2017 Honda Pilot
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 926 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 2nd highest complaint count among 23 Pilot model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 9 involved a crash and 5 involved a fire. 6 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
Air bags, sensor, occupant classification, front passengerMay 21, 2026
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.
Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.
Campaign 26V332000 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
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
Representative owner complaints
926 reports, newest first.
Electrical system, Jan 19, 2023
Several times while at a full stop, the idle stop feature has failed when I have taken my foot off the brake and tried to accelerate. The error message tells me to put vehicle in park then press start. That does not immediately work. So far, I have gotten the vehicle to start within 1-2 minutes but this is a safety problem for me and other drivers on the road. I have not taken this to Honda but will be doing that in the next few days.
Engine, Jan 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while her husband was driving approximately 5-10 MPH, the vehicle stalled at an intersection. The contact stated that while driving, the engine seized. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 96,000.
Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 11, 2023
Emissions System Problem message and light on after reset 2 weeks ago. Please refer attached jpeg file.
Electrical system, Jan 6, 2023
Keyless Start System Problem indicator illuminated in driver information display. Error notification is displayed intermittently. Stays on for several drive cycles and then goes off for a bit only to come back on again. So far the car seems to start ok, not sure if this issue may eventually cause car to no longer start. This issues has been going on for a few months and will stay illuminated for weeks then suddenly turn off. Scheduled an appointment with local Honda dealership but the indicator was not showing the day of the appointment so we cancelled as do not want to pay for the repair. This is a Honda issue and they should repair regardless of the indicator being illuminated or not.
Electrical system, Engine, Jan 6, 2023
My Pilot is suffering the auto stop/start fault that many others have reported online. The vehicle will sometimes fail to restart from the stopped state, forcing us to manually turn off, and restart the engine. As of this morning, the vehicle permanently reports an "Auto Engine Idle Stop System Problem" error.
Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 5, 2023
I had my fuel pump replaced today and there were 3 other cars Hondapilot there for the same reason needing a fuel pump replacement. Person at counter advised there was an unusual amount of request they were getting to replace the fuel pump
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Jan 4, 2023
I am reporting 2 safety issues in this report, both involving the AUTO STOP/START function in my car. SAFETY ISSUE #1: MALFUNCTIONING AUTO STOP/START (ASS) FUNCTION: At least 4 times during the past 2 months, I have had a serious safety issue with my 2017 Honda Pilot wherein it stalls and is completely inoperable for a short time, while I’m stopped at an intersection. This has caused me undue stress and jeopardized the safety of myself and my passengers, and disrupted traffic. According to my best recollection, the situation occurs when the ASS function stalls the engine (when stopped), and I manually press the ‘Disable ASS’ button to restart the engine. But instead of the engine turning back, all systems completely ‘black out’ as I frantically try to re-start the engine, to no effect. After several scary seconds, somehow it re-starts. SAFETY ISSUE #2: CORRECTLY FUNCTIONING ASS FUNCTION: Even when functioning correctly, the ASS function has caused a safety issue for me at least twice. When the ASS function was automatically engaged, I was unable to immediately accelerate to avoid a potential collision. Although no collision resulted, these few scares ‘trained me’ to manually disengage the ASS function whenever I remember to do so. Based on my experiences, It would be safest to have no ASS function at all.
Electrical system, Jan 3, 2023
Keyless Start System Problem indicator illuminated in driver information display. Error notification is displayed intermittently. Stays on for several drive cycles and then goes off for a bit only to come back on again. So far the car seems to start ok, not sure if this issue may eventually cause car to no longer start.
Power train, Jan 2, 2023
RPM Judder from Torque Converter Lock up clutch felt while driving between 20 and 60 mph. The issue is caused by transmission fluid that overheats and deteriorates quicker than it should. It can be resolved by a vehicle software update which prevents transmission fluid from overheating and prevents the judder. A transmission warning light appears in the vehicle when the issue is experienced. This issue has been confirmed by Honda - see Honda Service Bulletin 17-014 dated 2/27/18. Honda service centers will try to blame consumers for not flushing and changing transmission fluid frequently enough due to black transmission fluid and service is not covered by most warranties since it's considered a fluid maintenance service by Honda.
