2018 Honda Pilot complaints

Emissions system problem

When the vehicle is turned off, the lights panel will flicker. You can hear the relays clicking behind the panel. The headlights will come on. The car alarm will go off at random. On average 7-10/per day. I’ve taken the vehicle to the dealer and there appears to be a back order of the part needed to fix the issue.

Good afternoon, I would like to bring an issue to your attention and file a complaint on Honda Motor Company. Last week, I scheduled an appointment in the Service Department at Russell and Smith Honda to diagnose my 2018 Honda Pilot. My vehicle jerks when driving at a low speed. Russell and Smith diagnosis was a transmission oil flush and a system update with "recommendations to replace the battery and spark plugs" ; total charges to fix the problem was roughly $365 additional to the $110 that I paid for the diagnosis. That same day, I picked up my vehicle from Russell and Smith Honda and refused to pay because its a 2018 truck that I shouldn't be dealing with a transmission problem. As I was driving the truck back home, it started to turn off automatically and an engine light alert would turn on. The truck would start working after turning it back on. Two days after, I took it back to Russell and Smith Honda and advised them of the truck shutting down and I was notified to pay another $100 for a diagnosis which I refused to pay since it was recently diagnosed two days ago. This is putting my life at risk on the streets. The employee who assisted me went inside to ask a mechanic on duty and came back to notify me that I do need to pay for another diagnosis to determine whats wrong. I refused to pay and left the dealership. I called Honda Motor Company on 4/10/23 to advise them of the problem and they created a case #13752705 to further investigate and I advised them if not I

Emissions light comes on due to a faulty Fuel Injector and Catalytic Converter. This continues to show up in multiple forums when it comes to this problem.

I was driving 55 miles per hour on a highway when I intended to press the hazard button to illuminate my hazard lights, but instead accidently pressed the ignition button. When I pressed the ignition button the car turned off while going 55 miles per hour. I lost all power including steering. I was able to muscle the car off an exit ramp and put it in neutral to press the brake and restart the vehicle while moving on the ramp. This could have been a catastophic event for me and my daughter and others driving along with us one the highway. I have not tried to reproduce this event as it would put me in an unsafe situation. The vehicle has not been inspected. I plan to do this next week at the dealership. No warning from the vehicle occurred when the event occurred. No warning lamps or messages or symptoms.

Vehicle auto start/stop feature actually shuts the car off (at times) and requires me to put the car in part and go through the car startup process. This causes issues when you’re at a green light. I have taken the car to Honda and so far they’ve performed a software update, replaced the starter, and tuned the valves.

Our 2018 Honda Pilot Touring has had auto idle stop issues from the moment we purchased this vehicle. We have addressed this safety concern with multiple Honda service centers and were repeatedly told this is how the car was designed. The auto idle stop function stalls every time the vehicle is stopped at an intersection and fails to automatically restart the engine as expected. Instead of the engine starting up again after take foot off the brake and press the gas pedal, the car stalls completely and have to put the car in park, press the brake pedal and push the start button to get it on again. Sometimes have to try several times before car restarts. This has been a major safety concern for our family and Honda refuses to fix it.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated, followed by an emissions message. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the fuel injector kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer again and the front catalytic converter was replaced, but the failure reoccurred. The fuel sensors were also replaced, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 169,187.

While traveling at highway speed there was what sounded like an explosion and first thought was it was a blown tire, but upon stopping to inspect it was discovered that the sunroof had exploded, leaving a large gaping hole across it. There had been no warning signs and there was no previous known damage to sunroof. I was lucky that the sun shade had been closed at the time or there would have been the real risk of the interior passenger compartment being peppered with flying glass shards, posing a danger to all 6 occupants, including 4 minor children, and especially to the front passenger and driver sitting directly underneath the sunroof who would have been at greater risk of injury with the very real possibility of the driver losing control of the vehicle.

Powertrain: The transmission has problems engaging, where I have had several near misses due tot he car not moving in the delay of the transmission engaging. This has been going on for some time and the dealer tells me there is nothing wrong, that it is a special transmission and I need to get used to the shifting mode. I have 36,300 miles and have complained several times over the past five years, this is a real safety issue since the car will not move and when it dose it lunges forcefully. Idle shut-off: the engine shuts off and will not restart, it has also shut-off on the freeway at random times.

