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
Experiencing auto start/stop failures with car. it engages so quickly even at a quick stop sign the car is shuts off (i think timing should be extended). The problem is when it comes time to start back up there is often several turns before the engine starts. This itself is a safety concern, as i am often not able to move when i need to. Two other separate incidents where the system failed completely: the car did not turn over after several times and just stopped. This happened on interstate 95 in traffic. I was unable to move for 30 seconds while tried to get the car started again. Honda refuses to do anything about it; their solution is to have me try to video tape it occurring, since there are no faults. i am not doing this every time i come to a stop with my 1 year old in the car. It happened again while my wife was driving; this time on an on ramp to I95 while she was yielding for traffic. auto start stop engaged, then failed to start back up- all while at a temporary stop. She has no idea what to do as the car requires you to put into park and then try and restart the car. Those were the two most severe cases; according to Honda this happens after 5 attempts to start the car. the other time it starts before the 5th time but not immediately. There is electrical failures associated with this; including collision system warnings during restart. Honda will no do anything, will not even attempt to replace starter or battery or even quote me a price to fix. This is completely unsafe to drive and we will be looking to trade the car in. Too bad as this is a wonderful car. Honda has driven it several times (according to them) and are not able to replicate the issue. Their advice to me is to manually disable the start/stop every time i drive the vehicle which is ridiculous. I have escalated to American Honda but so far no resolve. I can recall at least 20 incidents in total with this. Its not every time - but imagine how many times a day i stop and go.
Today and yesterday, the engine cut off when the car came to a complete stop. I tried to recreate the situation coming to a stop randomly, but found the cutting out was intermittent. Upon reading the forums, I discovered others are having the same problem and that you are investigating whether it has something to do with the auto start/stop feature, so I am reporting my issue with you. Where the engine cut off, I was either at a stop sign or at a red light with passengers including small children, and it took time to restart.
At a stop light the my car turned off and did not come back on for 5 mins. I am aware of the auto stop feature for fuel efficiency but I was in a turning lane. I literally could have been in an accident. The car brakes were locked in could not even put the car in neutral or park the car was just off completely. No signs of over heating, battery failure, etc.
-Automatic Start/Stop Feature -Vehicle's Engine did not Restart after the Auto Start/Stop engaged while in rush hour traffic. Also the Vehicle will immeadiatly or on start will shift the transmission in Neutral. Leaving the family in the middle of a unprotected left turn in the middle of a now red light intersection, this is dangerous and unsafe. I will also as you come to a complete stop after traffic on the highway hits a back up. - I have taken the vehicle in the same Honda Dealership they have not been able to "Reproduce" the problem. At the 1st attempt they recommended a new battery, but the problem is still occuring. I have given them video evidence in the hope they will have a solution to this Safety Defect. -The Dealership currently has my vehicle at its service department and i was told by the Service Manager that he is coordinating with his Service Representive for a possible solution. No other agencies have looked at the vehicle thus far. -Sometimes the Start/Stop indicator on the dash illumates sometimes there's a delay. The Message given my the Dash Reads "Gear Position is N. Release Accelerator Pedal" The Message that reads if you have the Transmission in D than Press the N button reads completely different and cannot be duplicated other than when the vehicle shifts into N on its own after a Auto Start/Stop. -This issue started occurring Randomly at 57,000 miles now at 59,000 its occuring more frequently and is causing unsafe situtations while in operation of the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle was operated normally. The dealer was contacted and stated that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 44,298.
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, it requires multiple starts, and twice now, just completely does not start.
Vehicle has auto idle feature that activates when car comes to complete stop. Typically, the engine restarts when you take your foot off the brake, however, there have now been three occasions that the system did not restart the engine and the car stalled. I have contacted several Honda dealers and they are all aware of this issue but do not have a way to fix the issue.
When the auto engine idle kicks in more and more often the car struggles to restart. A message quickly flashes about a malfunction but too quickly to read it. I disable the feature very often as I fear the car will not restart.
