2020 Honda Pilot complaints

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.

The vehicle pulls hard to the right when the driver lets go of the steering wheel for a few sseconds. this happens with LKA on or off. This happens no matter which lane is being driven in or what speed. The alignment has been verified 4 different times at both an independent mechanic and Honda dealer. Honda is unwilling or unable to remedy the situation. New tores did not fix the pull, rotation did not correct it. They basically told us there was nothing wrong with the car. This is dangerous because the car will end up in the ditch if the driver is incapacitated or distracted for just a few seconds. This is an expensive vehicle that we were confident was safe. Our oldest will be driving this car in a few short weeks. Not sure we feel safe letting him.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the message "Brake" was displayed, and the vehicle shuddered while there was no vehicles or objects in front of the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at various speeds with the Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control Mode activated, the collision mitigation braking system (CMBS) engaged abruptly while there were no vehicles or objects in front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, but the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer contacted the manufacturer, and a Honda engineer was sent to assist the dealer in diagnosing the vehicle; however, the engineer could not determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the Forward Collision Avoidance system malfunctioned due to the positioning of the Forward Collision Avoidance sensor in the front grille of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 100.

Vehicle suddenly looses power/shuts off at highway speed without warning. Vehicle starts and runs normally after incident. This incident has happened at speeds from 5 - 50 mph. Dealer was unable to retrieve any error codes. This stalling problem has occurred 7 times over the last 12 months.

In the third row seating, on the driver side, the seat belt buckle latch does not catch or secure the buckle.

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

When driving, the driver and passenger side mirrors shake impairing the driver visibility. On many occasions it has become dangerous to see in the driver’s mirror because the images look distorted. I checked with Honda and they said only certain models have a recall on the same mirror issue.

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.

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.

One six different occasions the vehicle has shut off while sitting at a red light. On four of the occasions I had the auto off but disengaged. When foot removed from brake car shuts down, dash lights up with every indicator light and a message to shift to park and restart. It takes about three minutes with repeated attempts to engage park to get the vehicle to restart. Dealer service has performed a “computer update” that was suppose to fix. Incident still occurring, more frequently. Taking car back to dealer again.

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

On multiple occasions the FOB randomly locks the car. Last time this happened on this past Friday it was hot outside and I had to frantically break out the window to get my baby out.

Sunroof exploded without warning while driving on the highway at 75mph. The explosion was extremely loud and the scare could have caused me to cause an accident with other cars nearby. I had two little children with me in the car. Vehicle has been sitting at the dealership, with not ETA of part due to backorder.

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.

There is a crackling/popping noise coming through the speakers and then a sudden loud noise and the audio system will shut off. The warning sounds from the safety features also stop working when the loud noise happens. The noise is quite shocking when you are driving. The audio system has to be restarted to work again.

I brought the vehicle in on March 23, 2023, the side view mirror has seemed to shake for some time, we were told we just needed a new mirror and at $400, decided to not immediately repair, approximately 2 weeks later I went to the car wash and the sideview mirror came out and smashed against my window. I am told my vehicle is not part of the recall, but I had mentioned the mirror seeming to be not secure in the past.

While driving on a highway, my sunroof exploded. There were no other vehicles near me and nothing hit the vehicle or sunroof. Shards of glass came loose from the vehicle thankfully my sunshade was closed, or the glass would have entered the cabin.

There is an active safety recall for the passenger side view mirrors due to risk of mirrors detaching. I brought my vehicle in to have the recall addressed and the mirror replaced and the mirror that it was replaced with is defective. The images are warped as if you are looking in a fun mirror. It is very dizzying/distracting and I am concerned that is it an extreme safety hazard while driving. The service manager at Honda had told me that he has had multiple customers complain about the replacement mirrors and he is being told by Honda there is nothing that can be done about it. I am extremely concerned about the safety of myself and my small children while driving this vehicle with this faulty mirror. I have attached images that show the distortion of the mirror in still images however, it is MUCH worse while the vehicle is in motion.

From the time we purchased the vehicle, the radio suffered from popping and crackling in the speaker. It was repaired but the problem persisted. Starting this year, the center console that controls the radio as well the back up camera will shut down with the following failure "Network Communication Lost, MOST Net Off". This results in unexpected use of our rear back up camera as well as the additional features the center console provides. In total, Honda has attempted to repair this vehicle 4 times and have not been successful. My concern is if the rear camera fails as I am backing out of a parking spot, I do fear in that moment I could hit another vehicle or pedestrian.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated with a faint smell of a gasoline odor. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel injectors and joint pipe needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The contact believed that the vehicle was included in an unknown recall. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

Purchased the vehicle in Salisbury, MD, now live in Hagerstown, MD. Between the dealer purchased from (Pohanka Honda) and the dealer where we live (Hagerstown Honda) I can not get the recall corrected. One dealer tells me to call the other then the other dealer tells me to call the first dealer. I’ve tried and tried to get this resolved with no satisfaction.

