2018 Honda Pilot Complaints

ENGINE — Filed 09/21/2026

The contact owned a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine was knocking very loudly, and the vehicle lost driving power. The contact attempted to contact the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 07/13/2026

Auto restart issues. I have reported this before. When coming to a stop and the engine shuts off it does not automatically restart. It has left me sitting at a light having to sit and wait before I am able to turn my car back on. This can be a huge safety issue when in traffic or when a line of cars is behind me or at any time. I have had services done and computer upgrades in the past and the problem continues.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 09/07/2026

All safety features turned off. I had a professional mechanic shop inspect. Since this happens randomly, they cannot provide exact diagnosis. This is a major safety risk! After I picked it up from the mechanic, I drove approximately 200 miles before the next occurance, while on a major interstate. All safety features turned off again. This is such a danger to all, driver & passengers to be on any roadway without safety features.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 08/13/2026

High Pressure Fuel Pump fails after implementing recall listed below. See recall information: December 18, 2023 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 23V858000 Fuel Pump May Fail Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash. NHTSA ID Number: 23V858000 Manufacturer Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) Components FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Potential Number of Units Affected: 2490460

ENGINE — Filed 08/18/2026

The vehicle started to make some strange noises coming from the engine area. I brought the vehicle to our mechanic, who stated that the engine needs to be replaced. He described the problem as an issue with the piston that is appearing to be common with the shut off system, causing it in this vehicle. He classified as.’Engine has internal knock from wrist pin/rod bearing’. I’m looking at recalls and there are 2018s that appeared to have some sort of rod or piston issue that is under recall. Our particular VIN does not show a recall. This does appear to be a relatively common problem occurring with our model year though.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE — Filed 10/15/2025

Failed Component: Lane Departure System Camera - Honda (P/N 36160-TG8-A51). This camera has completely failed which completely shuts down the following safety systems in this Honda Pilot: Adaptive Cruise Control Forward Collision Warning Lane Departure Warning Lane Keeping Assistance It also fully disables the cruise control system. I have attempted to have this repaired at our Honda dealership - but parts are on backorder without a known delivery time.

ENGINE — Filed 08/11/2026

When I press down on the gas, the car is delayed in responding. This has gotten increasingly worse, at times resulting in near collisions with on-coming traffic. I've reported this to my local dealership (Priority Honda in Chesapeake, Virginia) but they continue to tell me there are no diagnostic codes that allude to there being an issue and will not review it further. When I took a technician for a test drive and was able to replicate it, the technician said that it was normal that the gas was not immediately responsive. The unresponsiveness happens when I'm trying to get initial momentum (starting at a full stop), when I'm changing from reversing to moving forward, and when I'm already in motion and trying to advance speed.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE — Filed 08/01/2026

If the auto engine shut off is activated the engine shuts off randomly and it does not restart the engine. The battery needs to be unplugged to reset the electrical system. This happens daily.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 07/19/2026

-the transmission too hot message came up on my dashboard. yes it is available for inspection upon request -we could not continue to drive to our destination -they could not find any issue when i brought it to Honda Service center, they did recommend ATF cooler which i had it installed -there are no other warning messages, it first appeared in 2023 going to california, it happened again in 2024. and happened again last month.

ENGINE — Filed 07/22/2026

We were driving from [XXX], to [XXX], on XXX. That morning we'd taken the Honda Pilot in to Xpresso Lube and got an oil change and all fluids checked out. Eight hours into the drive we heard a little clanking and started to pull off the freeway. As we did so, a Low Oil Pressure light came on for a few seconds and then we heard a loud bang and then very loud, rhythmic, clanking noises in the engine as it was losing power. The first mechanic shop we had it towed to diagnosed engine failure, so we had it towed to a Honda Service shop 30 miles away. They said it was a rod bearing and the entire engine needed replacing. Our mileage at the time it entered the Honda shop was 72, 275K. We have done regular, consistent oil changes and maintenance on this car that we bought new in 2019 (a 2018 model). We at first wondered if the wrong oil was put in or if it was a faulty oil filter, but Honda said there was plenty of oil in the engine. We did get a sample of the oil that came out. The filter will be sent in to the manufacturer for quality assessment. Our safety was at risk to some degree, but we were able to pull off the road. The Honda dealership is holding the engine for me and could be inspected.. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

ENGINE — Filed 07/18/2026

Vehicle was being driven on the interstate going 70-77 mph. First noticed faint knocking sound and loss of ability to accelerate followed by check engine light and multiple system failure notifications. Pulled over on the highway between exits and turned vehicle off to call for assistance. Turned vehicle back on after 10-15 minutes to test, all warnings remained and acceleration was limited but possible. Drove vehicle on side of i70 until reaching an exit and parking for help to arrive. Two children and myself the driver were in the car. Vehicle was inspected and codes ran, but ultimately towed to our local Honda dealership. This event took place on July 18, 2026 causing us to miss a family wedding. The vehicle has been sitting at Penske Honda since then waiting for diagnostic tests to be run, scheduled for August 6.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 07/05/2026

