2018 HONDA PILOT Complaints

The transmission does not transmit consistent power to the wheels to ensure the car moves forward at consistent speed. This intermittent transmission of power to the tires causes a safety concern when driving, especially during a rainfall with stop and go traffic or when joining roads. The car is unresponsive or very slow to respond when moving forward from a stop position. Any attempt to force the car to move results in a lunge or aggressive acceleration which usually causes the tires to screech. The unnatural acceleration results in forward motion not consistent with the flow of traffic. This issue is further compounded when there is rainfall with a little slop. Any forward motion results in the tires screeching forcing the driver to take his/her foot off the accelerator. This results in a stop and go situation which is confusing to other drivers especially when joining a road.

While driving at interstate speeds, without any warning that there was an issue, engine began to run very rough and all warning indicators on the display were active, car slowed and had to pull off onto the road shoulder, very lucky the traffic was lite and was already in the right traffic lane, was able to pull onto the road shoulder quickly. Under heavy traffic and a multiple lane interstate, this type failure would probably resulted in a serious accident involving other cars and personal injury. Engine would restart but was running very rough, all system warning indicators were active on the display. Drove 1/2 mile to safe location at the next exit, parked the vehicle and called Honda for a tow to our local dealership. They indicated the problem was excessive wear to the camshaft. Parts were ordered and repairs are in progress. Drivetrain was still under an extended warranty.

Engine stalls from a stop to accelerating It has happened several times and nearly caused an accident at an intersection The transmission shifts rough The mechanic can’t find the problem but it’s been ongoing since I purchased the vehicle new

As of 11/21/23, our honda pilot has approx 75,000 miles, we purchased it new so we are the only owners. A few weeks ago, the vehicle while driving about 45 mph, completely shut off, all lights on the dash cam on and the transmission became disengaged. We were able to shut it off for a few minutes, and drive it about 1/2 mile to the local Acura dealership. The car did not operate normally though, it would only go about 20-30 mph, before the transmission disengaged for a few seconds, then re-engage and continue driving. Acura said it was a producing a bad cam-shaft sensor code, they reset it, but said if it happened again, they would need to open up the engine to inspect the cam-shaft. Two days later, the exact same thing happened, we returned it to the same Acura dealership, where they said the cam shaft, and abunch of other parts needed replacement, at a cost of about $2,500. We had no choice since the car was immobilized. Now, the week of 11/20/2023, a recall regarding the rod bearings was issues, which cause the exact same immobilization issues we experienced, which is very dangerous as a driver. Upon research online, the cam shaft sensor and faulty cam shaft is more common than I expected, and I believe should be investigated before someone is seriously injured. To add, our specific pilot is not showing the engine rod recall, but we have experienced issue with the vehicle in regards to the auto start/stop feature and the car not restarting, as well as cruise control issues where the car will go into neutral at 70+ mph when cruise control is activated. We will probably not have this vehicle much longer because of the issues we have had in the first 75K miles, and the continued safety issues that plague this model. More needs to be done for the safety of it's drivers and passengers.

I was on I-44 west of St Louis and between two trailer trucks and the 2018 Pilot started to shake violently and lose power going down that big hill before Lewis road after that it quit and after a 1/2 mile it did it again and shook so bad you thought front wheels were coming off.I took it directly to Napleton Honda in St Peters Mo and naturally they drove the car 6 miles and found nothing wrong. This was on April 22,2022. It did it again on October 31,2023 and at after dark it vibrated again and lost power and we coasted off the highway. I finally got it started and we went home frightened again. We figured no use to take to dealership because they charged 200 dollars to test drive and send us on our way.Please help us we have an unsafe car to drive and they claim it is not a 2018 Pilot under the recall, they are sending letters out to people affected on January 4,2023. Is a person supposed to get killed before they acknowledge they have a bigger problem than what they claim.The second incident happened on October 31,2023 at 54136 miles, the first incident was April 22, 2022 at 41337 miles.

While driving at highway speed, the engine stopped. The car coasted to a stop on the side of the freeway. I attempted to restart the car, but the engine would not turnover. The vehicle was towed to a Honda dealership, there the dealer attempted to rotate the engine at the pulley and the engine would not budge. The mechanic did verify that the engine had adequate oil.

I had brought my vehicle to the dealership to perform the repair for the auto-restart recall issue. I was told this would fix the issue. Several weeks later, my husband and I were driving the car. I stopped at a red light. When the light changed and I lifted my foot off the brake, the vehicle would not restart. I repeatedly tried applying the brakes and shifting into neutral, then shifting into park, but neither would work. I tried turning the car off by pushing the start button, but that would not work either. I immediately placed my hazard lights on, but vehicles were already approaching our car rapidly on this six-lane road. I began blowing my horn to try to alert them, that we were stopped despite the green light. Several vehicles almost slammed into the back of us, since the speed limit on this major road was 50 mph and vehicles did not expect a car to be stopped with a green light. Fortunately, no cars actually hit us. When I brought my vehicle back to the dealership, I was advised this was related to the prior recall, but that the more lengthy, expensive fix was considered a "warranty extension" and not a recall, so it would only be performed after the vehicle continued to have problems after the initial, cheaper, easier recall was performed, but the car still had a problem not restarting. I was shocked that Honda would allow its customers to continue to drive a vehicle that that know can place them in danger. The repair for the "warranty extension" was completed on this vehicle, however, we have another Honda vehicle that falls under this same "warranty extension"/recall issue. Honda refuses to perform the "warranty extension" portion of the repair on that vehicle, until it actually occurs, thus placing my family in danger again! I called Honda and was told they did not care that this placed my family at continued risk and that I should contact NHTSA if I still had concerns. They refused to tell me how often the problem occurs after the recall fix.

The engine failed to restart after the auto idle function engaged at a stop light at a busy intersection. The car shut down, including turning off the tv screens and the a/c etc. and the dash instructed us to put the car in park (it had switched itself into neutral at that point). Once we put it in park it said to push the breaks and start the car. It started back up and we were finally able to move. We were at a busy intersection and it was very scary for us because we did not know what was happening. I’ve seen small signs of this before and it’s prompted me to turn off the function, but I don’t Always remember to do that. It’s a know issue and needs to be addressed. Most people do not know how to report it.

Vehicle stalls when trying to go after stop when auto start is engaged. Auto start must be manually disengaged and sometimes I forget to press the button. When the engine stalls, people behind me get angry and start making aggressive maneuvers to get around me. Normally I can restart the engine after 15 to 30 seconds but it feels longer than that when I have a long line of cars behind me.

Purchased and next day warning light came on for transmission problem. Took it to Honda and was told it was the torque converter. This part is on back order due to multiple installs on other Honda’s.