2016 Honda Pilot
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 1,706 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the highest complaint count among 23 Pilot model years with reports.
Of the 2016 reports, 23 involved a crash and 10 involved a fire. 20 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Structure, frame and membersJun 4, 2026
American Honda Motor Company (Honda) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Honda Pilot, 2017-2023 Ridgeline, 2019-2023 Passport, and 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles that were sold in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. The rear subframe may corrode at the suspension mounting points, which can result in rear suspension component failure.
Failure of rear suspension components, such as the rear control arm, can cause a loss of vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Dealers will inspect the rear subframe and install a rear subframe reinforcement kit and, as necessary, repair or replace the rear subframe components, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed July 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated in the fall of 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are AOU and AOT. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning June 10, 2026.
Campaign 26V365000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, fuel pumpDec 18, 2023
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.
Campaign 23V858000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engine, hard parts internal/mechanicalNov 13, 2023
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2016 and 2018-2019 Pilot, 2017 and 2019 Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 Odyssey vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the connecting rod bearing in the engine may wear and seize, damaging the engine.
A damaged engine may run improperly or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a fire, crash, or injury.
Dealers will inspect and repair, or replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed March 28, 2024. 2016-2017 Acura MDX owner letters were mailed November 1, 2024. 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed in mid-December 2024. Honda began mailing owner notification letters as of March 18, 2024. 2015-2016 Acura owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-December 2024, 2018 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed the end of March/early April 2024, 2019 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-May 2024, 2020 Acura TLX owner letters are expected to be mailed mid-June 2024, and 2016-2020 Acura MDX owner letters are expected to be mailed January 27, 2025. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XG1 and GG0.
Campaign 23V751000 on NHTSA.gov
Structure, body, hoodNov 29, 2021
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019 Passport, 2016-2019 Pilot, and 2017-2020 Ridgeline vehicles. The hood latch striker may become damaged and separate from the hood, which can result in the hood opening while driving.
A hood that opens while driving can obstruct the driver's view and increase the risk of a crash.
Dealers will either repair the hood latch striker, or replace the hood if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 18, 2022. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is PBV.
Campaign 21V932000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, storageMar 30, 2017
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2016 Honda Pilot 2WD and AWD vehicles. The affected vehicles have fuel tanks that may leak.
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tank, free of charge. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KE8.
Campaign 17V219000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, storage, tank assemblyJun 9, 2016
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2015 Acura MDX 2WD and MDX 4WD vehicles, 2016 Acura MDX 4WD vehicles, 2015-2016 Honda Odyssey vehicles, and 2016 Honda Pilot 2WD and 4WD vehicles. The affected vehicles have fuel tanks that were manufactured with insufficient welds which may separate and allow fuel to leak out.
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tanks, free of charge. Owners may contact Honda/Acura customer service at 1-888-234-2138. The recall began on July 29, 2016. Honda's numbers for this recall are KA9 (Honda vehicles) and KB0 (Acura vehicles).
Campaign 16V417000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, instrument cluster/panelOct 16, 2015
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Honda Pilot 2WD vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to September 8, 2015 and 2016 Pilot 4WD vehicles manufactured May 7, 2015 to September 4, 2015. In the affected vehicles, when one of the safety systems such as tire pressure monitoring, anti-lock braking or electronic stability control malfunctions, there is potential that the instrument panel will not illuminate the corresponding warning light, however the warning lamps will illuminate when the ignition is turned off and then turned back on. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 126, "Electronic stability control systems", number 135, "Light vehicle brake systems" and number 138, "Tire pressure monitoring systems".
If a safety system cannot immediately warn the driver when needed, the driver may be at increased risk of a crash.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. The recall began on December 11, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is JV7.
Campaign 15V668000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat belts, rear/otherJul 6, 2015
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Honda Pilot vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to June 5, 2015. Due to an assembly issue, the third row seatbelt may be trapped between the rear seat and the rear sideliner.
If the third row seatbelt is trapped, the occupants may not be restrained properly, increasing the risk of injury.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and repair the rear third row seat belt, free of charge. The recall began on August 6, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-310-783-2000. Honda's number for this recall is JS7.