2018 Honda Pilot Transmission Failed at Only 34,726 Miles I want to share my experience so other Honda owners are aware of a very premature transmission failure. I am the original owner of a 2018 Honda Pilot with only 34,726 miles. My family has trusted Honda for many years, and my wife also drives a Honda HR-V. We believed Honda vehicles were reliable. While driving, my Pilot suddenly showed a “Transmission System Problem” warning. The vehicle became very slow and later was unable to engage into gear. I had to tow it to Capital Honda in San Jose. Capital Honda diagnosed a complete transmission failure requiring a full replacement. The repair cost was about $11,800. I appreciate that American Honda provided goodwill assistance and covered a large portion of the repair. With that assistance, my out-of-pocket cost was reduced to $3,500. However, I am frustrated and disappointed that a Honda transmission could fail completely at only 34,726 miles. This is unacceptable for such a low-mileage vehicle, especially from a company known for engineering quality and reliability. All maintenance was completed on time at Honda dealerships. About six months before the failure, the transmission fluid service was also performed at a Honda dealer. I did not neglect this vehicle. Because of the low mileage, I asked American Honda to review my case for additional goodwill assistance. Unfortunately, that request was declined. Again, I appreciate the assistance already provided, but as a loyal Honda customer, I am deeply disappointed that I still have to pay $3,500 for a major transmission failure that happened far too early. I am sharing this so other Honda Pilot owners can watch for warning signs such as warning messages, delayed engagement, slipping, jerking, or abnormal shifting. Please keep your service records and report serious issues if they occur. Honda built its reputation on reliability, but this experience has made me question that reputation.

AIR BAGS — Filed 05/14/2025

My wife was in an accident where she struck a vehicle crossing an intersection in front of her. She believed she was traveling at between 25-30 mph. Following the accident, the Honda Pilot dash indicated a problem with the airbag. My wife suffered bruising across her chest and her hips from the belt. After extensive repairs, documents attached, the dash continued to display a fault with the airbag system that was subsequently addressed by a local Honda dealership.

AIR BAGS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL — Filed 01/17/2025

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at 10 MPH during traffic, the vehicle hesitated, jerked, and suddenly accelerated. Multiple unknown warning lights illuminated. As a result, the vehicle rear-ended a U-Haul trailer that was in front, then crashed into a wall and from the impact into the trailer where it came to a stop. None of the air bags deployed. The contact suffered injuries to the head when she impacted the steering wheel, the right leg near the hip, and the right arm. The contact was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic but was diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the sensors on the vehicle malfunctioned weeks before the crash. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where unknown repairs were completed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The insurance company was contacted and pending results. The failure mileage was 26,000.

ENGINE — Filed 12/24/2024

I was driving on the highway, and the sensor stating the transmission is too hot popped up on the dashboard. This is an issue I have brought to Honda's attention on a few other occasions over the past three years, as this light has shown up before, but only when the outside temperatures had exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and I was driving at speeds of 55mph or more. I'd been told that since there was no active re-call, there was nothing they could do each time I reached out to Honda. Shortly after the light showed on the dashboard, I lost the ability to accelerate. I was pushing the gas pedal down, the RPM's were increasing, but my speed was decreasing. At that point, I decided it was best to exit at the upcoming Oasis, and before I could start to merge right, I heard a loud "pop" noise from presumably from the engine. Flames began to shoot out from under the hood on the driver-side. I merged over to the shoulder as quickly and safely as I could, grabbed my purse and exited the vehicle immediately. I then called 911, and while I was on the phone with dispatch, more loud "pops" occurred, growing the flames, until the car was completely engulfed in fire and black smoke. After a few minutes, the state police, EMT and South Holland FD arrived. The firefighters put the fire out, and the car was completely destroyed, resulting in a total loss of the vehicle.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 06/27/2024

We were on a road trip to Gatlinburg from Brentwood TN. We were about a mile from our cabin when we saw a mama bear and cubs. We rolled down the window to take photos and my [XXX] smelled smoke. We didn’t see any smoke but thought maybe someone was burning brush or cooking out. We rolled up the windows and continued to drive for about thirty seconds when we saw smoke billowing out of the front hood. There were no warnings on my dash of any problem. We jumped out and I saw a small ember under the front of the car. I called 911 and we started to run, the car quickly went up in flames and then exploded before fire department arrived. We lost everything inside and are grateful to be alive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

SEATS — Filed 02/14/2024

I bought the car three days prior to this event. On February 14, 2024, I reached into the third row to lower the seats and I pulled the black strap toward me like it says to do in the manual and the seat came down so hard it crushed my hand between the seat and the side of the car and broke my 5th metacarpal in 3 places. I had to have surgery 6 days later and had hardware put in my hand. Even the emergency room doctor said there is something wrong with my seat. This story is similar to the boy that got crushed in the third row seat and died. Why is this seat like this? I realize if this was a child it would be all over the news but I am an adult and our lives matter much less to the media.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 05/16/2023

