Automatic Emergency Braking problems of the 2021 Honda Pilot - part 1

The Honda Pilot completely lost power on my husband's way home from work in a snow storm. It would not start but it did yesterday. It sounds like clinking/clunking when started but stalls out if you try to put it in drive or reverse. It has a brand new battery. But otherwise it had to be towed and is now sitting. It didnt give any warning signs or lights on the dash until after it completely broke down. It has the engine light on when started. It has not be confirmed by a dealership as times are really rough right now with a new baby and not having the extra funds to have it looked at. And not to mention the closet dealership to look at it is almost an hour away. It seems that the rods/engine area are at fault.

Vehicle is setting multiple faults for adas system. Lkas, acc, collision mitigation system, auto high beam lights inoperable. Forward facing camera in the top of the windshield has failed.

As I was driving, I had to press on my break fairly firmly for about two seconds due to a car in front of me making a left-hand turn. I released the break, and the car in front of me was completely out of my lane. There was about a 2 to 3 second span of time ,after I released the break and in which I was coasting, before the automatic breaking system pressed hard on the break for at least one second and then it released. I had not placed my foot near the brake or accelerator at that time.

All safety/collision prevention systems related to camera have become inoperative. Vehicle will not lane keep assist, emergency brake, or notify of possible collisions. Problem occurs every time vehicle is turned on.

None of the safety sensors were working.

While driving the cmbs (crash mitigation braking system) turns on at random timed intervals causing sudden breaking and jerking of the steering wheel towards center. This causes severe safety issues including increasing the chances of a wreck due to wheel jerk movements during turning and sudden breaking. The cmbs error message pops up on the touchscreen and during the episodes of sudden onset the entire digital display both on the gage cluster and entertainment center go black and an audible clicking is heard in the steering column.

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.

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.

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 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.

I see that the ntsha is already launching an investigation into certain handa passports and insights. The 2021 (and likely other) Pilot ibown has the same phantom emergency braking issue. This happens at least on a monthly basis if not more often. I will say there have been a half dozen times where the car did activate the emergency braking properly but all other times have been phantom braking where there was no immenent threat of a collision.

Our brakes failed coming down a steep hill. We missed hitting a car by passing in the wrong lane. We had to cross a road across two lanes which fortunately had no cars on it where we crossed. We were able to get some braking once we got on level ground. We took the car to Honda and they told us the problem was a broken break switch. It is currently at salem Honda in salem, oregon awaiting parts. We were told that the repair may not be covered by warranty. We were also told that if we did not get the brake fluid replaced, the car warranty would be void. We now are being charged about $2000 to get some fluids replaced that are supposed to be replaced at 30,000 miles according to the Honda dealer.

My greetings. I want to share with you my experience, which, unfortunately, I encounter every day. The problem is this. The car begins to brake unpredictably while driving, even when there are no cars ahead; on an empty road it suddenly brakes. This happens at speeds between 30 mph and above. In slippery road conditions, this can lead to an accident or death. I spoke to the Honda service center about this problem, but they did not help me. The service center is located 9903 bustleton Ave, philadelphia, PA 19115. The device responsible for emergency braking is included in the price of the car, and does not work properly. The only way to protect yourself from a technically incorrectly functioning emergency braking system is to turn it off manually, using a button. To clarify, I want to say the following. Everything on my car is factory. The windshield has not been replaced, radar below logo as well. Everything is original. The mileage on the car is 10,500. The car is almost new, and at the same time dangerous.

On October 18, 2023, at about 11 am, I was approaching to enter our driveway with my foot on the brake system when all of the sudden the car sped up at a very high speed that I was unable to control. The speed was so forceful that the car crashed unto the house resulting in a lot of damage to our house, all this happened in less than one second. I had a next door neighbor in the car with me and thankfully neither of us was hurt, I like to mention at this point that neither air bag deployed to issue protection to us. Of course the safety of both of us was put at risk. We called the insurance with no luck to send an adjuster to inspect the car and/or damage done to the house, so we had to do everything on our own. The car has not been inspected by a representative of the manufacturer nor the police. I did not see any warning nor messages on the screen until the accident happened that said "crash has been detected" since we were left to do everything on our own we called caliber collision to haul the car to their location to assess the damage done to the car. As of this writing the car is still in their possession and on Friday we received a call from them to inform us what they have found and we were told that as of that day they were sure that the car is 75% totaled. Of course the damage done to the house and car is nothing compared to the damage that it was done to me, because now every time I drive our rental car and approach the driveway I had in my mind if the car is going to do the same thing.

