2016 Honda Pilot complaints

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that on multiple occasions, the START/STOP feature failed to operate as needed while at a complete stop. The contact stated that the vehicle would shut off upon releasing the brake pedal with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic on several occasions where several electrical components were replaced. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that they had no knowledge of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while the Auto START/STOP feature was engaged, the engine failed to restart after a stop. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact stated the failure was related to NHTSA Action Number: PE22005 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a misfire in cylinder #3. The dealer informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

The engine's auto idle stop-start system malfunctions intermittently and unexpectedly when stopped at traffic lights, intersections and other roadway stops. The engines shuts down after a normal idling stop, but instead of restarting when the brake is released and the accelerator is pressed to proceed the car remains shutdown and will not restart automatically to proceed out of the intersection or stopped position. There is NO warning of the impending failure to restart - when the brake is released and the vehicle should restart > Annunciator panel then illuminates to an engine off status, the engine remains off/stalled > the car must be put into 'Park', the Brake depressed and a manual restart attempted, all while disoriented and sitting stationary with traffic moving around the vehicle. This is extremely dangerous and completely non anticipatable. The vehicles engine will not restart without multiple cycles/attempts, often with as many as 6 tries or more - taking many minutes while other traffic attempts to maneuver around the vehicle. This has been present with the vehicle since 16,280 miles, now 53,000 miles(6yrs). Multiple Honda Pilot owners have reported this dangerous issue, Honda is aware, the safety concerns of Pilot owners are apparently being ignored by Honda without an effective investigation/engineered solution. I've taken the vehicle to Honda dealership multiple times and told there is no standard/effective 'fix' which has been communicated by Honda to their ser

Engine is stalling / cutting out at stoplights or when slowing down or stopped in traffic. Car is still in drive but requires that I place it in park, shut off car completely (in traffic) and restart the car. This is an ongoing issue that I have reported to my Honda dealer but they have said there are “no codes” generated and cannot find anything wrong with my vehicle. This is becoming a safety hazard especially if my car slows and stalls in an intersection. It’s causing me severe anxiety when I drive anywhere.

Auto Idle System failure. This has been a problem for several years and continues to be a safety issue. If I don't disable the auto idle feature my car will die when I take my foot off of the brake to accelerate.. The vehicle has to do a complete computer reset before I am able to restart the engine. This has happened many, many times at stop lights when the light turns green and I attempt to accelerate, when waiting to merge onto the frontage road of I-35, when turning onto a main road out of a parking lot when traffic is backed up but someone was attempting to let me into the lane (I was half in and half out of the parking lot). In every situation, there is someone behind me expecting me to go (rightfully so). I could easily be hit if the other drivers weren't paying attention. This is a safety hazard and needs to be recalled and repaired. I've asked my mechanic about it and the Honda dealership. No one knows what to do. I've replaced the battery twice thinking maybe that would help but it didn't.

The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. Making it necessary to restart manually.

Rattling Noise in Engine after I stepped on the gas pedal at a light. Honda said the Engine needs to be replaced. 80,000 Miles never missed an oil change. Prior to the engine issue the pilot would stall at stop lights due to the auto shutoff feature. Honda attempted to replace the stop/start button, it did not fix the problem. When I brought it the 2nd time they said my battery was likely causing the issue and it needed to be replaced. I informed them I purchased a new battery two months prior. The issue was so bad that we had shut off the feature everytime we started the car.

System effected: Auto idle engine stop and start. My 2016 Honda Pilot-Elite has problems with auto start/stop. When I stop at traffic light the engine automatically stops but when traffic light turns green and I am ready to go the car engine doesn’t automatically start. Instead it asks me to put car in parking and push the start button. It doesn’t start with one push and I have to try numerous times. It’s causing problem to me as well as other cars in the traffic. It poses great danger to me getting stuck in car in the middle of the road

After Honda Idle-Stop feature engages at a stop light the car won't restart without putting car into park, turning off, and then turning back on. It often takes several attempts to restart the car before it works. This leaves the passengers at extreme risk of injury from collision.

