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.
Engine, Sep 9, 2025
While driving, the engine suddenly seized without warning. The vehicle lost power and could not be restarted, creating a hazardous situation. There were no warning lamps or messages before the failure. The issue has been confirmed by the dealership service center, which diagnosed a seized engine. They indicated that the next step would be a complete engine teardown to determine the cause, at significant cost. The component (engine) is available for inspection. To my knowledge, this problem has not been previously addressed or repaired, and it appears consistent with rod bearing failures currently under NHTSA investigation for this engine family.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his son was driving 35-40 MPH, the vehicle stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The driver was able to pull into a parking lot. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that no assistance could be provided because the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 139,000.
Other or unspecified, Sep 4, 2025
paint chips all over pealing
Engine, Sep 4, 2025
motor grinding
Power train, Sep 4, 2025
transmission slipping
Power train, Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 4, 2025
Transmission slipping and motor making a grind sound since like 120k and dash problems and paint chips every were paint is coming off on its own. I did not about that i can do a complete here.
Engine, Sep 4, 2025
My vehicle has run 79k miles. The honda pilot started giving knocking noise from the engine on 30-Aug-2025. I somehow brought the vehicle back to my home. Today I took it to a service center which is next to my home. They looked at the vehicle noise and mentioned that the Rod bearing for the Honda is damaged and the engine needs to be replaced. When I looked online, there was a safety recall for Rod bearing for 2016 Honda Pilot. But when I called Honda Corporate, they mentioned that my VIN number is not eligible for recall and I need to replace the rod bearing myself. I will end up spending $10000 for replacing the rod bearing. This seems to be a common issue with 2016 Honda Pilot and Honda is refusing to acknowledge that this is an issue with their manufacturing. This is a very big safety issue as the vehicle can stall when going on the high way causing accidents.
Engine, Sep 2, 2025
The engine seized while driving on the highway bringing the vehicle to a complete stop. There is currently a recall on 2016 Honda Pilot engines involving premature connecting rod bearing wear. The mechanic that has been servicing this vehicle for the last 9 years stated this is exactly what happened to my vehicle and should be covered under the recall. Honda stated that my vin number was not included in the recall and repairs are my responsibility. The issue here is the engine seizing for a known issue while driving on the highway could have been disastrous. Luckily no accident occurred as a result but Honda should be liable for this.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Aug 30, 2025
Engine developed noises while driving and seized up. Prior to engine seizure, auto start/stop was having issues where it would not restart after stopping at a light or stop sign. Rear unibody rusting really badly due to cheap quality metal?
Engine, Aug 29, 2025
While driving approximately 65 mph on the [XXX], near Terre Haute, Indiana, the engine very suddenly started making a very loud noise without any warning and immediately thereafter every system failed. The check engine light and several other warning lights appeared on the dashboard; the car steering became very stiff, making it very difficult (and dangerous) to control the car and get it safely to the shoulder; and the engine noise became louder (like spoons in a blender). The car unexpectedly lost forward motion causing cars and semi-trucks around us to take evasive action to avoid hitting us. All of this happened without warning and in a matter of a few seconds and we were very lucky to avoid a very severe accident. We had the car towed by Hawks Towing (in Glenview, IL) to Loyola Service (our preferred, trusted automotive service provider). The technicians at Loyola Service diagnosed the car with a complete engine failure and in need of a complete engine replacement. The estimated cost of the repairs is $21,254. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Engine, Aug 29, 2025
Driving at highway speeds the vehicle began to shudder and make a loud screeching/banging sound. Once shut off it would not start. Mechanic determined the vehicle had no compression on one cylinder and further observed that while the valves did operate, the piston was not moving in the cylinder. The conclusion was the connecting rod had broken. Engine is still sealed and has not been taken apart for inspection. Engine has been replaced at customer expense.
Engine, Aug 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the engine made knocking sounds. The check engine warning light was intermittently illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was shaking while idling. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who discovered metal shavings in the engine oil and that the connecting rods had failed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE25008 (Engine). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.
Latches/locks/linkages, Aug 27, 2025
The contact’s daughter owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the hood was vibrating excessively. Upon inspection, the contact became aware that the hood latch was inoperable and failed to properly secure the hood. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 158,819.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Aug 27, 2025
My 2016 Honda pilot has continued to have engine restart issues with the automatic engine stop feature after taking it in for the initial recall. Upon telling this to the dealer, they said the recall work was already done and won’t address it further. They only did the software upgrade and did not tell me about the 2nd stage of repairs available. The issue is random but happens commonly, and seems to be worse on hot days. It also can sometimes struggle to restart after putting it in park after the auto restart fails.
