CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012-2013 Honda Pilot have a small complaint trend of owners reporting the engine hesitates sometimes when accelerating.

While it's not a widespread trend with the Pilot, it's a little concerning because of the possibly safety ramifications. While it's certainly something to keep in mind, most Pilot owners are not experiencing this problem.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
27,187 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2013 Honda Pilot brakes problems

brakes problem

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2013 Honda Pilot Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #38

Jul 072022

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Brake failure at stop sign. Driver crashed into a pole, suffered severe injuries including bleeding in the brain and broken ribs.

- Highland Park, IL, USA

problem #37

Sep 072020

Pilot

  • 57,000 miles
My 2013 Honda Pilot steering wheel shudders hard when braking. This started at around mileage 30K and the car currently has 57K on odometer. We bought the car new and have not needed any brake work on the front. Honda serviced the rear brakes so far. Honda representatives have told us that front shudder of the steering wheel most likely means the rotors are warped and need resurfacing or replacement. The shaking on downhill driving is so bad the car feels uncontrollably dangerous. You must drive very slow with hazard lights flashing when traveling downhill at 20-30 mph. Shaking and shudder happens at almost any speed above 40 mph when brakes are applied.

- Beaverton, OR, USA

problem #36

Sep 202013

Pilot

  • 5,000 miles
When driving downhill on highways at 50+ mph, (the steeper the descent, the slower the speed required to initiate brake problems) the front of our 2013 Pilot starts to shudder when the brakes are applied. This shudder is so extreme that we sometimes have difficulty maintaining control of our Pilot and of slowing down in time to avoid hitting other cars, as well as staying in our lane when traversing highway curves. This shudder began right after we left the dealership with the new SUV. Various mechanics have been unable to fix the problem, even after working on our brakes, and have cautioned us to brake gradually while driving mountain roads and highways. We feel that Honda should reach out to those with this issue and make the necessary repairs free of charge.

- Salem, OR, USA

problem #35

Apr 302019

Pilot

  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When the brakes are applied the front end starts to vibrate as the car is moving on streets, roads, highways and interstate highways. Not during a turn, yet. Just moving forward. There has been no accident as of yet but, I am fearful that the vibration will not allow the car to stop in time to save my life as well as who ever I hit. This is a dangerous situation. The Pilot was taken to the local Honda dealership this morning. They called with a bill for $1,052 for compliance bushings. This car is six years old with 61,026 miles, way too young to be costing me that much money for a 'front / rear stabilizer', that should be a problem at maybe 200,000 miles. Will I ever buy another Honda? let's see!!!!! hmmmm. I'm thinking about it.

- Madison, MS, USA

problem #34

Apr 232019

Pilot 6-cyl

  • miles
2013 Honda Pilot. Consumer writes in regards to warped rotors. The consumer stated the vehicle was repaired by the manufacturer, but the failure recurred.

- North Bend, WA, USA

problem #33

Jan 122015

Pilot

  • 20,000 miles
Rotors warped. This is a continuous problem regardless of how many times it is "fixed".

- Chester, VA, USA

problem #32

Dec 052018

Pilot

  • 57,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have had shaking in steering wheel at 60-70 mph and brakes cause the car to shudder. The brakes grabbed when lightly touched them at 70 mph to avoid a truck that pulled into my lane. Afraid that vehicle will lose control due to sudden brake and shudder in steering.

- Muncy, PA, USA

problem #31

Jan 092018

Pilot

  • 55,000 miles
When driving on the highway between the speed of 60-80 mph, the steering wheel shakes very noticeably making it very uncomfortable to drive with the vibration. I have had tires replaced and the wheels rebalanced and nothing seems to fix the problem. I have been dealing with this for months and no service station is able to fix the problem. Fearing that something may happen when driving on the highway or when my children drive the car. Safety is my number one concern when getting into a vehicle and it is very upsetting that I bought a brand new car to avoid the unknown problems of a used vehicle. Upon doing some research on the internet to find a solution to my problem, I have discovered that every Honda Pilot owner is complaining about the same issue and that Honda does not want to fix the problem.

- Valhalla, NY, USA

problem #30

May 152018

Pilot

  • 70,000 miles
This will be the 3rd time in less than 80,000 miles that I have had to have the brake rotors and pads replaced due to the brakes excessive steering shake at any speed. This condition has to be due to a structural problem with the brake hardware making it both costly and dangerous. Dealership wants to take my money and ignore the problem.

- N Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #29

Jan 012018

Pilot

  • 50,000 miles
I have a 2013 Honda Pilot ex 4WD with 52,610 miles on it. In very cold weather (around 5 degrees F or less) the brakes don't function correctly when the car is first started. There is a lot of pedal resistance and it only goes down about a third of the way or less. During this time, the brakes are barely engaging (it takes 3 feet to make a stop that would normally only take 6 inches). Then suddenly the pedal will go down all of the way and the brakes will be working. Sometimes it corrects itself almost right away on the first push, other times it takes several minutes to correct. In all but one occasion, this happened while parked, however, it has happened once on the road on an extremely cold (sub 0 F) day (notably on that day it had been stored inside overnight prior to the trip). Note that this is not an ABS type experience (where you are pushing the pedal hard because the ABS is activating) ' in my case the pedal is barely going down, and the brakes are barely engaging. The vehicle has been twice inspected by a Honda dealer, and they replaced the brake fluid and both front and rear brake pads, but it still happens. The challenge is that it does not happen all of the time, so it is hard to duplicate for the dealer. Based on a web search, it appears that others have experienced the problem: www.piloteers.org/forums/82-2012-2015-Pilot/147306-cold-weather-brakes.html www.piloteers.org/forums/114-2016-third-generation-Pilot/141257-hard-brake-pedal-morning.html