On several occasions so far, when stopped with the idle stop system engaged, the brake depressed and at a full stop, the engine shut down, as expected, but failed to restart once the brake pedal was released.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while approaching a stop, the contact attempted to accelerate however, there was a delay in responding. The contact stated that after a while the vehicle accelerated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who admitted knowledge of similar failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 10,000. The consumer stated the vehicle now has 52k and still exhibits the 2-3 second hesitation when depressing the accelerator. The contact stated the vehicle has started to roll backwards on a hill. The vehicle has just less than 60k miles and has always been serviced by a dealership.

The engine light appreared with this note on my dashboard, emission system problem. My Pilot is a 2018 with 41K miles. The engine light appeared 2/12/2023. I took it to my local auto mechanic but they couldn't fix the issue without performing a deep diagnostic testing that last 2 to 3 hours long and it would cost more than $500 including the parts to repair it. The mechanic suggested to take my car to the Honda dealer as this is common issue with this vechicle. I'm reading online from owners from vechiclehistory.com with this same issue and the owners all have the same issue. Honda needs to recall these Pilots and repair the issue at Honda's expense.

Extreme vibration from the high pressure fuel line due to premature failure of the high pressure fuel pump. Was told that I need to replace everything going to the high pressure fuel pump when I replace the pump because of the risk of fire. Honda is aware of this issue as they have issued a 16-013 service bulletin and has passed the cost of a design flaw down to the consumer knowing the line could rupture and catch the vehicle on fire. Honda says oops well it's over 60k miles and your past the warranty. The vibration from acceleration is so loud and the fuel line shakes freely back and forth within 3 inch span of movement. It won't let me upload a video. There are 1000s of cars with the issue in the forums and it should be a recall due to the possibility of fuel line rupture.

Unknown. I was using cruise control maintaining approx 60mph. The car in front of me started to slow and I tapped the brake to disengage cruise control. The car lunged forward and the accelerator went towards the floor. I tried to turn the car off and the push button did not respond. As my speed increased I narrowly missed rear ending cars in front of me as I swerved in and out of lanes, with the brake pedal not responding. I drove into the dirt medium of the road on the left and pushed the shift into park and the car eventually slowed to a stop. I was very shook up and sat in this dangerous area until I was calm enough to start the car and see if I could get across the highway to an exit. I tried turning the car off twice before attempting this to see if I could get it to respond. Both times it responded and the light on the dash indicated to put it into Park. I made it across the highway to an exit where I drove around a parking lot for 1/2 hr turning the car on & off to see if it was safe to get it home. I did not touch cruise control again. It was nothing short of a miracle that I didn’t kill anyone on the road or myself.

The car has an automatic engine shut off when the car comes to a complete stop (brake pushed fully). Over the course of a month, the car will stop and start correctly many times, however 5-7 times a month the engine will not come back on...the lights and radio will all be on and the engine will not come on. This requires me to put the car in park, turn the car completely off, restart the car all while the light is green and cars are behind ready to go. The battery is fine. There is an issue with the automatic system. Unfortunately Honda Dealership has not been helpful and is more interested in charging extra money. I have read this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

When driving and slowing down or stopping at stop to which the auto/off engages, the vehicle turns all the way off. I cannot move the car and have to try several times to power the vehicle down and disengage the auto off function. It has happened several times and I just took it to Gillman Honda where they said it is probably just the battery but my battery has been fine.

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.

Vehicle engine shutdown while at full stop and does not turn on or has difficulties turning back on. This happens sporadically and only happens at stops such as red lights, stop signs, and or stop and go traffic.

He auto start/stop is not working for my 2018 Honda Pilot Elite. The vehicle does not start in the middle of the traffic when it stops. I've stuck stuck multiple times and now for last 1 year I have to force switch off that feature every time I drive the car.

