10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
2,383 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.

2020 Honda Pilot electrical problems

electrical problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2020 Honda Pilot:

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

2020 Honda Pilot Owner Comments (Page 2 of 9)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #141

Aug 162023

Pilot

  • miles

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

Last week, my wife was picking up our 2 year old son from daycare in our 2020 Honda Pilot. She secured him in his car seat and placed her purse with the Honda key fob on the back seat and closed the door. The car somehow locked itself between the time she closed the door and attempted opening the front door, leaving my son locked in the back seat. The key fob battery had just recently been replaced so we are certain this is not a matter of the key fob battery being low. We needed to call the fire department to come and emergency open the car for us. Today, we did have a second key fob made at Honda for our vehicle so that we have a spare in the event this happens again closer to home. We are hoping to be reimbursed for this cost and the "diagnosis" fee we are being told by Honda Customer Support we need to pay for in order to diagnose what the issue might be. This is a MAJOR safety concern that Honda needs to review IMMEDIATELY. The key was inside of the vehicle while the vehicle was not on or in motion.

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #140

Aug 132023

Pilot

  • miles
July 21,2023 Pulled of highway and car went idle at a light car turned off completely and didnt turn on car turned on after 2 minutes. August 13, same situation happened car didnt turn on for 3 minutes. In May car was serviced forr idle recall and I never had this issue until now. The dealer says its a weak battery. But it only happened when it was on idle and not when I turn it on. I had kids in the car and just got off highway. I could have had an accident. The 2nd time it happened it said to put the car in park and restart the car. There were no issues prior to the failure.

- Garfield, NJ, USA

problem #139

Aug 132023

Pilot

  • miles
There is an intermittent problem with loud crackling noises coming from the speakers. The information center is turned off, but the crackling continues. It is either an electrical malfunction or a short of some sort. It is a distraction when driving and therefor a safety issue. There is a recall open with regards to the MOST cable for the camera but the camera does not have audio so it doesn't make sense that these would be related. We do not have many miles on the car and the information center is used primarily for navigation. Shutting it down in traffic is a safety issue because the driver is distracted. If this is an electrical short then there could also be a fire issue.

- Arkdale, WI, USA

problem #138

Jul 162023

Pilot

  • miles

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

On three separate occasions, after stopping at a traffic light or in a parking lot, I was unable to move my car. The first time, the transmission dropped into neutral and I was unable to get it to any other gear. I had to turn off and restart the car multiple times to get it into gear. I was on a heavily trafficked road with multiple cars behind me at the light. Turned my flashers on and prayed to not get hit. The second time. I was in a parking lot and was leaving. I pulled into a space to look for something and got a message to put the car in park. I was unable to do so. Had to turn off and restart the car twice before It would go into park. I then turned it off and back on and was able to get it into gear. Happened again on a 55 MPH road with my grandkids. Very scary. Honda dealer said that for a tiny second after the auto idle engaged the battery power was too low to restart the car. Their solution was for me to purchase a new battery. I feel this is an engineering and safety issue and was not properly addressed during the auto idle recall.

- Myrtle Beach , SC, USA

problem #137

Jul 072023

Pilot 6-cyl

  • miles
My husband was getting off the highway when a car ahead of him braked suddenly. He attempted to hit the brakes, but the car did not stop. The automatic stop crash feature did not turn on. The abs did not work. Ultimately, crashing into the car ahead of him. Manufacturer Safety-related recall issued NHTSA #23V-174 Recall #FE5 2020-22 Multi-Model Door Mirror Glass Safety Recall Status: Remedy Available

- Virginia Beach , VA, USA

problem #136

Jun 112023

Pilot

  • miles
Car completely shut down while in drive. Towed to dealership where I was told there was a software update that needed to be done. Car working fine now.

- Kemah, TX, USA

problem #135

Jul 032023

Pilot

  • miles

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

The Auto Idle Stop system was engaged at a red light after exiting an expressway. When the light turned green, and I removed my foot from the brake, the transmission moved to neutral, and the engine would not start up again. I was unsuccessful in getting the car to start again by either pushing the start/stop button or adjusting the transmission to park. The battery indicator light was illuminated during this process, but no other errors were displayed. I connected a battery-powered jump starter within 3-5 minutes of the failure, and the vehicle started on the first attempt. The Auto Idle Stop system had worked as expected earlier in the drive and there were no other indications of any issues with the vehicle prior to the incident. My entire family's safety was at serious risk since we were stalled on a busy 6 lane road with no ability to move the vehicle to the shoulder and I had to avoid traffic to get to the trunk and under the hood and spend time connecting the jump starter and subsequently attempting to start the vehicle. We are yet to bring the vehicle to the dealership for inspection.

