2021 Honda Pilot Complaint Log

The system that is malfunctioning is the transmission. It is randomly shifting into neutral while at stop lights and while driving down the roads. This is an unsafe problem because the vehicle has to stop and be turned off then restarted before the transmission will allow you to change into drive. Stopping in the road on multiple occasions due to not being able to move to the side, has been causing hazardous conditions and near accidents on several occasions. The problem is random and when taken to the dealer for the issue, they test drove it for a few minutes and said they couldn't see the issue happening. They stated that we should just wait until it is happening more often and then come back. I have done a quick internet search for the issue and it has popped up in many Honda forums and sites. It seems to be a somewhat common problem. Honda seems to act unaware of the issue. Our insurance is aware of the issue but it has not been checked by anyone other than the dealership service department. There were no warnings or lights to indicate an issue before during or after the problem.

The contact owned a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at 30 MPH and while attempting to stop depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact confirmed that the accelerator pedal was not depressed accidentally. No air bags deployed. The contact crashed into unknown private property in a parking lot. No injuries were sustained. No police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the diagnosis was unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, offered no assistance, and referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 47,395.

Car slammed on breaks for no reason. Good thing I was paying attention and was able to keep my vehicle under control. My neck hurt for the rest of the day and is Sore today. Now my cars system says the system isn’t working correctly after my car slammed on the breaks for basically no reason. I know this is an ongoing problem certain Honda models already. I believe every Honda with this system should be recalled.

Headlights were replaced under the 3yr/36k mile warranty just prior to the 3 yr mark due to the clear coat peeling and headlights showing excessive wear and scratching. 6 months after replacement, the replaced headlights are showing the same signs of clear coat peeling and excessive wear and scratching, far sooner than the original 3 yr mark. The headlight condition continues to deteriorate and will eventually need replacement or refurbishment. Now, the Honda emblem on the front, which is covered in clear plastic since it houses anti-collision components, is showing the same signs of wear. This seems premature considering the vehicle was purchased in 2021 and will pose a safety risk soon.

While stopped at a light the engine completely shut off and put itself into neutral. Nothing worked. Had to press and hold the ignition button for at least 5 seconds to shut down and restart the vehicle.

Infotainment systems makes a crackling sound then the whole system will shut down and screen goes black. Nothing with the system will work including the back up camera.

The truck lights came on, with no reason, ACC and LKAS dealer wants to charge 200 just to diagnose, I keep hearing many have thir problem, honda needs to fix this problem that they know they have.

I think the issue may be the Auto Idle system. Twice the car has shut off when waiting in traffic at a light causing obviously severe panic as the cars behind me honk and I try to get the car to come back on. Then another time, the car just wouldn't turn on. It took about 30 minutes before I could get it turned on. My safety could have been compromised had someone rear-ended me while I was trying to turn the car back on. The dealer can not reproduce the problem. No one else has inspected the vehicle. There were no warning lights etc. prior to the failures.

When driving the my 2021 Honda Pilot and I stop, the vehicle goes into idle engine automatically. There are have been numerous incidents when I lift my foot off the break, the engine does not turn back on. The vehicle is in drive and starts to beep and flash to put in park, shut off and restart. Obviously, this is extremely dangerous since it has occurred in the middle of traffic and in stop and go traffic on the highway. It puts the passengers in my vehicle at risk as well as other cars on the road. There are no warning signs or lights. My dealer has been made aware of the “idle stop” feature not working correctly.

1) Recall 2020-22 multi-model seat weight sensor safety recall. Called since February 2024 when it was posted. I called the dealership and was told that I will received a postcard by mail. I have been waiting for the postcard and called multiple dealerships multiple times. I have been told that they don't have the parts to fix the issue and be put on the waiting list until further notice. 2)The screen goes off or it goes blurry. 3)The Car charger goes out sometimes too.