The problem began in May this year and has gotten worse over time. The idle engine stop does not always work properly. After driving for 10-15 minutes in stop and go traffic, when the brake is released, a popping noise or click is heard and the electronics (radio, AC, etc.) go off momentarily. When the idle engine stop is working properly, there is no noise and the radio, etc. are not interrupted. After several additional miles of driving, the noise or click becomes louder and the engine will not restart. I have to put the car in park and restart the engine. This is a safety issue in that my vehicle blocks traffic and given the number of aggressive drivers today, I am concerned someone could react in an inappropriate manner. Now, whenever I begin to hear the noise, I am forced to manually turn off the idle-stop feature. Honda responded to my concern by saying they have no "open campaigns" on the issue and for meeting to see the dealer. In the past the dealer says they have never heard of this problem and said they could not do anything. I saw online there are multiple others with the same problem and the NHTSA has opened an investigation as of June 2022. I am very disappointed that Honda US does not seem to be addressing the problem so I am adding my complaint to the NHTSA investigation. I look forward to hearing what can be done to alleviate the problem. Thank you, Dan

When the idle stop feature is active the vehicle can stop, ceasing all functions, including steering and engine. The entire electrical system does not function, and the vehicle cannot be restarted. In order to restart the vehicle you are required to jumpstart the vehicle. This issue was not common during early ownership of vehicle, but has become more frequent with age. This is a safety issue as the vehicle can become inoperable in busy intersections.

When stopping at a traffic light the engine auto stop/start engages, but then the engine will not power back on when I release the brake. I have to completely restart the engine, causing a safety concern with other vehicles behind me. This has been ongoing for the last 6 months or so, and it seems to be getting worse. Sometimes the car will turn off mid intersection and we will be stuck there for 10-30 seconds while I try to get the car back on and going again. It is a very dangerous hazard and Honda denies there being an issue. After reading online it seems that many people are having a similar problem.

When stopping at a traffic light the engine auto stop/start engages, but then the engine will not power back on when I release the brake. I have to completely restart the engine, causing a safety concern with other vehicles behind me. This just started in December 2022 and seems to occur daily.

I have, on several occasions, been driving my vehicle and when I stop and try to start again the engine fails to start again. This most recently happened when I got off the highway and had to stop suddenly and then had difficulty getting my car started back up in almost the middle of the intersection. This could have ended up being a really dangerous situation. This has occurred now several times. I brought my car in because I was concerned about it and they just told me that I would need to replace the battery. The battery worked fine except for this, so I am unsure why they aren't helping us understand this all better. They did confirm the issue was happening and said that they have seen it a lot. Lots of warning lots would pop on and back off when this happened.

Upon stopping for a red light, the car turned off the engine and is supposed to restart when the brake is released. However my car stalled out and wouldn't auto start. After 20 seconds it then prompted to restart the car. This was on a busy road and I was lucky no one rear-ended me or got into an accident themselves while trying to avoid my car that should have been moving with traffic but was just sitting idle at a green light. I called the Honda dealership and they weren't alarmed by this or even interested in looking at the car. The told me to select the "disable auto stop" when starting the car so the engine won't idle. This is OK as a short-term solution but remembering this every time we start the car isn't a sufficient solution. On instances when I forgot, the car stalls out, and now occurs at least once a week. I'm now resorted to adding a post-it note to remind myself (and anyone else that uses me car) to turn the auto stop off. This isn't practical solution for a defective, default feature that Honda added to their cars. There needs to be a permanent override for this unnecessary feature that compromises safety, not only for the vehicle occupants but for those trying to avoid the stalled vehicle.

Today my 2018 Pilot EX-L suddenly started displaying these warnings: - Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) Problem - Hill Start Assist Problem - Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) Problem - Power Steering System (EPS) Problem Looking at Honda Pilot Forums, it seems like it is a very common problem and has to do with Fuel Injectors as described by: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10187289-0001.pdf Many people have complained of this issue, here is one such blog of many many more: https://www.piloteers.org/threads/multiple-warning-lights.127665/ This should be a recall and not just an extension of warranty which shifts the burden of proof to the consumer. Please help Honda honor this warranty for my 4 year old pilot with only 47,463 miles on it.

On 8/15/22 I was driving my honda pilot. I came to a stop and when I proceeded to accelerate the car got stuck in low gear and would not pick up speed. It made a strange sound and I could feel a hard bang and it kept getting stuck in low gear. I took the car to the dealer immediately and was told the 5th gear pressure switch had failed. The transmission has a 60000 mile warranty but I was told this part was not under warranty since even though it controls the transmission it is not part of it. This is a very dangerous situation because if I was trying to accelerate to go on a freeway the car would not have been able to pick up speed and I could have been in an accident. Honda has not helped me at all even though I filed a complaint with them and they only offered me a $300 voucher instead of covering a known defect in their vehicle. I feel this car should be recalled for this defect.