I have had the aeb system engage incorrectly. 1. ) driving on a two lane road at about 40 mph when I started to enter a curve in the road to the left with no oncoming traffic and no cars in front of or behind my car the aeb engaged and started braking the car. 2. ) driving on a two lane road at about 4 mph when I started to enter a curve in the road to the left with a car oncoming with no cars in front of or behind my car the aeb engaged and started braking the car. In both of these cases the system stopped alerting as soon as I tapped the brakes. The latest instance occurred on a straight two lane road on a sunny day. I was traveling at about 30 mph with no cars in front of my care and no oncoming traffic when the aeb engaged unexpectedly and braked my car hard. I was actually thrown forward in my seat. Thankfully no one was following my as this would have resulted in a rear end collision. After the car hard braked the aeb disengaged as quickly as it engaged, and I was able to drive the car normally. I had my car in to have it inspected and recalls fixed a week ago. I asked the service manager about this problem and was told there was nothing they could do and that I could turn off the aeb system. My concern is the aeb system randomly engages and brakes and in one instance it hard braked. This could cause a serious rear end collision.

Lane departure braking mechanism has become faulty. Over the last 2 weeks, I've had 2 incidents that could have resulted in a rear end crash, bodily injury or death, when the lane departure caused brake to flash on the dashboard and the automatic system caused the Pilot to temporarily hard brake in the middle of the freeway. I reported this to poway Honda during my last visit, but they ignored this system problem.

I purchased the vehicle brand new in 2021. At this time I don't feel safe driving the vehicle due to the following issues I'm having: the automatic braking system will engage without notice. On 5/20/23 I was at driving at 60 mph at 2:00am and the car slammed on the brakes for no reason, there was no other vehicles on the road in front of me or besides me at the time of the incident. On 5/21/22 I was driving around 45mph and I went next to a vehicle that was parked on the should of the road, when I approached the vehicle the brakes engaged almost causing a collision with the vehicle that was driving behind me witch it happen to be a semi truck. 12/22/22 while driving on hwy 18th the vehicle brakes engaged for reason or warning while driving on straight line. This happens 99% of the time when I drive the vehicle. The warning yellow braking light would illuminate and the steering wheel will shake or vibrate for no apparent reason when cars are coming the opposite way. This is extremely scary situation to have in a brand new vehicle. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership in hope of repair but nothing has been done. I started having this concerns a month or so after the vehicle was purchased, and the only solution I was given by the dealership was to disengage the auto braking program, but I don't think that's the solution. This coming Thursday 5/24/23 the vehicle will be inspected. ( this will be the second or third time the vehicle will be in the shop due to the same issue. Thank you for taking the time in reviewing my concern.

The auto idle stop is defective on this vehicle and has resulted in multiple incidents where the vehicle stalls after the break is applied in sitting traffic. I have had near collision experiences that pose a severe safety risk. The car jolts forward after releasing the break at an intersection, and immediately becomes immobile. This has happened in sitting traffic, at intersection and more dangerously, while trying to make a left turn which has left me stranded in the middle of busy intersections at risk of nearly being hit by moving traffic. Honda has done the software update on the vehicle and yet, this continues to happen. Honda needs to be held liable as this will result in injury and/or death to consumers.

When driving the collision mitigation and brakes apply causing steering wheel shake and braking without passing of vehicles. This happens multiple times during driving. This has been ongoing since June 2022 and has been reviewed by Honda without correction.

I’ve purchased my Honda Pilot 2021 brand new within the last two months. My car is cmbs has initiated, breaking for oncoming objects that were nonexistent or when on coming traffic was passing me in the other lane, causing my vehicle to break abruptly nearly causing an accident followed by all Honda, sensing features such as forward, collision collision lane assist us cruise control assist to driving along with automatic head beams. High beams. Are no longer functional.

The cmbs regularly activates with the brake warning lights, audible, and steering wheel shaking. There has never been anything in front of the vehicle when the cmbs activates. Most recently, the cmbs activated and applied the brakes when driving approximately 40 mph for no reason. Obviously, the safety of the driver and all passengers are at a risk of an accident caused by the cmbs' faulty activation, as well as any other people and/or property involved. We have been complaining to the dealership regularly since we purchased the vehicle over 2 years ago, to no avail. The dealership states they have not been able to confirm or reproduce the cmbs' faulty activation. No one other than the dealership has inspected the vehicle for this problem. The cmbs is on by default, so the only option until repaired is to remember to deactivate the cmbs every time the vehicle is use, by every driver. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.

The brake light come out for no reason.

With the auto idle feature engaged (disengaging requires manually turning off the system with each vehicle start) while at a stop light the auto idle feature shut the engine off. Typically, when you release the brake the car start back up and you can begin to accelerate. Over the past few months the issue has stalled the engine, but restarted and give the warning "collision mitigation braking system malfunction. " on the past 2 occurrences the engine has shut off completely and I have had to restart the car. This occurs when at an intersection or similar after going into a complete stop, so vehicles around you are ready to move. Once it took me opening the car door and closing it to get the electronics to allow the car to restart.

The car braked automatically without any obstruction or car in front. I lost control of the brakes causing a severe jerk and car to slip on freeway. I had a 2 month and 5 yr old in the car. We nearly escaped a serious accident as the truck was behind us in full speed. The whole warning/stopping event occurred in a few seconds. There were no obstacles in the road," the driver wrote. "there was a truck following me about 2 car lengths behind who had to stop very quickly in order not to rear-end me. " I am scared and dont want to drive the car anymore.

The controls froze while driving and I was unable to safely maneuver the vehicle and it crashed in nearby bushes. I don’t see any recall for the VIN, also we asked the motor repair team run scan though nothing was found. But would like to report this as we still feel it is some mechanical failure.

The cars automatic emergency breaking system malfunctions and randomly activates and applies the brakes while driving. This specific incident has occurred three times when entering the highway on ramp the "brake" message is displayed in the car and the brakes have been applied as I've attempted to get up to speed entering the highway. There were no cars in front of the vehicle at the time the emergency breaking system applied the breaks. In addition, the braking system has applied when changing lanes on the highway with no vehicles or objects in front of the car and several times on curvy roads. I've taken it back to the Honda dealer and they have stated that no codes were stored and were not able to recreate the problem. However, the service advisor also informed me that they could not reset or make any changes as "there is pending litigation and investigations with the ntsb" I was charged $109 for a 'diagnosic fee' for a car that is still under the manufacturers waranty and told to watch for a recall at some point because their is nothing they are able to do to fix the problem because of the pending litigation/investigation. The incident happened two more times on my drive home from the dealership. There is no warning lamps that have come on or other symptoms that can be isolated, other than the "brake" message appearing and the automatic breaking being applied. This is incredibly dangerous when the car drastically is slowed down for no reason on roads that have 45 + mph speed limits.

My car has had the automatic emergency braking system kick in randomly at least 6 times since I bought it. No cars in front of me, nothing on the shoulder next to me. Twice when a car was in opposite direction lane but nowhere near the center line.

Automatic braking system is engaging when there is nothing in front of or near the vehicle. When driving on the highway it will engage, flash brake on the front dash, and engage the brakes and slow way down while doing 60+ mph.

There have been multiple instances where the automatic braking system has engaged preventing me as the operator from making adjustments. I have almost been in 2 collisions due to this feature. The automatic braking system prevents me from making a correction and will automatically lock up the brakes and steering. Both times I have almost been rear ended due to this feature. There has been an instance where the braking feature engaged where there was no car in from of me but a car coming from the other lane and my Honda Pilot engaged the automatic braking system. Luckily there was no car behind me. This feature while could be useful is not in my opinion a safety feature but a safety hazard due to these multiple instances. This feature should be permanently disabled upon start up. Multiple times when I start the car I don't realize it is engaged until something happens.

Automatic brakes happened a couple time on highway for no reason. Happened most in carpool lane and curve freeways.

There have been several times the automatic braking assist has completely stopped the car. This has caused vehicles behind me to break hard almost causing accidents. I now disengage the automatic breaking assist when I use the car. I saw there were incidents with other Honda vehicles that didn't include the 2021 Honda Pilot which I believe should be included. I have witnesses of the car breaking to a complete stop several times. Please investigate before more accidents happen with injuries. Thank you for your hard work involved.

On 2 different occasions within the last 2 days, the automatic emergency brake engaged for no reason. The first instance, I was driving down the road with a car in front of me about 3 car lengths ahead and a car in a left hand turning lane. For no reason the brake light engaged and the brakes hit hard but not fully. Thankfully the car behind me was far enough to not hit us as I had my child in the car. On the second instance, again with my family in the car, driving down a different road with no cars anywhere around us, going around a bend, the emergency brake engaged again and the brake hit hard but not fully.

I have a major safety complaint with Honda’s computer system. I understand that Honda works hard to make their vehicles as safe as possible. With that said, on 7/29/21 around 9:40am I was driving on a country style road. Out of no where with nothing around me but trees the auto break safety feature came one. When this occurred I was jerked forward and got whiplashed. The car went from 40mph to 0mph immediately with no reason. As someone who has had concussions in the past this immediately gave me a headache. Thank goodness no one was behind me that would have rear-ended me. This issue with the auto break system occurs a couple times a week. Sometimes the breaks don’t enact but the break warning light comes on and shakes the stirring wheel in which is extremely distracting. With this being said we have brought it up to a Honda service member and the response back we got was: “OH, yeah that happens sometimes. There’s nothing we can do about it”. The car is my leased by my spouse.

The front end collision camera will register on coming traffic and warn me to brake. On one occasion the vehicle actually braked for me. Luckily I was only driving 25 mph and there were no vehicles behind me. We took the vehicle to the dealer to have them look into the issue but they informed me that Honda did not currently have a fix for the issue and that I would have to turn the camera off every time I started the vehicle to prevent it from potentially braking for me and bringing me to a complete stop while driving. Our main concern is that the camera picks up an on coming vehicle and stops us while driving on the highway causing us to veer off the road or get rear ended potentially injuring us or other drivers. We have tried several times over the course of several months to contact Honda directly about the issue but they will not return our calls.