- La Grange Park, IL, USA

problem #134

Sep 302021

Pilot

  • miles
Audio problem and the screen dashboard doesn-??t work no connection Bluetooth we stop on the road trying to turn off the car but when we started we have same problem -?? I have videos I can-??t upload

- Brownstown, MI, USA

problem #133

Jun 032023

Pilot

  • miles
We had the recall repair done for the crackling speakers issue but it started again and is worse. The crackling sounds like rocks hitting the windshield and scares the heck out of everyone in the vehicle. Now when it does this we also get a network failure notice on the infotainment screen and then the infotainment system shuts down. Sure wouldn't expect these issues with a $50 K dollar vehicle barely over 3 years old with only 24 K miles on it. This has happened 4 times since it started again. That's 4 times in the past 3 weeks.

- Woodland, WA, USA

problem #132

Sep 012022

Pilot

  • miles
Electrical components for navigation, hand free devices, back Up camera & radio have an advisory from HONDA. Can has been into dealership multiple times claiming to be -??fixed-?? but when delivered it is not. Wiring harness for radio is on back order for 5+ months, but dealership is unsure if this will correct the problem. Another concern is that 60,000 warranty is within 10,000 miles of expiring.

- Mechanicsville, VA, USA

problem #131

Mar 112023

Pilot

  • miles

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

As I was driving vehicle it shut down. Dashboard went haywire as did the front panel, radio, windows. Could not turn on car at all, not even put it on neutral. Hazard lights did not work either.

- Pharr, TX, USA

problem #130

Jan 312023

Pilot

  • miles
The infotainment system screen will go black/turn off for several minutes, completing disabling the backup camera and other functions. Last week, the system went black completely and I tried to turn off / on the car multiple times but the infotainment system still did not reboot. I had to disconnect/reconnect the main battery to make the system to reboot. Few days later, the system went black again for a short period of time. When the system is up an running, there are many time that my concentration on driving has been disrupted by the sudden cracking and popping sounds stemming from the infotainment system. There is no pending recall on my car, so I do not what to do with my situation.

- Fort Washington, PA, USA

problem #129

Feb 042023

Pilot

  • miles
I pulled into my garage to turn off my 2020 Honda Pilot. I put my car in Park and set the Parking Break. I pushed the On/Off button of my car to turn off the ignition. The car failed to turn off. The electrical systems (radio, heating/AC displays) inside the vehicle turned off, but the engine continued to run. The error message "auto engine idle stop system problem" flashed on the dash. I tried multiple attempts to turn my car off. As I write this my car is sitting outside on my driveway, with the hopes my car will turn off. I have had previous issues with the auto on/off capability of my vehicle, to where the car would auto turn off and fail to turn back on. To combat this issue I always disabled the auto on/off capability of the vehicle. This car has had issue after issue from when I purchased the vehicle in August of 2020. My car has been at the dealership many times for different electrical issues. This car has been anything but reliable. This is a safety problem, due to not being able to turn off a running vehicle. This vehicle has not been inspected for this issue, but has been inspected my the dealership for previous electrical issues. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the problem.

- North Pole, AK, USA

problem #128

Jan 212020

Pilot

  • miles
We purchased our 2020 Honda Pilot in January 2020. Shortly we heard popping sounds in the windshield. It became more frequent so we called our local Honda service and they didn-??t know what was wrong. Later we called another Honda service and they knew what was wrong. We took our car in and they replaced some part in the radio electrical unit. It lasted a year and started doing the same thing again. Popping sounds and our display network would black out the whole screen as before. We lose our gps and backup camera and also no radio. We called Honda and they said it was the wiring harness and we would have to pay for it ourselves. There have been law suits filed against Honda for this very thing. Other owners have had the same problem we are still having. The popping sounds are very distracting while driving. Honda said it was out of warranty even though it-??s the same problem we started having soon after buying our car which was brand new.

