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.
Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Oct 29, 2022
Multiple times while driving with the auto start/stop engaged, the vehicle will turn off when coming to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign and then need to be restarted with the actual start/stop button. Call to purchasing dealer was met with unrealistic demand that the vehicle be left there for an undeterminable amount of time so that it could be inspected. No other lamps have come on or warned against this. Only way to make it not happen is to turn off the auto start/stop after the vehicle is started.
Electrical system, Oct 29, 2022
Car fails to restart when the engine auto shut off engages. The engine will attempt to restart, but then nothing happens. The car is essentially stalled in traffic. This has happened three times. The car has to be put in park and fully shut off before it will restart using the car’s on/off button. One time it took a few minutes before the car would restart. This happened even after having the battery replaced. I informed the dealer about the problem, and the dealer acknowledged that there is some sort of problem with the auto shut off feature.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Oct 28, 2022
Car alarm keeps going off randomly and the electronic dashboard flickers repeatedly while the car is parked. I recently left the car at a parking garage and apparently the alarm was triggered and ran all day - I came back to the car that evening and there was clicking sound coming from the engine (not turned on, of course). The battery was drained and when I got a jump start, the alarm went off and the dashboard went crazy again. I wonder what would might happen when the car is being driven. There's clearly something wrong with the electronics. The dealer said I needed a new body control module (BCM), but the part is hard to come by apparently. Having done some research on the the issue, this appears to be a common problem with Honda Pilots. My car only has 50k miles on it and seems out of character to have this part fail. The short-term solution is to leave the car unlocked which in turn disarms the car alarm, but I've seen the dashboard and cabin lights flicker off and on in this state. This problem has been ongoing for months now.
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 19, 2022
When at a red light the engine turns off when you press the brake. When you life you foot it should restart automatically. Multiple times my car has no restarted. It sends me a message to put the car in park, press the brake again, and restart with the push button. But it did not work immediately. I had to do the process 5-15 times before it restarted. This is a safety issue because I’m in a stalled car at a red light with traffic trying to get around my car or worse cars coming at a regular speed who don’t see I’m stopped. After researching I have seen that this issue has happened to other owners as well. I called my local dealership who said to bring it in so they could inspect it - which I have not done so yet. Just today there was a brief flash of an alert right after it restarts mentioning the collision assist or one of the other safety issues but it disappeared before I was able to fully read it.
Electrical system, Service brakes, Engine, Oct 18, 2022
While the vehicle was stop, the auto shut off went off, and upon moving the foot from brake and depress accelerator, the Honda Pilot 2017 turned off and restarted requiring driver to depress Engine Start again.
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 18, 2022
Our 2017 Honda Pilot is having issues with the idle stop feature at a stop light or other standard stops. The engine completely shuts off and all electronics also shut off. It then needs to be placed in park and restarted. However, it sometimes takes multiple attempts to restart the engine. We are now having trouble with it even starting when the engine has been off. All the dashboard lights come on and it sometimes takes several attempts to start the engine. This issue is very unsafe when traveling and having your engine completely shut off while in traffic and could easily lead to a traffic accident. We have spoken to our local Honda dealer several times about this issue and they have said that Honda knows about this issue but does not have any solutions for the problem. Something needs to be done about this before a serious accident happens because of it.
Other or unspecified, Oct 17, 2022
Auto Start/Stop feature malfunction. Vehicle fails to restart after shutting off using Auto Start/Stop feature.
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 14, 2022
The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. This has happened infrequently in the past but is now occurring more often, multiple times a month.
Engine, Oct 13, 2022
While driving the car has been giving quick warnings that we weren't able to capture when the start stop was active. Today while at a light at a complete stop and about to make a right the car suddenly shifts to Neutral and prompts us to put in park, then once on park the car shut off completely. While at the light still on park we tried to restart the call, but it would not. It took a few tries to finally start.