The auto stop/start gas saving feature often results with the car being unable to automatically restart. When this happens, in traffic, I am forced to put the car in park, and hopefully, manually restart the vehicle. This has resulted in the need for roadside assistance, several times (the car requires a jump). I have sent the vehicle to the dealer multiple times, but they say they cannot find the problem or are unable to duplicate it. Once they tested for battery and electrical system for power leaks and such, and though the car is only 3 years old, it is on it's third battery. I have had to regiment myself to disabling the feature, before driving, to ensure the issue doesn't happen in traffic again, as it could result in an accident. The last time this happened was the first week of August 2022, but it has occurred NUMEROUS times, and I'm pretty fed up with the whole issue.
The engine start/stop idle does not start up again after the car stops when at a red light or in traffic.
The auto stop start function is malfunctioning. When I start to go after being stopped at a red light, the engine often does not restart back up. The car shuts down and I need to put it in park and restart the car. This just started happening about a month ago and it is happening more frequently now.
Passenger side pooling with water during rainfall. Known problem among honda owners.
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. I fear I will get rear ended due to this. Or shot b/c of crazy road rage people. We took it to the dealer and it could not be replicated so they could not fix it. no warnings prior It has happened multiple times.
Stop/Start function for the engine is garbage. It happened 5 times already that the engine shuts down and the car wouldn't go at the red light or even stop sign. Every time it's scary, especially with cars behind me honking for me to go. Luckily, every time I was able to turn off the car, then restart it. I noticed that 4/5 times this happened was after I was driving for at least an hour, on a hot day, with AC on. Miniscule savings of gas are not worth the safety risks of this useless feature. And it seems that I am not able to deactivate the feature completely.
When the idle stop system is engaged and the brake is depressed to activate the vehicle engine to shut off (at a red light for example), sometimes when lifting your foot off the gas the vehicle does not restart as it is designed to. This leaves the driver stranded at a green light panicking to find a way to get the car started and other vehicles stuck behind the stalled car stopping the normal flow of traffic and causing a potential accident.
Vehicle was driving and operating as it should. Parked it for about 30 to 45 minutes now it won't start. Has happened before and honda said vehicle was fine after they looked at it. Vehicle has had an issue with auto start stop while at a traffic light
I was driving on 7/29. Stopped at the stop light. the car shut off. completely dead. The dealer cannot replicate the problem and did not fix anything. I called Honda North America and they said we are sorry there is nothing we can do. This is the second time this happened. The first time was 4/15 and the dealer replaced the battery
When the car is stopped (like at an intersection), the auto ignition stop activates. Sometimes when the accelerator is pressed to start the car again, the car seems to blink, the radio resets, and the car shifts itself into Neutral displaying a sign the driver should shift into Park. Then we have to put the car in park and restart the car. This is definitely unnerving as this happens at busy intersections, and we're afraid of getting rear ended by jumpy motorists. this has happened on 6/30, 6/27. 6/23. 6/22. 6/15. Honda replaced the keyless entry unit on 7/18, but it still occurs.
Vehicle is shutting down at red lights / stop signs; when this happens engine goes into idle mode. But pressing the gas pedal to resume travel, vehicle immediately shuts down. The vehicle needs to be turned off, and restarted. Restart is not always successful on first attempt, leaving vehicle stranded in congested traffic areas until it the issue clears. This type of event has had more than one occurrence.
The engine start stop function failed to restart the car at an intersection. I tried to start the car few times but it did not start. I placed it into Neutral and tried restarting but it failed. I was not able to put it in Drive, there was a notification that the car needs to be started before going into D. Finally was able to turn off the car. It restarted and was back in drivable condition. It was a panic situation. We hope Honda can address this issue.