My wife was pulling into the dentist parking lot, made a slow right hand turn to a parking space when the vehicle suddenly and violently accelerated. Depressing and pumping brake had no effect and the car slammed into a tree destroying the right front of the vehicle. She assured me that she did not depress the accelerator. She is a very safe driver, never received a ticket nor involved in an accident. Research into similar accidents showed multiple cases where this occurred with Honda Pilot vehicles.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL — Filed 02/27/2022

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, she depressed the brake pedal and noticed that her vehicle was not slowing down. The contact stated that as she was approaching another vehicle, she looked to make sure she was indeed depressing the brake pedal, however it would not allow her to press down and seemed to be accelerating faster than 40 MPH. The contact stated that her vehicle then caused her to crash into the rear of another vehicle, however, the vehicle still seemed to be accelerating, even though it had crashed. The contact stated that she attempted to power the vehicle off, however, the vehicle powered itself back on. The contact stated that she powered it off 3 times before the vehicle would remain off. The contact stated that the airbags did deploy and there were no injuries reported. The contact stated a police report was filed. The contact stated she then had her vehicle towed to a tow yard where it was deemed a total loss. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 11/29/2021

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate and then lunged forward. The contact sustained whiplash from the vehicle lunging forward abruptly. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the independent mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL — Filed 07/15/2021

"SUA, Sudden Unwanted Acceleration". I was in the process of parking on the 6th floor of a parking ramp in Rochester MN, I had selected my parking slot and drove very slowly half way into my parking slot. As i was stationary about 3 meters from the front wall and getting ready to reverse for a bit in order to better align in between the white lines in my slot and before i shifted gears to reverse and while my foot was still on the brake, the vehicle experience a sudden full-speed acceleration crashing the vehicle against the wall with full force, the dashboard showed a message that the airbag malfunctioned and could not deploy. Had not there been a wall but just rails in front of my parking slot, i am afraid the vehicle would have flown from the sixth floor into the ground. The insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss. The vehicle is still under my name but in possession of GEICO, available for inspection, but because it was a total loss i was not able to bring it to the Honda dealership where i bought it. There were no warning signs that this would happen.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 01/05/2021

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 HONDA PILOT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE IN REVERSED OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY TO GO ON THE MAIN ROAD, WHILE DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT WHEN HE DEPRESSED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE CONTINUE TO ACCELERATED AND WAS UNABLE TO STOP, THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL THE VEHICLE WENT UP ON THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD AND CRASHED INTO A POLE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE BRAKING THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW. THE CONTACT DID NOT SUSTAINED INJURIES BUT STATED THAT THE NEXT DAY HE EXPERIENCED DIZZINESS AND BACK PAINED. THE CONTACT DID NOT SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A TOW YARD. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND THEY INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THEY WILL GET BACK TO HIM. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAVE NOT YET CONTACT HIM. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 35,000.

AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,STRUCTURE — Filed 12/11/2020

MY FIANC WAS DRIVING TO MY DOCTOR TO FOLLOW UP SURGERY, TWO BLOCKS FROM 2 BLOCKS FROM THE HOUSE WE APPROACHED TO TRAFFIC LIGHT WAS ON RED AND SHE WAS APPLYING THE BRAKES WHEN WE WERE JUST ABOUT AT LIGHT SUDDENLY THE CAR ACCELERATED GIRLFRIEND HAD HER FOOT ON THE BRAKE BUT THE CAR KEPT GOING WE STRIKE A CAR AND HIT A PARKED CAR BAD ACCIDENT, 3 PEOPLE GOT HURT.EVERY TIME I WATCH THE VIDEO I AM MORE CONVINCED THAT SOMETHING WHEN WRONG WITH CAR SYSTEMS THIS HAPPENS ON KENNEDY BOULEVARD AND AUDOBON ST ON 12/11/2020 AROUND 11:05 AM SUNNY CLEAR DAY. I HAVE A VIDEO.*DT

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL — Filed 09/20/2020

I WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE AT MY CHURCH WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. AS I NEARED THE END OF THE SPACE, THE CAR SUDDENLY SURGED FORWARD. IT WENT OVER THE CONCRETE BARRIER AT THE END OF THE SPACE AND CAME TO A STOP WHEN THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE HIT A TREE AND WAS KNOCKED TO A PERPENDICULAR POSITION TO THE AXLE. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAUSED THE CAR TO STOP. THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CAR SURGED FORWARD ABOUT 5-6 FEET AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED EVEN THOUGH MY FOOT WAS STILL ON THE BRAKE AND I WAS SLOWLY MOVING INTO THE PARKING SPACE.

STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 02/04/2019

SUDDEN ACCELERATION WHILE PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE IN COVERED PARKING GARAGE. CAR ENGINE REVVED WHILE PULLING INTO SPACE. BRAKES APPLIED LEAVING SKID MARKS ON CONCRETE. CAR WAS DAMAGED BE HITTING CONCRETE RETAINING WALL.