Automatic Emergency Braking problems of the 2025 Honda Pilot

On April 2nd, 2026. I was driving this car into a parking space. I had to be going 5 mph. Or slower. Probably even slower. Pulling in. . I applied the brakes of course. The car wouldn’t stop. My husband/passenger told me to stop. I did stop. This car kept rolling and crashed/smashed/ hit the brick red building in front of us. No brake hold was displayed. . No nothing. No brake stop. Nooooo nothing. The car wouldn’t stop. I never in my life have ever experienced this.

I just drove into a parking lot at first united methodist church parking lot. [xxx] . This is where I work. Approaching a parking space very near. Driving into the space, applying brakes like I’ve done for the last 12/13 years…. The car would not stop. I applied the brakes fully down to the floor( which I’ve never had to ever do at any time) the car kept going. . Rolling on. My husband the passenger told me” stop”. I did stop. I was applying the brakes as soon as approaching the parking space. The car kept on going as I said. No warning like” brake hold” which has worked another other time when getting according to this cars brain. . It would show some kind of warning. It did not. No sound, no nothing to brake the car. It rolled right into the red brick building I was pulling into. Their parking space. The building has about a two foot gash on it. The car did this …what kind of car doesn’t stop. With all of the sophisticated sensors or etc. It has…why, what happened? my granddaughter was in the back right passenger seat. The impact caused a gash above her forehead. A real cut, mind you. I don’t know what else to see. I’ve never experienced this. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Driving around 60 mph and car flashed brake on dash like it was to close to other vehicle and locked up brakes. Immediately went back to normal.

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at 30-35 mph, an abnormal alarm sound could be heard coming from the crash imminent braking system. The contact stated that the vehicle braked independently. The contact depressed the brake pedal. The contact stated that there were no vehicles in front. The message "brake" was displayed on the dashboard. The vehicle resumed functioning as intended afterwards. The contact sustained minor injuries, possibly whiplash. And neck pain. The contact was able to arrive at the residence without any incident. The contact stated that it was the third time the failure had occurred. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.  .

Uncommanded braking at approximately 35 mph. 7-8 instances. All on same 1mile stretch of road.

While driving on the highway my vehicle out of nowhere activated the automatic collision break system. The breaks were activated or pressed automatically and my vehicle had a sudden jerk becase of the quick, sudden drop in speed. The car had an immediate drop in speed about 20-30 mph then resumed to pick up speed to the original speed eventually picking up to normal speeds.

My 2025 Honda Pilot’s collision mitigation braking system and backup sensors have failed three times at low speed, resulting in collisions with objects directly behind or in front of the vehicle. These include a front collision with a tree, running over a small tricycle, and backing into a tree — all under 5 mph with sensors fully enabled. The system failed to detect or respond in any instance. This is a critical safety failure.

Vehicle collision system for warning distance was placed to low setting. Driving about 30mph with no cars in front but a large dually on my left lane and a truck on my right lane, similar speed or slightly less, all of us 3 approaching an under construction intersection. Neither car came in my lane yet my system warned me to break and then activated the brakes forcefully. Rear passenger witnessed also and agreed they saw no cause to trigger sudden breaking. No car behind me or else we would have been rear ended. Tried turning system completely off but it resets every time at car startup.

I was travelling northbound in the right lane, of two lanes, on hwy 55 in st. Louis Tuesday around 0715 when my Honda Pilot suddenly braked very hard; the collision mitigation braking system (cmbs) had gone off without reason. I was in a construction zone and I was probably traveling about 50 miles per hour. There were no barriers immediately in front of me, as in a hard curve left or right and definitely no vehicle in front of me and thankfully no vehicle behind me, considering the normal bumper-to-bumper morning traffic. I did not come to a complete stop, well I don't think I did, but slowed greatly enough that all vehicles on my left driving past me fairly fast. I was in shock and confused unable to figure out happened. After a brief assessment of my surrounding I accelerated and continued on my way to work. If someone has been following me I have no doubt they would have collided with me, worse it could have been a tractor trailer! I got to work and was mentally shot for the rest of the day. The dealer was friendly, somewhat empathetic and I scheduled a maintenance check up. I have owned the car less than one month of this this report. I am already looking for a new vehicle and will never own a Honda again. Driving this vehicle with that cmbs that can go off randomly, a/k/a "phantom brake" is nerve raking. I do my best to remember disable the system before driving. Sadly, a system I would ordinarily enjoy having. Also, I now fear following other Honda drivers because if their cmbs fail I might crash into them! the idea Honda has not repaired this or a recalled their vehicles is mind bending; this could cause fatalities! frankly, their complacency is nothing short of apathy for human life. I am going to lose thousands of dollars getting out of this vehicle, which I find unacceptable and cruel. I am happy to testify to this account and am telling you this is nothing short of my sworn statement.

