2003 HONDA PILOT Complaints

2003 HONDA PILOT 140K MILES. TRANSMISSION SLIPS OUT OF GEAR WHEN ACCELERATING. THE "D" INDICATOR BEGAN TO FLASH THEN THE CAR WOULD ACT LIKE A MANUAL TRANSMISSION TRYING START FROM A DEAD STOP IN 4TH GEAR. *TR

TRANSMISSION FAILED TO ENGAGE NEXT GEAR SLIPPING. WAS MERGING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC AND HARDLY AVOIDED ANOTHER CAR COMING FROM BEHIND ME. SEEN OTHER CUSTOMERS COMPLAINING ON 2003-2004 PILOT TRANSMISSIONS FAILS SAME WAY SOON AFTER 100KMILES. *TR

2003 HONDA PILOT. 2ND GEAR GOING OUT. SEEMS TO HAVE CHIPPED TEETH ON GEAR. I CONTACTED HONDA. THEY TOLD ME THAT MY PILOT HAD ALREADY BEEN LOOKED AT BACK IN 2004. MY MECHANIC SAYS THAT THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT A DIRECT RESULT OF ORIGINAL RECALL ON THIS MODEL. THIS ALL BEGAN WITH MY "D" FLASHING. NOW MY SECOND GEAR IS GRINDING AND ABOUT TO O OUT. *TR

OUR 2003 HONDA PILOT'S (WITH 85,000 MILES) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON APPROXIMATELY 6/1/09. WE RECENTLY JUST PURCHASED THIS PILOT AND ARE THE SECOND OWNERS. THE CAR WAS BOUGHT AND SERVICED AT THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP RIGHT UP UNTIL WE BOUGHT IT. ANYHOW, WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE CAR BEGAN TO DOWNSHIFT AND THE CAR SLOWED DOWN RATHER VIOLENTLY AS WE PULLED OFF ON THE EXIT RAMP. THE REST OF THE DRIVE HOME THE TRANSMISSION WAS SHIFTING AND DOWN-SHIFTING QUITE ROUGHLY. WHERE IT GETS REALLY INTERESTING WAS THAT THIS VEHICLE HAD A RECALL ON THE TRANSMISSION IN 2004, WARNING THAT THE TRANSMISSION COULD HAVE "GEAR FAILURE AND LOCK-UP CAUSING A REAR-END COLLISION." BUT THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP INFORMED US THAT THE RECALL IS TOTALLY UNRELATED TO OUR TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ENTIRE COST OF REPAIR. *TR

2003 HONDA PILOT, 95K MILES, TRANSMISSION LIGHT CAME ON AND THEN STARTED FLASHING, SLIPPING OR POPPING BETWEEN GEARS, ACCELERATION IS GONE, WENT DOWNHILL VERY QUICKLY. I LOGGED ONTO VARIOUS WEBSITES AND SEE THE SAME TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS REPORTED BY MANY EARLY MODEL HONDA PILOT OWNERS I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED AS I EXPECTED A HONDA TO BE TOP NOTCH. *TR

FEB 2009 NOTICED TRANSMISSION WAS PERIODICALLY SLIPPING AT 86,000 MILES, 1000 OVER EXTENDED WARRANTY. DID NOT MALFUNCTION WHEN MY MECHANIC CHECKED IT. I WAS PASSING A TRUCK GOING UPHILL AT APPROXIMATELY 65MPH WHEN THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED TO FIRST GEAR ON ITS OWN AND SLAMMED TO ALMOST A COMPLETE STOP. EVERYTHING IN MY CAR WAS THROWN FORWARD. TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC WHERE I WAS TRAVELING AND HE RECORDED THE CODE P0730, PROBLEM IN SHIFT CONTROL SYSTEM. BACK TO MY MECHANIC AGAIN FOR SOLENOID REPLACEMENT. STILL NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY. CALLED HONDA CORP AND WAS TOLD THAT I HAD TO TAKE IT TO A HONDA DEALER. HONDA DIAGNOSED AS NEEDING NEW TRANSMISSION. I PROVIDED ALL RECORDS FOR PROOF OF MAINTENANCE. THERE IS NO PROOF THAT THE "FIX IT" WAS EVER PERFORMED ON THE TRANSMISSIONS RECALL. I AM OUT OVER $2500.00 FOR A PROBLEM THAT HONDA HAS ACKNOWLEDGED RESPONSIBILITY FOR IN THE PAST BUT IS CHOOSING TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY NOW. I AM THANKFUL THAT I DID NOT CRASH WHEN THE TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTIONED. *TR

