NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2019 Honda Pilot. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
NUMEROUS RESTART ISSUES WHEN CAR IN IN IDLE MODE STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT OR STOP SIGN. APPROXIMATELY 6 TIMES, MY CAR HAS BEEN STOPPED, IN IDLE MODE, AND SHIFTED INTO "NEUTRAL" & STALLING. I'M REQUIRED TO PLACE CAR INTO "PARK", TURN ON POWER, SHIFT TO DRIVE IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE. MESSAGES REGARDING "COLLISION MITIGATION SYSTEM" AND ALMOST STALLING ALSO OCCURS WHEN CAR IS STOPPED IN IDLE MODE. MY BATTERY (OF LESS THAN 3YRS) HAS BEEN REPLACED AS NOTHING ELSE HAS BEEN "DIAGNOSED" BY HONDA. ALTHOUGH THESE ISSUES HAVE SINCE OCCURRED SINCE REPLACING MY BATTERY.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the battery and the traction control system warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he was able to manually shift to neutral. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. The VIN was not available.
When stopped at a red light the engine shifted from drive to neutral on its own. The brake became stiff and it took shutting off and restarting the car multiple times before it would shift. This is the third instance of this vehicle shifting to neutral on its own. After the previous times (they occurred within the same day- one shifting from park to neutral and the other similar to this experience, also at a red light), I took the car into the dealership where it came back showing no codes and could not be replicated while there. It is a push button electric shifter and the vehicle has had multiple recalls and service bulletins for electronics (all repaired) and has experienced issues beginning one month after I purchased the car brand new.
Today is the 6th time our Honda has had issues either the automatic start/stop system failing when at a stop light. The car will stop and shut off like it is supposed to, but will not restart. Car needs to be put into park, turned off, restarted, shift back into drive. This happens while we are at risk of being hit from behind, honked at, and creates an unsafe and stressful driving situation. Car has had infotainment issues that seemed to be fixed, but had issues prior to today’s incident. Car has been only serviced at Honda. No warning lights etc. This issue was reported to our dealer last December and they said the could no replicate the issue. In August this happened again immediately after having the car serviced for an oil change. The car is putting my family and others at risk and there seems to be many others with this same problem happening.
Auto idle start/stop stalls at intersection. Auto idle engages normally, but when release foot from brake, car acts like it is going to restart the engine as it should, instead it kicks the car in neutral and accessory mode. You have to press the brake, press the start/stop button multiple times to get it to restart.
For the second time is the last few weeks the car experienced issues after losing electrical power. It failed to start after being parked for about an hour at the airport. All sorts of warnings started randomly blinking on the dashboard. But the door, cabin lights etc all would come in when the doors were opened.
This is a 2019 Honda Pilot with start stop function. There is a noticeable delay in activation and getting longer with time; this is a 3 year old vehicle. During 2 other instances, the system failed and vehicle would not start on a public street. During these failures and delays, other than the obvious collision safety issue, the safety systems are unavailable via a message on the dash. When it eventually starts back up it functions normally. This is clearly the system prematurely failing or the system prematurely killing the battery (which has a normal functional life of 5 - 7 years).
The vehicle is equipped with the Automatic Start/Stop feature. Three times in the past few months, the car has unexpectedly stalled at a red light in the middle of traffic, creating a hazard for us and drivers around us. The electric power steering system warning light came on momentarily, and the display screen said ‘Radio not available”. We were able to turn the car back on after a slight hesitation, but the radio and controls on the steering wheel stopped working. All controls, and the radio, were working again after leaving the car off for a few hours. The car was taken to our local Honda dealer, who did not find any diagnostic codes and was unable to duplicate the problem.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on several occasions, and the dealer replaced the starter, the injector, the transmission fluid, and the transmission plug. However, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000.
On several occasions my vehicle has acted as if it were going to die at a stoplight or intersection where the brake pedal was pushed enough to trigger the auto-off function. It did not start doing this until the last several months. I assumed it was because I did not have my foot pressed enough. On one occasion several weeks back it acted as if it did not want to start and then today I was completely stopped and stuck at a light, blocking traffic. The battery light came on and it would not let me restart it. After a minute I finally got it started and immediately drove it to the Honda dealer in which they weren’t able to check it. I will take back tomorrow for them to check it out. I’ve also read several articles about this same thing happening so I wanted to report it for the records.
