Equipment Problems of Honda Pilot - part 1

I am reporting a safety-related driver visibility concern involving a 2025 Honda Pilot. I also observed substantially similar behavior on a 2026 Honda cr-v loaner vehicle and another Honda Pilot provided by koons Honda. The issue involves the front driver and passenger windows and their interaction with the outer window seals/belt moldings. During rainy, snowy, foggy, or wet conditions, lowering and then raising the windows leaves significant moisture, streaking, fog residue, or debris on the glass surface. Current image shows fog residue, however, the same results occurred with snow where visibility was impaired after cycling the front driver and passenger windows. The outer window seals do not adequately clear the windows during normal operation. This results in impaired visibility around and through the side view mirrors, especially during lane changes, merging, and monitoring adjacent lanes. The condition is repeatable and occurs during ordinary use. I documented video evidence showing: •the issue on my 2025 Honda Pilot, •another Honda Pilot, •and the same/similar issue on a separate 2026 Honda cr-v loaner vehicle from koons Honda. I presented the evidence to dealership personnel. However, the service manager refused to document that side mirror visibility was impaired, reportedly because such wording would imply a safety condition. This concern may involve: •ineffective window seal/belt molding performance, •excessive water retention on side windows, •impaired driver visibility, •and a potential safety defect affecting multiple Honda vehicles. The issue can create unsafe driving conditions because drivers may be unable to clearly observe adjacent traffic through side mirrors after operating the windows in wet conditions. Furthermore, similar reports are found online with different newer models. The date below reflects today's interaction with the dealership, however, this is an ongoing issue since we received the vehicle last year.

See all problems of the 2025 Honda Pilot 🔎.

Sunroof exploded while driving down the road.

The vehicle experienced failure of the air conditioning system caused by an a/c compressor shaft seal leak on my 2021 Honda Pilot. The issue was diagnosed and confirmed by both an independent mechanic and an authorized Honda dealership. The dealership confirmed that the recommended repair is replacement/repair of the compressor shaft seal consistent with Honda service bulletin (TSB) 23-050. The vehicle and failed component are available for inspection upon request prior to repair. The failure created a safety concern because the inability to properly operate the air conditioning and defrost system can reduce driver visibility due to windshield fogging and create unsafe driving conditions during warm and humid weather. Excessive cabin temperatures can also negatively impact driver concentration and passenger safety during travel. Prior to visiting the dealership, my mechanic identified the likely issue as an a/c compressor shaft seal leak and advised me to bring the vehicle to Honda because it appeared to be a known manufacturer issue. The Honda dealership later confirmed the same defect after completing a paid diagnostic inspection. The vehicle has been inspected by an independent mechanic and an authorized Honda dealership service department. A case has also been opened with Honda corporate regarding the issue and denial of coverage assistance though was told it could take several days to weeks to be resolved. Prior to the failure, there were no warning lamps or dashboard warning messages displayed. The first symptom was the air conditioning system no longer cooling properly when first used during warmer weather around may 2026. Because the a/c system had not been used during the winter months, the problem only became apparent once temperatures increased and the system was needed again. This appears to be a known issue already acknowledged by Honda through the publication of TSB 23-050 covering 2021 Honda Pilot models.

See all problems of the 2021 Honda Pilot 🔎.

Our sunroof on our Honda 2022 Pilot spontaneously shattered while we were sitting at a stop light. Nothing fell on it and nothing hit, it just suddenly shattered while we were sitting in the stop light.

See all problems of the 2022 Honda Pilot 🔎.

I have a 2023 Honda Pilot awd elite with approximately 46,000 miles. It has an engine idol feature that's suppose to restart the engine after idoling. I was in a parking lot waiting to enter into traffic when the engine completey shut down. I was able to restart the engine at the time. Again the same day I was at a stop light, the car was idoling and when the light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and proceeded to press the gas pedal, the car shut down completely and I had to restart the vehicle. I made an appointment to take my car to the dealership the next morning. On Friday may 1st, 2026. I brought the vehicle to the dealership but they told me they won't be able to see it until Monday. Saturday, I took my child to his soccer match and again, at the stop light before getting onto the freeway, the vehicle shut down after idoling. The feature auto idol/restart is automatically on when you start the vehicle. It will drive fine if you remember to turn the function off. Honda has no official recall on this. There was a similar software issue recall in 2025 but the dealership told me that campaign was closed.

See all problems of the 2023 Honda Pilot 🔎.

The moonroof glass shattered for no apparent reason while driving at highway speed. Fortunately, the inner moonroof cover was closed preventing glass pieces from entering the vehicle interior. The incident happened while driving on an interstate highway in light traffic.