The vehicle has what is called "auto idle," which means that when the brake is fully depressed under certain conditions (ie a stop sign or a red traffic light), the engine turns itself off. The engine is supposed to start again when pressure is lifted from the brake. However, during the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022 (which makes me believe the use of the air conditioning is involved in this problem), the car stalls out after the auto-idle is engaged rather than the engine restarting as it should. It has taken me several minutes to then get the vehicle to turn off so that I can try to start the car once again to move out of the way of traffic. Last week this happened on a busy highway. The cars that were stopped immediately behind me all went around me while I was trying to get my car restarted, leaving me totally exposed to being backended by someone going fast and not realizing that my car is inoperable in the middle of a busy highway. This has happened approximately 10 times over the last three summers. I have had it investigated by Honda in Bel Air, MD, who informed me that while my battery was new and therefore working properly, it simply isn't giving enough charge to the car to restart after the auto-idle is engaged. This is completely unaccepable and someone is going to get hurt unless Honda addresses this problem. Yes, the system is availble for inspection. Yes the dealer confirmed the problem. No the vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. No, there were no warning

I purchased a brand new 2016 Honda Pilot EX. After the salesman pitch about adding top-notch safety, I paid extra for the Honda sensing package (include Collision mitigation braking system) as it was not a standard in 2016. Currently my SUV has less than 14000 miles. The Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) has been warning and applying brakes when it should not for many years. Recently I drove on a highway that had construction for about 3 miles on a clear day. The car was the previous day and had nothing obstructing the camera on windshield or the radar behind the Honda badge. One lane was closed and there were flat surfaced traffic barrier (similar to cones) has been setup for the entire construction strip. About half into the construction zone, my SUV instrument panel had a warning that read "Collision Mitigation System Problem". When I noticed the warning sign is not disappearing after restarting several times, I disconnected the battery and connected it after a day. The warning sign did not go away. Then I took the SUV to the dealer from whom I purchased the vehicle. They washed the car but the warning sign is still active. The warning sign cannot be turned off using the physical button for the CMBS on the dash. Searching through the internet, I see that this is common problem among Honda owners. Many owners who experience this issue report that when they took the SUV to the dealer, they reported that the CMBS was overwhelmed by the construction barriers and the o

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the brake pedal was released however, the Auto STOP/START feature failed to operate as designed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the ignition switch was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

I was driving with the intention to turn left at a major intersection. I was the first car to pull into the left hand turning lane. I put my blinker on and pushed down on the brake waiting for the light to turn green so I could make the left hand turn but the car just shut down. At first I thought it was the auto engine on/off feature but I tried to lift my foot off the brake and the car did not restart. I tried to put the car in park and turn the car completely off (then on again) to see if that fixed the issue but the brake pedal was completely locked and I could not push it down. I ended up having to call the police and a tow company to tow my car out of the intersection. Both the police and the tow company tried to start the car with no luck. They could not even start it to put it in neutral and had to flat bed the car. There were not warning lights or messages on when this occurred. Although no one was hurt, it was an extremely busy intersection where this occurred and I was with my 4 year old daughter. While waiting for the police I had to cross multiple lanes of traffic carrying my daughter because it didn't want someone to rear end my car with her in it. It was also during the start of rush hour and caused a huge traffic back up. My car was subsequently towed to the Honda dealership where I purchased the car and they were able to start it the next morning multiple times with no issue. When they checked for error codes, nothing popped up. The battery was tested with go

Transmission has hard shifts and jerking when accelerating at a normal rate and approaching your designated speed. This occurs almost daily as the problem persist and started occurring approximately 36,000 miles. I also had an issue when I was trying to accelerate up a mountain where the transmission did not want to switch to a lower gear and accelerate. Instead the gear was stuck and I had to remove my foot from the gas pedal and try again. I have taken the vehicle too two different dealerships and they could not replicate the problem. One dealership checked the transmission cooler and stated it was in good condition. I believe they cannot replicate it because every time a technician takes the vehicle on a test drive they accelerate at a high rpm level which the vehicle will not replicate the issue. Now it is doing it through more than one gear change. Feels like the transmission is going to break at any point

When I'm driving this vehicle and stop at an intersection, the auto stop/start feature shuts my engine off. When I attempt to start driving again, the auto stop/start feature attempts to start my engine, but instead the car completely dies. This has happened to me three times this week alone! All three times I was running the air conditioning in the vehicle. This does not seem to occur asoften if I am not running my air conditioner.

Multiple times the vehicle wouldn’t start. The start stop switch is the culprit after 7 months of dealing with it and taking it to dealership finally. Car will cut off at stop light but won’t turn back on. Takes like 4 tries to get it back on. Also at 126k or 128k engine had a knocking sound and needed replaced and it cost $7000 the air conditioning doesn’t work and this is very upsetting this isn’t why I buy Hondas. The start stop event happens everyday and every time I start the car and don’t deactivate the start/stop system

No Restart After Auto Start/Stop Engages. The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. The Vehicle stalls out, must be put into park and the start button must be cycled a few times before engine will restart. This has been occurring continuously for a year now.