- Beaver Dam, KY, USA

problem #127

Jan 212023

Pilot

  • miles
The entire infotainment screen shuts off, screen goes dark. So far it turns back on with no issues. The problem is intermittent. The USB phone connection also intermittently looses the connection. Sometimes it reconnects, other times I have to disconnect the phone and reconnect. I have changed the usb wire...same problem

- Travelers Rest, SC, USA

problem #126

Jul 132022

Pilot

  • miles
In two, separate, instances the vehicle exhibited sudden acceleration with the brake pedal depressed. The first instance was, as the 2020 Honda Pilot was pulling into a driveway and was approximately 10 feet behind another vehicle parked in the driveway. With the brake pedal being depressed, as one does when parking, the 2020 Honda Pilot suddenly accelerated and struck the rear of the other vehicle. The automatic braking system was never deployed. The second instance was when the 2020 Honda Pilot was on a city street and was parked behind another vehicle on the right side of the street against the curb. The 2020 Honda Pilot was approximately 10 feet behind another vehicle parked against the curb. With the brake pedal being depressed, as one does when parking, the 2020 Honda Pilot suddenly accelerated and struck the rear of the other vehicle, driving it over the curb and into the yard of a house. The automatic braking system was never deployed. These incidents happened, almost exactly, one year apart on clear summer days when the temperature and humidity were almost identical. The 2020 Honda Pilot was inspected by a private crash expert company to obtain any crash data but found none, as the data is not recorded unless the air bags are deployed. An incident was reported to Honda who had a representative drive the 2020 Honda Pilot and "could not replicate the sudden acceleration". All safety features were running at the time of both crashes. The crashes occurred on 7/24/21 and 7/13/22.

- Troy, MI, USA

problem #125

Dec 042022

Pilot

  • miles
Auto start/stop feature failed to restart vehicle and shifted to Neutral when foot was taken off the brake. Collision Mitigation Warning lights came on after vehicle power was shut off and turned back on to restart the motor.

- Galena, OH, USA

problem #124

Aug 172022

Pilot

  • miles
There is a popping and crackling sound that comes from the speakers whether it is on or off. When this occurs the infotainment system, rear entertainment system, and blue tooth stops working. This happens every single time the vehicle is used. This causes distracting driving because the noises happen all of a sudden when driving. Second problem-the car seems to shut off and turn back on by itself after pressing the gas when its on auto idle shut off. For a few seconds when I let go of the brake peddle, instead of turning on from the auto idle shut off it just shuts off, then I press the gas and it turns on. It has done this several times that it is concerning and I fear it can cause an accident if it moves forward when I think it shut off on its own.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #123

Oct 152022

Pilot

  • miles
The Honda Auto Start Stop system has been taxing my battery through daily use and creates unsafe situations. On more than one occasion, similar to the following, I have experienced the Honda Pilot stop the engine via the A.S.S. System. Upon releasing the brake, the system attempts, but fails, to come to ignition and the electrical system lacks the ability to start the engine, creating a need to re-start (or attempt restart). On 1 such occasion, my family was traveling through a city on the interstate. After driving on the interstate for a few hours we came to a stop light and stopped. At the green light, upon releasing the brake, the Honda Pilot attempted to start again and failed. The car went completely dead in the middle of a 4 lane interstate with my family inside. The car did not start again until the 3rd time attempting to restart the vehicle. Approximately 10 seconds later than intended, we were able to clear our vehicle from the interstate intersection. On normal occasions, such as the course of business with the Honda A.S.S. System, driving in situations that would be categorized as "start/Stop" situations, the Honda A.S.S. System leads to stalled response and delayed lurching into traffic creating situations due to the delay in response. Multiple times this has been reported to my dealer. They acknowledge it as a "Battery" problem. They test my battery per HONDA WARRANTY and tell me it "Passes". They basically are just charging my battery and sending me out the door. The time between vehicle events is decreasing. Please help address this obvious vehicle shortcoming. There is no permanent means to disable it. Thank you.

- Jasper, IN, USA

problem #122

Oct 282022

Pilot

  • miles
Third time now that my speakers have been popping and crackling. All this leads to "Network Connection Lost" and the entire NAV screen goes black, also the main dashboard display sometimes...very unsafe. First couple of repairs were the connectors in the dash being replaced. This time my dealer has to call Honda for authorization. Received a call from dealer this morning that my battery was dead and this cleared out all of the warning codes, how convenient and it's only 3 years old. Now it needs to be kept until the warning codes "possibly" come back.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?