While driving on an open road, two lanes traveling the same direction the collision mitigation system was activated. The only thing I can think is that it was due to a bicycle that was traveling the same direction at a slower speed than I was driving but I had plenty of room to go around and was not even close to hitting them. The brakes were activated which was not only scary but dangerous. Had a car been behind me there is a strong chance I would have been rear-ended because nobody in their right mind would expect me to hit my brakes in this situation. This prompted me to look at the manual where I saw Honda has a list of reasons the emergency braking could activate despite "little chance of collision". The list is extensive with many reasons the system could activate incorrectly causing an accident, not preventing one. The unexpected braking itself is terrifying but how difficult Honda makes it to "opt out" of the system that obviously has many flaws is even more concerning. I tried to turn off this system only to find out that it is a multi step process that can only be done when stopped so if you forget to turn it off you are stuck using it even if you don't trust the system. Every other safety setting can be turned off while driving except this one. Why make it so difficult for the driver to choose to have complete control of their car, especially when their system is admittedly flawed. In addition, the emergency braking system is the only safety feature that resets every time you shut off the car. So every single time you start the engine you have to go through multiple steps to choose to have control of your own vehicle. It seems the system that is the most flawed is the only one Honda is trying to force drivers to use. This is not safe for my family or those driving around me. I called Honda and they told me there is nothing that can be done to disable it and have the setting hold even after turning off the car like all the other safety setting.

My brand new 2025 Honda Pilot frequently (several times per week) will deploy the cmbs (collision mitigation braking system) causing the brakes to be applied harshly and bringing the vehicle to a near stop, despite there being nothing in the road ahead, behind, or to the sides of the vehicle. This happened the first time with only 100 miles on the vehicle. My concern for safety is that sudden unexpected braking could cause an accident and lead to potential injury/death. I've had the vehicle to the dealership 5 times and they've had a handful of excuses. First the alignment of the car was off. Next was a replacement of the radar unit, which they believed to be faulty. The next visits resulted in my Honda tech telling me that a "large radio tower" near where I live are causing interference with the system. However when I received the paper work it says there are large power lines causing interference. I live in a small town and there are no large power lines or large radio towers visible from where I live. I believe Honda is making excuses to get me to stop bothering them with this issue. After all of these trips, Honda is refusing to look at the vehicle again, despite it's behavior putting myself and my family at risk. There were no warning lamps, messages, or anything other symptoms prior to this happening.

My cmbs stopped my car in the middle of the road coming home one day. There were no other cars around me (in front of me, behind me, or coming towards me). The word “brake” flashed across my dash and then it beeped at me and just stopped in the middle of the road going 55 mph. My kids and elderly mother in law were in the car with me and we were all shaken up and also very glad there were no cars behind us, or else we could have been injured in a rear-end collision. The dealer has had my car for 21 days now and cannot reproduce it, but they asked if I was in the road that it occurred on, because they have had similar complaints from owners. I do not understand why they don’t drive my car down that same road to be able to reproduce the incident. My below email was sent to the dealer on June 18, because the car keeps locking me out with the key fob inside and the dash resets itself, but won’t turn back on, it is just in the constant spinning reset wheel. My attached photos are of the car refusing to lock because it says a door is open or a window is down, when none of that is happening. (the doors are closed and the windows are up. ). The cmbs incident occurred on June 24th, I drove home and had Honda tow my car to the dealership. They have had it ever since.