Car has failed to restart multiple times after the idle mode feature kicks in when coming to a complete stop. Emergency lights also do not function when this occurs making this very dangerous, especially at night. It can take several minutes before the car starts. Car was looked at by the dealership where they could not replicate it. I disable this feature now when driving. The car has failed to start now on a few occasions and sometimes will only start in accessory mode.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired for an unidentified NHTSA Campaign Number however, it failed to prevent a failure from occurring. The contact stated that while the key was in the ignition, the vehicle had failed to start and several unknown warning lights had illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where the fuel pump was replaced however the repair failed to prevent a failure. On another occasion; the contact stated while attempting to accelerate from a stop light intersection, the vehicle failed the accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal and failed to switch gears into Neutral to push it out of the roadway. The vehicle was towed back to the same local dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine fuel pump needed to be replaced again however, the warranty was expired. The vehicle was repaired out of pocket. In addition, the contact was adamant that the failure reoccur every 2 years after repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
Auto Idle Stop is malfunctioning. When my car turns off at a stop using Auto Idle Stop many times the engine does not turn back on. Then I can't put make my car drive. I can't put it into Park. Nothing happens when I give it gas. So now I have to turn off my car and try to restart the engine so I can drive again. So cars behind me are starting to accelerate because the light has turned green and my car has stopped working. This has happened to me more than 10 times. Now I try to remember to turn off Auto Idle Stop but I don't always remember to do so. I'm afraid I will get hit because it is taking me sometimes 10 seconds to get my car moving again. My car is available for inspection. I have not taken it to the dealer. It has not been inspected by anyone. There were no warning signs although a warning light appears on the dash for a second when the engine won't start. It says something about Auto Idle Stop but I'm so busy trying to start my car again I can't read it.
My 2019 Pilot continues to randomly turn off. This happens at stop lights mostly, but did happen while driving as well. Latest was at a gas station where it would not restart. Had it to a mechanic and auto zone and both said that nothing is wrong with the car.
On the highway traveling at ~60mph traveling straight away and the brakes slammed on without reason and almost caused a major accident. There was no vehicle in close proximity and no imminent collision that should have caused the vehicle to slam on the brakes. The random slamming of the brakes almost caused a rear end collision with our vehicle and the car behind us. Similar situation but driving around town at lower speed around 30 mph but same behavior. The car slammed again on brakes where there was not imminent collision that should have caused the vehicle to take evasive action or slam on the brakes.
Honda's 100 month batterys are dying well before the 100 month period due to the start-stop systems which already have a recall. Ours began leaving the vehicle stranded in 2022 and it continues today.
Start/Stop (auto Idle stope system) function issue. I have several incidents where the start/stop malfunctions. The other day I was on a red light and when I pressed the gas pedal to start driving the vehicle hesitate to start and begun to move backward. This happened several time already.
I am actually reporting two incidences, since the first (never reported) now appears to be related. 1st: In March 2022 (approx 35,600 miles on the vehicle), the vehicle completely shut down after attempting to accelerate back out of the auto-idle stop mode. I was stopped at a traffic light on a Highway off-ramp in rush hour traffic. All of the warning lights and exterior lights started flashing and strobing in and out, but I also had no power of any kind for windows, radio, nothing. I was unable to turn on the emergency flashers, so I got out of the vehicle to redirect traffic around me while I waited for it to be towed to the dealership. They told me that by the time my vehicle got to them, that the battery was completely dead, and therefore there was no data or code. They told me that it had to be the battery, but they’d fully recharged the battery and it was all good. (Covered under warranty) Yesterday afternoon 9/27 I was at a stoplight, once again in auto-idle stop mode. I depressed the accelerator once the light turned green and the car would not move. I looked down and noticed that my car had shifted itself into neutral? It would not allow me to put it back in park and/or restart. By now I am trying to wave the people behind me to go around, when I look up and see there’s some kind of message scrolling across the driver’s display; something about a wrong gear? There were cars stuck behind me, so I was in a bit of a panic mode. I took a few breaths and tried again. I fully depressed the brake, was finally able to put the car back into park and restart the car. I am bringing the vehicle in for service tomorrow (I am now outside of warranty) after just having a comprehensive 40,000 mile service completed on Sept 10. Note: vehicle was purchased brand new and has been 100% dealer serviced.
Vehicle failed to restart after stopping at a red light. Had to completely turn off the vehicle and restart it for it for engine to fire back up. Auto stop feature was on. Power seemed to suddenly go down and then the car was in park. Took couple of tries to start up as the car went into neutral in between.
"Check Engine" light comes on, followed by "Emissions System" problem, then "AWD" problem, and also "Transmission" light with a message to pull over and find a safe location. Have brought in for the "Emissions Systems" problem and AWD multiple times, but problem re-appears within a day. Uploading one invoice of many.
The owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that on multiple occasions while at a stop, he released the brake pedal, but the engine failed to re-engage. Additionally, the contact stated that the transmission inadvertently shifted into neutral while driving. The contact stated that he was able to restart the vehicle after multiple attempts. No warning lights were illuminated. The first time the vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
While driving, a light came on for Emissions Systems Failure. The vehicle seemed to not accelerate properly like it was pulling. I feared for the safety of my children. This is our only vehicle. My husband took it to the Honda Dealership. He got told that there is an issue with the fuel injector and timing belt. After research, we discovered both these issues have been added to a Honda recall list for our year and model vehicle. When my husband asked the Honda Service team about it, they said yes, but our VIN isn't covered. We are having the exact same issues as the recall.
Check engine light Code p219b “Check emissions system” Fuel injectors needed to be replaced at only 32,000 miles. Vehicle was out of standard factory warranty by 6 months but under 36k. Honda did replace them under the service bulletin. Just wanted to report so they hopefully keep covering for others as this is an expensive repair.
Auto start feature not starting engine once brake pedal is released after engine is turned off at traffic stops due to this feature. It takes 6 to 7 tries when this happens to get the engine started while all this time putting the occupants of the car in anxiety and putting our lives at risk to push the car to the side. This has happened repeatedly in the last few days. It has happened few times couple of years ago and I wasn't aware it was due to this feature unless it started happening last week.
My car started jerking and then started to get a loud noise. Took it to the dealer and they said has to do to with the fuel pump and to replace/fix it's costing over 3500.00. I noticed that are recalls for Honda Pilot from 2018 to 2020 on fuel pumps. However, there is not a recall on the care yet. How to resolve this issue.
In the past I have reported an issue with the auto stop to Price Honda. They sent me away saying nothing was wrong. Last night my car died while coming to a stop. No warning. No engine check lights. The emergency flashers wouldn't work nor doors or windows and I was stuck in the middle of the road with my children without Hazzard lights. No way to put car into neutral unless you have a special tool which even the Honda dealership couldn't help me with. This was not disclosed when we bought the car and was stuck in high traffic for over 2 hours until a mechanic came and finally got my car to start and move to side by switching the battery along with other stuff. He stated the battery should not have died in Drive and something is wrong. I see this is a known issue when looking at your website. I do not feel safe driving this Honda pilot. It can shut down at any time without warning and leave us stranded. Not being able to move into neutral in its self is safety Hazzard especially with no hazard lights. Price Honda [XXX] was very rude and brushed me off telling me no one is going to call me back over this. However their manager [XXX] called me shortly after and even acknowledged the known issue and said could take years to recall. This is not ok and why wasn't any of this disclosed. We should know that we need a tool (and know how to do it since in the engine) to save us if our car breaks down so we can at least get to side of road! I see This issue is being investigated by you, not sure why it was not disclosed especially when I already reported to Honda. My kids and I could have died yesterday. Single lane road no shoulders no flashers and cars flying past us. Not ok especially for this type of car that I bought brand new! I need assistance with this please before someone does get hurt. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
On multiple occasions the auto start/stop has failed when releasing brake pedal vehicle will completely shut off and takes multiple attempts to turn back on. This is a hazard due to the fact that it has occured on busy streets and state highways. At this time vehicle has not been inspected by dealer we do plan on taking it in asap.
