There are 18 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2019 Honda Pilotin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
After starting my vehicle and leaving the office, several different warning messages began flashing on the dash ABS, lane departure mitigation, Power Sterring, Towing. I pulled over and turned the vehicle off. When I attempted to restart the vehicle, the brake pedal was hard and felt stuck. The car did not start. When roadside assistance came, they tested the battery, and it was fine. The car was towed to a Honda dealer and the technician informed me the Brake Pedal Position Switch failed. He said that it would have caused all the different warning messages to appear. This was the second time this occurred, where the different warning messages lit up, but that time the car restarted. When I took it to the dealer that time, they could not determine the issue, and no repairs were done. I am concerned because I have seen that these vehicles have issues with this and it is very dangerous and unsafe when it comes to issues with the brakes.
After receiving a CMBS error message I tried to drive home and the vehicle automatically engaged brakes while merging with no other vehicle near by and I was almost rear ended.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while coming to a stop, the contact became aware that the vehicle could not be shifted out of neutral. The vehicle was able to restart; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.
When I am driving and at times the braking system tell me to Brake when I am in my line and no one is heading my way.
Automatic braking system failure parallel issue that is same to the accord and other models with the emergency braking system which randomly activated and panic stops and sometimes without an traffic near to car and other times have almost caused catastrophic collisions on highway systems with divided medians causing system to activate.
On May 27, 2013, while approaching a traffic light controlled intersection, I applied the vehicle brakes (depressed the brake pedal) with no response. My vehicle speed was slow enough to allow me to make a right turn at the intersection without damage to my vehicle or others in the vicinity. Within a few seconds (less than 5) the brakes started responding correctly with no subsequent occurrence, to date.
On several occasions the car has flashed BRAKE and then started braking when there has been no car in front of me.
Driving and the automatic braking engage with no vehicles around
The auto -stop feature is now completely defective. Since I hit 30,000 miles I have had issues with it infrequently completely shutting off the engine. Now the mileage is higher, the vehicle shuts off every time I stop at light or stop sign. I have approximately 56,000 miles on the vehicle. It has been regularly serviced at the dealership. I feel this is a major safety issue since other vehicles expect me to be moving one the light etc., changes. There are no warning lights or other symptoms prior to the failure.
When driving my Honda Pilot the Automatic Emergency Braking system has engaged multiple times (3-4 times with me, and once with my husband driving) in the middle of driving with there was no reason for the braking to occur - Meaning there were times when no cars were even in front of me. When this happens the orange BRAKE warning shows up on my dashboard advising "BRAKE" and my car jolts forward to strongly break. There has not been a recall on this issue, therefore, there has not inspection on my car specific to this issue. When this occurs it causes extreme panic on unawareness of what is going on. There is a threat of a crash behind me, especially when driving on roads 55 MPH, when the car all of a sudden out of nowhere comes to almost a complete stop. Also, it extremely distracts me due to the suddenness of this issue without any perceived warning. Therefore, I quickly try to understand if I do need to swerve or figure out how to quickly speed up after it brakes so no cars hit me from behind. Then it takes me awhile to calm down and understand what happened.
BRAKES ARE RIDICULOUSLY SLOW. BRAKE RESPONSE TIME IS VERY SLOW EVEN THOUGH SPEED IS WITHIN 30 MILES PER HOUR OR LESS. YOU LITERALLY HAVE TO PUSH PADDLE COMPLETELY DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND EVEN AFTER THAT IT WON'T STOP IMMEDIATELY. CAR STOPS VERY SLOW. SO CONSIDERING SITUATION (DRIVING IN STREET AND CHILD POPS UP IN FRONT OF CAR) IF YOU HAVE TO STOP SUDDENLY YOU NOT GONNA MAKE IT UNLESS YOU USE EMERGENCY BRAKE OF THE CAR. HONDA MUST FIX THE ISSUE OTHERWISE SOMEONE WILL LOSE LIFE FOR SURE. ALSO, WEIRDLY CAR MOVED FORWARD LITTLE BIT WHEN I JUST PUSHED START BUTTON TO START THE CAR EVEN AFTER BRAKE PADDLE WAS PUSHED DOWN POSITION AND TOUCHING GAS PADDLE AT ALL. I WAS BIT SURPRISED AND THANKFULLY IT WAS IN PARKING LOT SO DIDN'T HIT ANYONE. I AM GOING HONDA DEALERSHIP TO CHECK WITH THEM IF THEY CAN CHECK AND DO SOMETHING TO MAKE BRAKE MORE RESPONSIVE AND TIGHT. THIS IS JUST SECOND DAY OF CAR AND THIS CRAP HAPPENING. I AM BIT SCARED, DISAPPOINTED AND FRUSTRATED.
AUTOMATIC BRAKING (COLLISION) MITIGATION ACTIVATES ERRONEOUSLY. UPON SLIGHT RIGHT CURVE IN ROAD, DETECTS OPPOSING TRAFFIC AS COLLISION. APPLIES BRAKES. EVEN UPON SETTING SYSTEM TO LEAST SENSITIVE, STILL EXHIBITS CONDITION. CONTINUES TO OCCUR MULTIPLE TIMES PER WEEK.
