2004 HONDA PILOT Complaints

DRIVING AROUND TOWN TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP. AVOIDED CRASH. RECALL ON MY VEHICLE WAS NEVER PERFORMED. NOW MY TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REBUILT AND I HAVE TO PAY FOR HONDAS NEGLIGENCE? WE PURCHASE THIS NEW IN 2004 THE RECALL WAS IN THE SAME YEAR. ALWAYS DEALER MAINTAINED. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!! MY FAMILY COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT IN A SERIOUS CRASH!! NOW MY VEHICLE IS AT AAMCO FOR THE REPAIRS. HONDA WILL NOT COVER THE REPAIRS BECAUSE THE RECALL WAS NEVER DONE? HONDA NEVER REPAIRED IT !! I MY FAMILY WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HONDA PRODUCT AGAIN, SORRY BUY MY FAMILY'S WELL BEING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR PROFITS. *TR

ON JULY 25 ,2013 AROUND 8:00AM AM STARTING MY 2004 HONDA PILOT , TO MOVE MY CAR TO AVOID PARKING TICKETS AT 8:30AM. AFTER 5 MINUTES OF WARMING THE ENGINE I DECIDED TO DRIVE AROUND TO FIND A PARKING SPACE TO AVOID A TICKED.AROUND 8:14AM I FOUND A PARKING SPACE AND THE CAR IS PARKED.LATER AROUND 3:00PM I DECIDED TO GO TO MY GIRLFRIEND HOUSE ,I SEE THE MY CAR PARKED AND A FREE PARKING SPACE IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT. TO AVOID TICKETS THE NEXT DAY I MOVED THE CAR. AROUND 3:02 THE CAR IS PARKED IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT. AROUND 9:50 PM AM WALKING HOME AND I SEE THE HOOD OF MY CAR OPEN.THE ENGINE WAS ALL BURNED INCLUDING HEADLIGHTS THERE WAS NO WIRE EVERYTHING MELT.NEIGHBORS WHERE SITTING OUTSIDE AS USUAL ,THEY TOLD ME THAT IT STARTED AROUND 3:30 AND THAT SMALL AMOUNT OF SMOKE WAS COMING OUT OF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ENGINE .FIRE DEPARTMENT TOOK LIKE 15M !!!!TO ARRIVED.CAR HAD 105,000 MILES. I WASN'T USING THE CAR THAT OFTEN ,THE NIGHT BEFORE THE FIRE I DROVE THE CAR FOR 15 MILES BACK AND FORWARD. MY ENSURES DON'T COVER FIRE. NO MORE HONDA THANKS!!! *TR

I NOW HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM FOR THE 2ND TIME OF WHAT IS UNQUESTIONABLY A MAJOR DESIGN FLAW IN THE TRANSMISSION / TORQUE CONVERTER OF THE SHARED POWER TRAIN FOR HONDA PILOTS ('03 ,'04) HONDA ODYSSEY VANS ('02 TO '04) & ACURA MDX ('01, '02). I OWNED A PRISTINE 2001 ACURA MDX WITH JUST OVER 100K MILES ON IT WHICH EXPERIENCED THE ALL TOO COMMON TRANS./ TORQUE CONVERTER FAILURE ONLY A FEW MONTHS AFTER I PURCHASED IT FROM A HONDA DEALER. THIS HAPPENED IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THE POWER TRAIN RECALL (SANCTIONED BY NHTSA) HAD BEEN COMPLETED IN 2004. I PARTED WAYS WITH THE VEHICLE, INCURRING A SUBSTANTIAL LOSS. BUT THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES, AS UNFORTUNATELY, MY OTHER VEHICLE IS A 2004 HONDA PILOT. RIGHT AFTER I PURCHASED IT NEW IN 2004, I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER SINCE THE MODEL WAS SUBJECT TO A NEARLY IDENTICAL POWER TRAIN RECALL AS THE MDX AND ODYSSEY. MY DEALER SAID MY VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL, & THAT MY NEW PILOT SHOULD BE FINE. YET @ 60K, THE "D" LIGHT ON THE SHIFTER DISPLAY STARTED TO BLINK FROM TIME TO TIME. EACH TIME THE DEALER SAID EVERYTHING WAS FINE; SHUTTERING ON DOWNSHIFTING OVER THE YEARS WAS PASSED OFF BY THE DEALER AS NORMAL FOR THE VEHICLE. THEN LAST WEEK, THE POWER TRAIN FAILED ON THIS VEHICLE AS WELL. THIS TIME MY SON WAS DRIVING, & THE CAR SHUTTERED SO BADLY THAT IT NEARLY WENT OUT OF CONTROL. THIS CAR HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED & I HAVE ALL SERVICE RECORDS. CLEARLY THE RECALL "REMEDY" FOR THIS MAJOR DESIGN FLAW HAS NOT SOLVED THE ISSUE, AND THESE POWER TRAINS STILL PRESENT A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD FOR THE VEHICLE OPERATOR & OTHERS ON THE ROAD WHO MAY NEED TO AVOID A DISABLED VEHICLE IN FRONT OF THEM. PLEASE DO SOMETHING! IF YOU TOTAL ALL THE POWER TRAIN COMPLAINTS FOR THE RECALL YRS. ON THESE 3 MODELS, YOU GET NEARLY 3000. THE LEGITIMACY OF NHTSA IS AT STAKE. THIS "SOLUTION" WAS A GOOD DEAL FOR HONDA, BUT IT HAS NOT PROTECTED THE PUBLIC! *TR