Problem with start-stop system. Engine shuts off when vehicle is stopped but engine does not restart at times. Dealership could not find a problem and said they’ve never heard of it happening to anyone else, BUT a simple online search shows that it is a problem and NHTSA has an open investigation. VERY DANGEROUS when the vehicle doesn’t restart at a stop light or in stop and go traffic. Honda needs to step up and rectify immediately!

Numerous restart issues when car in in idle mode stopped at a traffic light or stop sign. Car does not idle but completely powers off. I'm required to place car into "park", turn on power, shift to drive in order to accelerate

On at least three occasions after being stopped at a light the engine suddenly died (not simply auto idle stop). After putting in park and shutting off ignition (button start) and waiting some time the vehicle could be restarted. Battery is good. Fuel is good. Injectors already replaced. Dangerous as vehicle may be unexpectedly on powered while in traffic

Car does not turn on after stopping at a red light with auto start/off on. Turns on after being jump started. Also windows automatically come down without pressing any buttons after opening or turning off car. Dealer reports no issues. Battery has been changed with no solution. Car is inoperable with concern for pedestrian safety and personal safety.

I was stopped at a red light, the engine cycled down because of the environmentally friendly option. My foot was on the break. The transmission shifted to neutral and turned orange. I could not get it to shift back to Drive. I had to turn the car off and restart it. At that point I was able to put it in drive and move the car. This was very dangerous because I was on a busy highway and could have been rear ended by a driver not noticing the car was stopped and off.

Car won’t start after auto stop engages at red lights. I was on a busy road at a red light when my car wouldn’t restart. I had to sit a few embarrassing minutes (felt longer) turning the car off and on until it finally restarted. I noticed the issue occurred a few months ago as well, but because it only happened once I wasn’t concerned. This time was on a very busy road with cars coming 45mph towards me. Since the first incident, I did notice when it auto starts 9/10 times it turns my radio off and my cabin lights cut on then off (as if I’m starting the whole car again). Sometimes it will flash lights on the dash as well but I cannot recall which ones (I know battery is one). I try to remember to turn the feature off every time I get in my car, because you can’t turn it off and leave it off.

I was driving on a city street, during traffic I came to a complete stop and the car turned off the engine automatically by the idle-stop feature. When traffic was moving, I lifted my foot off the brake pedal expecting the engine turn back on and move forward but the engine never started and I tried to start the engine manually stepping on the brake and press the Engine Start button but in didn't work either, all the while I could have easily gotten rear-ended by driver behind me. Luckily other drivers were paying attention but nonetheless I was pressure to move my car. After struggling for 5 minutes, I finally manage to restart the engine again. I am the original owner and service my car at the dealer and the car only have 39160 miles on it. This problem happened before but is happening more often now, which is causing more safety concerns for me.

At 50,000 miles the car started to make a clanking noise. The car was checked no issued were found. at 60,000 oil change was preformed vehicle was checked no issued were found. At 63,000 the following lights came on at once: check engine, TSA, Hill start problem. Took the car again to get checked and now they have stated the car needs a new engine no lights had previously came on.

My 2018 Pilot has started to stall when the auto start-stop is engaged. It has happened 3 times at busy intersections creating a dangerous situation. It doesn't look like this issue has been recalled, but I have seen hundreds of posts regarding the same issue.

Auto engine on/off option- when on and at a stop the whole vehicle shuts down I have to hold brakes down press engine on/off to correctly shut it down the start the vehicle

The auto off/on is dangerous. Multiple time the car does not turn back on and everything turns off. A few times the car started to roll backwards, when on a hill and I took my foot of the break. The car didn't start, I had to reapply the break and push the start button again.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while at a stop light and attempting to accelerate the vehicle stalled with an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for another issue and the contact inquired about the failure. The contact was informed that the idle Start/Stop system sensor might need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated there was a Technical Service Bulletin for the failure however, the vehicle was not included. The failure mileage was 60,000.