REAR BREAKS IS SELF ACTIVATING WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY OR IN PARK OR AT STOP LIGHT AND WHEN YOU APPLY THE ACCELERATOR OR START TO DRIVE YOU CAN HEAR IT RELEASE WITH SOME NOISE IN THE REAR AND IT CONTINUES TO GRID THE PADS AS IF THE BREAK CALIPERS HAVE NOT FULLY RELEASED FROM THE REAR ROTORS. THE NOISE IS ALSO VERY NOTICEABLE AS THE VEHICLE MOVES AT A LOWER SPEED BELOW 25MPH.
WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE BRAKE PEDAL IS LOW/SOFT. ALSO, WHEN IN STOP-N-GO TRAFFIC AND APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE BRAKES PEDAL GOES LOWER AND I HAVE TO PRESS HARDER ON THE BRAKES. I TOOK MY CAR TO STEVENS CREEK HONDA IN CALIF AND THEY BLED MY BRAKES THIS HELPED A LITTLE BUT DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I CALLED THE NEXT DAY TO HAVE MY BRAKES LOOKED AT AGAIN FOR THE SAME PROBLEM BUT THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID MY BRAKES WERE NORMAL. NOW, I AM GOING TO UPGRADE MY FRONT PADS WITH A NON-HONDA BRAKE PAD. I HOPE THIS WORKS AND DOES NOT VOID MY WARRANTY. HONDA USES LOW GRADE PADS I BELIEVE BECAUSE THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT ON THE EX-L USES A LOW WATT (LOW GRADE) LIGHT BULB MAKING DRIVING A NIGHT DANGEROUS SINCE IT IS HARD TO SEE. I HAD TO UPGRADE THE LOW BEAM BULBS FOR THE SAME REASON I HAVE TO UPGRADE THE PADS: SAFETY. PLEASE HELP. THE 2019 HONDA PILOT BRAKES ARE A KNOWN SAFETY PROBLEM. GO TO HTTPS://WWW.PILOTEERS.ORG/ AND READ THE COMPLAINTS ON THIS HONDA FORUM.
WHEN THE BRAKES ARE NEEDED SUDDENLY THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVEL IS TO EXCESSIVE. THE BRAKES ARE SLOW TO RESPOND AS IF THEY ARE NOT WORKING AND THEN THEY GRAB SUDDENLY WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL ALMOST TO THE FLOOR. THIS IS VERY UNNERVING AS YOU THINK YOU ARE LOOSING CONTROL OF THE CAR. NORMALLY I HAVE TO TAP THE BRAKE PEDAL LET OFF AND GET BACK ON THE BRAKE PEDAL QUICKLY FOR THE BRAKES TO RESPOND NORMALLY OR HAVE A GOOD BRAKE PEDAL FEEL. I AM GETTING TIRED OF DOING THIS EVERY TIME TO STOP THE VEHICLE. HONDA CANNOT BE SERIOUS THAT THIS IS NORMAL. THIS IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 HONDA PILOT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT 'APPLY BRAKES' ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WHEN THE BRAKES DID NOT NEED TO BE APPLIED. ALSO, THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVELED TO THE FLOORBOARD WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. NALLEY HONDA BRUNSWICK (178 ALTAMA CONNECTOR, BRUNSWICK, GA 31525, (912) 267-7000) WAS NOTIFIED AND WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE AND DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT WAS NOT DRIVING THE VEHICLE DUE TO THE RANDOM BRAKE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN AND FAILURE MILEAGE WERE NOT AVAILABLE. *TT CONSUMER STATED BOTH DEALERS COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG.*JB
STARTED SEEING THIS PROBLEM FROM DAY 1. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND IT'S AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. YOU HAVE TO PRESS ON THE BRAKES REALLY HARD TO GET ANY KIND OF DECENT STOPPING. SEEMS LIKE THE BRAKE CYLINDER HAS NO PRESSURE OR LEAKING. BRAKES ARE TOO SOFT AND THE PEDAL GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR TO GET ANY DECENT BRAKING. EVEN AT THE STOP LIGHTS, YOU HAVE TO KEEP A VERY HIGH PRESSURE ON THE BRAKE PEDAL TO MAKE SURE THE CAR DOESN'T START MOVING AND SLAM INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY APPLY A HIGH PRESSURE, I'VE DEVELOPED SCIATICA NERVE PAIN IN MY RIGHT LEG. I'VE SHOWN THIS TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP BUT THE USUAL ANSWER IS THIS IS HOW IT IS. I HAVE A HONDA CIVIC BUT THE BRAKES ARE PROPERLY TIGHTENED ON IT AND I'VE DRIVEN 10 HOURS WITHOUT ANY FATIGUE TO MY SCIATICA, BUT ON THIS CAR, 30 MINUTES DRIVING STARTS AGGRAVATING MY SCIATICA NERVE. HONDA .... PLEASE FIX THIS BEFORE IT GET OUT OF HAND. IT WILL NOT GET ANY BETTER.
BRAKES ARE EXTREMELY SLOW TO REACT AND VERY MUSHEY WHEN THEY DO. HOLDING THE BRKE PEDEL HARD TAKES THE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR. WHEN SERVICE REP WAS ASKED TO ADJUST, THEY STATED, ALL PILOTS ARE LIKE THIS. THIS IS AN ACCIDENT WATING TO HPEN.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026