See all problems of the 2018 Honda Pilot 🔎.

While stopped at an intersection, the auto idle stop engaged and the engine shut off. The vehicle failed to restart and became unresponsive. I had to shift into park to restart the vehicle. This created a dangerous situation in traffic.

The issue appears to involve the vehicle’s electrical control system responsible for power management and system activation while the vehicle is off, possibly including the Smart power control module and related components. It may be arranged for the vehicle to be inspected. The vehicle behaved as though it had been remote started, initiating engine cranking without any user input while turned off. If this occurs while parked in a garage or enclosed space, it could lead to dangerous carbon monoxide buildup and pose a serious risk to occupants. Unintended engine activation also presents a risk to nearby people or property. The unintended engine cranking event occurred once and was directly witnessed while I was seated inside the vehicle observing other electrical oddities. The issue has not been reproducible on demand. However, related symptoms including the alarm activating on its own and unexplained electrical activity while the vehicle is off have occurred multiple times. The vehicle has not yet been inspected for this issue by a dealership, manufacturer, or third party. No police or insurance reports have been filed. I plan to take it to the dealership tomorrow (4/4/2026). There were no warning lights or messages before or during the event. Prior symptoms include intermittent alarm activation, display flashing, clicking fuses, and electrical activity while off, beginning before the engine cranking incident.

See all problems of the 2017 Honda Pilot 🔎.

This is a follow up to my previous complaint. 11729106. I brought my Honda Pilot to my local dealer. They confirmed there is a problem with the keyless start system on my Honda. I ended up paying around $1000 to have it repaired. I have great concern that this could have caused a fatality. I park my car in the garage at home, and the car started by itself. I have pets and children.

Paint failure - rear roof panel. Paint chips flaking off. Not a gradual failure, clear coat in good condition. No skuff marks or damage prior. Large paint chips pealing off exposing bare metal. Paint color : modern steel metallic.

See all problems of the 2020 Honda Pilot 🔎.

It is unfortunately the camshaft end play issue that we see with these engines from time to time. Honda identified that the surface roughness of the camshaft thrust cover on these engines was manufactured out of specification. This poor surface finish creates excessive friction and wear, allowing the camshaft to develop excess fore-and-aft movement (end play). As the camshaft shifts physically out of its correct alignment, it begins to scrape against the thrust cover or cause the reluctor wheel to physically strike and damage the camshaft position (cmp) sensor. So you have to replace the camshaft, the camshaft sensor, the thrust plate, and timing cover plate. In this picture you can see where the reluctor wheel has been scraping on the cam sensor. This was sent to me not only by one mechanic but multiple. Honda needs to replace this and a recall needs to be made!!!.

Car is dangerous. I have been the only owner of this car. Over the years and again today the car loses acceleration when attempting to pass someone on the highway at speeds of 65 mph +. The car just doesn't accelerate and leave you pushing gas and nothing happens. I have had issues where I have had to move over 2 lanes on busy highway to pull over due to lack of anything happening when I press the gas. Today, it actually didn't throw any codes, but acceleration returned after about 25 stressful seconds. It's bad enough this car has to have the idle engine depressed everytime you start it or the car will die and not restart at a traffic light. There are way too many safety issue with this car. I will keep reporting as time allows. I have done all the routine maintenance on this car as well. I try to keep my cars 10 years, but this one has been an issue since early on.

Auto idle stop activated at a stop light for the 2nd or 3rd time over a few years. Lifted foot off the break and stalled, the car went into park and I could not put it into neutral or drive. The odometer screen looked like it does when the engine is on. The battery light was on. I tried to turn down the radio and the volume didn't work. I tried pressing the ignition button to turn off the car entirely but it didn't work the first couple of tries. Once I was able to completely turn it off, it struggled to turn over when I tried to start the engine, which I've never had happen, but did turn over. Dealership wanted to charge $325 for a few hours of diagnostics which we declined.

Infotainment center making popping and cracking sounds during every drive. System will completely shut down and not work at all. No access to navigation, phone or infotainment center at all. Audio will completely cut out during music and phone calls.

Auto start-stop feauture turned on at complete stop at traffic light. When light turned green and pressed the gas pedal to accelerate, engine did not turn back on. It had put vehicle into neutral and would not allow vehicle to shift into any other gear. Had to shut off engine and turn on vehicle an additional 3 times to get the engine to start again and into drive. This has happened twice before within the last year with the auto start stop feauture when it turns on at a complete stop. I usually press button to turrn off auto start stop feature to prevent this known issue from happening but forgot to turn feature off. Honda wants to charge $300 to diagnosis problem with auto start stop feature due to problem being known but no recall issued.