Engine, Oct 13, 2022
The engine shut down at a stop light. Never started again. Had it towed to dealership (Swope Honda World Louisville KY). They ran diagnostics and cannot get the engine to turn over. Checked starter, battery, reset all electronics. Can't even hand turn the engine . They are recommending we replace the engine for $8200 on a Pilot that has 70K miles.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Oct 11, 2022
This is my third incident of being stopped at a red light and the auto idle turns on. When the light turns green, and I release my foot from the break, my car stalls and tells me put it into park. My car essentially stalls out and I have to shut it off and on. Usually takes about 30 seconds to a minute for it to start up again. I almost got rear ended today at a light and I am concerned for my safety. How can we turn this into a recall and get this fixed before somebody gets injured?
Other or unspecified, Engine, Oct 7, 2022
I am the owner of a 2017 Honda Pilot Touring. My car has been dealer maintained. It was most recently in for routine maintenance less than 3 weeks ago. On October 7, 2022 at approximately 2:00pm I was stopped at a major intersection. My Auto Idle Stop engaged and my engine went idle. When the light turned green, I let off the brake my car jumped 2-3 times and went dead. The dashboard showed the car to now be in Neutral and the battery indicator was lit. I quickly attempted to restart the car and/or put the car in Park. Over the course of 30+ seconds, I tried various combinations pushing the Start button or the Park button. There was no response. I attempted to call my husband, he was unavailable, so I tried again and the car started immediatley (while in neutral). I have had numerous instances of the Auto Idle Stop not responding quickly when it should restart. The delay can be up to 4 seconds after lifting my foot or turning the wheel. It has become my habit to turn off Auto Idle Stop when starting the car. I believe 90%+ of my driving is without it due to the unreliability. However the latest incident has me very concerned about driving the car. This along with other transmission/computer issues have been mentioned to my dealer during routine service. Many of those issues were corrected, however an issue with the Auto Idle Stop has not been discovered and I was advised to deactivate it when starting the car. Please keep in mind that the default setting is on. If I forget to deactivate or when someone borrows my car, this becomes a concerning issue. I contacted my Honda dealer and made an appointment to have it looked at again.
Engine, Oct 7, 2022
The issue occurs when the car is stopped (at a traffic light) and the auto engine off is engaged, when I lift the brake to press the accelerator, the car shuts off the engine completely, puts itself in neutral and requires me to put the car in park and restart (press brake and ignition button). I then struggle to start the car (attempting multiple times) and restore it to drive. This is a major safety issue that occurs in the middle of traffic.
Engine, Oct 6, 2022
The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. It's very serious safety issue when this problem happened on the road. I visited HONDA service twice for fixing this problem but they couldn't fix it. Pilot does not have the ability to completely stop the automatic Engine Stop-Start function, so I have to manually turn off the Auto Stop-Start function every time I start the engine. But sometimes we forget to turn this feature off. And this problem is recurring again and again. I'm going to log it here because one day I'm in danger of a following car crashing into my car because of this problem.
Engine, Oct 5, 2022
The vehicle is equipped with auto idle/engine disable. When stopped at a stop light and depressing the brake pedal, the engine shut downs. The engine is supposed to restart on releasing the brake pedal. On a number of occaisions the engine has not restarted, but rather has stalled, leaving me stalled in traffic. It takes several seconds (which feels like a lot when cars are driving around you, honking, etc.) for the engine to completely shut down and then restart. And sometimes the restart is not smooth. Takes time. The dealer service has not reproduced the problem - they did suggest that I replace the battery to see if that would help. It seemed to help a bit - but the problem returned after a short while. This has occurred approximately 5-6 times. I now try to remember to disable the auto idle feature on entering the car. The default is for the feature to remain on, so I have to remember to disable it each time. I have one maintenance record from January 2022 which shows my report of the issue to the service department, and the replacement of the battery. I did ask about the issue prior to, and after, the January 2022 record, but I have only the one documented complaint. I know that this now a known problem and that the NHTSA is investigating. I wanted to share my experience. Thank you.
Electrical system, Oct 5, 2022
1. The automatic start/stop feature sometimes fails to restart the vehicle 2. On a few occasions now I have been stranded at a stoplight trying to restart the vehicle with people trying to navigate around me. 3. I have not have it inspected by the dealer or mechanic yet. In my own research of the issue I found the there are a number of complaints about the same issue in the range of model years that includes my 2017 Honda Pilot 4. There were no lamps or warnings prior to the issue. When I take my foot off the brake the engine is supposed to restart but didn't. I had to completely power off the vehicle and open the door (so that all accessories like the radio were also powered off) and restart the car. But it took multiple tries. When I pressed the starter button the accessories would come on but the engine doesn't immediately start. There were no prior symptoms and, outside of the auto start/stop failures, I have never had a problem starting the vehicle. The auto start/stop works most of the time so, although the issue has happened a few times now, it is not consistent.