- Carmel, IN, USA

problem #28

Jul 222017

Pilot

  • 130,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

It was a sunny and very hot day, temperatures above 90 degrees. The vehicle was proceeding West on a 2 lane in town street, with no curbs, with one vehicle in front, stopped at the intersection to a 2 lane highway. As the vehicle was approaching the railroad tracks, with a slight incline, the driver applied the brakes for the stop sign after the railroad tracks. As the driver applied the brakes, the car accelerated towards the highway. At this point, the driver said, 'it's not stopping'it's not stopping.' To the over 2 passengers of the car. There was a car in front of the car, waiting to turn onto the highway and car getting ready to cross the highway, as well as a car on the highway near the intersection. The driver continued to apply the breaks without the car breaking and veered to the left to try to avoid the car in front. As the car accelerated, it hit the car in front and bounced off the left back bumper of the car in front and came to a stop. They cars were not moving at a high rate of speed but the car in question was not stopping even with the breaks applied, foot on the brake petal, foot not on accelerator. It was accelerating. The car was put into park. The car seemed to 'have a mind of it's own' not breaking but accelerating. There was an unknown cause for this as of this time. A county deputy was in the area and came over to the accident.

- Palmer, IL, USA

problem #27

Jun 162017

Pilot

  • 25,545 miles
After only 25000 miles, when braking, steering wheel vibrates excessively. Stopping vehicle from higher speeds dangerous as car steering becomes unsteady. Diagnosed warped front rotors. Normal city driving. Replaced rotors and pads. Vibration is now gone.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

problem #26

Apr 052017

Pilot

  • 89,000 miles
Braking at highway speeds, 5-70mph, car shakes like crazy, rotors are warped after 25000 miles. When applying brakes the car front end shakes very badly. Rotors are Honda oem.

- New Albany, OH, USA

problem #25

Aug 082016

Pilot

  • 32,000 miles
As posted by several other customers, I have had multiple problems when the brakes are applied at moderate to high rates of speed going downhill. The car begins to vibrate or waver. I have now had the rotors shaved the third time and am sure they will need replacement soon. Each time they repair it lasts for a short period of time. I have been told in the past this is common with this vehicle. I called Honda corporation and they could not have cared less. They said it was all do to "normal wear and tear". the dealer service department was as helpful as possible, but they need to escalate these issues to corporation so the consumer is protected. It is very frightening to feel that vibration during downhill braking. I owned a 2011 Honda Pilot and never had this issue so it is something in the design or parts for the 2013 model. I am considering selling the Pilot and purchasing another (non-Honda) SUV.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

problem #24

Nov 022015

Pilot

  • 30,000 miles
When braking from highway speeds to exit off ramp, car shimmies violently. Steering. Difficult to maintain control of vehicle as steering wheel is also violently shaking. Through research appears to be common known defect of the factory installed brake rotors. Replaced tires, had aligned. Did not correct. Honda used faulty, dangerous and inferior original parts. NHTSA should force Honda to issue recall. Failure of safe braking at highway speeds put the car occupants and all surrounding vehicles in life threatening danger.

- Broken Arrow, OK, USA

problem #23

Jul 202016

Pilot

  • 36,000 miles
My Honda Pilot ex-L model has 36500 miles. It all started after 20000 miles, breaks started feeling spongy and takes longer distance to stop the vehicle. When I took it to dealership, they told me the breaks are working as designed. Now my steering is shaking vigorously when I apply break after 40 mph speed. Anything lower that speed steering is less shaky but I can feel the steering is shaking even in that speed. Now breaking distance is lot longer and during red lights I am crossing the line during intense traffic stops.

- Suwanee, GA, USA

problem #22

Jun 232016

Pilot

  • 28,350 miles
For the past 8 months, I have been having a problem with the car excellerating while I was braking. The dealership looked at the car on 3 occasions and stated that there was no problem with the transmission. Because of a recent scare while driving, I took the car to someone who knows about cars. After a test drive, he concluded that the brakes were not engaging properly giving the feeling that the car was excellerating. He felt that the ABS was not functioning correctly and raised an issue that could an accident as the brakes were disengaging when the driver expected them to stop the car. He also felt that the brake action could cause a loss of control it happens at both street and highway speed.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

problem #21

May 152015

Pilot

  • 19,000 miles
Severe vibration when braking at speeds greater than 50mph. Problem started at approximately 19,000 miles. Honda dealer cut rotors and problem recurred again at 40,000. Rotors are defective and needed to be replaced.

- Hillsborough, NJ, USA

problem #20

Jan 062016

Pilot

  • 34,000 miles
Honda Pilot 2013 vehicle front rotors were turned very early in vehicle ownership due to shake/shimmy/poor braking ability of vehiicle. Vehicle is now back in shop and Honda recommends replacement of front rotors due to severe warping. Vehicle skaes/shimmies and difficulty braking is again experienced. Service advisor explained Honda has manufactured the rotors with "cheap" materials and encourages "no sudden braking or hard-stepping brakes " (of course Honda refuses financial compensation for rotor replacement.) I have serious concerns about Honda using cheap and potentially dangerous materials for braking system components. I drive very conservatively and the vehicle has never experienced "harsh braking". I fear for my safety and the safety of others that Honda does not stand responsibly behind the safety of it's Honda Pilot 2013 and its rotor problems.

- New Market, MD, USA

problem #19

Oct 032014

Pilot

  • 24,816 miles
Premature wearing of the front brakes and rotors. Pulling, vibrating, difficulty stopping started early and increased over time. Purchased the car April 2013. Replacements done October 2014 at 24,800 miles. Honda would not reimburse us for the repairs

- Warwick, NY, USA

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