Owners filed 5,597 complaints about the 2015–2025 Honda Pilot with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 10th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2016 model year drew the most (1,701), and the single most-reported problem area is engine, named in 35% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2016, with 1,701 complaints, led by engine (768).
- Spike years: 2016 (3.9× the typical year), 2017 (2.1× the typical year), 2019 (2.1× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: brakes complaints came at a median of 8k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 30 complaints mention a fire and 105 mention a crash; owners reported 105 injuries.
Honda Pilot complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 108 | Engine (22), Electrical system (13), Brakes (11) | 46k mi | 6 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1,701 | Engine (768), Electrical system (579), Transmission / powertrain (200) | 50k mi | 23 | 9 |
| 2017 | 921 | Engine (465), Electrical system (264), Transmission / powertrain (122) | 38k mi | 9 | 5 |
| 2018 | 439 | Engine (156), Electrical system (85), Transmission / powertrain (78) | 50k mi | 9 | 2 |
| 2019 | 903 | Electrical system (263), Engine (233), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (121) | 20k mi | 13 | 5 |
| 2020 | 486 | Electrical system (211), Engine (101), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (84) | 4k mi | 10 | 5 |
| 2021 | 432 | Electrical system (126), Engine (104), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (98) | 32k mi | 12 | 1 |
| 2022 | 154 | Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (41), Electrical system (34), Engine (28) | 36k mi | 7 | 0 |
| 2023 | 140 | Seat belts (31), Electrical system (28), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (19) | 18k mi | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 113 | Seat belts (24), Steering (20), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (17) | 35k mi | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 200 | Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (55), Electrical system (43), Steering (38) | 8k mi | 11 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Honda Pilot problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 1,930 | 35% | 55k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Electrical system | 1,656 | 30% | 37k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 618 | 11% | 43k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Fuel system | 558 | 10% | 43k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Automatic emergency braking / collision warning | 491 | 9% | 22k mi | — |
| Brakes | 241 | 4% | 8k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Lane departure assist | 230 | 4% | 61k mi | — |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 202 | 4% | 76k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Honda models in the index
- Honda Cr-V (8,154)
- Honda Accord (5,446)
- Honda Civic (4,916)
- Honda Odyssey (3,774)
- Honda Hr-V (1,821)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.