2018 Honda Pilot Complaint Log

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

While driving, the transmission would not gear up to any higher gears and could only drive 40mph with 3000+ RPMS. The MIL lights showed "Check Engine," "Emissions System Problem," "Transmission System Problem," and "Blind Spot Info System Problem," all at once. When pressing the "P" button for Park, it did not always want to engage in Park. The engine would sometime stutter on acceleration. The "P" and "D" for Park and Driver on the MIL would constantly blink. This action placed the driver and occupants at risk of injury because of the stutter and slow speeds on the highway. Also, when the "Park" button did not engage, the car was at risk of rolling into person or property. Currently, service has been scheduled for the dealership to diagnose the issue. There were no warning signs prior to all of these warning lights showing up all at once.

I was on a six lane highway at a traffic light. The idle stop engaged while I was sitting for the light to turn green. I released the break and the car didn’t start. I tried to put the car in park and push the start button and the car wouldn’t start. I sat through a couple light cycles in the middle lane with my hazards on. I turned off all accessories and the car did start and I was able to drive off.

Sitting at stoplight with the auto start on (turns off at light to save emissions). light turned green took foot off brake, the car died, had to push the start button a few times before car would turn back on. This has happened to us twice.

The engine engages the auto-idle feature but fails to restart at stopping points in the roadway or at intersections. This leaves the occupants stranded in the roadway in traffic congestion. There were no warning indicator lights on the dashboard before the incident indicating a potential issue.

We are original owners of the vehicle. At busy intersections, including when in the middle of the intersection for a left turn, the car has shot off with the auto-off feature. Upon removing our foot from the brake the truck shut off completely (engine should have restarted). To restart the vehicle we had to ensure we were in park and restart the engine. This catches the driver off guard and creates a panic which is not safe. This has happened about 10 times since owning the vehicle. During my last service appointment I reported the incident, and they checked the battery to ensure it was not a battery related issue. Since that appointment in February we have had this happen ~3-4 times. There is NO OPTION to just disable the auto off. Se we are doing our best to remember to de-activate it every time we start the engine. I'm taking the car in for service again within the next week and will have them recheck the battery.

This has happened to me about 10 times in this vehicle: I am at a stoplight or stopsign and my "Idle-Stop" system in the Honda shuts down my engine and then when my foot comes off the brake it does not restart like it is supposed to leaving me stranded in the middle of traffic with a non moving vehicle. I think this is extremely dangerous and I am scared this will cause a terrible accident if not fixed. The only way the engine restarts is after about 30 seconds to a minute it finally is able to power back on. Please have Honda issue a recall for this issue.

Multiple incidences of vehicle power shutting off unexpectedly including at a stop light in busy major downtown causing a dangerous situation and requiring police assistance. Start will fail unexpectedly requiring a period of time before another attempt or a jump start.

On multiple occasions / almost daily the engine auto shut off kills the engine completely. The vehicle needs to be restarted to get moving. This poses as a significant safety hazard. This delay is going to get someone killed. The engine dies at stop lights, stops signs, off ramps and sitting in traffic. A complaint was made to the Honda dealer on 4 or more occasions with them informing us they can not replicate the issue and there isn’t a safety recall on it yet. This issue has gotten so bad that I am thinking about selling this car do to a safety issue. Honda is usually a trustable brand and stand by their brand, but some reason they will not admit to this reoccurring problem in the Honda Pilots.

The automatic Stop-Start feature has had multiple issues in the last two years on my 2018 Honda Pilot Elite. The lesser issue has resulted in ALL systems turning off when the brake pedal is pushed all the way down. While the usual, expected result is just the engine cutting off, many times the entire electrical system shuts down. On two (seemingly random) cases, however, the car did NOT restart for quite some time. Once was at an interaction, the other was in stop/go traffic in the rain on the highway. Here is where it could have been catastrophic as I could not even turn on my flashers to warn (in low visibility) that I was stopped while all other traffic was flowing. In neither case did I require a jump start and I have never had any reason to blame the battery. Even in the winter, the car starts right up (here in Virginia). My local Honda dealership is claiming that I need a new battery and a software update. I have a claim in to Honda CustomerCare (even have a Case Manager assigned), but I have not heard from them in the last 3 days.

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.

routinely if the auto stop is on the car will stall out when you try to accelerate from a stop. It will completely die, multiple errors will flash on the board. The car will be completely unresponsive. Eventually I have thus far been able to restart the car but it frequently happens at intersections and I am constantly concerned about getting rear ended. The dealership denies there is a problems. I have replaced the car battery and even with a brand new battery the same things happens. Only way to prevent it, is to disengage the idle/stop every single time you enter the car.