I got my brand new Honda in 2019; the problems started right away, after a few weeks, the radio system would just turn off while driving. The whole console wouldn’t work. I would turn it on/off but still nothing. If I let the car set over night sometimes it may work the next day. They replaced my radio but it continued. [XXX] from Honda said it was finally in Error state and it was the Amplifier. [XXX] had ordered a new 1 & put it in 9/8/22, I thought my problems were over. On 9/12/22; I dropped my daughter off at school, I was leaving but I had to stop for traffic. I was about to pull out when the dash starting flashing/lighting up & I couldn’t go anywhere. The car was in Park and I was stuck. I pushed the car into drive, etc., but it wouldn’t go. I turned the car off/on to try to restart things but nothing. The brakes then locked up and I couldn’t do anything. I tried everything that I could think, I was blocking traffic not allowing people to leave from the school and cars from coming in. I called Honda Rd. Asst. But they said I had no longer a warranty as I am at 30,000 but I thought it was 36,000 miles. They connected me to AAA which I had to pay out of pocket for towing. I called [XXX] & my Serv. Advr. [XXX] so they knew that I was going to towed in. I couldn’t get the vehicle to turn off or on after awhile. 2 hrs. later; the tow truck had came, he had to jump start it to get it on his truck, he toke me to Honda. I waited over 4 hrs. but [XXX] said battery was good, he ran errors but couldn’t find anything wrong except the back up camera had an error but it seemed as though he didn’t believe that is the problem. I could take it home but he said if his wife was having issues, he wouldn’t want her to drive it. I left it w/Honda, [XXX] took it hm. to see if it would do what it did for me. I honestly don’t want to drive it, I am scared; what if something worse happens or pay to be towed again. I didn’t want a new vehicle to deal with issues. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
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. This is the third time has occurred. Many people online are reporting the same issue.
Vehicle is equipped with auto engine shutoff when vehicle stops. It started failing and has caused the car to stall at red light. Purchased vehicle 4 months ago
car completed died in a drive-thru. I believe it was due to the auto-start/stop feature. Couldn't turn the car on, couldn't put it in neutral. Everything was disabled.
While coming to a stop light auto start/stop activated when releasing brake pedal car failed to restart. Needed to enter vehicle into park and restart car with push button to resume.
When stopped at an intersection, the auto engine idle stop activated in my vehicle. When I let off the brake pedal, the engine of the vehicle did not start back up. Alerts on my dash came up instructing me to place the vehicle in park and restart the vehicle. It took two attempts to get the vehicle restarted. The battery light turned on when trying to restart the vehicle. There was traffic behind me and I had to turn on my hazards to alert them of me having troubles.
Car SHUT off at a red light with the "auto-stop" feature. The car died and had to be towed. Battery checked out to be fine. Car restarted at shop.
2019 Honda Pilot EX-L with 52K current miles. Very jerky and rough transmission gear shifts from 1st to 2nd especially noticible on the upshift. It shakes the whole car to the point driver and passengers are startled. It does not happen all the time, but when it does occur, the car must be pulled over, the engine turned off and restarted to make the problem go away, which might indicate that it is a programming/electronic issue. If the car is not restarted, the problem persists. Started noticing this problem around the 37K miles, but got worse and more often to the point at 38K the car was taken to a Honda dealer to address the problem. The dealer suggested a transmission fluid replacement, and it was done at my cost. The problem has now returned at 52K current miles. It took two restarts to stop the jerking this time. The transmission fluid was checked upon return to my home and it is still good, red in color, not black. This is a serious and reoccurring problem which needs to be addressed as soon as possible. If the transmission breaks down during driving, it might cause a crash and resulting injuries. Thank you.
Two incidences occurred within one hour. When in park the vehicle suddenly shifted to neutral and began to roll backwards. The second incident occurred 30 minutes later. When stopped at a traffic light the vehicle again shifted into neutral on its own and would not allow you to switch to drive with out turning off the vehicle and then back on again. Both could have resulted in catastrophic injury. This vehicle has been recalled (and repaired) multiple times for electrical issues and has all push button gear shifts. It is up to date on all recall and service notices and maintenance.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a traffic light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled and the transmission shifted into neutral. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 31,400.
I received a transmission system problem warning and a blind spot info system warning. Also the spot on the dash that tells you if you are in Park, Neutral, Drive or Reverse has all of the letters on top of each other and they were flashing.
The idle Start stop engine when I press the brakes shuts the engine off. Then it stalls the engine, puts it in neutral and I can’t start the car when I press the gas pedal. Music turns off too. I have to put the car in park, turn the engine completely off, restart the engine before I can go. Very dangerous as it’s stalled as I am in the middle of driving at a stop sign, roundabout, stopping for a pedestrian, stopped at a light, left hand turn. Occurs each time I drive. Started in late 2020.
With the auto engine idle stop enabled, stopped at a traffic light and engine shutoff. When releasing the brake engine did not start and dashboard display said to put car in park and press start button. Followed directions and car did not restart until completing the park/start button sequence three times.
Fuel-saving stop-start system fails to restart. Car goes into neutral and has to be turned off and back on to restart. This happens when stopped at a traffic light. Low battery light ignites, seems engine doesn’t have enough power to restart when gas is pressed.