The pilot turns the engine off while idling to save fuel. Twice this week when I have been stopped at stop lights it becomes unresponsive and I am unable to get the car back into gear. Attempts to turn the car on and off and to restart the car don't work. Both times I was only able to get it started after opening the drivers door... it took at least 1 minute each time. But I am very worried about it causing an accident. I have realized that I can turn this feature off, but it defaults to it being on everytime you start it again.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 65 MPH, she slowed for traffic congestion ahead and felt the engine starting to idle roughly. The vehicle then stalled. The contact stated that his wife noticed several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that several attempts were needed to start the vehicle. The vehicle was then driven to her destination. The contact had the vehicle repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number 21V215000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) but linked the failure to the recall. The contact stated that the recall repair was improperly performed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after being idle at a red traffic light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the Start/Stop function operated as designed while stopped however, when the accelerator pedal was depressed the system failed to re-engage. The contact had to wait for several minutes before the Push to Start button would restart the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact called the dealer but was unable to reach a representative. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000.
The transmission on this vehicle will will shudder when at high RPMs and low speed such as when leaving a stop sign or traffic light. This shudder delays acceleration and can cause a safety issue when pulling out into traffic and leaves you not able to get out of on-coming traffic's way quick enough.
The entertainment display which is also the rear view camera display, turns off intermittently during driving and displays the following message: Network communication lost MOST Net Off. When this happens the rear view/back up camera doesn’t function creating an unsafe situation. The display will work again after turning the car off and then back on. The issue is random and unable to be reproduced. A dealer hasn’t confirmed the issue. It hasn’t been inspected. There were no warning lamps or display messages before the issue occurred. It has happened a 6-7 times in the past 9 months.
I am writing to report that I believe there is a problem with the start/stop function of my 2019 Honda Pilot. My vehicle has failed to restart from a complete stop (three different times) when the automatic idle-stop feature is engaged. I have taken the car to a Honda dealership and they are unable to replicate the problem/can not find the problem. I have read that this is already an open investigation-- I just wanted to provide my information to add to the report.
Pilot's automatic start-stop system doesn't turn back on after a complete stop sporadically. General inspection did not find any issues. Vehicle available for further inspection if a loaner is provided. Warning lights that came on includes all lights on the dashboard flashing and a clicking sound occurring.
The contact owned a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while attempting to park the vehicle at approximately 2 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated forward violently and jumped a parking barrier. The contact stated she almost hit two nearby passengers; however was able to steer the vehicle to the side, and crashed into a tree where the vehicle came to a stop. There were no warning lights illuminated. The driver's air bag deployed. The vehicle was destroyed. The police arrived on the scene. There was a police report filed. One of the nearby passengers, which the contact almost hit was injured due to her fall and sustained a fractured arm that required medical treatment. There were injuries to the contact arms, chest, and stomach from the seat belt retraction however she declined medical treatment at the scene. The vehicle was towed to the local salvage lot. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000.
In heavy traffic at the airport, when I was slowing down and stopping the Automatic Start/Stop functionality caused the vehicle to stall. The vehicle then went into neutral on it's own. I put the vehicle in park and it would not start (As if the vehicle had a dead battery or alternator issue). I charged the battery and it still would not start. I have read several other forums on this MY and other Honda Pilot's where the vehicle will stall at intersections/stopping points and refuse to start despite several efforts. I see this as a serious safety issue if in heavy traffic on a free way or working to clear an intersection. I believe this issue needs addressed. Honda also states that it can not turn off the Auto Start/Stop feature.
The pilot will suddenly not start and has around 36k miles. Took it to the dealer and they braid the battery is fine. Replaced battery regardless. It has also stopped at red lights and then have to jump it, making me carry a jump brick with me at all times. Has been a happening for two months. Have had to turn off eco system and also have to turn off the gas saving feature at traffic lights where the engine shouted down when stopped so as not to stall.
The "auto idle stop" function has begun to randomly NOT restart the Honda Pilot. When this occurs, the Pilot must be placed in park and then restarted. Restart is not always immediate.
During the highway trip the auto idle functionality did not resume after a full stop. The car engine stopped and transmission switched to neutral. It took multiple attempts to re start the car in the middle of a highway.
When coming to a stop, vehicle shuts off with brakes. Once brake is released the automatic restart will not engage. You are stuck in traffic and unable to start the car for at least a minute. Honda replaced the starter and the battery. With the extended warranty, the starter was covered after deductable but the batt cost almost 300.00. I have since been using the battery they said was no good to power my camper with no problem.