On 8 August 2022, 1220 pm Chester, Virginia. I was driving my SUV and I heard a loud boom, I thought it was an back fire from another car. When, arrived home, checked my SUV for any possible damages. I noticed there was a slight budge on the sunroof. I opened the sliding portions of the sunroof and I noticed the entire glass had shattered with a large hole in the middle of the sunroof. I inspected the area and didn’t notice anything that could have shattered the glass. In my opinion, with increasing temperatures, the sunroof glass shattered because extremely hot weather. The outside temperature was 97 Degrees Fahrenheit which the inside temperature was much higher.

Auto start stop function is activated at stop light. Upon releasing the brake to accelerate, the car shuts off completely and am unable to restart vehicle immediately. Requires me to push on/off button a few times to get vehicle back on and running.

Our Honda Pilot began stalling four years after purchasing the vehicle. When the Honda was stopped, the engine shut off but the engine wouldn't automatically restart when the accelerator was pressed. I fortunately was able to get the Honda to restart after a couple tries.

The engine stop start function fails to "start" the truck in traffic when the failure happens 60% of the time you can follow on dash instructions and restart the truck - the remaining 40% it will ONLY restart after you JUMP Start the vehicle with another car. This has left my Wife Stranded 2 times in a busy intersection and we had to get jump started in the busy intersection While in this state we also could NOT put the vehicle in neutral to move it from the intersection trapping it where it was until it was jump started.

The automatic stop/start for the engine is failing. It stops at inopportune times, and it is very slow to restart. Sometimes i have to put it in park and push the start button. This has been problematic at intersections and it has been happening more and more frequently. The SUV only has 24,000 miles on it.

I have had multiple (5 times) over the past month where when stopped at a stop light or other stopping point my Pilot failed to re-start on it's own. In all 5 instances I had to put the car in park and restart the vehicle. It is August (warm weather) in Chicago and there were no other weather/local environmental issues that should have caused this issue. There were no warning messages prior to the automatic re-start failure. I have not yet reported this issue to Honda but plan to do so.

The automatic engine stop-start feature of the car is having serious issues, the car engine shuts off automatically after stopping the car at stop signs/red lights etc and does not restart automatically after releasing the brake. This has been an intermittent issue and has happened noticeable number of times till now. When the system does not restart its asks to pull over without having engine turned on which is conflicting message. I have spoke to the dealership and they say there is no known issues with the system which says otherwise based on my research multiple customers are facing this issue. Though not a huge safety risk, unable to start a car in busy intersection induces some amount of safety hazard.

After the car was stoped at a red light with the auto-idle feature on, the car stalled out when I pressed the gas petal to drive. The radio and A/C shut off and a PARK warning displayed. It took several attempts to turn the car back on. After the car started it took several minutes for the radio to start working again. None of the touch buttons for radio, phone or navigation would respond. This happened when I was at a light after getting off the highway. It almost caused a car accident with the drivers around me who were coming off the highway. Since this happened, every time I turn on the car, the radio stations can not be found. I have to turn the radio off/on once or twice for the car to find the stations. Frequently, when I go from stop to drive at lights or stop signs, the radio and AC will turn off for a second. This seems to only happen when the auto idle feature is on. The car transmission is also having lurching when going from 1st to 2nd gear.

While stopped at a red light and stopped at a 4-way intersection my 2018 Honda Pilot turned completely off. It was not in engine idle mode. A message flashed up on my dash saying to put my car in park.

Engine unable to restart after stopping at traffic light. When Auto Engine is enabled I have faced this problem multiple times and it was unable to restart. Traffic backed up because I could not go forward. I had to literally shut down everything and then start the engine again. I have already seen this news that you guys are investigating this issue with Honda. Now I disable my engine before I start my journey.

I was stopped at a stop light and the car was in auto engine idle. After releasing the brake when the light turned green, the engine shut off and the dash told me to put the car in park and restart by pushing the brake and hitting the engine start button. This process took about 30 seconds for the car to finally restart and I was sitting in the middle of traffic with cars behind me that had anticipated me moving forward when the light changed. Several warning symbols popped up including the collision mitigation system. This is an easy way to get rear-ended. In other instances, I have had issues where the radio and engine shuts off after releasing the brake when in auto engine idle at a stop light or driving in slower traffic but it kicks back on in just a second with no need to stop and restart. Both of these issues are very concerning. Battery life is fine, so that is not the issue. Issue stops when auto engine idle is disabled.

