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.
We purchased our 2106 Honda Pilot Elite new in 2016 and the 100,000-mile warranty. My wife was in a car accident after three months (not her fault, and nobody was injured), and the car was totaled, so we had to purchase a new vehicle. The interest rate went up from 1.99 to 2.99. Fast forward to February 2022; after paying $800 per month for over five years, we paid it off and received the title! One month later, I was driving the car and heard a rattling noise after accelerating at a stop light. Speaking of stop lights, we had to turn off the auto-shutoff because the car stalled 50% of the time when we had it on.
Back to the rattling noise, I took it to Honda and they determined the engine failed and we need a new one. Our engine went out at only 80,000 miles a month after receiving the title for the car. 80,000 miles! It's ok; at least we have the 100k mile warranty:). Our service technician informed us we do NOT have the 100k warranty on the new car. I understand that after the vehicle is totaled, the new purchase is treated as a new car purchase, but we do not remember declining the warranty; pretty sure our sales rep dropped the ball on that one. To Honda's defense, I should have checked our records to ensure we had the warranty, but I didn't.
The next thing we did was file a claim with Honda Corporate; 80,000 miles seems very low for engine failure, so we were hoping Honda would stand behind their product and offer a goodwill credit towards the engine repair. Full credit would have been great, but we would have been happy with partial credit. My wife spent hours tracking down every receipt for services on the car. We provided every receipt requested and hand-delivered them to the service manager at Honda Schaumburg. After multiple unreturned phone calls and emails, we finally discovered our claim was denied.
I experienced other issues with the Pilot; getting stalled at stop lights due to the auto engine stop and the start was by far the worst. I took it to Honda, and they repaired the start button, but it did not fix the issue. The next time they said my battery was bad, they were wrong because I purchased a new battery a few months prior. The auto tailgate open and close worked about 60% of the time, and we did not open the sunroof by the driver and passenger seats because it did not always close. When we filed our claim, we informed Honda about all of the issues above.
The Pilot was the 3rd and last Honda I will ever purchase. I aim to share this story with as many people as possible, hoping they will think twice before buying a Honda.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
We purchased our 2106 Honda Pilot Elite new in 2016 and the 100,000-mile warranty. My wife was in a car accident after three months (not her fault, and nobody was injured), and the car was totaled, so we had to purchase a new vehicle. The interest rate went up from 1.99 to 2.99. Fast forward to February 2022; after paying $800 per month for over five years, we paid it off and received the title! One month later, I was driving the car and heard a rattling noise after accelerating at a stop light. Speaking of stop lights, we had to turn off the auto-shutoff because the car stalled 50% of the time when we had it on.
Back to the rattling noise, I took it to Honda and they determined the engine failed and we need a new one. Our engine went out at only 80,000 miles a month after receiving the title for the car. 80,000 miles! It's ok; at least we have the 100k mile warranty:). Our service technician informed us we do NOT have the 100k warranty on the new car. I understand that after the vehicle is totaled, the new purchase is treated as a new car purchase, but we do not remember declining the warranty; pretty sure our sales rep dropped the ball on that one. To Honda's defense, I should have checked our records to ensure we had the warranty, but I didn't.
The next thing we did was file a claim with Honda Corporate; 80,000 miles seems very low for engine failure, so we were hoping Honda would stand behind their product and offer a goodwill credit towards the engine repair. Full credit would have been great, but we would have been happy with partial credit. My wife spent hours tracking down every receipt for services on the car. We provided every receipt requested and hand-delivered them to the service manager at Honda Schaumburg. After multiple unreturned phone calls and emails, we finally discovered our claim was denied.
I experienced other issues with the Pilot; getting stalled at stop lights due to the auto engine stop and the start was by far the worst. I took it to Honda, and they repaired the start button, but it did not fix the issue. The next time they said my battery was bad, they were wrong because I purchased a new battery a few months prior. The auto tailgate open and close worked about 60% of the time, and we did not open the sunroof by the driver and passenger seats because it did not always close. When we filed our claim, we informed Honda about all of the issues above.
The Pilot was the 3rd and last Honda I will ever purchase. I aim to share this story with as many people as possible, hoping they will think twice before buying a Honda.
- Mike B., Arlington Neights, US