Campaign 15V424000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
812 reports, newest first. Show all
Power train, Engine, Dec 29, 2021
There is no way for the driver of the car to put the transmission into neutral if needed with an electrical/battery failure. According to Honda, there is a special mechanical device that tow truck drivers would have that physically attaches to the engine to shift the car into neutral. In addition, the honda mechanic that I talked to today said even if the average driver had one of these devices, they would not recommend they use it due to likelihood of causing damage to the engine or transmission. This is fine if the car is already in park, since it would most likely be located in a parking lot, residence, etc. The two times that would be a safety issue and could very easily cause an accident would be if the car was in drive, stopped at a traffic light with the engine off due to the Auto Start/Stop feature, and suffered a battery failure, preventing the engine from starting. Now the car would not be able to start, but more importantly couldn't even be pushed off to the side of the road and clear the intersection, since there is no way to move it into neutral. Another example could be with an alternator failure while driving, where the battery then surges and drains itself, with the engine and car now shut down. If you are unable to move the car to the side of the road as this is happening, maybe stuck in traffic or stopped at a traffic light, the car is now unmovable until a tow truck driver arrives and installs this mechanical neutral unlock device. There should be a way with an electrical problem to be able to place the car into neutral and move it. Otherwise, this turns a routine auto problem (that has had an acceptable solution) into a true safety issue, both for occupants and other vehicles and their operators.
Engine, Dec 29, 2021
No prior indications of a pending issue. Stopped at an intersection for a Red Light, Auto Start/Stop feature turned the engine off as designed. When took foot off of the brake pedal and depressed gas pedal to start moving for the green light, which should have re-engaged the Auto Start feature and started the engine, multiple dash warning and caution lights turned on and the car itself never turned on. Result was a stuck car. Required multiple attempts to successfully restart the engine over several minutes, which included a couple of traffic light sequences (Red, Green, Red) around the stuck car. The brake pedal seemed extremely stiff with very little movement during these start attempts. Asked 2 Honda dealerships, they said they never heard about it and could not replicate.
Engine, Dec 5, 2021
The truck has been very sluggish and it surges especially when accelerating. It doesn't seems to have power to come up to the designated speed limit. It started happening when it came up to the 48,000 miles on the odometer.
Engine, Nov 28, 2021
On November 27, 2021 at approximately 12 noon, while driving on I95 south in North Carolina. We came to a slow crawl then a stop. The vehicle stalled and wouldn't turn on. After following vehicle instructions on the dash to depress brake and turn vehicle on for approximately three minutes the vehicle finally started up. This is a very dangerous situation for anyone I had my family with me. While looking this up I realized that it is more common then I thought. This should not be occurring. No dealer nor Honda has defined the issue let alone pinpointing it. We need answers and a solution before someone dies. Please help.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Nov 27, 2021
The car on prior occasions would not start and it would show emission alert as well as other alerts, have the car for servicing and they started checking and replacing everything. Same problem happened 2 weeks ago but resolved on its own. Today while driving, all the emergency lights came on including emissions malfunction, as well as other malfunction and then accelerator was not working, D was flashing and started making clicking sounds in transmission. Luckily we were close to a fire station house and stopped there, where the car was not going into park, was not changing any gears to reverse or neutral and when turned on, all emergency lights were flashing and could not even get it into neutral to push it away as it seemed to be transmission wheel jammed. Also a burning smell came from the engine when we attempted to restart and put in gear and the transmission clutch made horrible sounds and the car was revving up on its own. If we were on a major Highway this situation could have been a disaster with the family in the car , as the car was stalling on the road and could have resulted in a crash, loss of Life or injury to others. The novel is an elite 2016 pilot and has given my wife recurrent similar issues but we’re lucky it happened in a parking lot. The dealership always states the problem is assessed and fixed but at year 5 and only 75000 miles this is a disappointing situation. We bring this to the notice of NHTSA as this could be a life threatening issues for family owner drivers
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 25, 2021
When on the road and you stop at traffic light with auto stop and go the car shuts off completely. It won’t start afterwards and car needs to be placed in park and turned back on. Though this isn’t an immediate solution. The car has been brought in multiple times into dealer. Changed battery couple times and problem persists regardless of what they do and they continue to say they don’t see anything. Though it still continues and is completely dangerous.
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 9, 2021
Auto engine idle malfunction: engine would not restart when brake pedal released. Dash instructed to shift into park. All electrical stayed on, but engine would not restart for several minutes. With electronic shifting, wasn't even able to get into neutral to get out of the way of traffic. At busy intersections, being stranded could be very dangerous or even fatal.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Oct 25, 2021
My 2016 Honda Pilot Touring randomly completely shuts off at traffic lights rather than restart in the automatic shut off. It displays "Shift to Park" on the dash. This has been occurring for the past 2 1/2 years and has been reported to both Honda and the dealerships with no resolution. Despite my numerous reports to both Honda and dealership, only two times have they documented as requested. The past 8 months it has been occurring more frequently and has become increasingly difficult to restart. The past two times, I have been in a location with high speed limits so traffic approaching from the rear was coming at high speeds. The first of these recent incidents, it took 6 attempts to restart the vehicle and the second time I lost count. These situations were terrifying to the point I am no longer wanting to keep this vehicle. I can't help but consider if I have children in the back and am rear ended. The dealer has repeatedly told me there are no codes, so they can't identify the source of the issue. Interestingly, I purchased this vehicle when it was 18 months old and the switch for the auto shutoff was missing. The dealership replaced it, but now I am wondering if the previous owner was experiencing this same problem and had it removed.
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 21, 2021
At a stop when the idle stop shuts the engine off, the car will not restart automatically like it's supposed to and I'm stuck in the intersection until I can get the car to restart. This is obviously very dangerous. Others with Honda Pilots are having the same issue. This needs to be addressed. This has happened many times over the past 4 months.
Fuel system, Gasoline, Electrical system, Engine, Oct 19, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while stopped at a red light and after releasing the brake pedal the fuel-saving feature had malfunctioned and the engine did not immediately restart. During the incident, the message "put vehicle to park mode" had displayed. The contact indicated that the failure was very intermittent and when the vehicle was taken to the local dealer the failure could not be duplicated therefore no problem was found and no service was performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Oct 16, 2021
The first issue is when the car is stopped and the auto engine idle is on, when I lift the brake to press the accelerator, the car shuts off the engine completely, puts itself in Neutral or Park, and requires me to put the car in Park (if not there already) and restart (press brake and ignition button). So when I’m at a red light that turns green, when I attempt to go by lifting the brake my engine quits. It occurs when I take my foot off the brake after having been at a stop with the auto-engine idle on. Engine shuts off, the car puts itself in either Neutral or Park, and I have to restart after 30 seconds to a minute (including a prayer to not be rear-ended in the meantime). Sometimes, I can get the engine to start up again within 30 seconds. Sometimes, it's been more than a minute. A number of warning messages show up on the center console as well. Things like, Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation, Brake System warnings start displaying. I’ve had the dealer look at the car and they can’t find anything wrong with it. This has been happening for months and the dealer ended up putting a new fuel injector on to see if that would fix it but it hasn’t. I am very concerned for myself, my kids and my family who ride in this car. I’ve been in some scary situations at red lights where I couldn’t go. I pray this doesn’t happen on railroad tracks!!!
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 12, 2021
The car, when at idle, and the "idle start/stop" feature is active, does not restart. The car stalls, loses all power, including hazard lights. This happens at busy intersections, and the car is able to be started again after several minutes. The las time it occurred, the power was not restored until the hood was popped (while on a major highway in the left lane) and battery power cable checked. The power suddenly was restored and the car was able to be restarted. After which, error appeared on screen for power failure. We purchased this car used in April 2021, and this issue has occurred consistently (at least weekly) since the beginning of May 2021. The last incident occurred on October 1st. The car has been at the dealer since October 5th, and they have been unable to diagnose or recreate the issue.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Oct 1, 2021
Auto engine Idle shut/off malfunctioning. At red light...when turned green, took foot off brake to accelerate...car completely shut off. Dashboard lights came on and instructed to shift vehicle to park and restart. Vehicle in rear view coming up fast and thought I was going to be rear-ended and quickly found hazard lights and luckily driver was paying attention and shifted to other lane. Never happened when brand new now happening few times a week. Of course am making an appt with Honda but if they can't replicate the problem in the shop they can't/won't fix. This is a safety issue and people are going to get rear ended! Honda needs to rectify this situation as I have seen many threads with others stating the same problem.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 25, 2021
My Honda Pilot2016 has intermittent “keyless start system problem”. The error comes and goes, it once caused me not able to start the engine. From online forums, this looks like to a common issue of Honda Pilot 2016. I am very concerned with my safety when I drive this car.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 21, 2021
Automatic idle engine was enable and once I took my foot off the brake, the car stalled. I was unable to start the car for a minute or two and had to turn off the entire car and then restart. This has happened multiple times before this occasion.
Engine, Sep 21, 2021
This car has an auto idle feature that, when the brake is pushed down at a stop, the car engine stops but then restarts either when the brake is disengaged or after a certain period of time. At that point, the car engine restarts. Since owning this car, I have reported to the dealer the issue with the auto idle which is a clicking sound and the radio cutting out when the car restarts. That issue has accelerated from clicking to the engine stalling to the car completely shutting down and having difficulty restarting. I have had this occur in traffic in an intersection twice and it was quite frightening and dangerous to say the least. Honda has not been able to repair this issue and the only solution they can offer is for me to manually disable the feature upon starting the car - this is not a safe solution. Please force Honda to solve this issue. I am now worried that my safety is at issue when the car stalls in traffic.
