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
1,706 reports, newest first.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
Automatic Brake light comes on at random times while driving at higher speeds. Afraid that one of these times it will stop the car at high speeds.
Power train, Electrical system, Feb 21, 2022
Unpredictably when my auto idle is engaged my vehicle will stall, resulting in me being unable to move my vehicle without forcing a prompted restart.This occurs at very random times to include when I am stopped at a stop light, waiting in a drive-thru line, in traffic, or any additional times when the auto idle engages. This is very dangerous because it results in my vehicle being an unexpected stalled obstacle for all participants on the road. The vehicle has been inspected and the engine start/stop button has been replaced twice. Unknown if there were any warning laps messages or other symptoms.
Power train, Feb 18, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle started jerking. The contact stated the gears reverse, neutral, and drive lights were changing independently however, the vehicle continued to move forward. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that 2 days later, he experienced the failure again. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated he continued to experience the failure. The contact took the vehicle for the third time to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing to change the transmission oil. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure after 6-8 months. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing an unknown sensor to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.
Engine, Feb 16, 2022
It’s happened a few times now, but at a stop sign or light the auto shut off will kick on, and the. The engine will shut off and not turn back on. I was just stuck blocking traffic when my car refusing to restart after the idle shut off. It’s very dangerous. It took serval tries to get my car to restart and I was very panicked someone would hit me.
Other or unspecified, Feb 14, 2022
I exited the freeway and was stop at the light at the off ramp. When the light turned green, I accelerated but the car died. The steering wheel was completely locked up. There was no power and I couldn’t even activate the hazard button. I couldn’t restart the car until several minutes later. This is an ongoing issue. This happens once every several months. I’ve reached out to Honda on several occasions but they couldn’t resolved it. They ran diagnostics but no error code would pop up and since they couldn’t duplicate the problem, they couldn’t fix it.
Electrical system, Feb 12, 2022
It shows keyless start system problem. Car has 61500 miles.
Power train, Feb 10, 2022
Two incidents occurred: 1) On 12-6-21, while travelling in the high speed lane, my wife's car shut down causing her to become stranded on the side of the highway. The first system report from the incident can be found attached as indicated permanent transmission codes of P0716 and P0700. Our body shop consulted with a Honda dealership, neither could pinpoint the issue, but they were able to get the car running. 2) On 1-21-21, at a stop light, the car shut down and ran through all the error codes on the dash . My wife was able to turn car on, but could only put it into neutral. The second system report indicated permanent transmission codes of P0730, P07A6, P190B, P286D and temporary transmission codes of P0730, P07A2, P07A6. My wife discovered a thread of comments about others who experienced the issue and they said a new battery fixed the issue. A new battery was put in the car but it only drove in reverse. Our body shop consulted with the same Honda Dealership discovered Honda Service bulletin 19-004, which mentioned a transmission software issue, much like my wife experienced the first time, not the second time. Our body shop indicated the only fix would be a new transmission, which was confirmed by a Honda Dealership.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Feb 10, 2022
Our 2016 Honda Pilot recently had dash panel flickering, relays clicking and alarm going off after car was locked up. Reading more about this issue, it seems that a lot of people with the same year 2016 Honda Pilot were having the same issue. Reference this website link -- https://www.piloteers.org/threads/2016-pilot-electrical-issue-possible-keyless-control-unit-panel-relays-flicker-alarm-goes-off-unexpectedly.169315/page-2. Unfortunately, the manufacturing has failed to communicate this to the public, and we had to let our autobody Honda dealership about this widespread issue. A resolution that was explained by some on this website was replacing the keyless control unit, which by the way is on a nationwide backorder. Which is peculiar? This is apparently an issue with this specific model year, and Honda not addressing the issue is a problem. The customer shouldn't bear the responsibility of paying for this electrical or component issue with their vehicle. It seems like this could be a potential safety issue too, if for some reason this affects the computer system of the vehicle. It definitely is not safe, as the alarm is triggered for no reason when the doors are locked! That is an insurance issue, if you can't lock your vehicle because of threat of it being stolen.