I was driving around 30-35 mph when my car's dashboard lights were flickering on and it then gave me a warning that the collision mitigation system was coming on. The car started braking hard and it swerved me to the left, so much so that I was halfway into the left lane. Thankfully no other car was in that lane. Then my car automatically went into neutral and I had to stop on the side of the road. I took the car into the Honda dealership the same day. They told me that it could possibly be a dirty multi use camera by the rear view mirror and so they claimed to have cleaned it. I'm not certain that was the issue since I had just gotten a car wash recently and it did not seem to have been dirty.

See all problems of the 2019 Honda Pilot 🔎.

“the vehicle experiences phantom braking while driving, where the collision mitigation braking system (cmbs) activates without warning even when there are no vehicles or objects in front of me. The vehicle suddenly brakes on its own, creating a major safety hazard and risk of rear-end collisions. The issue has happened multiple times during normal driving at different speeds. Warning lights related to the collision mitigation system and passenger airbag system have appeared intermittently. The blind spot monitoring system has also failed to properly detect nearby vehicles at times. The vehicle was previously taken to the dealership/service department and remained there for an extended period for inspection and attempted repairs, but the problem was not fully corrected. After getting the vehicle back, the same symptoms and braking issues continued. This issue puts myself, my passengers, and other drivers at risk because the vehicle may suddenly brake unexpectedly in traffic.

The car engine autorestart causes all sorts of problems. We have repeatedly had the warning come on and the engine stop while at a light or paused in moving traffic. We have replaced the battery and other parts. The safety issue is that the car totally stops while in traffic and we have almost been hit multiple times as we try to restart the car. You have to put the car in park and restart the engine due to "compression issues" or something else. That has nothing to do with being a branded title and everything to do with a safety issue. The car just stops and won't autorestart. This has happened several times in the last week and then yesterday other warning lights came on resulting in the car then not accelerating beyond 25 mph initially and then 45 mph. Imagine this happening on a highway. This is really scary as it has happened on an interstate when traffic stopped and at a traffic light. I called Honda and they acknowledged it was safety issue but written up as a warranty extension so they refused to cover the repair of the vehicle. I am therefore escalating what I believe you are already investigating according to articles I have seen.

The auto idle start-stop feature has been failing for many years without being resolved. Honda has done updates and updated the fuel injection software without improvement. I have also replaced the battery as recommended. I continue to get stuck at stop lights and intersections which is a safety hazard. This most recently occurred on 3/7/26.

It is available for inspection. We were driving and all of sudden the car became sluggish, started slowing down on the highway and several lights started popping up. The warning lights came up after slowing down and becoming sluggish.

February 2026 the air when the ac was on did not seem very cold then about 3 weeks later ac was not putting out any cold air. 3/18/26 took vehicle to local Honda dealership where they ran diagnostics with results showing "black death on the low and high side ports. " dealer recommends replacing entire ac system and then recharged.

When driving vehicle shuts off for no reason. Then I have to put my four-way on and turn my vehicle back on. It has already happened four times, and no one seems to know what the problem is or what is causing the issue.

See all problems of the 2016 Honda Pilot 🔎.

I was driving back from my daughter's tournament in [xxx] and while driving, I heard a loud crack. It sounded like it came from the top of the car. When we got home I hit the button for the moonroof slide and noticed that the moorroof had cracked. There was no one in front of us and no debris when the loud crack occurred. Luckily there was no glass shards that fell on the kids. I looked online and saw many other customers had this same scenario happen and glass fell on their children. Customers are also saying that this is due to cold/heat exposure. The problem cannot be reproduced as it involves glass. And there are no warning lights for this issue. I am reporting the incident today to my dealer and insurance. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Idle engine restart failed. The vehicle went in idle mode at stop light, whe I got green and moved feet off brake to acceleration the engine failed to restart. It happened on 2/3/2026. I turned on hazard light to alert other drivers I was in trouble. I kept getting message on dashboard to put car in park, press the brake and push engine start. It did not work for a while I stepped out of vehicle unlocked stepped back in then I could start the engine. The second occurrence was 2/7/2026. This was a major intersection. Same thing happened, situation lasted longer, traffic built up behind me I had to call 911, I step out the vehicle to open the hood in addition to having hazard light on for my safety. I tow truck came along. When he open vehicle and got in, the engine started. I was at dealership today 2/11/2026 they indicated no fault was found. While waiting for my appointment today I have been turning off the automatic idle feature every time I get in the car.

Auto idle stop function causing car to not start back up. Could be at a stop sign, in a left turn lane, in the middle of an intersection waiting to turn. Very stressful and unsafe driving conditions. This has been ongoing for years. Dealership has blamed it on the battery, which has been replaced theee times (one of those times under warranty), dealership has looked at the car multiple times. Also made recommended Honda repairs per the issued safety bulletin. But it continues to happen.