Auto stop start is erratically failing to properly restart the car after brake has been disengaged. After arriving at a complete stop, the vehicle will properly shut down when the driver’s foot is on the brake. When the driver disengages the brakes, the engine should promptly restart and the car will find itself already in drive so it can continue to move forward. Under certain unknown circumstances, the car will stall and not be allowed to restart. In order to continue, I needed to shift the car to park, turn the car off completely, and then restart the car. Only then can I shift the car back to drive and continue. This presents a safety issue since once the brakes are removed, traffic behind interprets this action to mean you will be traveling forward shortly. The restart is sometimes accompanied by a lurk which might be also considered as moving forward. This vehicle has not been in a accident and the dealer was not able to reproduce this issue. The issue seemed to occur shortly after another recall was performed for the fuel pump. Auto stop start cannot be permanently disabled and needs to be performed each time the car is started. This circumstance seems documented in PE22005.
According to a Honda dealership, a bracket holding the exhaust pipe under the car snapped and caused the pipe to then lay on the bumper, which melted the bumper. They said there was nothing they could do. This is a manufacturer defect. If a bracket snaps, the bracket should be replaceable. At this point, the bracket needs to be replaced and so does the bumper.
Experiencing Judder/hesitation when car reaches a speed where it has to shift from first to second gear and from second to third gear. Sometimes it feels more like a jerk. Issue mostly occurs after the car has warmed up, so after around 3-4 miles of driving the car. Second issue was RPM fluctuation when car is at steady acceleration. Judder issue first occurred back in June 2022 when the car has ~63000 miles. It started with a sudden jerk, felt like someone hit the car from behind, this happens when the car is trying to shift from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. Issue was very intermittent at that time and restart of car would make it go away. But issue will come back every few weeks. Issue increased around ~68,762 miles, so took the car to my local auto repair shop on 8/31/2023. The shop performed maintenance listed below – •Transmission Flush / Fluid ATF DW-1 / Transmission service •Oil Change •Differential Front and Back Service/Flush •Cooling system Flush and new anti-freeze •Fuel Injection Service Issue was still ongoing, so decided to take the car to Honda Authorized service center on 9/27/23, they were able to duplicate the Judder experience and performed snapshot and diagnosed car and advised vehicle needs torque converter. Wanted to go for second opinion, so scheduled an appointment with another Honda service center, they informed me that the transmission fluid was very dark and performed the flush of automatic transmission fluid (ATF) 3 time. Issue frequency has reduced after the flush, but every few weeks the car experiences Judder/hesitation while shifting and usually turning off the engine and back on helps resolve the issue. All this while no engine lights came on.
I currently have a 2019 Honda, Pilot with approximately 70,000 miles. I have had problems with the idle stop feature since the first year of owning the vehicle. I have had many instances of a restart resulting in actuating the warning lights on my instrument panel and a few times when my vehicle did not restart. My dealer either was not able to diagnose the problem or did not know how. I even paid to have my battery replaced, which helped elevate the problem but did not fix it.I also either have a problem with the automatic braking system giving me a warning or in some instances actually applying the brakes when there is no traffic.Both of these are reoccurring and on-going problems.
While stopped at a busy 4 way stop light my engine shut off and the screed read “car in neutral must be in drive” then went to accessory mode. The car would not restart for five minutes.
The start/ stop feature is malfunctioning. I was at a red light stopped this morning and the start/ stop feature kicked in and turn off the engine. However the switch or gear jumped to Neutral with no action from me and the car stuck. when I was about to go as the lights turned green, the vehicledidn'tmove ratherthe Neutrallight on the buttonwas on and none of the other buttons work. I tried pushing the drive button but the vehicle stuck on Neutral. So I have turn the ignition off and restart the vehicle while cars were lining behind me on the same lane. Please help
In June of 2022 my car started to buck and stalled out; I had to get it towed to Huntington Honda. The dealership told me that the fuel pump failed do to corrosion and it was not covered under my warranty. I did have to go through insurance. I have no idea how the male pin in the fuel pump corroded and broke off inside the connector and neither did the Service Advisor. Honda America spoke with the dealership after the car was fixed and concluded that is was corrosion. I have always taken care of my car and cannot understand how that part even became corroded. Please help me in this matter as this could be happening to others. Honda America and06/18/2022 the dealership where no help at all. My # is 631-972-5301. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Your help is very much appreciated.