Visibility/wiper, Dec 29, 2022
We drove from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Alexandria, Virginia on 12/27. About 20 minutes from our destination, we exited the highway onto the parkway and as we were going about 15-18mph on an exit ramp, the closed sun roof imploded. There were no trees, bridges, or even other cars (due to it being near 10pm) nearby to cause this from falling debris. There is no impact site- just a broken roof. It was terrifying and I nearly drove off the road from the sound (my husband and 2 children 9 and 11 were also in the car.) The only reason I did not crash the Pilot was due to the fact that I am pretty cool headed- it took us an additional 20 minutes of driving with an unknown state on the top of the roof to discover what had happened due to the fact that there was no way to exit or pull off the parkway. We validated that there was no bridge (aka no one was able to throw something off and onto to the top of the car) and the night was mostly clear. If it was an item it would have to be "part of a plane or a meteor" And no item came through or damaged the closed sun shade for the roof. We took pictures of the glass and have to have it replaced today since we are on a road trip and have to be able to drive this vehicle home before New Years. It is also parked outside and we have to get the roof re-sealed before it rains. I am spending $700+ out of pocket to put a used sunroof on the pilot to be able to get this home (which probably has the same glass defect). The shop is going to do this today and I will have them take additional photos. There were no warning lights, our car is kept in the garage at home and rarely parked outside. It has never been in hail and we do very light highway driving (it is almost entirely city driving in our day to day lives).
Electrical system, Engine, Dec 25, 2022
The auto start stop function has failed multiple times on this vehicle in different situations with multiple different drivers. When my mother in law was driving my vehicle with my kids in the car the vehicle would not restart at a stop light in the middle of town with moderately heavy traffic. It took several tries to get the vehicle started again. This has happened to me several times at stop signs and traffic lights since I don't primary drive the vehicle I forget to turn off the auto start stop function. It has failed several times on my wife as well in similar situations. I have not brought this to the dealerships attention due to no fix available and not want to pay to have them tell me the same thing I already know.
Engine, Dec 24, 2022
Auto Start does not work. Car frequently stalls when in traffic or at red light and fails to auto start when removing foot from brake.
Engine, Dec 23, 2022
The issue with our 2016 Honda Pilot pertains to the Auto Start/Stop feature. The pilot began stalling out after being at stop signs/traffic signals and the vehicle would attempt to re-start and then stall. When stalled it was very difficult to get the car restarted. On several occasions, the vehicle has stalled in the middle of intersections which has been highly dangerous as the vehicle was stalled for several minutes. We have first logged a complaint with the Honda dealership on 06/10/2020. The dealer claimed it could not replicate the issue. We filed another complaint on 04/23/2021 as the problem persisted. The dealer, again, claimed they could not replicate the issue and then stated we needed a new car battery. The dealer is not being honest as we took our vehicle to a local mechanic (Henn Automative in Waxhaw, NC) for general servicing and he called us to inform us of a dangerous problem with the Auto Start/Stop. This independent service center performed their review on 12/20/2022. He alerted us that a formal action number had been opened by ODI under “PE22005”. Currently our fix is to disable the Auto Start/Stop feature every time the vehicle is operated. In rare occasions when we forget to do so, the vehicle stalls consistently. There have been no alarms, warnings or the like. I believe the dealer & Honda are well aware of this problem but have not garnered the necessary resources to address the issue and pretend that their customers are imagining these occurrences.
Engine, Dec 15, 2022
This vehicle is equipped with an "idle off" feature meaning the engine stops for a period of time when the car is at zero speed (for example a stop light) then restarts when the brake is released or the steering wheel is turned. In 3 separate instances, my vehicle has stalled during the re-start process. The vehicle will restart for a second or two moving about 5 feet then stalls bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop. All instances have occurred in or approaching an intersection. Once stalled, the vehicle will not re-start immediately, it takes approximately 15 to 30 seconds to get the vehicle restarted. All 3 incidents have posed a safety concern for myself and other people traveling behind me.
Engine, Nov 30, 2022
Approximately 6 times in the last several weeks the engine of my Pilot has auto shut off at a stop light but then it will not restart when I try to go. I have to shut down the whole car and it takes several tries to get it restarted. The most recent time it would not restart for several minutes. I am then stuck in traffic unable to move. I have to remember to disable the auto shut-off/restart or this occurs.
Visibility, Nov 29, 2022
Without warning, the sunroof suddenly exploded/shattered while driving without current or previous damage or collision. Glass particles fell into the cabin of the vehicle on driver and passenger.