Engine, Oct 4, 2022
Idle stop engages and cuts the car off, but it won't start back up automatically. We have to put the car in park and try to restart it completely. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts; long enough to miss a cycle at the stop light.
Engine, Oct 4, 2022
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Yes it is available for inspection upon request The start/stop idle feature doesnt work sometimes. The car is supposed to turn off when you come to a stop light or any stop at all. You put on your break and the car stops and then when you start to go the car turns back on and off you go. For about a year now this has been malfunctioning and my car just stalls. Twice now in the last 6 months this has happened where I have been stuck in traffic with cars yelling and honking there horns at me. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Countless times in the last year my life, my childrens life, and those drivers around me have been at risk. There isn't any warning before it happens and can happen at anytime. Twice I thought I would have to call the police to direct traffic and get my car towed but thank goodness after 5-10 minutes it ended up starting on its own. The problem also is when it stalls like this, you can get the car in neutral to move or anything. Your just stuck. Its so scary and unless I disable this feature every time I drive the car, I risk getting in an accident!! Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No it hasnt been reproduced. It is at the dealership right now because the second incident where it completely stopped for 10 minutes in traffic happened yesterday. Took it to the dealership 6 month after the 1st very dangerous incident and they said it was the fuel injector which I got replace and it didnt have any incidents for 6 month but as I stated it started back up Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Yes, the dealership Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 3, 2022
After stopping and the auto start-stop system is utilized to turn off the engine, the engine does not restart on its own when releasing the brake pedal. The vehicle must be shifted to park, turned off, and restarted before you can begin driving again. This has happened many times and poses a major safety risk since it happens predominantly at stop lights.
Electrical system, Oct 2, 2022
Numerous times the auto stop/start feature has failed to work. When the car tries to start back after the stop/start feature has been engaged, it does not start and will completely turn the car off. All the electronics will flash off and back on. When this happens the car has to be returned to park and can take several minutes to start back leaving the vehicle stranded in the intersection. I have complained to the dealership but they say there isn’t a problem and to just turn the feature off. In order to do that a button has to be pushed every time the car is started.
Engine, Sep 30, 2022
While at a stoplight, my auto start/stop feature shut the engine down. When I released the brake after the light turned green, the car didn’t restart. Instead it shutdown in put the car in neutral. This resulted in traffic being halted and me frantically attempting to get it restarted. After getting it back in park, I was able to get it restarted.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 30, 2022
For years the stop and auto-start feature will not restart automatically. Sometimes the entire vehicle itself will shut down, lose, power, then restart by itself. It is more frequent now. Last week while on the freeway, the car shut down and failed to restart altogether. The engine did not respond. I had to put it in neutral and restart the car. I had to attempt to restart it a couple of times before it finally turned on again.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 29, 2022
When stopped, the engine idles off but when I go to accelerate, the engine shuts off. This is becoming a safety issue as the last two times were on a highway although it is really always a safety issue. Last year the dealer had me get a new battery. While that worked for a bit, the issue is back and worse than ever.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 28, 2022
The auto stop/start feature is defective. It turns off the engine when stopped at red lights, but many times the engine then fails to start again when the gas pedal is pressed when the light is green, and the car stalls. This has left us stalled in intersections many times, and sometime it takes 10-15 minutes before the car starts again. We even had to call for a tow once. This problem has been ongoing for a few years and I have communicated it to my Honda dealership many times, and have brought it in multiple times, and they have failed to rectify the issue.
Power train, Sep 27, 2022
Warning signs pop up when it hits 65mph on the highway. It blinks, “transmission system problem” with warning sounds ever so often. I tried to take it to Jiffy Lube multiple times, and they could never find the problem. They checked the transmission fluid and it was okay. They ran diagnostic and nothing was found, yet, this message error appears here and there. I am not sure what else there to do but to report that it’s not safe.