Reported to dealer twice and could not be replicated. They just tell me they have never heard of this problem. While at a traffic light the vehicle either shifts into neutral, park or second gear. Sometimes I press the accelerator and it does not go even though I’m in Drive. I gave up with the dealer but it is scary when people behind you honk and I could be rear ended because I’m scrambling to press the transmission buttons or restarting. A few incidents, I had to turn off and restart. I have learned if it is running and in Drive but does not go, I press the drive button several times to make it go or turn off and restart in lines of traffic. This vehicle has bells and whistles but falls short with engine and transmission. I currently own 5 Honda vehicles and 12 Hondas over the years. This vehicle is the one I feel the least secure in being dependable. It has 16,000 miles on it and has been problematic since approx 7,500 miles.
Took my Honda Pilot 2019 for emissions test Vehicle Emmssion inspection MVA VEIP told me they having issues with this 2019 Honda especially the Honda Pilot and added manufacturing issues. My $14 was refunded back. Can someone please look into this issue for us. My friend with Honda Pilot 2019 is having the sane issue.We keep getting extended dates to drive around gases are expensive. Please help
When vehicle was at a stop, then car turned off via the auto stop feature and did not turn back on its own. This happened twice. The first time it took a few minutes for me to be able to start the car. It kept shifting the transmission to neutral on its own, then I would shift it to park and when I pressed the start button it went back to neutral. This happened about 10 times on a row before I was able to restart the car. The second time I was able to restart it immediately.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP feature malfunctioned while the vehicle was at a complete stop, causing the vehicle to stall. The vehicle was not able to restart immediately. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.
The stop-start function has not restarted on a couple occasions. I have been at a stop light released my foot from the gas and the failure has occurred. The vehicle was auto shifted into neutral. Instructions were to put in park and restart. I did not feel safe that I my was stuck in an intersection and I didn't know if the vehicle would restart. There were no noticeable errors that I recall. I have had the battery checked on the vehicle and it is good. As of right now, I have not had it checked by a dealer. I try to remember to disable the start-stop function when I drive.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while stopped at a traffic light and slightly releasing the brake pedal, the vehicle stalled. A message was displayed on the instrument panel on how to restart the vehicle after an Auto START/STOP failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the battery needed to be recharged. The battery was recharged however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,500.
The Auto Stop Start function is killing the car engine at intersections and on ramps. When the brake pedal is released, the car power stops and kills the engine. The car then has to be be in park and restarted - sometimes the car struggles to start. This has been happening for several months now - stating when the car hit about 30,000 miles - the car now has almost 38,000 miles.
Start/Stop function engaged at a red light or in stop and go traffic, stopping the engine. Engine would not restart. I attempted to restart engine and had a great deal of difficulty getting it restarted. This is a serious safety issue as vehicles could crash into me and/or I could be stranded with my two children. It has happened 5 times in the past 2 weeks. I have low miles on my car and have owned it less than 3 years.
Start / Stop and Engine failure. When I have the start/stop feature enabled there have been numerous occasions where the car has stalled and will not restart. This has happened in critical traffic situations and has almost caused multiple accidents and injury. In addition, the engine has cut off while driving through parking lots and stopping for pedestrians; during this time I need to reset the entire car to get it to start back up while stuck in the middle of the street. One other occasions the start stop has failed where the car does restart but the entire car resents and delays me from moving until this is finished. I have taken the vehicle back to the dealer to review and they say everything is working as designed.
When the car is stopped it will sometimes turn off. It has happened at least twice in the last week - once in a drive through and once at a stop sign. The cat comes to a stop normally but when it is time to accelerate the engine turns off & the electrical starts acting weird. I have to power the car off and on a couple of times before I can get it going again. I took the car into Honda today and they could not find any problems with the car. I am scared that this will happen on the freeway during traffic and someone will come crashing into me.