2018 HONDA PILOT Complaints

Several times I have been driving with the auto stop on. When I get to a stop light or traffic light to make the stop, the engine shuts off as it should. When I let off of the brake and go to accelerate, the engine appears to start, then shuts all of the way off. This creates a problem where the lights on the dash flash and errors start flashing at me because I did not shut off the vehicle while in "Park". I have to push the P button and pump the brakes to get the engine to turn back on. It is a process which feels like it takes forever when other motorists are honking and yelling at me in my disabled vehicle. It probably takes 45-90 seconds, but feels like an eternity. This has unfortunately happened at one of the busiest lights in our city. I almost got rear ended with my 3 kids in the car as I sat trying to get the vehicle to turn back on. This has happened about 4 or 5 times. Now I shut off the Auto Stop every time I get in the vehicle. My kids don't want to ride in the vehicle anymore since they think it is unsafe. I took it to the Honda dealership and they replaced the battery despite telling me it was okay. I have not gone back to turning the Auto Stop on because I feel this is a huge safety issue.

2018 HONDA PILOT. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO MPG ISSUE. THE CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE MPG DISPLAYED ON THE VEHICLE VERSUS THE ACTUAL MPG.

The automatic stop start on the engine fails to restart at lights and when stopping in heavy traffic. One time it happened luckily I was in a parking lot I had to get out of the car out of key fob range and it seemed to reset. Before I got out everything on the dash was frozen nothing would turn on or off. I’ve been pressing the button when I get in the car that overrides it but sometimes I forget. When it’s active and does restart at a red light it lurches ahead so much that you almost hit the car in front. It’s a horrible feature. This is ongoing problem.

We bought the Honda Pilot to tow a NuCamp 2019 Tab 320 Bookdock Trailer, which has a gross dry weight of 1,848 pounds (well below the 3,500-pound Pilot published towing capacity). We tow the trailer dry, which is without water in the black, gray and fresh tanks. We do not load any items of significant weight in the trailer (two lightweight camp chairs, a 3-inch thick foam mattress topper and pillows). We have towed the trailer from Akron, Ohio, to Twentynine Palms, CA, in 2020 and to Glacier National Park, MT, in 2021. We have also towed it to several Ohio state parks. In the fall of 2021, the vehicle’s transmission began to exhibit unusual performance that manifested itself as gear shifting hesitation in the range of 1,500 – 2,000 RPMs. With that issue, we took it to Great Lakes Honda which changed the transmission fluid (Great Lakes did not flush the transmission) at 28,000 miles. On April 3, 2022, the transmission hesitation began again. I took it to Apple Tree Honda in Arden, NC, (we had moved to Waynesville, NC, in late 2021) on April 5, 2022, a technician found no error codes, but performed a transmission flush and fill.. My issue with this is that the transmission fluid should not degrade in 7,000 miles of normal driving, causing transmission malfunction. The vehicle does seem capable of towing a weight near the published owner's manual maximum of 3,500 pounds. With this interval, I am concerned that the Honda stated operational guidelines are false, and the vehicle’s transmission might continue to degrade as many other Honda Pilots’ transmissions have as reported by many owners. The Apple Tree Honda technician who worked on the Pilot, advised me to add an auxiliary automatic transmission cooler, which is necessary if towing more than 3500 lbs. Since the April service, I have not towed the trailer. I am fearful that the transmission will fail when I am towing the trailer.

Engine failed to restart after the auto stop/start feature shut the engine off while I was stopped making a left turn onto a busy road. This is the 3rd time this has happened. I am unable to disable this feature permanently. I have to shut this feature off manually each time I start the car. The prior two times I was stopped on a busy road for a car stopped in front of me and the car failed to restart exposing my family and i to a potential rear end collision. This feature is very dangerous and it is only a matter of time till someone is hurt.

When stopped in traffic the car will switch to neutral by itself. It will turn off and will have to be restarted. This has happened about 12 times since last July. After the first time it happened I brought the car to the dealership. They were not able to replicate the issue and it has continued since then with greater frequency. (2x last week in 3 days) This has happened when in econ mode, regular mode, right after a tune up, no pattern detected. Sometimes before it happens there would be a spluttering sound of the engine, sometimes a clicking sound, sometimes a collision warning sign flashes right before it happens, sometimes no warning- the car just shuts off and needs to be restarted. When the car is idling there are frequent reminders about pressing the break to shut off the engine. Googling this issue shows other people have the same problem with their 2018 Honda Pilots and other models as well. I believe these incidents are related to ODI Investigation PE 22-005 just opened on 06/03/22.

The engine had failed to restart multiple times on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light and in the middle of an intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. I am very concerned for the safety of myself and occupants because the inability of the vehicle to restart and move forward to clear through the intersection creates a very high risk for a potential collision that could be life threatening. The vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer, manufacturer or any appropriate organization. There have been no warning signs alerting me to a potential problem. I started to experience the problems commencing last month (May 2022).

The engine automatic idle stop malfunctions on a regular basis. At idle, the engine will stop and is supposed to re-start automatically and on average once per week the engine will not re-start. The car will need to be put into park and then manually restarted. This usually occurs while at a traffic signal and leaves us stuck blocking traffic. It has occurred countless times in the three years we have owned the vehicle. We have taken it back to Honda multiple times to complain but they have never been able to find a problem.

Car shuts off and does not turn back on properly when stopping while driving. It does not happen all of the time, but when stopping at light/stop sign the car will turn off like it is supposed to but fails to start back up. When it fails to start it will not start back up, because the car is not in park, so the push button will not work until you hit the park button.

the engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged