CarComplaints.com Notes: It's worrying when the top category for 2016 Honda Pilot problems are transmission problems. Owners report jerking when accelerating. Also as the first model year of the redesigned 3rd generation Pilot, it's not a good sign.
Honda released a TSB on October 29 2016 that's possibly related. The TSB deals with a "a judder from the torque converter lock-up clutch ... while driving between 20 and 60 mph" due to deteriorated transmission fluid resulting from "specific driving conditions". In the TSB, Honda states they are developing a software fix to try to keep the transmission fluid temperature within spec.
We are keeping a close eye on this defect trend because if certain driving conditions can affect transmission shifting in the first year of ownership, we'd hate to think what 10+ years will do.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
14,959 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.
At highway speeds, the hood was bouncing and when a semi truck passed me the hood would bounce up to 1 inch. I took it into the dealer and they adjusted it but it did not fix the problem. Now, after a few months the hood looks like it is going to come off of the car and people passing me are indicating that the hood is coming off. Rudolf Honda said that it is up to spec. I am bringing it back to the dealer soon.
While driving on residential street 5 to 10 mph both airbags deployed front passenger and driver side vehicle did not have any accident or hit no undercarriage damage I also have more photos plus a video showing vehicle did not have any damage.
While driving on residential street going 10 to 15 mph both airbags front passenger and driver side airbags deployed did not have any accident did not hit anything enclose is pic and videos of the vehicle with no visible damage to body or under carriage of vehicle
If it is windy, I'd um traveling over 65 mph or if a drive alongside a big rig the hood of my car flexes in four directions (when two or more of these factors come together it is quite bad). I've pulled over to be sure it is closed correctly (it is) but the problem persists. It feels as if the hood is going to fly up. There is a lot of space between the body of the car and the hood (thick seal). I can see from the driver's seat the mat the hood is not flush with the body.
Surge while braking during parking caused vehicle to accelerate ahead and hit vehicle parked in front. This caused damage exceeding $1600. See Honda service bulletin 16-008. This bulletin was not brought to my attention until after this incident even tho my vehicle had been serviced by my Honda dealer only since II purchased it new.
- Fayetteville, AR, USA
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When I am driving on the highway at 65 or higher, the hood will flex up and down like it is not locked. It is worse in high winds. No vehicle I have ever driven before has done this. The first time it did it, I slowed down and got off the first exit I could. I didn't pop the hood because I wanted to see if it was open by itself. I couldn't open it and it seemed sealed. I popped the hood, checked it over and shut it. When I got back on the highway, it continued to flex up. It made me so nervous. I am so afraid to drive it on the highway with my kids. It has to be weakening it! eventually, it will let go and fly up, possibly smash the windshield, it could fly back into a car behind me and I don't want to think about the personal injury that it could cause. Honda needs to fix this now. There are many people having the same issue. No one knows how to fix it in the service dept. So are they going to wait until someone is dead? with all the problems popping up with this vehicle, I am starting to think I made a mistake.
Driving at freeway speeds I noticed the hood was shaking. This car has about 3500 miles on it. I pulled over to check the hood to ensure it was secure, got back up to freeway speeds and it continued to shake. It looks like it might fly off at any time. Also concerned about fatigue of the joints over time due to the vibration.
Since purchase 3 months ago, the hood shakes violently at speeds above 55 mph and especially under windy conditions. It is exceptionally bad in high wind and when passing oncoming vehicles. It is obvious the hood is not sufficiently strong enough to withstand these wind pressures without causing some kind of damage in the future. Feels like it is only a matter of time before the hood actually bends or breaks at 80 mph highway speed limit.
At high speed and especially when passing oncoming large vehicles hood shakes violently as if coming loose and threatening to fly up.. greg may Honda of waco tx service department was useless in resolving.
The hood vibrates violently in speeds of 60+ miles an hour. When a large truck or vehicle drives passes the car the hood vibrates violently. When on a two lane road and on coming traffic goes by the car the hood vibrates violently. This issue has been present since I purchased the car in June 2016. The Honda dealership stayed this was within the design specs for the Pilot. I have made every adjustment I can make with the rubber grommets with no success. Honda tells me ther is no adjustment. I am a port enginner and I manage ship repair. This is a serious issue. The vibration will over time cause the hood hinges to fail from fatigue. This will create a situation where a consumer driving the 2016 Honda Pilot to potentially have hood fly off the vehicle during normal driving causing catastrophic failure and injury to the driver and passengers.