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 16, 2022
Auto-stop feature failed to restart vehicle after auto-stop was engaged at a stop light. When letting off the brake, the auto-stop disengaged, but the vehicle engine failed to start, posing a safety risk as the vehicle did not restart in heavy traffic. This has been reproduced numerous times by the owner, but not by a dealer or independent service center. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, but the owner is an ASE certified mechanic. Warning lamps illuminate after vehicle fails to start, but the only way to restart the vehicle is to shift into park, completely shut off the vehicle electrical and attempt to restart. The system is receiving appropriate recharge from alternator, and battery is in acceptable condition.
Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Nov 15, 2022
On Sun NOV 13th, 2022 I was on I-75 going north and had to slow down and then stop at a 'stop and go' traffic in the beginning of or just before the construction zone. With my foot on the brake, complete stop on the highway, the Honda Pilot suddenly went into Neutral and I was unable to put it in drive mode. I panicked, as there was a lot of traffic behind and I put the blinkers on, put the vehicle in park, tried to restart and didn't work. After a couple of tries, fortunately the engine restarted. In the middle of the one lane construction, I had to stop once again as the traffic was stopped. Once again the Pilot did the same thing. It stalled, and I had to restart the engine. It was very scary and a big safety problem. I have placed a call into Honda service but no response as yet. It is scary now to stop at red lights and stop signs! It happened 2 times in the same construction zone within 5 minutes.
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 10, 2022
The engine would not restart at the red light. Start/Stop system was active, came to a red light and the vehicle turned off as normal with my foot on the brake, when the brakes were released the vehicle did not restart and I heard a click sound. I had to manually(push the start button) to completely turn off the car and then press it again to start the car. I had my entire family in the car including my child, with vehicles behind me on a main multi lane road. I almost got rear ended due to this malfunction.
Engine, Nov 6, 2022
Problem with the auto engine idle stop system. With the Honda stopped at a traffic light, the engine turned off completely and pressing the accelerator pedal did not restart the car. And continually pressing the Start button didn’t start the engine, either. It has happened three times so far. My family and I were unexpectedly immobile in the middle of traffic, with vehicles driving around our stranded automobile. We were nervous that an accident would occur. The brake pedal locked and I had to press the brake pedal firmly numerous times before the Start button would allow the car to start.
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 6, 2022
Auto engine start/stop has failed multiple times causing dangerous conditions in traffic. Engine will not restart for minutes after cutting off due to start/stop component.
Engine, Nov 3, 2022
When driving the vehicle with the auto start/stop engaged upon stopping the engine will turn off at an intersection however it will not turn back on. It takes several tries for the vehicle to start back up.
Other or unspecified, Nov 2, 2022
Emissions System Problem On 8-11-2022, multiple lights came on the dashboard with multiple systems errors. Brought to dealership and they replaced the fuel injectors. The dealership stated that this was a known problem with the 2016-2017 Honda Pilot's. Honda is giving a 10-year, 150,000 mile extended warranty from the date of purchase to cover fuel injectors and pipes leading up to the fuel injectors. On 9-27-2022, dash lit up with another Emissions System Problem. Brought to same dealership and they stated that the vehicle needed a software update. On 10-31-2022, dash lit up for the third time showing Emissions System Problem. Brought to same dealership. Currently waiting on diagnosis.
Engine, Nov 1, 2022
The engine idle stop is extremely dangerous and is going to cause someone to be seriously injured or killed. Ever since I have owned the vehicle, I have had a problem with the engine auto idle stop malfunctioning. The dealership can never find an issue. It has become so bad that if I forget to disable the idle stop, as soon as I step on the brake my entire car resets/shuts down and will not turn back on for several seconds. I was left in the middle of an intersection with other drivers blaring their horns at me, scaring my children, because my car shut off in the intersection as I was attempting a left turn. As soon as I take my foot off of the brake, the car resets and the dash tells me to shift to P. Which I cannot do. Then it shuts down again and I am at the mercy of the vehicle and other drivers to not collide with me until my vehicle decides to turn back on. It is extremely dangerous.
Structure, Latches/locks/linkages, Oct 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the hood was shaking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The dealer performed the recall repair by replacing the hood latch striker. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle had previously been serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.