While driving on I-26 at 60 mph at approximately 2pm on 01/08/2026 the sunroof exploded. It was not struck by anything, no other vehicle was within a half mile of us at the time. Fortunately the cover was closed because we do not use the sunroof. It has only been opened one time a the delership the day the car was delivered new. This sunroof explosion was loud and frankly scared the heck out of us. Had the cover not been kept closed we would have been showered by broken glass. This could have easley resulted in a driver panic and a crash. I feel this is a manufacturing defect and based on numbers of events through various Honda models and years should covered by Honda recall/warranty coverage.

I was pulling into an open available parking space in a hospital parking garage and the car just all of a sudden accelerated on its own and hit the wall of parking spot. I tried to apply the brake several times before I could finally get it to stop and during this time the car was slamming into the wall area and slinging me back and forth a few times before it stopped. My life was put at risk because I got hurt badly I am brusied all over my neck, chest, legs and lots of internal brusing from the hitting of the wall repeatedly. If anyone else would've been in the car they would've been hurt as well but luckily I just dropped a passenger right before the incident. The car speeding up without warning is very dangerous! there were no warnings. I just bought the car 2 weeks before this happened and now I am scared to drive this vehicle! vehicle has been inspected unknown if anything was found yet. I need to get the black box checked out to find out what caused this to happen.

After I drove for 30 minutes and made a stop in a red light, the car automatically went to neutral position and I wasn't able to turn it back to driving or parking ( the brake locks) and I had to turn the car off for 10 seconds in the middle of the road and put my emergency lights on. After I turn it back on it worked normally.

Driving along then hear an loud explosion to my panorama sunroof share the glass inside and look like an explosion going up on the temper glass happening at 1:30 on 12 17, 2025 traveling 95 north near exit 1 02 pooler georgia.

See all problems of the 2024 Honda Pilot 🔎.

Transmission is sluggish and the rpm’s fluctuate between 1200 and 1400 at any speed going back and forth so the car has a back and fourth motion. Engine failure on 12/3/25 car stopped while driving. Makes a loud knocking sound. Most likely faulty bearings due to poorly engineered camshaft. White pear paint peeling since I purchased car. Capital Honda in san jose unable to address any issue saying nothing is covered under warranty. These issues where taking place even while under warranty.

Below issues has been going on for a months now, latest was yesterday (11/30/2025). The rear-view camera image not appearing on the display (a safety hazard). Audio and display flickering or the entire screen going black. Error messages like "most net off" or general communication errors. There seem to be a recall by Honda below but my car was not included. All the same symptoms as described in the recall: media oriented system transport (most) communication failure recall.

We had road issues recently and the care stalled on thanksgiving. We ended up having it towed to 2 mechanics, the final mechanic determined that this issue is a recall for other Hondas. Ours is not listed. I called the recall hotline and they will not fix the car under the recall because they did not add our VIN number to the recall. They informed us we could pay for the repair and keep our receipt for reimbursement if/when the VIN number is added. I was not happy with this outcome as if it's a problem with other vehicles why are we not being added. The recall is "a manufacturing defect in the connecting rod bearing that could cause the engine to seize and fail, leading to stalling while driving. ".

Whining noise during acceleration in any gear, gets louder as acceleration advances.

Recall has been open since December of that year I have documentation that I took it last year to get this recall fix and your web site is stating that it is incomplete. Today 11/12 at 7:30am my engine caught on fire there was a lot of witness at the elementary school waving me down that my car was on fire. I panic and got away from the elementary where a lot of kids and families where present and went where there was no one insight and rush and got my set of 2 year old twins and my 3 year old son out there car seats and ran from the car and called 911 the fire department came and put out the fire and I have a report from them as well. Now that I remember about this recall I remember it stating that if this recall wasn't fix that it can start a fire so I put two and two together and order my car fax report and seen that this was never completed. And have paper work that it was completed.

The auto engine idle stop system just quits and stalls out at intersections. I have to put the car in park and restart the vehicle. Some times it takes a few minutes to get it moving. I’ve brought it to the dealership and they updated the software but it didn’t make any difference. It doesn’t happen all the time but it’s very frequent. I’ve started disabling it because it’s frightening when your call stalls and people are coming up behind you quickly at a green light. Today it’s entirely malfunctioning with a warning so I will have to take it back to the dealership again for them to tell me nothing is wrong. Honda should do a recall on this. I’ve searched the internet and I’m apparently one of many people having the same issues with this feature. Thanks so much.