2003 HONDA PILOT Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA PILOT. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE GEARS FAILED AND THE TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP WITHOUT WARNING. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED ACCORDING TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V176000 (POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION); THEREFORE, THEY WOULD NOT ASSUME ANY ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REPAIRS. THE CONTACT WOULD HAVE TO PAY $3,500 TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED DUE TO THE COST. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 162,525.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA PILOT. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 15-20 MPH ON NORMAL ROAD CONDITIONS, THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HESITATED INTERMITTENTLY WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SHOP FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THERE WERE MECHANICAL FAILURES IN THE TRANSMISSION. THROUGH ONLINE RESEARCH, THE CONTACT DISCOVERED NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V176000 (POWER TRAIN;AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION). THE AUTHORIZED DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND STATED THAT THERE WAS AN EARLIER RECALL REPAIR PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE IN 2004; HOWEVER, IT HAS NOT CORRECTED THE FAILURE ADDRESSED IN THE SAFETY RECALL. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 81,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 82,000. UPDATED 6/01/09 *CN UPDATED 06/02/09.*JB

THE HONDA PILOT 2003 WHICH HAS 134500 MILES ON IT STARTED TO REV UP WHILE ACCELERATING AND LURCHING FORWARD VIOLENTLY. ONCE WHILE TRYING TO GET ON THE INTERSTATE THE VEHICLE VIOLENTLY STALL AS IF PUT IN A NEUTRAL AND LURCHED BACK TO 50MPH SPEED IN FEW SECONDS. LUCKILY NOT BODY IS BEHIND BUT WOULD HAVE CAUSED A CRASH. HAD THE VEHICLE TO HONDA CAR DEALER WHO SERVICED THE VEHICLE 1 WEEK BACK AND THEY SAID TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND WAS QUOTED $4000 FOR THE REPAIR. CALLED HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND COMPLAINED ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION ISSUE AND THE SR CHECKED WITH HIS SUPERVISOR AND SAID THEY ARE NOT GOING TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION PARTS. *TR

I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF A 2003 HONDA PILOT WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. I TRAVEL FREQUENTLY AND CURRENTLY HAVE 157,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN SERVICED AS REQUIRED AND PROPERLY MAINTAINED. IT HAS ALWAYS GIVEN ME PROBLEMS WITH HARSH SHIFTING BETWEEN GEARS, BUT DUE TO LACK OF ANY CODE WARNINGS, I'VE BEEN ADVISED BY THE DEALER AND PERSONAL MECHANICS THAT THERE WERE NO CONCERNS. AS THE PRIMARY DRIVER OF A VEHICLE, ONE CAN SENSE ANY CHANGES IN HOW AN AUTOMOBILE DRIVES AND AT 50,265 MILES, I BEGAN TO NOTICE A CHANGE WITH THE SHIFTING OF GEARS. AGAIN AT 87,767 I EXPRESSED CONCERN, BUT STILL NO CODES. AT 103,226 MILES, MY CONCERNS GREW AND FURTHER CHECKING AND DIAGNOSIS INDICATED THAT THERE IS HARD SHIFTING BETWEEN GEARS, BUT NO INDICATIONS THAT A REPLACEMENT OF TRANSMISSION WAS NEEDED. ON APRIL 18, 2009 WHILE TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY, I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AND EXPERIENCED THE ENGINE 'REVVING' AS THOUGH IT WAS IN NEUTRAL - THERE WAS NO POWER. I HAD A TOTAL OF 6 PASSENGERS IN THE VEHICLE. I MANEUVERED TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE AND RESTARTED THE ENGINE. I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICE AND WAS ADVISED TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED. ON APRIL 29, 2009, MY VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A REPUTABLE TRANSMISSION COMPANY TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED AT A COST OF $3,500. I PURCHASED THE PILOT CONFIDENT THAT I INVESTED IN A VEHICLE THAT WILL PROVIDE ME ASSURANCE OF NO MAJOR POWERTRAIN ISSUES. I FELT STRONGLY ABOUT HONDA'S REPUTATION SO THIS IS QUITE A DISAPPOINTMENT. UPON RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FROM 2003 PILOT OWNERS WITH TRANSMISSION FAILURES (SEE EDMUNDS.COM FORUMS). IS ANYONE REVIEWING THE POTENTIAL LIABILITY INVOLVED WITH THE FAILURES OF THESE TRANSMISSIONS? ESPECIALLY SINCE I'VE EXPERIENCED THE LOSS OF POWER AND NAVIGATION ABILITY! A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ACCIDENT COULD HAVE OCCURRED. ARE THERE DISCUSSIONS FOR A TRANSMISSION RECALL? *TR

THE CHROME PLATING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE DOOR HANDLE OF OUR 2003 HONDA PILOT IS FLAKING AT THE FRONT EDGE. IT IS A DANGEROUS CUT HAZARD. OUR PILOT HAS ONLY 69077 MILES. THIS DEFECT SHOULD BE A RECALL, AS IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD. I PURCHASED A EXTENDED WARRANTY FROM THE DEALER, BUT WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS NOT COVERED. THE REPAIR COST IS $39.00 LABOR AND $20.00 FOR HANDLE. THE DEALER SERVICE WRITER SAID HE HAS SEEN THIS BEFORE, AND HAS EVEN EXPERIENCED IT HIMSELF. *TR