Twice in the last 6 months this has happened while car was stopped at red light. The auto engine restart system failed, causing the car to shut down. Car had to be placed in park and restarted. Local dealer was unable to detect cause : no codes captured and there were no problems with battery or starter detected.

I have a 2021 Elite and have been experiencing issues with the Auto Engine Idle Shut Off for the past year. The engine with shuts off normally when I come to a stop when I have the system engaged. The problems begin when I take my foot off the brake expecting the engine to start up again. What happens inconsistently (though more and more often) is that when I take my foot off the brake, the engine shuts off, shifts itself into Park, and I have trouble getting the engine to start up again. A number of warning messages show up on the center console as well. Things like, Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation, Brake System warnings start displaying. Sometimes, I can get the engine to start up again within 10-15 seconds. Sometimes, it's been more than a minute. It almost sounds like the battery is dead but I have zero issues ever starting the vehicle initially in both hot and cold weather. When I disengage the system, which I do practically every time I drive the car now, everything works fine. The dealer ran a diagnostic and found nothing and then charged my battery even though it read full charge. It did the exact same thing a day later at a stop light. Because it’s a safety hazard and rather embarrassing to have it keep occurring at red lights with people behind you, when it shuts the engine off I manually disengage the shut off via the button on the console and the vehicle starts up fine every time. The stalls only occur when I don’t disengage with the button and take my foot off the brake. I have spoken to several other pilot owners that this has happened to so I know it is not an isolated incident.

Vehicle spontaneously caught fire. There were no known/indicated issues with the vehicle. Vehicle was eventually extinguished by the fire dept. It took them 45 mins to render it extinguished. Vehicle was parked in my driveway at the time of the incident.

My car started stating that 6 systems were having problems. The adaptive cruise control system, automatic high beam system, blind spot information system, road departure mitigation system, collision mitigation system, and lane keep assist system. I took the car to the Honda dealer it was purchased from and was informed that the technician found that the multipurpose camera was not working and needed to be replaced. The component that failed is the multipurpose camera. My safety and the safety of others was put at risk because the following 6 safety systems stopped working. Adaptive cruise control system, automatic high beam system, blind spot information system, road departure mitigation system, collision mitigation system, and lane keep assist system. The problem has been diagnosed by the dealer. I don't know if this component has been inspected. There were no warning lights, messages, or symptoms prior to the failure. The car was just at the dealership the previous month for the annual state inspection and nothing was noted by the dealership. I was driving when suddenly the component failed and I was notified that the 6 safety systems were no longer working.

Car in front of me stopped. My vehicle did not causing a rear end collision. I do not recall the brake warning flashing to alert me to brake. The automatic braking system did not seem to engage. Even though I pressed the brake pedal the vehicle did not seem to want to stop. It reminded me of a vehicle without power brakes. Nor did the wheels lock up or leave any skid marks from hard braking.

It's been a while my vehicle acting up, the brake is not working the way it was, had complained to the dealer but stating everthing looks ok, but i know how my car drives, steering is getting hard something is wrong its not normal, I have another suv I can tell something mechanical is wrong

Like others have reported, similar to the odyssey we own that did have a recall to fix the issue, the vehicle fails to restart after it idles at a light. Causing very stressful situation in traffic because it take 10-20 seconds to get vehicle going. Happened 5 times in 6 months.

Normal driving of vehicle when suddenly several warning lights began to appear and show up every time when driving (LKAS, ACC, Mitigation, etc) despite these features working. Honda dealership claims it is due to a faulty front camera. Safety at risk because if these systems do fail, there will be no way of indicating.

Upon turning on my vehicle all of the emergency warnings came on. I did a diagnostic and was shown that nothing was wrong with the vehicle but the warnings will not reset.