Auto stop/start feature will leave vehicle disabled and stranded at lights , and or in the middle of busy roads. Has happened to my wifes 2016 honda pilot 5 times now. Luckily 3 of those times were in parking lots , but twice on a busy highway with kids in the vehicle.

Honda has a "stop / start" feature that when stopping at a stop sign or traffic light, with brakes applied, stops the engine. Once you take foot off brakes, the engine should restart. On four occasions, the engine did not restart. This is a fuel saving feature, however, in each case I'm stuck in traffic while trying to "restart" my Honda Pilot.

The engine idle-stop feature did not restart. It is available for inspection. The safety of my two small children and myself was at risk as we had to get out of the car at a busy intersection. It has not been reproduced by a dealer or a service center. The vehicle and the parts have not been inspected by authorities. It happens without warning. While at a red light, when I take my foot off the brake it shuts off completely.

My 2016 Honda pilot stalls when my car turns off from the auto idle engine. If I do not manually turn the feature off EVERYTIME I turn my car on my car will stall out when i lift my foot off the brake. It has progressively taken longer to turn the vehicle back on (anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes) I have been to honda 2x for this issue & their "fix" has never resolved the issue. They will not admit they cannot fix it, even when I showed them a video of exactly what happens when I try to get my vehicle back on.

When stopping at a stop light the auto idle start stop will not start up immediately as it sometimes has a lag and the audio in the car also completely shuts off. The car stalls out. Have brought car to dealership and since they can’t “recreate” the problem they’re acting like there is no problem. There is definitely a problem. This vehicle has been doing this on and off for sometime now and I have to remember to turn OFF the idle/stop function button every time I start up my car in order to avoid stalling in the middle of traffic. Very unsafe, dangerous and scary.

The stop/start feature fails to restart engine and I have to shut off the car completely to restart again.

Stop/start feature fails to restart the car. I have to turn off the car completely to restart.

I bought this car used in May 2022. My wife is the primary driver and this incident happened to her three times and myself once. When stopping at a red light, the engine turns off to save fuel with the auto start stop feature. We normally turn this off, but sometimes when we forget, the auto start fails to start the engine leaving us stuck in traffic trying to start the car at a green light. It takes multiple attempts to restart the car. This wouldn't be an issue if we could turn off the auto stop start permanently. We don't like the feature anyway, sometimes it causes the car to lurch forward when removing your foot from the break while the engine is starting.

The Pilot has an auto start/stop function that turns off the engine when the car is stopped/idling. When the driver releases the break pedal, the engine is supposed to turn back on. The engine would very frequently fail to turn back on after idling. This happened many times at traffic lights and while stopped in traffic. It's much worse than stalling out with a manual transmission vehicle, because the engine does not turn back on quickly. The whole system (including battery power to the car) needs to be turned off and turned on again. This is a safety issue because the engine has failed to start while in traffic on the interstate, where cars are quickly accelerating, and the failure for the car to accelerate with traffic could lead to a collision. It also poses the risk of leaving the driver stuck in a dangerous location without the ability to move the car. I took the car to the dealership and they told me my battery was dying, and they charged me to replace the battery. So far, I haven't experienced anymore engine stalling with the new battery. The car has not been inspected by anyone other than the local Honda dealership. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to the failure. The failure first started in 2020, but only happened a few times. Since then, the problem increased in frequency, until I finally took it to the dealership and had the battery replaced.

Engine stops completely when I make a stop at the signal. I think this is due to the engine shut down idle function. When the engine shuts down completely, the car doesn't start for 5 to 10 minutes. This happened at least 10 times in 6 months on the middle of the road.

There have been many instances of the vehicle failing to restart after a complete stop at a stop light. In these situations, the vehicle's auto stop-start system engages and turns the engine off. When the brake peddle is disengaged and the engine is supposed to start, the engine fails to restart. There are some errors on the dashboard but nothing was captured on the vehicle computer when I took it into the dealership. When the engine won't restart it takes a minute or two of blocking traffic before the engine will start up. I have to turn off the vehicle and then restart sitting in the lane hoping none will crash into me. I have also taken the vehicle into the dealership numerous time to no avail.

