CarComplaints.com Notes: It's worrying when the top category for 2016 Honda Pilot problems are transmission problems. Owners report jerking when accelerating. Also as the first model year of the redesigned 3rd generation Pilot, it's not a good sign.
Honda released a TSB on October 29 2016 that's possibly related. The TSB deals with a "a judder from the torque converter lock-up clutch ... while driving between 20 and 60 mph" due to deteriorated transmission fluid resulting from "specific driving conditions". In the TSB, Honda states they are developing a software fix to try to keep the transmission fluid temperature within spec.
We are keeping a close eye on this defect trend because if certain driving conditions can affect transmission shifting in the first year of ownership, we'd hate to think what 10+ years will do.
3.6
definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
36,177 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.
I am getting a "keyless start problem" error on my dash but my car is working fine. I have already replaced fob batteries and reset system by disconnecting battery. From my research online, this has been a big issue for Honda Pilot.
Our 3 year old car at about 28,000 miles started displaying the warning message "keyless start system problem" nearly almost every time it is started. (note, this problem developed the month after it's warranty expired...) when the message first displayed we took it to the dealer, they could not find any problem with the starting system, only that our electronics system needed an update. With the update, the message disappeared for a few weeks, but has now returned and is appearing nearly every time we start the car. This happens regardless of whether mine or my wife's key is used, and changing the battery in the keys has not changed anything either. We have never had an actual issue with starting the car, it's just that we now have to live with this constant warning light. In looking online, there are multiple forums dedicated to this exact issue for 2016 Honda Pilot's and it sounds like it is fairly well established issue for this make / model.
The TPMS system isn't monitoring the wheels sensors. The sensors were check and are good. The problem is that TPMS system that not appear in the control panel to reset this. The light of TPMS system is on all the time. This occured to 37,000 milles aprox.
I was driving in stop and go traffic on a freeway, my foot was on the brake and car was in drive, when I took my foot off break and pushed gas pedal the car would not go. I tried to put it in park and it would not go, I tried to turn off car and it wouldn't turn off. The message on the dashboard said to push brake and turn on car (same message as when I remote start car) after 2 solid minutes, the car finally drove. The problem seems to be impacted by the econ mode which shuts off engine when brake pedal is fully engaged. You are able to turn this mode off on the gear shift but have to do it every time you start the car.
I've been having issues with my car stalling when I try to drive after being stopped at a red light. It doesn't happen every time but at random times. I had this issue back in February 2018 and took it to my local Honda dealer in jacksonville and they hadn't seen the issue before. They reported it to american Honda, took a few days and then replaced the starter and said it was a failed starter issue. It was working fine until August 2018 when it stalled again. It instructed me to put the car in park and then start the engine again. I took it to the local dealer an hour after it happened but they wanted me to leave my car so they could report it and I'm a stay at home mom and need to have my vehicle so I told him I'd try to bring it back another day but instead decided to report the problem directly to Honda to see if there is any update or correction at this time. Honda directed me to report it to a dealer so I've since reported this issue to another dealer in St. Augustine, Florida who is aware of my vehicle having this issue. To date, it has not occurred again but I anticipate that this will be a recurring problem with the car if it wasn't a starter issue. The issue seems to occur when I'm in stop and go traffic and I press down on the brake pedal and go to release it to drive the car when the engine is going into the auto-idle function - almost as if it hesitates to start back up because it was too quick of a response for the auto-idle function to take.
- Ponte Vedra, FL, USA
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My vehicle was in motion on a neighborhood street when several alerts went off on my dashboard: Road departure mitigation system problem, trailer stability assist problem, hill start assist problem, vehicle stability assist problem, emissions system problem, power steering system problem. I could find no reason for these alerts. I took my car into a dealership the next day and was told there was no issue and the lights were turned off. 10 days later they all came on again as I was driving on a local street. The next day when I went to take my car to the dealer, the lights had turned off. I took it in anyway, and they again said there was no issue. I reported the issue to Honda corporation and was told by one agent that this wasn't the first time the issue had come up in a newer model Pilot. Again 2 days ago, all the lights came on and now also the brake assist alert is also on. I will take it to the dealership again. I am concerned all the false alarms may be hiding an underlying issue that could result in a dangerous accident. I also feel that Honda global is not taking me seriously as I am active duty stationed overseas and have to rely on local Honda dealerships that do not have much experience with the Honda Pilot. The dates of the lights were 17 Sept, 27 Sept, and 6 Oct 2018.