NOTICED THAT THE D WAS FLASHING WHILE ON A MULTI-STOP TRIP TO VISIT FAMILY. THIS FIRST OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AND THERE WERE NO OTHER INDICATIONS THAT THERE WAS A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. WHEN I STOPPED FOR GAS THE LIGHT STOPPED FLASHING AND EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE FINE. I CONTINUED ON TO THE FIRST STOP OF MY TRIP. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER I DROVE TO THE 2ND STOP OF MY TRIP AND WHILE DRIVING IN AND AROUND TOWN ON THE 2ND DAY THERE THE D STARTED FLASHING AGAIN. I TOOK THE CAR TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP AND WAS ADVISED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AT THAT TIME I DID NOT KNOW THAT THERE HAD BEEN A TRANSMISSION RECALL AND SO I AUTHORIZED THE REPAIR. THAT REPAIR WAS A COMPLETE TRANSMISSION REBUILD WHICH COST 2638.42. SINCE FINDING OUT ABOUT THE RECALL AND THE OTHER TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS I FEEL THAT I SHOULD BE REIMBURSED FOR THIS REPAIR. *TR

I WAS DUE FOR MY YEARLY VEHICLE INSPECTION. PRIOR TO GETTING THE VEHICLE INSPECTED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR THE INSPECTION AND TOLD THEM THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I WAS THEN TOLD THAT THE CODE THAT CAME UP WAS FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND THAT IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE DID NOT PASS INSPECTION BECAUSE OF THIS AND I WAS ISSUED A PIECE OF PAPER TO PLACE IN THE WINDOW THAT GIVES ME 10 DAYS TO HAVE THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. THE CAR IS A 2004 HONDA PILOT WITH 158470 MILES.IT HAS SHOWN NO SIGNS OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. *TR

TRANSMISSION FAIL-DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM: HEAT BUILD UP BETWEEN THE COUNTERSHAFT AND SECONDARY SHAFT SECOND GEARS IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO GEAR TOOTH CHIPPING OR GEAR BREAKAGE. CONTACTED HONDA AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR THIS VIN AND BECAUSE THE SERVICE WORK WAS NOT COMPLETED BY HONDA THEY CLAIM NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR DESIGN FLAW. A VERY EXPENSIVE ENGINEERING/DESIGN PROBLEM THAT WAS FLAWED FROM THE BEGINNING AND THEN BURDENED/BLAMED BY HONDA ON THE CONSUMER. *TR

AT SPEEDS OF BETWEEN 30-45 MPH, CAR WOULD SHAKE AND MAKE GRINDING NOISE UNDER THE HOOD. THIS REPEATEDLY HAPPENED FOR YEARS BUT MY DEALER SAID THEY "COUDN'T REPLICATE THE NOISE" AND DID NOT TELL ME THAT IT WAS MY TRANSMISSION. THEN I GET A NOTICE SAYING THERE WAS A TRANSMISSION RECALL ISSUE. THE TWO FIX-IT OPTIONS WERE AN OIL JET KIT AND REPLACE THE TRANNY. THE DEALER GAVE ME A OIL JET KIT, BUT THE TRANSMISSION HAS CONTINUED TO GO BAD EVER SINCE WITH NO OTHER REPLACEMENTS OR OFFER OF REPAIR BY THE DEALER. THIS IS A BAD TRANSMISSION! AMERICAN HONDA HAS OFFERED TO NOW PAY ME 30% OF THE REPLACEMENT COST WHICH WILL STILL COST ME $3500, FOR A REFURBISHED TRANSMISSION. I AM TAKING THIS TO THE TOP- HONDA SHOULD NOT BE HAVING ME PAY FOR A TRANSMISSION THAT THEY KNEW WAS BAD. *TR

WHEN I STARTED THE CAR AND BEGAN DRIVING I NOTICED THAT THE GEAR CHANGE LEVER WAS GLIDING THROUGH R, N, D, ETC. RATHER THAN BEING FIRM IN EACH POSITION. LUCKILY, THE CAR DID NOT FALL OUT OF GEAR. I HAVE SINCE LEARNED FROM THE SHOP THAT THE ONLY THING HOLDING IT IN GEAR AS I DROVE WAS THIS VERY LOOSE LEVER. THIS WAS EXTREMELY UNSAFE TO DRIVE! THE DETERMINATION IS THAT THE SHIFT SELECTOR ASSEMBLY INSIDE THE TRANSMISSION IS BROKEN AND A NEW TRANSMISSION IS REQUIRED. I AM DISMAYED TO SEE HOW MANY HONDAS REQUIRE NEW TRANSMISSIONS, AND AM UPSET THAT DESPITE THE OBVIOUS SAFETY ISSUE, AND THE NUMBER OF PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED, NO RECALL HAS OCCURRED. *TR

OUR PILOT DRIVE LIGHT STARTED FLASHING ONE DAY, WE PULLED OVER, SHUT OFF THE VEHICLE, THEN RESTARTED IT AND THE LIGHT WENT OUT. THIS HAS HAPPENED ABOUT 5 TIMES OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS. NOW OUR ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND WE FOUND OUT THAT WE NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION! WE HAVE LESS THAN 100,000 MI. ALSO, OUR GAS PEDAL STICKS, TO ACCELERATE WE TAKE OFF EXTREMELY FAST FROM A DEAD STOP. I AM AFRAID THAT THIS WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT!!! IT STARTED OUT A LITTLE STICKY AND IS NOW VERY BAD. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 HONDA PILOT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE THROTTLE ASSEMBLY WAS REPLACED BECAUSE IT WOULD CONTINUOUSLY BECOME STUCK. THE THROTTLE ASSEMBLY MADE IT DIFFICULT TO ACCELERATE DUE TO THE ACCELERATOR BECOMING STUCK. THE CONTACT DID NOT INFORM THE MANUFACTURER OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,761 UPDATED 08/19/13 *BF