CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012-2013 Honda Pilot have a small complaint trend of owners reporting the engine hesitates sometimes when accelerating.

While it's not a widespread trend with the Pilot, it's a little concerning because of the possibly safety ramifications. While it's certainly something to keep in mind, most Pilot owners are not experiencing this problem.

4.2

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
27,408 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.

2012 Honda Pilot fuel system problems

fuel system problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2012 Honda Pilot:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2012 Honda Pilot Owner Comments

problem #6

Jun 012020

Pilot

  • 0 miles

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

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 55 mph, the vehicle started jerking and hesitating with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The contact called roush Honda (100 w. schrock rd, westerville, oh 43081, (614) 882-1535) and made the dealer aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 12V063000 (fuel system, gasoline) however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #5

Jul 222020

Pilot

  • 108,185 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated at start-up. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where he discovered that there was a fuel leak coming from the fuel tank. The mechanic then replaced the vapor canister vent valve as well as the gas cap and the purge valve. Despite the repairs, the failure persisted. The mechanic linked the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 12V063000 (fuel system, gasoline) and referred the contact to an authorized dealer. The contact called betten baker Honda (2501 henry St, muskegon, mi 49441) where he was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and was given the same information as the dealer. The contact was offered no further assistance from the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 108,185.

- Scottville, MI, USA

problem #4

Jul 042014

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 42,000 miles
The check engine light and vtm4 light come on after over an hour of driving. Sometimes the whole inside of the car smells has while driving and the fuel consumption is not efficient. In addition when the car sits in the garage for a few days, maybe 2-3, and I start driving, the wheels make some deep brushing noise. This gets worst when I brake. Sometimes it smells like something is burning under the hood or around the engine.

- Arlington , TX, USA

problem #3

Apr 292013

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 7,500 miles

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

I purchased this vehicle from brickell Honda in miami with 7,000 miles. I had traded my 2010 Honda Pilot so I was very familiar with this vehicle in general. Immediately, I felt a hesitation when I pressed the gas pedal. At first I thought it was my imagination. However, after driving it for a week it became apparent that this was a huge safety issue as it continually hesitated when accelerating in traffic. I took it back to the dealer and expressed my safety concerns. They drove the car and told me that they could not duplicate the problem. Their "master mechanic" explained that it was a new feature with the Pilot's to save gas! I said, well this is very frightening when you press the gas and the gar does not move! they said there was nothing they could do as that is the way the car was made to run?! I have since seen many complaints identical to mine with the 2012 Honda Pilot. Frankly, I am not sure what to do but I wanted to be sure other owners knew of this issue.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #2

Jun 092012

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 6,700 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, he smelled an odor of gasoline fuel and noticed fuel leaking from under the vehicle. The fire department was contacted and advised the contact not to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not repaired. The manufacturer was also contacted and advised that they were going to further investigate the failure. The failure and current mileage was 6,700... updated 08-07-12

- Folsom , CA, USA

problem #1

Feb 082012

Pilot 6-cyl

  • 63 miles
2012 Honda Pilot - does not start consistently. Consistently has a rough start, and often stalls. Within days of owning my brand new 2012 Honda Pilot, the car stalled when I attempted to start it in my garage. I immediately brought the car into the dealership. The dealer's service department could not find a problem. They kept the car for the day, then reported to me that Honda of America is aware of the problem and trying to fix it. They promised to keep me posted on the status of the Honda of America engineers progress on the issue. Six weeks went by, and the problem persisted with intermittent calls from my local service manager. I was told not to bother to bring it in for service each time it stalled because they were waiting for a recall/fix from corporate. After six weeks, multiple stalls, which were all reported to my dealer as requested, I was then advised, by my dealer to contact Honda of America myself get some results. I spoke with Honda of amercia's nice, but useless customer service representative for two weeks, and got fed up with her inability to do anything other than agree that my problem was unacceptable. Then I called the GM of the dealership, explained my frustration & continued problems with my brand new Honda Pilot. He claimed to not have heard of my problem before, and quickly agreed to fulfilled my request to trade my vehicle in for a different car, same model - 2012 Honda Pilot in the hopes that my car was a lemon. Within less than 24 hours of owning this second 2012 Honda Pilot, my new car stalled. I have recently been on youtube and discovered that this is a common problem with the 2012 Honda Pilot, and has also been reported with some 2011 Honda Pilot. This is unacceptable for a new car to be so unreliable.

- Sharon, MA, USA

Not what you are looking for?