THE FLOOR BOARD OF MY 2003 HONDA PILOT IS VERY DAMP TO THE EXTENT THAT IF YOU WERE TO LEAVE A PAPER BACK ON IT, THE BAG WOULD BECOME WET. THIS WAS LAST OBSERVED ON AN 5-HOUR TRIP WE WERE TAKING ON JUNE 5TH. IT RAINED ALL DAY, AND WE WERE RUNNING THE AIR CONDITION FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP. WHEN WE RETURNED HOME, WE HAD TO REMOVE THE MATS (WHICH WERE WET ON THE BOTTOM) TO ALLOW THE FLOORS TO DRY OUT. IT STILL IS DAMP TO THIS DAY (JUNE 16TH). I DON'T KNOW IF IT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM, OR IF IT IS OUTSIDE WATER LEAKING IN. THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM THAT I FIRST NOTICED APPROXIMATELY 3 YEARS AGO. DEALER WAS NOT ABLE TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF PROBLEM THEN. IT IS HARD TO ATTRIBUTE THE PROBLEM TO ANY EVENT BECAUSE THE FLOOR REMAINS DAMP FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME THAT YOU CAN'T REALLY BE SURE WHAT CONDITION IS CAUSING IT - YOU ARE OPERATING THE VEHICLE THROUGH SO MANY CONDITIONS THAT IT'S HARD TO TELL. FROM TIME TO TIME I HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE MATS WHEN IT BECOMES EXTREMELY DAMP. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF MOLD, THOUGH I'VE BEEN ABLE TO PREVENT THE VEHICLE FROM BECOMING TOO MUSTY. *TR

BLINKING D LIGHT ON 2003 HONDA PILOT TRANSMISSION. DEALERS SAY THEY DON'T KNOW THE CAUSE. EDMUNDS FORUM FULL OF SAME COMPLAINT, SAME EVASIVE ANSWER. TRANSMISSION ABOUT TO FAIL. *TR

THE MOTOR MOUNTS ON OUR 2003 HONDA PILOT BROKE, AND WE WERE ALERTED BY OUR HONDA DEALERS SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THE CAR HAS ABOUT 79,000 MILES ON IT. THE MOTOR MOUNTS HELP HOLD THE ENGINE IN PLACE. A GOOGLE SEARCH REVEALED ONLINE CHAT BOARDS WITH DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PILOT OWNERS COMPLAINING THAT THE MOTOR MOUNTS BROKE ON THEIR CARS, AT AS LITTLE AS 60,000 MILES. THIS PROBLEM APPEARS WIDESPREAD AND POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS. WE HAD OUR BROKEN MOTOR MOUNTS REPLACED. *TR

VEHICLE WILL NOT ACCEPT KEY, AFTER PLAYING WITH IT FINALLY GET THE KEY INTO THE IGNITION, BUT WILL NOT START. PLAY AND PLAY WITH IGNITION AND CAR FINALLY STARTS. TAKE TO HONDA DEALERSHIP IN EL CAJON CA , THEY SAY BECAUSE OF WEIGHT OF KEYS, HAVE A TOTAL OF 3 KEYS ON MY CHAIN, THAT IT HAS WORN OUT THE KEY AND THE TUMBLERS IN THE IGNITION. THEY MAKE A NEW KEY, IT GOES RIGHT IN BUT THE IGNITION IS STILL NOT TURNING OVER, HAVE TO GET A IGNITION. THEY REPLACE THE IGNITION BUT NOW I HAVE TWO HEAVY HONDA KEYS BECAUSE THE "NEW IGNITION" IS A SIDEWINDER AND IT COMES WITH A KEY THAT THEY CAN'T PROGRAM TO FIT THE DOORS. NOW MY KEY CHAIN IS HEAVIER THAN BEFORE. THIS COST ME $850.00. *TR