Engine, Sep 14, 2021
Even with "auto start" off, the engine will and has died multiple times at freeway speed, causing a huge safety issue as the vehicle suddenly decelerates with no power; this is an often reported problem (google it) that ranges from dying from a stop to dying while in motion. This oft reported problem needs to be addressed by Honda, but they say they're unaware of this issue. They are lying. Imagine driving a busy metro freeway when all of a sudden you lose power and have to fight for control of your steering and brakes.
Engine, Sep 14, 2021
I have reported this problem before, all the warning lights on dashboard light up and car loses power. The first time I was driving on a highway at 70 mph and the car completely shut off, the second time, my wife was driving, with my daughter, and the car shut off while she was going 40 mph. She almost cause a chain reaction accident because she panicked when the car would not respond to her acceleration. In both instances, all the warning lights on the dashboard light up and the car goes into limp mode. The first incident, Honda updated the transmission software, after about 8-months later, Honda service found a DTC P0369 code and now want $2500 dollars for repairs. They want to replace the CMP sensor, Cam Shaft, Cam Shaft Thrust Cover, Valve Cover Gasket and Camshaft Seal! Why would a 2016 need a new Camshaft? There has to be a design issue with the engine, I would call this a premature failure of a critical part. Since this causes the engine to shut down, at any given time, the car cannot be driven until the camshaft is replaced. All I want is to have Honda make things right, a car with 76,000 miles should never have engine surgery like this, period! I render the Honda Pilot from 2016 to 2021 unsafe to drive, the engine has not changed, I wonder if they fixed the camshaft problem on later models? If so, they know there is a design issue.
Engine, Sep 5, 2021
The auto engine idle feature malfunctions, car stalls out at times when taking off from a stopped position, also this stalling will occur while driving at highway speeds causing the car to de-accelerate and having to pull over and restart car. We have had several close accidents because of this , nearly hit by other cars at intersections. We have had car in shop 3 times and they cannot find problem. The ECM was changed out last year due to entire dashboard warning system failure but this didn’t fix the idle start stop problems. Honda dealers stating nothing can be done unless we pay to start changing out various systems until problem found. Will cost thousands. Problem start at around 30 k miles, and now has 60k miles and no longer under warranty.
Engine, Sep 3, 2021
The idle engine shutoff continues to die when stopped. Then it takes 30 to 60 to restart.
Engine, Aug 26, 2021
While at a stop light my idol stop function turned the car off. When the light turned green I lightly took my foot off the brake and the car tried to turn back on (the power clicked) but instead it shut off the car fully. Only the car radio was still working as if it was in accessory mode. Car display said to turn the car on I needed to press the brake and press the ignition button. My foot was still on the brake. I pressed the ignition button but nothing happened. Pressed it again and nothing happened. Lifted my foot off and on the brake and tried again. Nothing. Display still read press brake and ignition. Lifted my foot off the brake and on again and then pressed the ignition, it FINALLY restarted the car. Extremely dangerous situation as this took nearly a minute for the car to restart, the light had just cycled again. Dealership could not replicate the situation. They updated the cars software and it did not fix the problem. They said the battery was still good but I had read on the piloteers.org website that changing the battery seemed to solve the problem. I had them change the battery anyway and it fixed the issue, now nearly 2 years later the problem is reoccurring again.
Electrical system, Engine, Aug 21, 2021
The car was traveling on a highway and stopped responding while quickly decelerating all the while rolling through all of the warning sign sign screens. Luckily was in I side lane and able to hop curb to pull off to shoulder. Every time we take to dealer they claim it’s a known problem and “reboot” system. Then seems to work ok for a while. This is the fifth or sixth time taking back to dealer. This time almost caused an accident. I’m starting to think the vehicle is not fit to be on the road.
Engine, Aug 16, 2021
From a stopped position, when foot released from brake, car completely shuts down. Happens randomly. Six times over last 2 months. Complaint was called in today 8/16/2021.
Engine, Aug 16, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle would intermittently shut-off upon depression of the accelerator. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle soon after failure and resume normal driving. The contact had called two dealers and was informed that they had never heard of such a failure. The contact was informed by each dealer that he would be charged a diagnostic fee to service the vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
Engine, Aug 9, 2021
THE IDLE STOP FEATURE ENGAGED BUT THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RESTART WHEN FOOT TAKEN OFF BRAKE AT A BUSY INTERSECTION. I HAD TO CHANGE TRANSMISSION TO PARK, TURN OFF ENGINE, PUSH START BUTTON TO RESTART ENGINE. IT TOOK SEVERAL TIMES PUSHING START BUTTON BEFORE ENGINE STARTED. DELAY CAUSED TRAFFIC CONGESTION AT THE LIGHT. THIS SAME SCENARIO HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 4 OTHER TIMES OVER THE LAST 3 MONTHS.