When vehicle comes to a stop, vehicle start/stop feature engages, then vehicle stalls. Vehicle then indicates that it should be shifter into park before it can be re-started. This has happened numerous times. Vehicle was brought into dealer, they are aware an investigation is underway with Honda but had no known solution besides updating the main computer program. They also recommended replacing the batter which tested ok. The fact that the vehicle stalls when you come to a stop is a very big safety concern.

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 driving in stop-and-go traffic, the vehicle would engage the engine STOP/START fuel-saving feature while stopped. The contact stated that whenever she depressed the accelerator pedal the message "Place Vehicle in Park" displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart, with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact attempted to start the vehicle using the Push to Start button. The vehicle was restarted but failed to respond after shifting into drive. The vehicle was restarted several times before resuming normal operation. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

On multiple occasions over the past month or so, my wife has experienced engine issues associated with what we believe is the Auto Start/Stop function on our 2018 Honda Pilot (Touring Edition). Upon coming to a complete stop, the Auto Stop function disables the engine. Upon releasing the brake, the system is supposed to restart the engine. However, on at least five occasions the engine has not restarted, and it has required her to turn the vehicle off and completely restart it as if starting from cold. This has occurred at stop lights, which obviously could cause safety issues/implications. On at least a couple of the occasions, she had to attempt to restart the vehicle multiple times by applying the brakes and pressing the main start/stop button). I frequently drive the vehicle and always turn off the Auto Start/Stop function. I have never run into these issues whatsoever. The vehicle is scheduled for routine maintenance at a Honda dealership in two days; the vehicle is serviced solely at this same dealership. The issue will be brought to their attention as well.

Car when in the idle stop has not restarted for several minutes. Some times it starts back up within 5 seconds. Other times it shuts the engine down and tells me to hit the start button to turn vehicle on, but then nothing happens. I am not even able to put car in neutral. Most recently this happened while exiting off a highway on the ramp. A bus driver pulled over in attempts to help me get the car off the ramp. However, a minute into trying to get it into neutral, the car popped back into drive and the engine on so I could get home. Car has been brought in multiple times and the dealership says they cannot find anything wrong with the car.

I was at the red light stop, when I got green light, I moved my feet off of brake, engine did not wake up or restart. I pushed gas pedal but the car would not move, then it showed all kinds of lights on dashboard. Afterwards, the car showed a sign asking to shift into parking, which I did. The engine start button could not restart or turn the car comepletely for a minute. After 2 minutes the card started it again and there was no light on dashboard.

Per dealer service center the front passenger defect seat frame need to be replaced. This is a manufacturer defect although this vehicle was not on the recall list of Honda Service Bulletin 18-042, it should have been. This vehicle has not been any accident to cause a seat frame problem. Could cause harm if in accident. The dealer service and Honda American is offering to pay half on the $1,853.60. This a manufacturer defect and I should not have to pay.

Auto idle system failed and the car stalled at a streetlight. The auto-idle kicks in when car comes to a stop like it’s supposed to but when I release my foot off the break and the car is supposed to start back up it stalls. It can take anywhere from 45 seconds to 1 minute to get it into park and get the car to restart. During which time I’ve been honked at by other cars but thankfully haven’t been hit yet. I worry about it happening and I get hit because I’ve been in the way of traffic and unable to move. Very scary situation to be in. This has happened on 4 separate occasions over the last couple months, the most recent one was June 19th. I now try to remember to turn the system off every time I get into the car to drive. Dealership tested battery and it came back fine.

Engine auto start/stop has failed. 68000 miles, recently when system is engaged my car completely dies. Have to wait 60 seconds to turn off car and restart Understand numerous complaints already submitted and want to add mine to the list

2018 HONDA PILOT. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO MPG ISSUE. THE CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE MPG DISPLAYED ON THE VEHICLE VERSUS THE ACTUAL MPG.

Engine failed to restart after the auto stop/start feature shut the engine off while I was stopped making a left turn onto a busy road. This is the 3rd time this has happened. I am unable to disable this feature permanently. I have to shut this feature off manually each time I start the car. The prior two times I was stopped on a busy road for a car stopped in front of me and the car failed to restart exposing my family and i to a potential rear end collision. This feature is very dangerous and it is only a matter of time till someone is hurt.