I was traveling with my daughters [XXX] , and [XXX] , in the back seat. It started raining heavy just as I passed a vehicle and returned to the right lane. I reduced my speed, then felt the vehicle hydroplane slightly and felt the traction control system engaged. As soon as the traction control icon displayed, I began to feel the traction slipping and noticed a slight unresponsiveness in the steering. My speed suddenly dropped 15-20 mph, without braking, or any change in pressure on the accelerator. I then tried to accelerate, but was unable to possibly because of loss of traction I noticed the traction light was flashing. The vehicle I had just passed moments before was quickly approaching at roughly 65 mph (speed limit was 70 mph) and had no warning of the issue with my vehicle decelerating, luckily they were paying attention and able to pass safely. When they passed, I pulled off the road and had these warnings on the screen: - Collision Mitigation Braking System. CMBS problem. - Lane Keeping Assist Problem. - Road Departure Mitigation System Problem. I placed the vehicle in park, shut it off, then restarted it. The error messages went away, then came back on as soon as I started driving. The traction control light remained off and the rain subsided, but the warnings remained. Dealership is supposed to inspect Wednesday 07/31/24. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic signal, the vehicle independently shifted into neutral(N). The contact shifted vehicle into park(P) and turned off and restarted the vehicle and shifted into drive(D). There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle with a faulty brake switch and determined that the 12-Volt battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred, and the vehicle independently shifted into neutral(N). The contact stated that the failure had occurred while stopped with the vehicle still in drive(D). The vehicle was taken to the same dealer however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure or determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE, FUEL PUMP FAILURE CAUSES THE ENGINE TO STALL WHILE DRIVING.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the contact stated that several unknown warning lights started flashing. The contact stated that the Cruise Control and the Lane Departure and Lane Assist were inoperable. Additionally, the front view camera had failed to operate as designed. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the electrical system had failed and that the front view camera needed to be replaced and recalibrated for all of the other systems to work as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

I'm having issues with the auto stop start. I see there is a known problem for the 2016-2020 Honda pilots. I have a 2021. It's the same issue. I stop at an intersection and the car auto stops the engine. I then tried to go and the car stalled. I had to put in park and restart the car. Since then I have had 2 more incidents where the car almost stalls, the dash errors lights come on but then the car starts and goes without stalling. This has happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I have it in the service center today. I wanted to report this issue is still ongoing and seems to affect more than the previously listed vehicles.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (AIRBAGS) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

The accelerator on my vehicle malfunctioned and got stuck. While making turn with no acceleration, the acceleration of the vehicle got stuck and the brakes did not respond causing the vehicle to hit a sidewalk and breaking the passenger side suspension and control arm and axel of the vehicle. Airbags deployed. Controlled the vehicle until it stopped completely. When vehicle was completely stopped the passenger side still sounded like that gas pedal was fully pressed when the other tires were not moving.

ACC, LKAS, collision mitigation system problem, road departure mitigation system, and auto high beam problem warnings all appear on instrument panel. None of these systems work. Have replaced battery and problem not fixed. Warnings continue to appear each time car is turned on. Vehicle has 47783 miles on it. Codes indicate there’s a problem with the camera in the front of the car. The car is only 3 years old. Shouldn’t be having these issues. Have researched online and found many other complaints from others from various Honda models. Major safety problem that warrants a recall.

The battery has gone bad twice (second replacement only took nine months) since an update was applied to the auto engine restart function. The car will work for some amount of time after the battery is replaced and then begin to not restart (shut off) at a light after the auto engine shutoff is engaged from the brake. It progressively gets worse until we replace the battery.

The auto-idle feature on this vehicle stalls out the engine on a regular basis, causing risk of accident from surrounding traffic. When breaks applied for red light, stop sign, traffic, etc., the auto-idle feature first engages and powers down the engine, however upon releasing the breaks, the engine stalls out, shifts into neutral, and the battery light comes on. I then have to get it into park and try to restart the vehicle. Sometimes it starts right away, other times it can take a few tries. Meanwhile, cars behind me are honking because I can't get my vehicle to move forward with traffic. Several times I have almost been rear-ended because the car behind me is expecting me to move forward when they see my brake lights turn off. I've talked to my dealer who informed me they completed a auto-idle recall software update in 2023 (recall #23-008) but the problem continues to happen. They have scheduled me to bring in the vehicle to look at the starter for potential replacement, I am hopeful it will not cost me a lot of money. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL TO FIX THIS ISSUE! This is known issue on many Honda vehicles (there is a class-action lawsuit). It is also ridiculous that ther is no way to permanently disable the auto-idle feature. Thank you!

when auto-idle engaged and car is stopped, it will not restart the car's engine. My safety was at risk because the event took place while I was in traffic with my family. The problem has not been reproduced. It is a problem known by Honda for many years. The vehicle has not been inspected. Unknown.

Problem Dealer said recall for airbags risk/ seat sensor cannot be fixed due to unable to get parts.

The automatic start/stop feature has caused several stalls at intersections. It has taken repeated efforts to restart the vehicle, once resulting in a near miss situation. What is especially worrying is that my [XXX] driver was behind the wheel during one instance. In the past 48 hours, it has happened three times. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

VSA modulator failed at approximately 69,000 miles. Safety features were inoperable putting my family at risk. Dash said to contact a dealership and to not drive the vehicle. The dealer informed us that the car was safe to drive as long as it wasn't making any funny noises. I paid the dealer to replace the VSA modulator per their diagnosis but then upon the car being returned to my possession, I was informed all the alarms are present on the car again. The dealer is instructing that I now need to replace the forward camera / radar sensor.

My Honda Pilot has, on multiple occasions, just died after the auto engine idle stop engaged. I have had to put my vehicle back in park, restart it, immediately disable the auto idle stop and put it back in drive. On several other occasions it has also said "engine idle stop system unavailable". Even with that useless feature disabled my car will hesitate and kinda sputter when I stop at red lights. It's dangerous. I just bought this car from the Toyota Dealership in my area so I shouldn't be having these issues. There's less than 28,000 miles on it, I shouldn't be having any issues whatsoever.

I have 4 car washed for this car so far Ive only had it for a few weeks. Every time I wash it the dome light/rear mirror leaks water and wets the entire cup holder and center console.

My 2021 Honda Pilot experienced premature degradation of front and rear rotors and brake pads after 21,869 miles due to extreme rust pitting and scoring. Vehicle started displaying brake warning message while driving.

Traveling at 35mph in village. my passenger and I attest there was no road hazard. The tire popped and I managed to drive about 70 yards to a parking lot to change my tire. it had a clean tear on the inside sidewall. The tear had no marks made against it. I'm complaining since I see there have been 2 other similar complaints about this tire on this website.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); 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 not made aware of the issue. Parts distribution disconnect.

This has now happened twice, resulting in my infant getting locked in the car. I unlocked the car open the driver side second door where my car seat is. I buckle in my infant put in my bag and then go to get in the driver side door and the car has locked itself with my key in my bag that I put inside the car with my baby. Either the car should not lock with the key inside of it or there should not be a timed lock system once the car has been opened.

Front camera has failed. Dealership reports it needs to be replaced. I have crack in my windshield - now the glass company will not replace the windshield even with insurance because the camera is not working and they can’t calibrate. Having a camera on the windshield which doesn’t not work jeopardizes my family’s safety. There needs to be a plan in place to be able to replace windshield if the camera is not working and Honda should be investigated for front cameras failing. My car is just barely 3 years old. Why would a camera, which controls so many safety issues fail when a car is only 3? This should be investigated as a serious safety issue and as the rear cameras were recalled, the front should be invested too.

When driving the car and stopped, the car goes into idle engine automatically. There are have been 5 incidents where the engine wouldn’t turn back on. The car starts beeping and flashing to put in park, shut off and restart. This is extremely dangerous when in the middle of traffic, cars honking and my children in the car getting nervous. Luckily I have not had an accident yet and figured out how to not use the “idle stop” feature to prevent this from happening but it’s not a long term solution as I have to stop idle feature every time the car is turned on.

Side view mirrors started shaking few months after buying car, had them replaced under warranty. After replacement drivers side was so distorted I took it back. They replaced again, still distorted but better. Too, to dealer for service and they replaced again due to recall, mirror is so distorted again i can barely see out it. I see many complaints on forums regarding this. Honda needs to correct this with the proper glass before an accident happens

I see there is an investigation involving the automatic emergency braking on some Hondas. I previously owned a 2018 Honda Accord, but currently own a 2021 Honda Pilot. Both had/have the automatic emergency braking. Both cars have the same issue with hard braking for no reason. To me the Pilot is worse due to almost having 2 people rear end me due to the random hard breaking. In my opinion the investigation needs to possibly expand into other models. It has never been reproduced as I just assumed it happens. It definitely puts people at risk.

Frequently, my 2021 Honda will apply the brakes without warning or very abruptly. While using the adaptive cruise control, the car will brake suddenly when there is not a car anywhere near me. Also, when driving on two lane roads, the car slams on the brakes when there is not a car in front of me.

I was stopped at red light on a slight grade. When light turned green I took foot of over brake and car started to drift backwards. I pressed the brake and looked down. Car shifted in neutral on its own. I pushed drive button and it was ok. The auto-start was off. If I had been on a steep hill, I would probably have drifted into car behind me. I took car to Honda dealer and there were no codes logged. They told me they checked with Honda. This happened in April, 2024 and only time this has happened. This is the third issue I have had with this car with no errors logged. The other two were not safety related.

The warning lights beep and blink. All problems can’t be used

The infotainment screen went black. No back up camera available.

Third row seat headrest on passenger side will not stay up, so actually does make the seat unusable. Numberous complaints have been posted on line as a manufacturing defect, and a service bulletin was issued. I do not think it has ever worked I purchased the car in March of 24 with only 27,000 miles still under Honda Warranty. Discovered the issue when trying to use the third row seat. Dealer said there are no parts to fix it. Another dealer said they can fix it $650.00. Should not be responsible for paying for this to be fixed. On line states there is a recall number Y7Y. Honda Customer Service can not find anything. I bought a Honda because it is a Honda.

On 3/18/24 I started my car on a routine after school pickup trip but my notification system started blinking with different sensor problems. I took pictures of the display and tried to drive my car and saw at the time it did not affect drivability. I made an appointment with my dealer and brought it in 3/25/24. I started researching if there might be a pattern with other Honda Pilots and did find some discussion boards about 2020/2021 Honda Pilot that had a similar event—sensor problems displaying for no evident triggering event. I brought my car in for the appointment and the advisor said they would run a diagnostic as well as address 2 active recalls on my Pilot and take care of the maintenance. The diagnostic test showed that I have a faulty front multi purpose camera that must be replaced. Ny car has about $70K miles so it is outside the warranty period so I am having to pay for this repair myself. Note: the active recall that was repaired at this same visit was an issue with wiring in the rear camera. I asked the advisor if it was possible that the camera issues were related even though they were different cameras and he said at the moment there were no recalls for the multipurpose camera so he could not say. I am submitting this claim to document a possible safety concern that should be covered under a recall. Other incidents noted: when advisor asked if I had experienced any issues starting car, I did mention that last summer appx. Aug 2023 at a stop light my car went in idle mode (auto start/stop function) but when I took my foot off brake to go on green light the car did not restart. I had to get my key and push it into the ignition button to restart it. This has happened 2 since I’ve had the car. With all the recalls and these auto stop/start issues, I have experienced lower confidence & satisfaction in my Honda Pilot, but I am worried that safety may be an issue as well.

Connecting rod bearing failure resulting in the short block having to be replaced. Currently at Honda Dealership having short block replaced. 56000 km currently on vehicle and all oil changes made at correct intervals.