Honda Pilot 2016 model with 30000 miles has stalled on highway interstate suddenly within 2 min of signalling messages of engine temperature too hot, transmission system problem, emission system problem etc...and went into neutral mode with failure of brakes. Car would not respond to brakes as it went to neutral state. Also noticed a burning or gasoline smell inside the car. I had to apply parking brake to stop the vehicle from moving on highway which could have led to a major crash. As I was not on the speeding lanes, things were not worse. I had to call 911 and they helped me move my car to a shoulder and later towed to Honda dealership. This was the second time happening for the same issue where earlier it happened on a local road. The same dealer kept the car for a week and returned the car saying its fixed.within 30 min of driving into the highway, it stalled again this time the situation being on highway. The car is now returned to same dealer who fixed first time and is under investigation.
[2016 Honda Pilot exl AWD with sensing, 28 K miles and 2.4 years since purchase] on Friday Aug/24/2018 while driving home (around 40mph) the vsa light came on and stayed on for barely 4-5 seconds and then turned off. Did not notice any major issues then. On Sunday 26/Aug/2018 while driving at around 30-35 mph, the car suddenly lost power and came to a complete stop almost like the brakes had been applied (did not notice the orange brake sign or the collision warning beep sound). I was on the right lane with no one behind or ahead of me and no obstacles in front. Turned on the hazard light and then noticed that the vsa light was on. Car would not move and just kept revving when I tried to accelerate. Put the car in park and then in drive, no change. Pushed the vsa button to turn off vsa and both the vsa light and the vsa off light stayed on but the car would still not move. Shut down the car and restarted it after which the lights went off, and the car started moving (although slowly). Drove home with vsa turned off and at a speed of around 20-30 mph. The abrupt braking/stopping was particularly dangerous and would have caused a collision even in regular traffic on any other day. Note: The key fob was low on battery and the only other warning I had on the console was one informing about the key fob battery being low.
During extremely cold weather, all system failure indications scroll on the display. Happens intermittently and will reset itself over time. I renders the systems useless as well. Alarms include hill start assist, trailer stability assist, road departure mitigation assist, emissions, AWD and eps. Many of these systems are safety features and no longer respond until battery cable is removed or reset after time.
On numerous occasions, beginning just months after purchase, I have had all of the indicator light turn on on my dash, including the lkas, collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, road departure and various notifications for my bluetooth, radio and navigation come on. Also, my backup camera will have a black screen and then my maps will be gray with no information. My car will suddenly brake when there is no one in front of me and surge forward as I'm to coming to a stop and the RPM's will raise, it's like I'm sliding over ice for a short period of time. I also can't make phone calls using the system, as it won't recognize any of my voice tags. And instead will give me every contact in my phone book with a home number when I ask for it to call home. Recently the ABS is activating as I turn my wheels to the right while backing our of parking spaces, either on a driveway or flat surface. These may happen while driving or stationary and just turning the car on. It just isn't safe. I've had people slam on their brakes to avoid hitting me as my car decides to suddenly stop for no reason and have fear that I may rear end someone due to it lurching forward while stopping, so now I stop even further away from vehicles and objects - just in case. I'm also experiencing a popping noise coming from my speaker system that seems to occur whenever my ac compressor switches on or off or if I'm using my door locks, leading me to wonder if I'm actually having electrical issues. I've taken it to the dealer numerous times and they of course say that they can't duplicate the issues. So I show them all of my photos and videos. I'm not alone with many of these problems. I see others complaining of similar issues as well. Honda needs to repair our vehicles or buy them back. I've always loved Honda but after my experience with this vehicle, they may have lost my business.