The vehicle routinely shuts off at intersections and is unable to restart. This often causes traffic to back up behind the vehicle and vehicles around us having to make sudden stops. This occurs during normal driving conditions about 3 times/month. It seems to be attributed to the automatic shut-off feature but does not restart as it should when operating properly.

On September 27, 2022 the vehicle start/stop failed at Georgetown Texas highway 195/I35 overpass stop light. When the light changed the vehicle started to move forward then stalled in the left lane. I engaged the emergency flashers, stopped the vehicle, put it in park and proceeded to restart the vehicle. During this event, there were several near misses including a gravel truck. I believe a review of service orders will conclude the vehicle’s engine start/stop feature has been problematic for a few years.

The engine stop feature did not allow the car to restart at multiple stops. I was not able to immediately restart the car. It did restart after some time. This was concerning, since I was stuck on the middle of an intersection. There are no problems if we immediately disable this feature when starting the car.

Vehicle will randomly stall after the auto stop-start has kicked in. Car starts then stalls immediately in the middle of an intersection. Shift selector would switch to neutral when this happened requiring the driver to shift into drive even further delaying the ability to get out of traffic. Have since had to replace the shifter switch (PRNDL) to the tune of $750 and have the same random problem. My wife wants to get rid of this car as she afraid to drive it.

Unknown component or system malfunction. There is sometimes a delay in acceleration when I press on the gas. Most of the time it's when I'm accelerating from a stop but can happen at any time. Once I press the gas and the car doesn't accelerate for about 2or 3 second I'll then have a surge of acceleration. This is very dangerous when I'm trying to pull out in to traffic or turn at a light as I end up dead stopped with oncoming traffic. I did take my SUV to be seen at a dealership but they could not reproduce the problem, someone needs to drive the car longer than 10 min to try and reproduce issue. Stop and go traffic is the best way to try and reproduce this issue. This issue began soon after purchasing in 2019

The auto stop and start has almost caused multiple accidents. When I remove my foot from the break the vehicle will not always start. Sometimes it dies and I must restart it and sometimes the vehicle rolls backwards before it starts.

On multiple occasions the idle stop feature will engage and upon re-engage it will stall my vehicle. When I place the vehicle in park, press the brake and press the ignition start, nothing happens. Upon multiple attempts to restart the car it will either do nothing or making a chug without restarting. Continuing my attempts to restart the vehicle it will finally restart. During these times I will be stalled at a stop sign or traffic light with impatient drivers going around me. All the dashboard lights come on. I have taken it to the dealership, they stated they couldn’t duplicate the problem. This is unsafe for motorists or pedestrians. If this happens while I'm in an intersection or other location with moving traffic it could be very unsafe for myself, other motorists and/or pedestrians.

On multiple occasions the idle stop feature will engage and upon re-engage it will stall my vehicle. When I place the vehicle in park, press the brake and press the ignition start, nothing happens. Upon multiple attempts to restart the car it will either do nothing or making a chug without restarting. Continuing my attempts to restart the vehicle it will finally restart. During these times I will be stalled at a stop sign or traffic light with impatient drivers going around me which I believe is unsafe for motorists or pedestrians. If this happens while I'm in an intersection or other location with moving traffic it could be very unsafe for myself, other motorists and/or pedestrians.

Was in the middle of an intersection and pressed the button to turn off Engine Idle Mode as I have had instances where it was very slow to go when this mode is on and it delays getting out of the way of other drivers. When I pressed the Idle Off button - the car “shut down” and went into neutral. I could not get it out of neutral. Pressed D, R, P. Multiple times. Didn’t work. Had to press the turn off car button twice to turn off car then it finally restarted. I was stranded in the intersection and almost got hit by several cars. Once it started I pulled into a gas station and the radio stopped working. I turned off the car and restarted. Then the engine wasn’t shifting properly. Shut off the car again and went to the dealer. Dealer ran diagnostics and couldn’t find a problem. Checked the battery and all other items - no issues. Somebody is going to get killed and now I’m scared to drive my car.

Auto start/stop failure - Vehicle stops, engine shuts off as usual. however, when brake is released the engine does not start back up. It then needs to be put in park and takes several takes to start again.