My family was in our 2016 Honda Pilot touring. We stopped our vehicle and started to get out. My eleven year old niece was sitting in the middle seat of the second row. She was in between my two sons, both in carseats. When she removed her seatbelt the belt quickly snapped back and the buckle hit my three year old in the head. He was sitting in his forward facing carseat that is appropriate for his age, height, and weight. His seat is on the driver's side of the second row. The buckle hit him on the right side of his forehead right under his hairline. Two large knots, one for each side of buckle, popped up. One knot was large enough that it actually split open and bled. It was incredibly painful and took almost two weeks for bruising to go away.
I am experiencing the same issues others mentioned of the hood flexing when driving. Under certain conditions when driving down a two lane highway and a semi goes by in the other direction or when passing a semi on the interstate you can see the movement of the hood from the front to the back as the air flows underneath. It looks like the hood lifts from latch and then flexes, moves or shakes as air flows guess that's best way to describe it. On the interstate I have even noticed shaking/movement when driving if it's windy without passing a semi. Car wash dryer also causes the hood to shake. I have taken to dealer and they tried adjusting the latch - that didn't help. Stopped by another dealer and they said to adjust the rubber bumpers on each side under hood but that didn't help either. It's pretty scary to see this happening. What if the latch doesn't hold one of these times" the hood flying off going 65-75mph is not a pleasant thought. Over time will the flexing and movement and the hood cause paint to crack and decrease integrity of the hood"
We were driving down the street, veering left and the rear passenger door attempted to open. A warning went off on the instrument panel showing which door was "open". because the door was locked it didn't open all the way. In order to close it the driver had to push the unlock button. Had the door not been locked I'm afraid the door would have opened completely, putting my passenger at risk.
When's next motion going about 50 mph or above, traveling on a two lane road, and a large truck passes us going the opposite direction, the hood flexes quite a bit. Also flexes and bounces when going through the drying stage at a car wash. It is extremely noticeable and concerning. I am concerned with the possibility of it lifting and becoming a safety issue to either myself or the cars behind me.
I have a 2016 Honda Pilot elite and I noticed on my last road trip that the hood on the vehicle moves violently when I pass on coming vehicles especially large trucks. I also noticed that this happens during high wind situations as well. I made a service appointment for this week to address this with Honda. On both occasions I experienced this was at highway speed of 55 or faster.
Engine hood bends in all directions in high winds & when passing commercial trucks: Looks like it will come off at any moment, to strike the windshield. Experienced this on the same highway on every trip from California to Arizona and back.speed was 75 mph (legal limit). Will video tape this on the next trip.very frightening! has been to dealer three times re this issue: They have no answers and no repair offered.
While driving straight on a highway, I heard a loud noise from the top of my car. The sunroof glass had spontaneously shattered. When I looked through my rear view mirror I could see some pieces flying. Thankfully, the car behind me was far away enough that they were not hit by these glass pieces and also had my interior slider closed. A serious accident could have occurred if both my slider wasn't closed and/or the car behind me was close to me. I've had the car for less than 3 months, I contacted Honda and advised them of the incident and brought it in to their service department. They claimed to have never heard of anything like this happening before. They have ordered a replacement glass for my sunroof. I'm still waiting for it come in. I also went online and researched sunroofs breaking out of nowhere and did come across many other similar complaints. It seems that it may be happening more frequently with newer vehicles because they are built lighter with thinner metals and thinner glass. The glass used on sunroofs more commonly is tempered glass, not laminated glass. Tempered glass is more prone to shattering when pressure builds up inside the car. When I spoke to Honda corporate and the dealer, neither one could tell me what kind of glass was on the sunroof because they didn't know. I hope this matter can be further looked into. I hope it doesn't happen again. This was a very frightening experience that could have very easily been worse.
The four doors must receive an usual amount of force for normal closure. We are always leaving a door ajar when we exit. From the inside must pull door with more than usual force. Best to keep hand on door until closed which I have never had to do in a new car and I have purchased numerous new cars over the years. The door feels like dead weight - has almost no closure force. It helps some to open a window or another door to relieve the back pressure but still is not a normal door closure. I have gone to three dealers and nothing they can do since no there is no adjustment. I had a 2009 Pilot and the doors worked just fine. One Honda dealer said the door is likely too heavy for hardware.
Roof rail covers blew off at highway speeds. Poor fit on front roof rail cover moldings leaves air gap. At highway speeds this can cause the 8 foot strips of rubber, pastic moldings to fly off vehicle. This has serious accident potential at highways speeds. Online forums are flooded with similar issues on all trim levels of the 2016 Honda Pilot.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Anthony, NM, USA