also had a slightly bleeding lip and was released at the scene from the ambulance with a strong suggestion to follow up if necessary. It is a shame that your own insurance company would rather look the other way then get involved and attorneys only want "severe" hospital ridden patients to move forward on a case. My insurance company wants to fix the Honda Pilot and put me back behind the wheel. I had spoken with one individual who works on Honda's at a Honda garage and isn't it interesting he suggest it may be a sensor or electrical issue with the acceleration system......but oddly enough, he hasn't heard of this either, but upon research, I've found it all over the internet. I told my insurance company, "shouldn't we start somewhere."

- Monroe, MI, USA

problem #14

May 112017

Pilot

  • 76,000 miles
Streeing wheel seriously vibrates when breaking over 60 mph. Front bushings need replaced at 76,000 miles and dealer said that there was a leak in the hydrolics controling the timing belt which will lead to possible enging replacement. Dealer quoted $2500 to fix. The information on the bushings and timing belt was discovered while have the air bag replaced. Also, there was another customer that got the same news on his car. After looking at the complaints these are common problems which Honda does not help with and you don't know if the same problem will reoccur if you do fix. It does appear to be a manufacturing/engineering problem that Honda knows well but there is no help for the customer. The dealership seems to be looking for these known problems for more profit potiental. This vehicle has been well serviced and used for mostly long road trips. Honda needs to fess up and help their customers since these type of problems/failures can be very dangerious to the passangers while driving not to mention exorbitant costs.

- Temple, TX, USA

problem #13

Sep 042012

Pilot

  • 44,000 miles
Car has been burring oil for years. I have talked to and taken it to Honda several time. I always get the same answer. It's normal to burn a quart every 1000 miles.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

problem #12

Mar 152015

Pilot

  • 120,000 miles
The enging miss fires fouling sparks plugs burns oil about 2 quart every oil change Honda shop said it's this part and that part enging only has 1'2000 miles on the hiway city streets runs bad.

- Woodhaven, MI, USA

problem #11

Apr 012016

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
Excessive vibration in front end when eco light turns on indicating cylinder shut down and when driving over 30 mph problem began after approx 50,000 miles.

- Naugatuck, CT, USA

problem #10

Oct 222016

Pilot

  • 95,000 miles
Engine burns excessive oil and engine hesitates from time to time

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #9

Jul 202016

Pilot

  • 72,000 miles
Engine consuming oil. Engine went from full to empty in oil capacity between oil changes.

- West Warwick, RI, USA

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