Body problems of the 2004 Honda Pilot

22 problems related to body have been reported for the 2004 Honda Pilot. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Honda Pilot based on all problems reported for the 2004 Pilot.

1 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/03/2022

Confirmed with local mechanic that the rear cross member of the sub-frame needs to be replaced immediately. Badly rusted and is a safety issue.

2 Body problem

Failure Date: 11/04/2021

My hood latch isn't holding when I'm highway driving at 60mph. The hood will pop open. I've seen the new recall on the news for the newer vehicles but it is also happening on my 2004. I believe that year needs to be added to the list.

3 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/08/2019

While on the 605n freeway close to the 10 freewaysplit our entire sunroof which the glass and cover ditached from our vehicle and flew off. Luckily the car behind was not hit from what I see in the recording but we can't see if it flew on the other side of the freeway. My children were seating in the middle row and small debri hit their face. We pulled over to the emergency side of the freeway to check damage. All that's left from the sunroof is the glue.

4 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/30/2018

Major rear end corrosion. Frame & where rear end connects to body. Told by 2 body shops & an auto mechanic to stop driving. The back end could drop out.

5 Body problem

Failure Date: 02/10/2018

Floor on driver side and passenger side is soak.

6 Body problem

Failure Date: 07/07/2016

Takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the passenger side of the dashboard had disintegrated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. In addition, the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16v344000 (air bags), but the dealer stated that the part was not available. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 180,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

7 Body problem

Failure Date: 07/02/2016

Rear spoiler (with 3rd tail light and washer nozzle) fell off while driving.

8 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/30/2015

Our Pilot front passenger floor gets soaking wet when it rains! our car is parked in a driveway and stationary. After a rainstorm is when we find the soaked carpeting on the passenger side of the car. The water seeps under the passenger seat where mold can form. The seats are difficult to remove and the area can't be vacuumed effectively. There seems to be either faulty harness plugs or another area in front tire flaps that the company didn't seal resulting in soaking wet carpets that can show signs of mold. I have very bad allergies and this is not acceptable. I also have my children, grandchildren and sometimes great grandchildren in this car and I'm afraid that any mold could compromise our health! why isn't Honda taking care of this issue when there are literally hundreds of complaints online concerning this issue? we have been having this issue for the last three years and it's getting ridiculous. There are hundreds if not thousands of this same complaint online!.

9 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/08/2015

The rear hatch has to be lifted manually and held up at all times or it will crash down on you with the full weight of the hatch. I had to use both of my hands to get it opened. I had to physically hold it up to access anything in the back. It's extremely heavy. I was worried it would come crashing down on my back, head or arm, causing serious injury. The vehicle was parked, no engine running. This is not a remote open hatch.

10 Body problem

Failure Date: 03/15/2014

Accident on the freeway the car sped out of control hit the center divider. Front and side air bags went off! the steering wheel airbags scarred the inside od my wrist.

11 Body problem

Failure Date: 07/25/2013

On July 25 ,2013 around 8:00am am starting my 2004 Honda Pilot , to move my car to avoid parking tickets at 8:30am. After 5 minutes of warming the engine I decided to drive around to find a parking space to avoid a ticked. Around 8:14am I found a parking space and the car is parked. Later around 3:00pm I decided to go to my girlfriend house ,I see the my car parked and a free parking space in front of my apartment. To avoid tickets the next day I moved the car. Around 3:02 the car is parked in front of my apartment. Around 9:50 pm am walking home and I see the hood of my car open. The engine was all burned including headlights there was no wire everything melt. Neighbors where sitting outside as usual ,they told me that it started around 3:30 and that small amount of smoke was coming out of the left side of the engine . Fire department took like 15m !!!!to arrived. Car had 105,000 miles. I wasn't using the car that often ,the night before the fire I drove the car for 15 miles back and forward. My ensures don't cover fire . No more Honda thanks!!!.

12 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/01/2012

We first noticed in oct. 2012 that the carpet and mat floor boards on both the front driver and passenger sides of our car were wet with water. It is now Dec. 2012 and the problem has worsened. The wet carpet is causing a mildew smell in our car which we cannot get rid of, as the carpets are getting wetter each time it rains. The car also fogs up constantly due to the inside moisture, making visibility extremely difficult. Once the temperature drops the wet floors are sure to freeze, thus causing another hazard: slippery feet near the break and accelerator. It is reasonable to suppose that there will be rust and eventual deterioration if the problem is not fixed. There seems to be a structural problem with the car on both sides where there is water dripping in from possibly the wheel well or right above the wheel well. In looking on line, we see several Honda Pilots and ridgelines with exactly the same problem, improper structural seals breaking down and causing water to drip onto the floorboards of the car. Honda is aware of the problem (we called our dealership) but will only fix it if the car is still under warranty. Seeing that this is a safety issue, and a known common structural problem with the car, it would seem to me that Honda should fix the problem.

13 Body problem

Failure Date: 05/24/2012

Vehicle veered of the road and struck a tree, dead on the front left headlight and destroyed the bumper and front left fender, pushed the hood into the windshield, which cracked. The air bag did not deploy. Bruising from seat belt.

14 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/01/2011

My 2004 Honda Pilot started to leak water in both passenger and driver side. Both the passenger and driver carpet is getting soak and wet. I took it to david mcdavid Honda dealer, at irving, TX. They could not figure out where the water is coming from . They want to keep the car for an entire day to see what causing this issue. They want to charge $99. 00 per hour. (very expensive option. . . I would say). I went online, there are hundreads of people seems to having the same issue with water leakage with Honda Pilot. I am trying my best to keep the car dry but my concern is that water leackage might cause to get mold inside the car, which is major health hazard. I already saw the rust under the carpet( some part of carpet look red rust spot). Was there a recall on that issue? is Honda treating this problem as a structural defect? thanks.

15 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/12/2011

One of the two nuts that hold on the rear license plate onto the car sheared off due to normal usage, I. E. Normal closing of the rear door. The two nuts are tack welded directly to the thin body metal and apparently the repeated shock of closing the rear door can cause metal fatigue and the nuts to shear off with the body metal, resulting the license becoming unsecured to the vehicle. Potential safety hazard since if the owner does not notice the first failure, the metal fatigue will be accelerated by the additional torque stress and failure of the second nut could cccur while the car is in motion. Multiple incidents of this failure have been reported on the internet blogs since 2007.

16 Body problem

Failure Date: 05/11/2011

I took my 2004 Honda Pilot for service today and during the inspection the Honda dealer found that the front engine mount and the passenger side engine mount had both failed. The engine mounts should last the entire life of the car. It is a non-moving/non-wearing part. I read several websites where people complained about the Honda Pilot's engine mounts failing. This problem seems to be a failure in engineering and should be corrected by Honda. Your assistance is appreciated.

17 Body problem

Failure Date: 04/01/2011

Severe corrosion appeared around the vehicle's front windshields and I am very concerned that this will loosen the adhesive and cause the windshield to come loose unexpectedly. The corrosion is clearly a manufacture defect since it came from the inside of the windshield frame and there is no external damage to it and windshield has never been replaced.

18 Body problem

Failure Date: 03/06/2010

Water leaks in every time it rains and gets both front carpets wet. Honda denies the problem; I know im not along because others can be found on the web. I also know that this is a body seem failure but Honda wants to charge you hundreds because it's out of warranty.

19 Body problem

Failure Date: 06/28/2009

I and my family have been loyal Honda owners since 1984. In those 25 years we have purchased 8 Honda automobiles. Until recently the service and support provided by Honda and its dealers has been exceptional. That was all until our most recent vehicle, a 2004 Honda Pilot. It is a vehicle my wife and I love but one that has had a high level of irritating small problems. The latest problem involves the mounting structure for the rear license plate. The metal holding the two welded on mounting nuts is so thin that after several years of vibrating the metal backing simply breaks away. In seeking a repair to the problem my local Honda dealer had no clue as to how to repair the problem and his only remedy was to send me to a local retail body shop for a $234. 00 repair. My local dealer indicates he was not able to obtain repair support from the factory because these problems are due to the use of heavy license plate holders. In response to that defense let me state the following: 1. Research on the internet quickly reveals that the Honda Pilots have had this problem for several years. Dozens of Honda owners have had the same problem. 2. Honda regional representatives have accepted responsibility in some cases and not in others. 3. The heavy license plate frame being blamed is an item supplied by the dealer at time of purchase and does not represent an extra heavy burden. 4. The license plate has vibrated upon closing the rear hatch from day one of purchase. It is the nature of the design using only two mounting points. 5. The fact that the license plate and frame can suddenly fall from the vehicle and bounce into the following traffic represents a safety hazard which Honda should have warned owners of when they first discovered this problem.

20 Body problem

Failure Date: 01/01/2008

2004 Honda Pilot - inside compartment water leak. For 2 years we have had water coming in the front foot wells. We have had the car looked at by different dealerships and private repair shops. The dealerships said it was the windshield, which we have replace twice, and the private repair shop sealed all areas that come into the car. I've call Honda corporation twice and have complained. They said that they haven't had enough calls on this problem to make it a recall. There are plenty of people on line (Honda. Org) that have complained about the same problem. Most people don't realize that the water is coming in until the carpets are soaked.

21 Body problem

Failure Date: 11/12/2006

There is a audible vibration in my '04 Honda Pilot when I drive at about 1400 rpm. It sounds like a strong wind noise, like some sort of cover vibrating. It is intermittent. Once the rpm goes beyond 1600rpm, these vibrations rarely happen. I took the car to the dealer and they replaced the entire exhaust line, including the catalytic converter. The vibrations continue to happen. The vibration seems to come from the underbelly of the car, right in front of the passenger compartment.

22 Body problem

Failure Date: 09/15/2004

2004 Honda Pilot - purchased a brand new vehicle from the dealer that I am referring to in this complaint - the problem: a serious water leak problem on passenger side floor. It has gone through warranty work within first 10000 miles but the dealer could not find the water leakage problem after 8 hours of work in their body shop. The vehicle experiences a severe water leak problem in to the passenger floor every winter season (in pacific northwest, rainy season is the winter season) ever since the warranty work (that they could not find any root cause) was done in 2004. I recently called the same dealer and they said it is out of warranty and I need to pay a considerable deposit even for the dealer service department to take a look at something that they could not fix back in 2004 as a warranty work. With this serious interior water leak condition, the vehicle starts to smell bad inside and takes a lot of effort (my own time in every winter) to soak up water off the carpet floor inside of my Pilot every time it rained. I am not sure what the extend of the residual damage it may have on my vehicle that I cannot visibly see where the leak is coming into inside of the vehicle but it certainly will bring down the value of my Honda Pilot in case I want to trade or sell. This is totally unacceptable situation for the Honda Pilot owners to tolerate. I need to go out there and soak up more water out of my Pilot after I submit this complaint.


Other Structure related problems of the 2004 Honda Pilot


Safety Ratings of Pilot Cars
Fuel Economy of Pilot Vehicles
Pilot Service Bulletins
Pilot Safety Recalls
Pilot Defect Investigations