On my drive home this afternoon the auto idle stop feature on my 2019 Pilot touring began to hesitate to restart after releasing my foot from the brake. The result was an orange warning light telling me that there is a problem with the collision mitigation system and a shudder before the engine would resume running. I had to turn off the auto-start feature to avoid stalling in rush hour traffic.
I was stopped at a stop light in traffic. The light turned green and I tried to hit the gas to go, but my vehicle turned off. I tried to depress the brake and push the start button, lights flashed on my dash but did not start my car. I tried again and nothing happened. Then, all lights on dash turned off when I tried again to start the engine. I waited a few more seconds and tried to start the car and the dash lights came on but still my car would not start. I continued to wait a few seconds and tried to start my car and it finally turned on after 15-20 attempts. I called the dealer and they said it's probably the battery. The car just had a new battery put in so it's not the battery. The car just passed inspection at the dealer's last week. We have received no warning messages in the vehicle about this. However, the same thing happened to me a year ago where the vehicle did not start after being stopped at a light, but it only took 3-4 times to get it started again. Today, I was at a busy intersection when this happened with rush hour traffic with my children in the car. The speed limit was 45 mph on the road. Cars had to slam on breaks to avoid hitting us. Not a safe situation.
Car fails to start after a short drive and parked and always requires a jump start. Car also fails to restart after a stop/start at a complete stop! Has happened multiple times in busy intersections where you’re a sitting target for moving traffic. Always requires a jump start. Have checked battery many times and the battery checks out fine. Maybe electrical or charging system issue. Dealer can’t reproduce the problem as it happens sporadically. Can’t figure out problem and a hazard to drive with kids in car.
Auto engine shut off will turn off engine at stoplight but fail to restart engine when brake is released. Extremely unsafe. It has happened multiple times and each time we are afraid there will be an accident because we are sitting ducks and not accelerating when traffic expects us to.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the pedal vibrated, the engine revved up, and then suddenly emit a lower vibrating noise as if the RPMs had dropped. The main communication screen displayed several safety features like the crash avoidance and the back-over prevention camera were malfunctioning intermittently. The warning of low brake fluid was illuminated despite brake fluid level been at the normal range. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available even though the remedy stated that due to a limited supply of parts, the manufacturer was prioritizing the repair of vehicles experiencing failures, such as difficulty starting, engine hesitation while driving, or an illuminated check engine light. The contact spoke with a second dealer, AutoNation Honda Hollywood (2400 N State Rd 7, Hollywood, FL 33021); who confirmed the same information. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.
There is a problem with the auto engine idle stop system. If I don't turn it off every time I start the car, then the car has a really difficult time re-starting when it automatically turns off at a stop light. This is especially true if the A/C is running. Sometimes, the car has a difficult time restarting or it has to try a few times. A couple of times, it has shifted itself into neutral and a couple of times, it has turned itself entirely off. The problem seems to be getting worse over time. Twice recently my car wouldn't start at all and had to be jumped to start again. I took it to the Honda Dealership and they confirmed they had heard of the issue and that another customer had brought their Pilot into service for the same reason the week before. They told me that the first step was to try a new battery. I've done that but am worried my car will stop on the middle of the freeway somewhere...
this is my second complaint as the auto start stop has failed again. This morning on the way to work, the auto start/stop engaged at an intersection. When the light turned green and i tried to go, the car wouldn't turn over. Stranded yet again at another intersection. Have to go through the whole process of putting the car in park, restarting the engine manually, then putting back into drive. The process isnt as quick as you'd think. There is a delay in all of this. Honda refuses to acknowledge the issue and has left me with an extremely unsafe vehicle.
The vehicle in question has the idle stop function, which turns off the vehicle when certain conditions are met. Randomly, the vehicle does not restart on its own which forces me to power cycle the vehicle in order for it to start back up. This is a safety issue because the vehicle has been stuck in the middle of an intersection while I am trying to get it restarted. If the vehicle were to be completely disabled, I could be stuck causing a hazard at any given intersection. I have had the vehicle inspected and the battery tested, but everything checks out OK. I don't feel very safe when the vehicle can just shut off randomly and not restart. I have noticed sometimes, when the vehicle does restart, the dash flashes a warning that says, "Collision Mitigation Braking System Problem" for a split second and then it clears.
When coming to a complete stop the idle stop turns the car off. When you take your foot off the break to restart the engine it stalls the vehicle and puts the car in neutral. The car then needs to be put in park, restarted and then can be driven again. This has happened about 20 times over the last month and has become more frequent.