Electrical system, Feb 2, 2022
We are new with this vehicle and a couple times now we couldn’t open the drivers door to get out. When you put the car in gear it auto locks which it should. But however after parking and shutting the car off the drivers door wouldn’t unlock. My wife even got out went are to try and open it and it wouldn’t open but after several try’s and panicking it finally opened. Now this has happened a couple times already. I keep checking for a recall on this cause I pray there is never an emergency/accident and I can’t exit the car and being elderly I can’t climb over the console to get to another door. Cause it’s only happens to the drivers door only. I did just get a recall in the mail today for the hood which I will take care of.
Latches/locks/linkages, Feb 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and had recall repair completed. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the hood was still vibrating and seemed as if it would open inadvertently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Engine, Jan 24, 2022
The engine to my vehicle has just over 108,000 miles and the rod bearings have shown signs of failure according to the dealership my car was taken to for diagnostic tests. The dealership has advised the engine had oil starvation. The car is regularly serviced at the dealership I originally purchased from. My safety and the safety of my family was at risk because the engine rods could have blown through the block and possibly explode into the cabin of the vehicle if we continued driving. The vehicle did not indicate any signs of oil starvation through the onboard diagnostic. The vehicle is still at the dealership pending further inspection at the original dealership that I purchased from. There was no indicator on the cluster to indicate otherwise for low oil.
Seats, Jan 24, 2022
There is loud clicking from the driver's power seat while attempting to adjust the height of the seat. The height of the seat cannot be adjusted, which inhibits the driver's ability to see things in front of and around the vehicle. The vehicle was inspected by a Honda dealership. The dealership said that the entire seat must be replaced at a cost of $2600.
Engine, Jan 16, 2022
We just bought a 2016 Pilot that has the auto stop/start idle feature a week ago. It has already stalled twice- once in a drive thru and once at a light. It was really scary both times - the engine shuts completely off and I had to put it in park & restart the engine. It took a few tries to restart it. I have 2 little girls and this seems really unsafe. I looked it up and found several other reports of this happening, but was surprised to find no official recall yet.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Jan 13, 2022
My 2016 honda pilot has been experiencing a problem with the auto idle stop (AIS) feature. Randomly when the AIS engages the vehicle will shut off completely and switch to neutral. It displays a message to put in park and apply brake and press start. This does not always work and can take several attempts to restart the vehicle. This happens when in the middle of the road in traffic making it very hazardous. This has occurred more than 20 times over the past 4 years. I have had the battery replaced 3 times, yet the problem continues.
Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 3, 2022
Throughout last trip I noticed the transmission would make jerking shifts. While on the interstate during a pass travelling at 73 Mph the transmission down shifted and made a loud banging sound, engine lost power but was revving high, I could not accelerate to get away from surrounding traffic. A transmission error come up as I maneuvered the vehicle out of the road to avoid being hit by other vehicles. The AWD error came one and later an emissions error. Once the car was out of the road safely I was able to engage the e-brake then put it into neutral then park. AWD and emissions error remained on. After a minute turn car off then on, emissions error remained on and the car could operate. This scared the family as we could have been rare ended in traffic. Honda dealership in my town could not diagnose the issue. This is the second time this has happened.
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.
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Dec 17, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving approximately 15-60 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed but hesitated to respond, and the vehicle started jerking. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue to drive the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had recurred while driving. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
Other or unspecified, Dec 16, 2021
When I started my car, my rear window imploded/shattered. There was no evidence of tampering, no sudden change in temperature, no previous cracks in that window.
Electrical system, Dec 6, 2021
Keyless Start System Problem. Error message comes on and will not go away. Tried replacing the Ignition start button.
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.
Other or unspecified, Dec 4, 2021
I stopped at a red light. The idle stop engaged (ie: the engine turned off but the radio was still on). When the light turned green, I removed my foot from the break and the entire car turned off. I tried pressing the start button but the car didn't turn back on. I turned on my hazard lights as I prepared to call emergency roadside assistance while also continuing to press the start button. It took probably a minute or more for the car to finally turn back on.
Power train, Dec 1, 2021
For the last couple of months, the transmission has had gears slipping out of gear and takes a few seconds to find the gear to accelerate up to speed. I've taken it to the dealer twice to address the issue but it's still causing an issue.
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