The engine automatic idle stop malfunctions on a regular basis. At idle, the engine will stop and is supposed to re-start automatically and on average once per week the engine will not re-start. The car will need to be put into park and then manually restarted. This usually occurs while at a traffic signal and leaves us stuck blocking traffic. It has occurred countless times in the three years we have owned the vehicle. We have taken it back to Honda multiple times to complain but they have never been able to find a problem.

I was driving on highway in a stop and go traffic with "auto idle" on. The engine was completely shut down when at a complete stop and the vehicle was stalled in the middle of a highway with all kinds dash flashes. I was unable to press the brake and "start" button to restart car or put car in neutral to move the car. Had local Honda dealer's tech on line for about 10 minutes to help restart the car with no success. Contacted insurance company requested a road service. About 55 minutes later the tow truck come and the tow truck drive successfully start the car. Feel unsafe to drive the car and towed the car to local Honda dealer and they could not find any error code in system and failed to repeat the situation.

Car shuts off and does not turn back on properly when stopping while driving. It does not happen all of the time, but when stopping at light/stop sign the car will turn off like it is supposed to but fails to start back up. When it fails to start it will not start back up, because the car is not in park, so the push button will not work until you hit the park button.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while depressing the accelerator pedal from a complete stop, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving from a complete stop, nearly causing a crash. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure could not be duplicated, and the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was determined that the failure could be related to the fuel injectors and the transmission. The TCM software was updated, and a transmission flush was performed; however, the failure persisted. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline), and related the failure to the recall; however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,155. Parts distribution disconnect.

When stopped in traffic the car will switch to neutral by itself. It will turn off and will have to be restarted. This has happened about 12 times since last July. After the first time it happened I brought the car to the dealership. They were not able to replicate the issue and it has continued since then with greater frequency. (2x last week in 3 days) This has happened when in econ mode, regular mode, right after a tune up, no pattern detected. Sometimes before it happens there would be a spluttering sound of the engine, sometimes a clicking sound, sometimes a collision warning sign flashes right before it happens, sometimes no warning- the car just shuts off and needs to be restarted. When the car is idling there are frequent reminders about pressing the break to shut off the engine. Googling this issue shows other people have the same problem with their 2018 Honda Pilots and other models as well. I believe these incidents are related to ODI Investigation PE 22-005 just opened on 06/03/22.

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 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.

My 2018 Honda Pilot is part of a Safety Recall Notice per American Honda Motor Co. Inc. and is in regards to a defective fuel pump. Issues include engine not starting/stalling and check engine light illuminating. Over the past 3 years I have experienced the following symptoms with my 2018 Honda Pilot: 1.) The engine wouldn't start on several occasions 2.) My wife noted she was driving in parking lot when engine stalled 3.) Dash illuminates "EMISSIONS SYSTEMS PROBLEM/ CHECK ENGINE" On March 11, 2024 I took my vehicle to Honda of Pasadena and spoke to Svc Advisor Eddie and told him I am experiencing all of the above and is this covered under the safety recall? He stated he will have the Svc Tech inspect and let me know. Shortly thereafter I was told by Eddie that my issues are not related to said safety recall and charged me $720.45 in un-necessary repairs (none of which included replacing the faulty fuel pump). In response I filed a claim with Kassandra @ American Honda Motor Co., Inc (CASE# [XXX]), who reached out to dealer and ultimately denied my claim and noted issues are not related the Safety Recall. To date I have filed a BAR complaint which is pending and and I am currently driving said defective vehicle which is experiencing all the above safety issues: 1.) engine not starting and/or stalling 2.) "EMISSIONS SYSTEM PROBLEM/ CHECK ENGINE" light illuminates INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My vehicle was stopped at a red light in a busy turning lane. When I pressed on the brakes to stop the vehicle the "idle-stop" automatically came on. As my vehicle was idling, I waited for the light to turn green to go. Once I pressed on the gas to go my vehicle went haywire. I couldn't drive forward or put the vehicle in any park mode. Every light started flickering on the dash, MY HAZARDS WOULDN'T COME ON, the car wouldn't start and every time I tried attempting to turn on the car it continued to do the same. I was stalled at a very busy intersection with no hazard lights with two kids, this was frightening. My husband had to restart the vehicle with a battery pack. After getting the car checked, there were no signs of any battery issues or any other problems, the car seemed perfectly fine. Now we have to completely turn off the "idle-stop" before driving or the car will stall, shut off and go haywire. We have to constantly restart the vehicle with a battery pack in order to continue driving. I asked several people and apparently this is a huge issue and problem for many with no help from Honda dealerships to fix it.

The engine failed to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light on three separate occasions with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged.