general problems of the 2012 Honda Pilot

On April 9, 2026, my daughter came in from school and parked her Honda Pilot at about 5:10pm. At about 7:03pm, my wife and I were sitting outside and heard a loud pop, it sounded like a car backfiring. I went to investigate and saw a little smoke and a small orange glowing piece of something on the ground under the vehicle towards the front of the vehicle. I grab a fire extinguisher from my work truck and went towards the vehicle. The car was locked and I saw flames under the hood standing by the driver door looking down where the windshield wipers are. I used the extinguisher till it was empty and the flames kept getting worse. I just walked away and my wife was already calling 911. No one was hurt no damage to any exposures. My daughter did not indicate that anything was wrong with the vehicle. No lights on, no smells, everything ran fine. It had 154,000 miles on it. I do have ring video footage of the event. I did file a claim with my insurance and sent them the video footage.

The check transmission light comes and goes. Ive had the transmission flushed with no issues. It pulls codes for the torque converter as its supposedly getting stuck per mechanic or is over heating and throwing the code. It does not drive rough and I believe it is a faulty code that needs to be addressed and updated and cleared. Ive had it cleared out once and it stayed off for a whole month. The light and blinking d doesn't come on all the time or in patterns so that also tells me it isn't a transmission issue or it would be on more frequently and consistently. To where when mine comes on and then I shut my car off for an hour it stays off for quite some time. This really needs to be addressed instead of causing car owners unnecessary costs for diagnostic purposes through a Honda dealer which costs 100. 00 or more or even them putting in a complete new transmission.

Mil comes on with dtcsp0301 through p0304 car is available for inspection. Dealer confirmed along with independent service center. Service bulletin 13-082.

Burning to much oil and engine light turn and just put 2 quarts and iwas looking at complaints anf few people have the same issue I really take care of my truck.

Unusual amount of oil consumption. Faulty cylinder 3. Gaskets cause the oil to leak into the spark plugs causing the engine light to come on with loss of power. Changed cylinder 3 spark plug at least 10 times or more since purchasing the vehicle in 2021. Oil also drips onto the alternator, replaced it twice in 9 months. Wheels and steering wheel shake when hitting the brakes. Replaced brakes and rotors twice as well.

Excessive oil consumption which led to engine misfire while driving and trying to merge onto the freeway. This cause a significant loss of power and poor performance by the vehicle. Fortunately the roadway was not busy, but this issue could have caused an accident. Took the vehicle to local mechanic, affordable automotive (chico, CA). They ran a diagnostic and it revealed a p0301 and p0175 code. They removed the spark plugs which showed excessive fouling and they replaced them. The specific cylinder effected was cylinder 1. I have contacted Honda and filed a claim (case #12234271). They opened a case and initially had good communication, but have since stopped responding and have not provided me with a conclusion. Honda initially responded on may 21, 2021.

Tl the contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 60 mph on the highway, the vehicle jerked while shifting gears. Additionally, there was an abnormal vibration in the steering wheel. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the spark plugs were replaced however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the vehicle was not taken to a dealer due to the distance of the nearest dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and suggested that the vehicle be taken to an authorized dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 137,000.

As I proceed to accelerate onto a highway or road my vehicle is very hesitant no matter how far you push down on the gas pedal it will not go and then all of the sudden it lurches accelerating the speed very fast as if it's trying to catch up. This has caused me to almost I have three accidents now. I have to be very cautious when entering an intersection or pulling onto a freeway as my vehicle declines to accelerate as it needs to causing people to run into me almost. It is a pretty significant delay for the vehicle to catch up on its own and could be very dangerous for anyone. I have read several columns where customers with Honda Pilots have experienced this same ordeal and yet it's hard to take to a dealership and explain what's going on and then get in the car and it not happen right away but my car does it almost every single time you try to accelerate on to any road. This should be addressed as soon as possible before it causes a life.

I recently buy this car and it has 79000 miles on the odo meter and when I check the carfax miles came out 186000 miles it means they rollback the odometer and I want to report a claim because it is really a safety concern.

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while at a stop light, the engine shuddered and the vehicle was unable to accelerate. The check engine, battery, traction control, and variable torque management 4-wd system (vtm-4) warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed with piston and piston ring failure mentioned in Honda bulletin 13-082. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.

Excessive oil usage - fouling plugs - reduced gas mileage - vcm fault dtc 3400 technical service bulletin (TSB #11-033).

Vehicle developed a vibration around 45000 miles in rear and thought tires needed rebalancing. That didn't help and after vibrating on a 1600 mile trip had dealer replace tires with original brand and size after discussing problem with them. $1000 later I took the car back to dealer and complained about vibration. They rebalanced tires on hi tech balancer. 275 miles on new tires and still vibration is there. Went back today because of vibration and they did software update and replaced right rear tire. Service manager and then general both rode with me I vehicle and they agreed the vibration is still apparent. They think it's inherent with the Honda Pilot. It obviously is not something that is normal. Who what's to drive a car vibrating all the time.

Purchased the vehicle used from a franchise dealer and am the second owner. The engine hesitates at low speeds (approx. 10 mph) when accelerating. This becomes apparent when attempting accelerate from a stop light, accelerating from a turn, merging onto a freeway, changing lanes, etc. It does happen periodically and I am unable to reproduce the issue on-demand, but it seems to happen daily whenever the car feels like it. I am surprised there is no recall issued for this, as I have already had a couple of near missing when trying to merge onto the freeway with steady flowing traffic and when crossing an intersection from one side of the street to the other. I have yet to take the vehicle to the dealer, as it is out of warranty and there does not appear to be a solution to this issue, so I want to understand what my options are. I'll be reaching out to american Honda soon.

Problem: while trying to accelerate, there is a resistance/hesitation that is felt in the gas pedal and the engine has trouble increasing rpm's. This is an intermittent issue. Case I: while in a parking lot, trying to pick up a little speed. Gas pedal has resistance and engine won't pick up speed. I keep my foot steady on the accelerator and then Pilot picks up speed in a unexpected rush. High level of danger due to people present in the area; as there was an unexpected amount of speed. Case road type: three lane road in each direction of traffic. While in the legal u-turn lane, I observe that there is enough distance to make a u-turn. From a stop I try to pick up speed (I was aiming for 5k rpm's, I know how far to press the gas pedal to get that response). A great resistance and lack of response from the gas pedal was felt. There was minimal acceleration happening and then after about 6 to 8 seconds, the engine was able to get to 6k rpm's. As the cars approached faster I almost got rear ended. As there have been more cases, these are to two most dangerous ones. *note: the resistance/hesitation of the gas pedal happens under any temperature in the cabin.

I have a 2012 Honda Pilot- I purchased used with 9k miles. I have put approximately 5k miles on the vehicle and immediately noticed an engine vibration similar to being in the wrong gear in a manual transmission. I took the car into the Honda dealership and asked them to check the transmission- as I initially thought that it was a "hunting" issue with the transmission- the dealer indicated that it was normal. The more I drive the vehicle, the more it appears to be related to the engine and not the transmission. The vibration is very annoying and not normal. Honda needs to step-up and take care of the problem. Too many issues out there with others with same complaints. If Honda does not correct soon it will tell me a lot about the quality status of their brand. This is my 4th Honda and will certainly be my last that if Honda fails to solve the problem. Let's see it Honda- clock is ticking. . .

I have had issues with a strange engine vibration at various speeds. I emailed Honda 3 times and never received any response. I finally called Honda and was told I have to contact a local dealer. I have brought my vehicle in to Honda 3 times and it has not been fixed. The second time I dropped it off I was told they "did some adjustments", but they did not indicate what they did and it did not fix the problem. The last time I brought it in and took the main mechanic on the freeway to show him the noise. He acknowledged the noise and said that it was vibration from the motor mounts and that the motor mounts are managed electronically so they can not fix it. He told me that I will have to wait until Honda hopefully comes out with a software update that will fix the problem.

SUV vibrates abnormally at 30-45 mph. Can feel it in the seat of your pants, floor and center counsel. Had a wheel alignment and wheel balancing done, no help. Was told it is normal, nothing could be done. This problem is very distracting and could cause an accident.

Car is having vibrations coming from the engine while going in and out of vcm - variable cylinder management system. Happens regularly at 70 mph while on cruise control, on flat highway going up a slight hill the vibration starts. This comes and goes, and I could not yet replicate with the dealer. Many people with v6 engines with vcm in it from Honda are complaining about this issue. Looks like it started in the Pilot and is happening with the odyssey as well. Honda whould be forced to look into what is causing this vibration as it appears pretty wide spread.

Intermitent accellerator response delay. Sometimes when you need to accellerate, as when making a left turn in traffic, the response delays and then responds. This is a safety issue. You cannot depend upon response to the accellerator when you may need it. Honda upgraded a program earlier and there was improvement, but the problem still persists.

2012 Honda Pilot. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle sudden vibration at any speed. The dealer informed the consumer, that Honda was aware of the problem, and they were in the process of trying to find a fix. The consumer stated several months have gone by, with no results.

At various times at slower speeds the vehicle will not accelerate for approximately 3 seconds. This seems to occur when turning or beginning to travel uphill. I took it to dealer and the dealer mechanic could not replicate this occurrence. This happens about every two or 3 days. I believe it is dangerous when traveling through an intersection of merging lanes. There are several posts on a Honda owner's website with others experiencing the same problem but Honda can't find the problem.

Driving back from illinois to texas and started to feel vibration when the engine's vcm would activate. I was going about 65mph and slowly eased off of the gas, when I slowly pushed on the gas to speed up again I felt a vibration on the floor board that would not stop until I gave it more gas. This has been going on ever since. Even yesterday when I drove to san antonio and today when I drove back to houston, I have taken the car to the dealership 4 times in 2013. It has not been fixed even though the head mechanic did a ride along and agreed there was vibration. The dealership states they cannot fix the problem. They say they are waiting on Honda to give them instructions on how to fix it.

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle started to vibrate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician advised that the vehicle was performing to standards and the vibration was normal for the eco mode. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to extend the contact's warranty on the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 300 and the current mileage was 2,200. Kmj.

My 2012 Honda Pilot ex-l has had issues with vibration when driving at consistent speeds between 40-50 and 60-70 (I. E. Not accelerating). Local dealer initially tried to update control software with no impact, then replaced the torque converter under warranty, also with no impact. Honda service manager now says that this is a known issue with the variable cylinder management program that is designed to increase fuel economy - and the only way to correct this is to drive with the overdrive turned off (thereby significantly lowering fuel economy). The vibration can be best described as a sort of "stuttering" that typically occurs during highway driving while moving at a consistent speed, almost as if it were misfiring and goes away once the accelator is pushed harder, only to return once consistent speeds are again reached. The issue has been non-stop since purchase in January 2012, and the vehicle now has approximately 55,000 miles. Had Honda initially explained the issue I would have applied for the north carolina lemon law program, but instead they were less than up front about a known issue.

2012 Honda Pilot touring- vehicle is having vibrations coming from the engine while going in and out of vcm - variable cylinder management system. Happens regularly at various speeds. The vibration/shuttering is both felt and heard. The dealer has said this is normal with this engine and vcm technology. I had a 2005 Pilot without the vcm system and was very happy, I bought this one without a test drive. Had I known this problem existed, I would not have purchased it.

I purchased my 2012 Honda Pilot on Tuesday March 27, 2012 with 113 miles on it. Within 2 days I experienced for the first time when trying to start the vehicle it times out after 7-10 seconds and I have to try again. Now, 8 days after the purchase it has happened 6 times. I did research on the new model and it seems to have been a known issue since the fall of 2011. If I would have known I would have never signed on the dotted line and I want the issue rectified. I contacted the dealership immediately and they said it was a new issue that has no fix currently. After a the 3rd incident I filed a formal complaint with Honda in California and I haven't heard anything. No offer to take the car back, no offer for a safer vehicle that works properly. I just want a working car-- I am paying money for a vehicle that is known to be faulty and no one seems to know what to do about it. I was told I was the 5th person in the dealerships district to have this issue but still I have this faulty vehicle that is unreliable.

When accelerating from a low speed, such as entering a parking lot from the roadway or entering a roadway from a parking lot, the engine does not respond to my pressing on the accelerator. After a few seconds, the car lurches forward. This only happens when accelerating from a very low speed, about 10 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice and an accelerator module was replaced, but there has been no change, the problem still exists. The danger is very serious when trying to enter the flow of traffic from a lot or side street. Very often, it takes much too long to reach the speed of the existing traffic. The dealer explained that there is no longer a cable connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine, it is now "fly by wire". There seems to be a disconnect between my pressing the accelerator at a low speed and the engine responding immediately.