On numerous occasions I have had all of the indicator lights on on my dash, including the lkas, collission mitigation, adaptive cruise control, road departure, and various notifications for my bluetooth, radio, and navigation come on. Also, my back up camera will have a black screen and then my maps will be gray with no information. My car will suddenly brake when there is no one in front of me and surge forward as I'm trying to come to a stop, like my brakes aren't working. I also can't make any phone calls using the system, as it wont recognize any voice tags and instead gives me every contact in my phone book that may have a home number. Recently the ABS is activating as I turn my wheels to the right while backing out of parking spaces. These may happen while driving or while stationary. It just isn't safe. I've had people slam on their brakes to avoid my car as it suddenly stops for no reason and have feared that I may rear end someone due to it lurching forward, so now I stop really far back from other vehicles. I'm also experiencing a popping noise coming from my speaker system that seems to occur whenever my ac compressor switches on and off, leading me to wonder if I'm experiencing electrical issues with this vehicle. I've taken it to the dealer so many times and they say that they can't "duplicate" this. So I show them the photos and the videos. I'm not alone with many of these problems. I see others complaining as well. Honda needs to repair our vehicles or buy them back. I've always loved Honda's but after my experience with this vehicle, they may have lost me as a customer. My family's safety is too important to leave in the hands of a corporation that cares more about their bottom line, than their customers.
Vehicle randomly cuts power to engine. While vehicle is in motion, stability control symbol flashes when accelerator is pressed and power is cut from the engine causing vehicle to slow. Releasing accelerator allows vehicle to coast and stability control symbol on dash goes away. As soon as accelerator is pressed again, stability control symbol flashes and power is once again cut from engine. Very scary on freeway. Pulling over and putting into park and drive does not correct issue. Vehicle must be turned off and turned back on to reset. Imagine how scary this will be doing 70 on the freeway and power being cut from the engine surrounded by traffic and unable to get to the shoulder to turn the vehicle off and reset the system.
Honda Pilot 2016 touring. Vehicle battery drains overnight or in a few hours for no reason. The vehicle would not start and would have to be transported to the dealership or have battery recharged for a long time. After recharge, safety equipment such as sensors, emergency stop, etc. Stop working. Contacted Honda and took vehicle to dealership multiple times. One time they replaced the battery and other times did something else but they are unable to resolve the problem. We believe vehicle is unsafe to drive. This problem seems to be encountered by many Honda Pilot 2016 owners which is reported online. They all complain of taking their vehicle to Honda dealership only to be told the dealership unable to resolve the issue.
It surges when coming to an intersection going 15 mph with foot off gas and firmly on the brakes. It has surged several times out into the intersections. Service bulletin 16-008 covers over 50,000 Honda Pilot but the dealer tells me my Pilot is just short of the listed VIN numbers. I have informed the dealer this occurs in cooler weather below 40 degrees and if people are crossing the intersection and it surges the Pilot could hurt or kill several people. I have taken it to the dealer four times but they told me they could not correct the problem cause it did not occur while they had it. It does not happen all the time.
Coming to a stop at an intersection it has surged 4 times taking me out into the intersection every time, with foot off gas an on break I can not stop it. I recently have been using the emergency break to stop it. It does not happen all the time. I took it to dealer 2X. American Honda is looking into it and always ask it wrecked it. Several others had same issue. An software update did not resolve issue. Can our government help?
Sometimes can not stop 2016 Honda Pilot with foot off gas and firmly pressing down on break peddle. It has taken me 4 times into intersections. Yesterday I was going to make a left hand turn at a 4 way stop and the engine surged and I had to go straight to avoid hitting a car. The dealer checked breaks and gas peddle and found no problems. The touch screen radio controls sometimes does not work. Dealer mechanic said computer controls that and car gas too, therefore I think it is a software issue that needs to be addressed immediately. I have a code number with America Honda. They are checking into the matter and hope they find a solution before I wreck or worst kill someone. I have had this new vehicle about 6 weeks. Only 1300 miles on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wenatchee, WA, USA