WHILE DRIVING 2003 HONDA PILOT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND ENGINE REVVED UP WHILE SEEMING TO COAST AND THEN JOLTED FORWARD. CAR HAS 109,000 MILES. BROUGHT TO DEALERSHIP AND WAS INFORMED THERE WAS AN INTERNAL ISSUE WITH TRANSMISSION AND FAILURE OF CONTROL MODULE. ENTIRE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. ACCORDING TO DEALER REPAIR SHOP IT WAS CODED AS AN INCORRECT GEAR RATIO. THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING TO A VEHICLE WHICH HAS BEEN SERVICED REGULARLY AND ONLY DRIVEN ON PAVED ROADS. *TR

CAR STARTED TO RIDE ROUGH AT 75K MILES WITH "D" LIGHT FLASHING INTERMITTENTLY. DEALER MIS-IDENTIFIED THE PROBLEM FOR ABOUT 5K MILES BUT EVENTUALLY DETERMINED THAT THE CAR NEEDS AN ENTIRE NEW TRANSMISSION. CAR NOW HAS JUST OVER 80K MILES. VERY SHORT LIFE FOR A TRANSMISSION. *TR

THE FRONT ENGINE MOUNT IS CRACKED AND ONE OF THE SIDE MOUNTS IS TORN AND ABOUT TO CRACK. MY HONDA PILOT WAS PURCHASED NEW IN FEBRUARY 2003 AND HAS 84,000 MILES ON IT. HONDA CLAIMS THAT THE ENGINE MOUNTS ONLY LAST FIVE YEARS. THIS SEEMS TO BE A DEFECTIVE PART, ESPECIALLY DUE TO THE VOLUME OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FOUND ON THE WEB. *TR

MY 2003 HONDA PILOT WAS RECALLED FOR A POTENTIAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE INSPECTION/REMEDY WAS PERFORMED IN 2004. NOW THE TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED WITH THE EXACT SAME FAILURE THE RECALL WAS INTENDED TO REMEDY. WHILE TRAVELING A DEALER IN MIAMI (BRICKELL MOTORS) WORKED WITH A REGIONAL HONDA REP AND OFFERED A 50% REDUCTION IN THE COST OF A REBUILD TRANSMISSION. UPON RETURNING HOME THE LOCAL DEALER (COGGIN HONDA) WORKED WITH A REGIONAL HONDA REP AND ONLY OFFERED A 5% REDUCTION. LEARNING THIS WE CONTACTED THE ORIGINAL DEALER (BRICKELL) AND WERE INFORMED THAT WE HAD TO BRING THE CAR BACK (100 MILES AWAY) BEFORE THEY COULD ASK THE REP AGAIN FOR ASSISTANCE. NO GUARANTEE ON WHAT WOULD BE OFFERED. CONTACTING HONDA USA WE WERE INFORMED THAT THERE WOULD LIKE LIKELY BE NO FURTHER OFFERS BUT THE ORIGINAL DEALERS OFFER SHOULD BE GOOD FOR 30 DAYS. WE ESCALATED THIS TO A CASE MANAGER ASKING THAT THE 50% OFFER BE MADE GOOD AT OUR LOCAL DEALER (COGGIN). IN THE INTERIM WE MUST RETRIEVE THE CAR WITH THE TRANSMISSION THAT WAS RECALLED FOR A POTENTIAL CRASH HAZARD. THIS CAR SHOULD BE PROVIDED A NEW TRANSMISSION AS PER THE RECALL NUMBER 04V176000. *TR

MY 2003 HONDA PILOT HAD A TRANSMISSION RECALL A FEW YEARS AGO, WHICH WAS REPORTEDLY PERFORMED BY HONDA. 3-14-09 IT WAS SERVICED BY HONDA, FOR A LIGHT THAT CAME ON INDICATING A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. AFTER THE SERVICE, ON 4-2-09, MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP THIS ALMOST CAUSED A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, ON 275 DURING RUSH HOUR IN CINCINNATI, DUE TO A SUDDEN SLOWING OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT REAR BRAKE LIGHTS INDICATING STOPPING OR SLOWING. THIS IS AN INDICATION THAT EVEN WITH THE RECALL ALTERATIONS, THE PROBLEM OF TRANSMISSION FAILURE CAN OCCUR CAUSING A CRASH. DH, A FRIEND HAD A SIMILAR FAILURE CAUSING A CRASH WITH HER THREE CHILDREN ON BOARD, THE DRIVER EXPERIENCED INJURIES IN THIS ROLLOVER CRASH. HONDA WAS NOTIFIED AND SERVICE PERSONNEL WERE ADVISED AND THEY ARE NON RESPONSIVE. THIS VEHICLE IS DESIGNED FOR UP TO EIGHT OCCUPANTS MAKING THIS A SERIOUS POSSIBILITY FOR BODILY INJURY. AT THE TIME OF RECALL THE CORRECTION FOR THIS FAILURE WAS TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT. THERE IS A 30 DAY WAIT FOR REBUILT TRANSMISSIONS, EVIDENTLY BECAUSE THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. A FRIEND WITH THE SAME YEAR HONDA PILOT HAD THE SAME LOCK UP OCCUR WITH HER TRANSMISSION AND IT DID CAUSE THE PILOT TO CRASH AND ROLL OVER AND THE VEHICLE WAS TOTALED. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS WITH SIMILAR STORIES. UNFORTUNATELY HONDA WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM DESPITE THE SAFETY ISSUES. *TR