When driving on ice conditions coating to a stop, my newly perchased used vehicle jerked, transmission stuck on downshifts, so bad it started the vehicle into a slide until antilock breaks engaged while iwasnt breaking. Sometimes the transmission pushes on downshifts on dry ground while breaking. Took it to dealer and they said all normal. This could have caused an accident if other vehicles were nearby.

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.

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.

My Honda Pilot when in the start/stop idle mode is completely stalling at stop lights. in these cases, I’m having to put the car in park, hit the button to turn it off, turn it back on, which takes up to 30 seconds and then I’m able to put it in drive. I can turn off the automatic idle, but it has to be done every time I get in and turn it on so it’s easy to forget. This is a safety concern for myself, my children, my spouse, and others on the road

My 2020 Honda Pilot Touring was not starting the engine back up after stopping at the traffic light and having the start/stop system stop the engine. I took my car to the dealer, and they disabled the start/stop system. This temporarily resolved the issue. But if a recall is issued for this problem, I’d like to have my start/stop system fixed, since it is part of the emissions system. Thanks, Carlos.

We parked the vehicle in a hospital parking structure in order to meet an appointment at the hospital. We were in the hospital for about an hour or so when we headed back to the vehicle in the parking garage. We were stopped from getting there because of police and fire trucks. Then we got a call from the local police on our cell phone, telling us that our vehicle was on fire. We couldn't get into the parking structure because no one was allowed, but we did get to talk to the police and some fire personnel. Apparently, the parking structure had its own sprinkler system which was able to keep the fire under control until fire trucks and personnel arrived. The vehicle was a total loss, as per the insurance appraiser and our insurance company.

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.

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.

Events happened about 5 times in 3weeks , car will flash brake , brake brake and steering wheel will shake for no reason

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.

The car was stopped at a light. The idle feature kicked in and when foot off brake to go car stalled and turned off. Almost caused an accident because it was on a road that speed limit is 60 mph. Car behind me didn’t realize I was unable to go and had to quickly swerve. The car would restart for about 3 minutes.

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

While driving with auto-idle on the car, I stopped at the red light on the left lane by stepping on the break and Auto-idle comes on and the engine stopped while continue to step on the break. When the green lights comes back on, I release the break, but the car completely shut down and require me to power off the car completely and push the start button on the car again. It took a few tries for the car to start. All while there were trucks passing by and cars behind me are honking at me for stopping at a Green light, by the time I got the car to start again, the light turned RED again. I feel like it is very dangerous for me as all the cars behind had to go around me to continue their way, as result, accidents can easily cause because cars on the right side are driving faster than the left lane and cars in the left lane had to move to the right lane in order to continue. With more blind spots on the right of all cars, it is more dangerous to shift lanes where right lane are going faster.

1675 miles- rear taillight including brake light failure 10,094 miles- rear differential oil stain noted 23028 miles- front passenger seat motor and seat frame failure 23258 miles- AC compressor failure 24090- very leaky rear differential noted

Issue with auto start-stop. Upon being stopped at a light, the auto start did not reengage and upon starting back up again the radio defaulted to an AM station and would not allow us to change anything.

I just bought this vehicle yesterday. While driving it home the front collision breaking system came on twice. There were no other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, or objects on the road. On both occasions it was only momentary. One time the instance was on a curve, the other was on a straight-a-way. This happened on a 2 lane (one in each direction) road. I will be reaching out to the Ford dealership where it was purchased along with Honda.

The radio and other components of the "mostbus network" fail constantly (radio, rear entertainment and Blu-ray drive, in dash meter, amplifier). The rear view camera frequently fails to activate when switched to reverse gear. The car will also frequently give a forward collision warning and occasionally slam on the brakes even where there are no other cars in sight. Honda has been unable to fix these issues, and says that even after 2.5 years of owning the vehicle and 2.5 years of attempting to have it repaired, that they haven't exhausted all of their options yet.

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

The engine completely shut down in the middle of the road after driving with auto Idle ON after stopping due to traffic. The car's engine would not restart. I had to shut down the car completely to have engine on again. (push the start/stop button to shut it down, and then to start it again). This was during a busy traffic and resulted in cars cutting in to my lane when I had to wait for the car to restart. This has happen a few times on the street as well, when stopping for RED light, but the engine does not auto-start again when ready to drive on GREEN light. Note that, this feature of auto-idle come auto start every time the car starts unless you manually turn it off. I feel like this can be dangerous and can result in accidents due to the fact that the car stopped completely while others might expect you to move as the light change/ traffic free up ahead.