On 6/11/22, while driving on I-94 in downtown Chicago in heavy traffic the vehicle engine turned off as part of the auto shut off/on feature. The vehicle would not start button. back up and was stranded in the middle lane. The engine would not start back up, even after putting in park, pressing the brake and holding the start button. After 10 minutes or so I was able to get the vehicle re-started by pressing the brake and holding the start button for 10 seconds. Totally an unsafe situation being in the middle lane in downtown Chicago! This has happened at least 7-10 times previously.

On 11/29/21, 1 block from home, the engine started making a very loud knocking noise. I was able to turn around and drive back home but no faster than 20 MPH. After having the car towed to Schlossmann Honda, the diagnosis was: Full engine seizure, cylinder 3 connecting rod broken, piston damaged bank 1 cylinder head, metal contamination in bank 2 cylinder head, scoring on bank 2 camshaft and cam journals. Replaced short block assembly and both cylinder assemblies. This happened at 101,587 miles, which was 1,587 miles after extended warranty expired. Repair was not covered but after pushing with Honda Corp, they agreed to charge me an $8,000 deductible for the repair.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping the vehicle and then attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle restarted however, there was a delay in the proper functionality of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the mechanic found no failure with the vehicle. The contact stated that an unknown part of the instrument panel was replaced however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted or notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

Stop-start fuel saving system don't work properly.

The auto engine restart does not always engage when pressing on the accelerator after a stop. When it happens, it takes about 30 seconds and several pushes of the ignition button for the engine to restart. I have been stranded in the middle of a busy intersection waiting to turn left with my kids in my vehicle, vulnerable to a broadside hit as the light has turned. I have not taken it in because the problem is not easily reproducible, and I don’t have time for them to give me the run around. The battery is not original; it was replaced in 2020. I disengage the auto stop/restart system with the button each time I turn on the vehicle.

Unknown. Background: Driving vehicle and engine warning came on. Looked up code and it was due to injector failure. Dealership changed injectors and reprogrammed. Now vehicle gets nowhere the gas mileage and the start/stop has stopped. That doesn't bother me as bad due to it shut off at light one day and would not start back for about a min. Then started and went it's way.

While at a stop light, with the engine "Auto Start/Stop" switch engaged, I released my foot from the brake, and the car died. I was totally confused as to what occurred. After a minute or two I was able to restart the car. I was very concerned about being re-ended as when the light changed to green is when the car died. I had no advance warning of a problem, and it just died unexpectedly as I released my foot from the break. No lights on the dash either. I notified my dealer, who had never heard of this happening, and said when I can, please bring it in. In as much as the incident occurred in May 2022, and hadn't happened since, I did not take my car into the dealer. I can take my car in at any time to be examined.

There have been two instances of the vehicle failing to restart after a complete stop at a stop light. In these situations, the vehicle's auto stop-start system engages and turns the engine off. When the brake peddle is disengaged and the engine is supposed to start, the engine fails to restart. There are some errors on the dashboard but nothing was captured on the vehicle computer when I took it into the dealership. When the engine won't restart it takes a minute or two of blocking traffic before the engine will start up.

The vehicle’s Auto Stop/Start feature routinely fails to restart the engine when releasing the brake, turning the steering wheel, or selecting Park. In order to start the vehicle, it must be placed into Park, turned off, and then turned back on by holding the Start button. This has worked on most occasions (approx 90% of occasions thus far); other times a jump start was required. Attempts to resolve from Honda have required several purchases of a new battery and denial of there being a larger issue. There is no indication or warning that the feature has failed until attempting to resume driving (or the vehicle attempts to restart itself based on the vehicle’s self-monitored parameters). The failure to start leaves the vehicle stuck in traffic risking collision and/or personal injury as a result.

The problem has happened at-least 5 times won’t restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or intersection with the stop-start feature in use.Brought to Honda dealership and they stated the do not see a problem. This is a safety problem that needs to be addressed. It stopped completely when i was in traffic also almost caused an accident.

If I forget to turn the auto idol off my car shuts down when stopped and won't restart. This has been going on for years and when I tell the Honda service to check it out they find nothing wrong and tell me this is normal. I know this can't be normal as it's a safety hazard. I fear for my life when this happens as I am afraid a car will drive into me until I can get my car started again. It's very stressful and I have just dealt with it as I have not been able to afford to get a new car. I recently heard this safety problem has been recognized. I should have sent this in much sooner but when my Honda service tells me this is normal I didn't think there was anything I could do. I can't enter a date below because this is an ongoing issue.

