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:
4 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
18,419 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.
2/4/16: Backed out of garage, put car in park, lowered garage door. Was about to exit vehicle to adjust passenger side mirror, car surged forward, crashing through garage door. Brakes would not stop vehicle as it was crashing through the garage; immediately applied emergency brakes, car finally stopped against shelving in garage and wten became wedged in garage. Car experienced severe damage to front, hood, top, sides and could not be removed from garage until garage doors were removed by garage door company the next day. On 2/5/16 took car to Honda dealer. Said they needed time to investigate, would need until Monday, 2/15 when manufactuere's rep could be there; gave loaner vehicle to use in interim. Car still had dealer tag, one month old. On 2/17, received a call from service manager stating that Honda rep's investigation found nothing wrong with vehicle and that I would need to look to my insurance company to repair vehicle. I was told to return loaner vehicle that day, which we did. There was over $2,000 damage to home; and $8,836 damage to vehicle. I find it amazing that Honda could find nothing wrong with vehicle. I know for a fact that the car was in park and nothing would make it stop. The car is brand new - Honda knows that something is wrong; there are other vehicles that have had the same problem. I will not feel safe in the car for one minute when the repairs are completed (taking 24 days to repair). And, it is a damaged vehicle with the dealer tag still on it!
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that an abnormal sound was heard, after the vehicle was started and the vehicle temperature warm. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician confirmed that there was an abnormal noise coming from the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,400.
On November 10, 2015, at approximately 5:30pm, my wife and I were traveling on North I-75 in southwest Ohio. Besides ourselves, we had our two young grandchildren in the car. The car's computer started displaying a changing series of warnings generally indicating various system failures. The car basically started to shut down. Since we were in the far right lane, my wife was able to coast over to the shoulder. If we had been traveling in the middle or left lane of traffic, there would have been little if any chance of moving over to the curb. The car, with two young children in the back seat, would have shut down leaving us in the path of very fast moving cars and trucks. The only outcome was a potentially deadly high-speed rear end collision. We had to have the car towed to our Honda dealer approximately 40 miles away. On November 27, the day after thanksgiving, the same failure occurred at approximately 2:30pm. This time we were 400 miles from home traveling East on highway 11-E, between greeneville and johnson city, Tennessee. I caught the failure early enough before the engine shut down and was able to coast the car to a parking lot of an out-of-business store. This time instead of two young children, we had two elderly great grandparents. The dealer that handled the first incident diagnosed the problem as a software issue. However, the second dealer diagnosed it as a fuel pump relay not properly connected. This relay requires a special tool to install it. See attached letter with attachments for all details including service invoices.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. While driving at 55 mph, the engine shut off and the entire instrument panel illuminated. The contact noticed smoke emitting from the front driver side. After lifting the hood, flames emitted from the passenger side near the engine. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,600.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Plainsboro, NJ, USA