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.

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.

Automatic idle engine shut off had been the problem. I will come to a red light or stop sign, the car will do the engine shut off, and it will hesitate to start back up. There have been times that the car has complete shut down and I had to restart it in the middle of traffic. When that happens, it is VERY slow and hesitant to start back up. It is also common for it to restart the car and wipe out the radio and Bluetooth. The radio will turn to static. I have been unable to start my car completely while it has been parked. I have had this looked at multiple time but there is never a solution.

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 auto start/stop feature of the 2020 Honda pilot is defaulted to on. At three times in the last two weeks, at a stop light, the vehicle lost all power, directed me to put the car in Park and restart the vehicle. I had to press the start/stop button several times to get the vehicle to start again.

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.

Frightening experiences with Auto Engine Idle Stop feature. My local mechanic, as well as the dealership where I purchased my brand new 2020 Honda Pilot Elite AWD were unable to address the issue. Have been experiencing electrical failures associated with my AEIS for about a year that have gotten progressively worse. At first, once disengaging from AEIS at a red light (by releasing my foot from the brake pedal) the radio would shut off and switch back on, but to AM radio. What seemed like a few months later, when AEIS was disengaging, my whole dashboard went blank and I received a message to "Shift to Park + restart engine". I have tried to be diligent in turning off AEIS immediately after starting my vehicle, but in the few times I have forgotten, and my AEIS has failed, the dashboard goes blank and the car shifts to neutral (indicated by the red light becoming illuminated around N). My local mechanic looked at this issue in June of 2022, and said that my battery was only holding a 30% charge, so we replaced it. After my most recent Pilot engine electrical failure, I called Honda, and was advised to contact my dealership since I was still covered by the powertrain warranty (<60k miles). To have a vehicle stalled in the middle of the road, once on I75 in stopped traffic in downtown Atlanta, is an OBVIOUS safety hazard. I was trusting HONDA with my family's safety when I purchased my Pilot, but that trust has been lost. Today, November 01, the dealer told me my battery was bad

When stopped at a traffic light my Pilot's engine stops because of the fuel conservation feature of the car. The engine is supposed to restart when I take my foot off the brake. However, 4 or 5 times in the last month the engine did not restart. A message would flash that my car is in neutral (I did not put it in neutral) and that I needed to shift to park. Once I put it in park I have to hit the start/stop button several times to get the engine to restart. The radio becomes inoperable during all of this and even after I eventually get the engine to start again. The radio is inoperable until I drive, park the car, shut it off and restart it. This is a major hazard to me and my family. My car has stalled in city traffic and it takes a few minutes to get it restarted. I'm concerned that this could cause an accident at some point. My Honda dealership is not aware of this problem or how to fix it. I found that there is an open investigation with Honda and the NHTSA. I hope this can be fixed soon.

While driving my 2020 Honda Pilot it jerks very hard when accelerating. It continues to do this when shifting gears. It’s also slow to accelerate and drags with the gears getting stuck until it finally jerks and shifts. I just had the transmission flushed 7k miles early yesterday 10/21 due to Hondas recommendation. I get regular scheduled maintenance and this is the 2nd flush with my car only having 50k miles. Now they say I will need to keep coming back getting repeated flushes at my expense until the fluid is cycled through. My car is driving worse than before the second flush. I’m afraid to drive it on the highway due to these jerks and stalls in shifting because it might freeze up causing a life threatening situation.

The Auto Engine Idle function has been problematic for a while now, causing the engine to stall. It seems to have gotten progressively worse and now happens whenever I forget to disengage the Auto Engine Idle. One time in the spring of 2021, my husband had pulled into the intersection and was waiting for the chance to turn, only to find the engine stall and not respond to anything. It took a good almost two minutes of turning off the engine and trying to push the power button back on. It finally did turn on so we did not need a tow, but it was extremely scary to be in the middle of an intersection with a stalled engine. Subsequently the engine stalled a couple of times, briefly flashing an error message on the dashboard before shifting into Neutral on its own and then indicating to shift into Park. I have had the diagnostic test ($99) done at the Honda dealership (Dublin, OH) and was told that they could not replicate the engine stall and that there were no error records recorded in the engine log. A few times, the engine seemed to hesitate like it was on its way to stalling after being in Auto Idle Engine mode, but would start up when I released the brake. Today the engine stalled again when I was at a red light, briefly displaying an error mode and then shifting into Neutral on its own again. I had to power off the car, and try the engine start push button a few times before it finally powered on. I am constantly worried about the engine stalling, which is not a pleasant ex