Start-stop failure on Honda Pilot. When this feature is in use, car will shut off completely and has happened at intersections which creates a danger.

I have been having trouble with the auto-engine idle/restart feature for over 2years! (I saw this is a current investigation) I reported the problem to my local dealer at time of routine maintenance visit ~2yrs ago and (without driving it except from the garage to the customer driveway) they said “there’s no problem, looks fine”. I now try to remember to disengage that feature as soon as I turn on the car, but when I forget I stall out at red lights. It’s always been a design flaw that you can’t just turn off the feature! I’ve never had to be jumped off but it does block up traffic for a minute to have to restart the car. This same vehicle also had the failed fuel injectors at ~35k miles, starting almost a year before the official recall, and it took over 6 mos to diagnose that problem through multiple various dealerships and service stations. This 2016 model with the first generation of the Honda tech package has been a hot mess! (The lateral collision sensors are also set too wide and the car will abruptly break for cars in turn lanes or driveways adjacent to your lane. I reported this to the dealership within the first year as well)

Auto/start stop function causes car engine to shut down completely. Car will not be able to start again until battery is jump started again. Dashboard will display “engine fail” error message. Battery has been changed but still have this problem. This has happened multiple times over the years I have this car. Dealership has not been able to fix problem. I am afraid to get stranded so I will have to manually turn off auto start/stop every single time I start the engine.

The engine in my vehicle fails to restart after coming to a complete stop. My car stalls out and can take several attempts to try to restart the car. This has been very dangerous. It can occur whether I'm stuck in traffic on a major highways or even just at a stop sign. It always occurs when the start/stop function is engaged. I have taken the car to the dealer multiple times to deal with this issue and even tried to get the start stop function removed. Unfortunately, they have never been able to fix the problem.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the AutoStart function failed to engage temporarily when attempting to drive from a complete stop. However, the AutoStart feature was designed to engage automatically while depressing the accelerator pedal. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, where it was diagnosed that no issues were found. However, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP function had failed. The vehicle would suddenly stall and shut off. The contact stated that the failure recurred at various speeds and also while the vehicle was idling. The vehicle would also shake and jerk. The contact would restart the vehicle and turn off the Auto START/STOP function. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000.

This car has feature to turn off engine while stopped at stoplight to conserve fuel when brake pedal is engaged. On multiple occasions when the brake pedal is released the car fails to restart engine and the engine and car “turns off” entirely. Sometimes I can restart car by pressing ignition button but other times it take up to several minutes for the car to restart. Very dangerous while in traffics.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 50-55 MPH, the vehicle started jerking. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact depressed the brake pedal and continued driving at slower speeds. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The contact also stated that the vehicle lost motive power while reversing. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was an oil leak. The oil pan, rear main seal, the engine mount, the crankshaft speed sensor, the spark plugs and the transmission mount were replaced. The contact stated that other unknown repairs were completed. However, the failure persisted. Additionally, the contact stated that the hood of the vehicle would fail to remain open as needed and would close independently. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The contact also stated that she smelled a strong gasoline odor inside the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the Auto START/STOP fuel-saving feature malfunctioned and the vehicle would not immediately restart after lifting off the brake pedal. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure and no service was performed. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 22,000.

I recently saw an article that NHTSA is investigating Honda vehicles 2016-2019 regarding the idle stop/restart of the car and want to corroborate that this issue does exist. My husband and I bought a 2016 Honda Pilot Elite in late July of 2019. We believe we are the second owners of the vehicle. All was fine except for occasionally, the idle stop/restart feature would not work: the car would cut off at a red light, but when taking my foot off the brake and expecting a restart, you would see and hear all of the electrical turn off--radio, a/c, etc. and sometimes the car would not restart. I would have to wait 30 seconds or so, then restart the car as normal. The most harrowing experience with this happened on a six-lane highway where I was the last in line at a red light. The light turned green, all cars accelerated and left, but the idle stop did not restart, the car cut off completely, and it would not restart at all. I had to wait for a minute or two to re-try several times. This was a 55mph highway, I was in the middle lane completely stalled out with no other cars around me, and my children were in the car with me. I was afraid someone would come barreling along at the speed limit and hit us. We took the car in to our local Honda dealership on 11/21/19 and still have the paperwork, which reads "BMS no supplying proper voltage for auto stop function to operate properly", "Install new battery management sensor", "Battery test bad" and "replaced battery". We all figured it w