Engine and engine cooling, Aug 27, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving and coming to a complete stop at a stop light, the vehicle inadvertently stalled but was able to restart. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 133,000.
Electrical system, Engine, Aug 27, 2025
The engine shuts off while driving and the car shifts the transmission to Park or Neutral.
Engine, Aug 26, 2025
Complete engine failure. Connecting rod bearing completely broke while driving.
Engine, Aug 26, 2025
Engine Rod defective .. car completely stopped working on highway . Had towed to dealer for $300 and dealer said 8.9k to replace engine. Lots of Honda owners complaints about the same issue We were forced to sell car to Cox auto at a loss as we did not have the money to fix Check car fax. As we had perfect maintenance all done at dealership
Power train, Other or unspecified, Engine, Aug 26, 2025
There was a small ticking/knocking noise that started the week before I took my Honda Pilot in to the dealer. I took the car in for regular service and told them about this noise. Under further inspection, I was advised by the Honda dealership that the piston connecting rod bearing had failed causing damage to the motor. I had to pay to replace the motor at my own expense. This is a safety issue as I did not really have a warning that anything was wrong with the vehicle and the engine could have seized up and caught fire while I was driving putting my family and other vehicles in harms way. It is my understanding that Honda had a partial recall on this issue in which my VIN was not covered. I was not notified that this was even an issue for the 2016 Honda Pilots and I should have been notified and and this should have been fixed before it occurred. The dealer reached out to Honda Corporate to request coverage of this cost and they denied it even though this is a known issue with this motor.
Fuel/propulsion system, Aug 26, 2025
Fuel pump- car sputters when accelerating. The car is available for inspection Car does not accelerate efficiently when merging onto highway The car has not been inspected properly There have been no warning lights.
Engine, Aug 26, 2025
Driving regular highway speed and lost power with a number 6 engine misfire. Towed vehicle to house and eventually to dealer to investigate.
Engine, Aug 25, 2025
2016 Honda Pilot EX-L (80k miles) that has been always serviced at Honda dealership for all regular oil changes and all regularly needed service. Very well maintained and low miles. We heard a knocking sound from the front and brought it to Honda for diagnosis and repair. They informed us it’s a “connecting rod bearing” issue with “no signs of external abuse.” This car has been unsafe to drive for 2 months while we worked with Honda to repair this issue and cover the cost of this. They declined to cover the cost of anything since this VIN hasn’t been recalled, while other 2016 Honda Pilots have had the exact same issue and were in the recall list.
Engine, Aug 22, 2025
Engine started knocking going down highway then shut off imeediatly. Dealer said engine needs replaced due to rod bearings. Dealer also said there was a recall for this exact issue but only certain VIN numbers were included. How can an engine type have the same issue but not be included in the recall?
Power train, Other or unspecified, Engine, Aug 22, 2025
2017: transmission replacement UW 2021: Vehicle stopped/ lost power on I44 at a speed of 70 mph. I immediately pulled over and called Roper on a recorded line per roper Honda. Took it to roper- needs a new motor. 2021: motor replacement Not UW 2024: vehicle was called in about hatch defect . Apparently, Roper reports that it is fixed yet- it IS NOT. I was unaware of the rods recall. That would explain why I need another motor. 2025: motor is knocking. Not UW 2025: AIS: vehicle has stalled at busy intersections after an idle stop. Scary when you have a car full of kids and your car doesn’t want to go. Now the car will just loose power and not start at a stop light regularly. I paid $43,000 for a vehicle that may have all the bells and whistles but it is complete trash to say the least. I have records of all of the work, issues, and roper has recorded calls that could be supenaded. ROPER HONDA JOPlIN MO
Service brakes, Aug 21, 2025, crash
I was pulling into a parking space. Hit the brake. Instead of stopping, the car accelerated, jumping a curb and barreling across into another business drive. It hit a sign and a stone garbage can, which caused the car to recognize a collision and automatically go into park which caused it to stop. If it hadn’t been for the stone garbage can, it would have gone through the store window where people were sitting. Luckily at that moment there wasnt a car parked in the space or something coming down the road. Because I didn’t understand what was happening , so I looked at my foot to see if I had pushed down on the gas instead of the brake. My foot was firmly on the brake. I talked to the local Honda dealership. They had never seen that issue before. They said they could do the diagnostic which I would have to pay for, but couldn’t promise it would show what happened. I also called Honda customer service. They started a claim, but also would do nothing unless diagnostics showed the problem and also said it may not. I was very fortunate that i didn’t kill or seriously harm someone. I am now scared to drive the vehicle. If I had not looked at my foot to see where it was placed, I would say possibly driver error; but I know it wasn’t. My foot was on the brake