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, Sep 26, 2022
I stopped at a red light and the idle stop function shut down like it should. When the light turned green, I let my foot off the brake and it stalled out. Some of the dummy lights came on and it stated that I needed "To start engine: brake + push" and shows the break pedal and the Start engine button on the dashboard. So I did. It did nothing. I had to turn the car off and try to restart it. I had to do this 3 times for it to finally start back up so I could drive off. This has happened to me a total of 6 times now. All but one time was at a red light, once being at a roundabout as I was slowing down for a car coming toward me. Today I had to restart it 4 times, open my car door, take my seatbelt off and close my door back before it finally started back up. I have taken it to the dealer once before and they told me it was because my battery was weak and would not make the connection when it went to start back up. They said they 'fixed' it to the best of their ability and just basically hoped it would not happen again. Well, it did. I just had my battery checked last week and it is fine. I have a physical video of it as it is happening. As soon as my car shut itself down "stalled out" I grabbed my phone and videoed it. I am keeping the video on my phone. This is NOT safe. If I can't move at all, it will not go into neutral or anything, so I would not be able to physically move the car into the emergency lane out of traffic or anything.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 26, 2022
While a stop light, the Idle Stop feature engaged as normal, however when the brake was released the engine failed to restart. This is not the first time this has happened, but this time following the instructions on display, place vehicle in park and press the Start/Stop button, didn't work. It was at night and I figured I would turn off the lights and radio to help. It took 4 or 5 attempts to get the vehicle to restart. This happens more frequently when idle stop is engaged short order, such as in a long line waiting for a left turn.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 23, 2022
Vehicle idle or auto start /stop is not functioning.. It has happened multiple times incluiding today 09/23/2022, were the vehicle shuts of and it doesnt start.. All this codes and instructions come up to try to turn the vehicle back on... It always happens is a street light and most of the time is a busy intersection with cars honking and the vehicle is off... IT IS VERY UNSAFE... It takes a couple of minutes to start the car on.. My wife has been stranded for 10 minutes in the middle of traffic going by trying to start the car.. I had this issue at 40k miles and took it to the dealership and paid $746.96 to get the Valve adjusted to correct auto start... Now at 73k miles is happening again... It started at 60k.. Today 09/23/2022 im at the dealership and they say the cant find any code THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE...
Engine, Sep 22, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while stopped at a stop sign or light with the brake pedal depressed, the engine turned off; however, when the brake pedal was released the engine failed to restart as designed. The contact stated that the START/STOP button had to be depressed to start the vehicle. The contact stated that no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic test however, the dealer was not able to determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that the dealer replaced an unknown gasket, checked the battery, and performed a warranty valve adjustment but the failure continued. The vehicle had been to the dealer at least twice for the failure. The contact stated that upon picking up the vehicle from the dealer, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
Engine, Sep 21, 2022
5 times now we have been stopped in traffic and the auto stop/start function correctly stopped the engine but the car would not start back despite multiple attempts. Thankfully after about 30-40 seconds the dash lights come back on then the start button will respond and the car will crank and run normally
Engine, Sep 21, 2022
Multiple times in the past year the car has stalled when at a complete stop. It's when the car idles down and then we try to go by stepping on the gas. The engine dies completely and we need to put the car in park and then restart the car. This is very dangerous when in traffic on the highway or starting on a green light or stop sign with cars behind us. We've talked to the dealer numerous times and they haven't had any solutions. We need this fixed but think Honda should be paying for it, not us.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 19, 2022
On multiple occasions now my Pilot has completely shut down while the auto-idle is on and I have been unable to restart it quickly. My young children and I have been stuck in traffic multiple times unable to move or get out of the way of oncoming traffic due to this and most recently on 9/16/22 I was almost hit due to be unable to restart my vehicle. I typically keep the auto-idle off for this reason but if I forget to turn it off, it happens again. I purchased my car on 7/06/22 and this has happened 3 times (which is a very high percentage of the time the auto-idle is accidently left on). I have tried to take it into be serviced but it does not happen every time so they have been unable to assist. There are no lights on, messages or any indication when this happens, the engine just shuts completely down and takes a minute to allow you to put it into park and restart the engine by pressing the break and the start button. This is terrifying for me, my children and everyone else on the road that has almost hit my idle car. I am scared every time I get into this car and unsure what to do at this point.
Engine, Forward collision avoidance, Sep 19, 2022
On many occasions, when the vehicle is stopped (at a light or in gridlock), when I remove my foot from the brake to apply the gas, the engine stops and the vehicle shuts down all systems (audio, nav, etc). When this happens, for a very brief time (too short to get a photo) warning lights related to the collision and/or emergency braking systems flash. After those lights go away, the dashboard lights indicate that the vehicle is in neutral (not by my doing) and that I must press the brake, put the vehicle in park, and restart the vehicle. This process does not always work the first time and the delay of turning off and restarting the car, even when it does work, causes a dangerous situation in traffic. When this happens on a downward hill, my vehicle rolls forward as it “dies” and I am sometimes stuck in the middle of an intersection as I try to restart the vehicle as quickly as I can. When it happens in heavy stop and go freeway traffic, I’m often surrounded by vehicles traveling at high speeds. I’m terrified that my baby and toddler will be hurt in this vehicle. I find it egregious that Honda has not issued a fix, a recall, or any other option for owners of vehicles with such a dangerous flaw.
Electrical system, Sep 18, 2022
The auto-idle system causes the car to stall quite often and poses a major safety hazard. We bought the car brand-new in May 2018. The problem started happening approximately 2 years after buying the car. The car fails to restart when you lift the foot off the break and instead, stalls the car. My husband and I have had the car stall at red lights, at stop signs, and recently while we were in the left lane of a major highway in traffic. Just this past weekend, it stalled on me twice in less than 24 hours. It takes quite a bit of time to restart because you have to put the car in park and make sure it is completely shut down before trying to start it again, while also trying to remember to put on hazard lights. I did bring it to Lia Honda in Albany NY on Sept. 24, 2021, 3.5 years after buying the car, specifically for this issue. They could not recreate it in the shop. They suggested I needed a new battery and proceeded to install a new batter at a cost of approximately $500 (it is my understanding batteries should be replaced every 5 years typically). This helped for about 6 months but now the car is stalling quite often again. While they have a button to disable this system, it defaults to "on" every time you power the car off/on, and it is easy to forget to turn it off. This is a major safety issue as the cars behind me don't realize I have stalled. I realize this is a known issue as other Pilot owners have filed similar complaints, and I hope Honda fixes this issue because we paid a lot of money for this car and will have teenagers driving it soon. We are happy to have the car inspected further if necessary. Thank you.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 18, 2022
The car sometimes fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or stop sign with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. Furthermore, on two recent occasions the car would not start at all after it was turned off to get gas. One of those times it sat for 40 minutes at the gas pump while waiting for a jump start (it eventually started on its own), and the other it had to be towed to the dealer. After the first incident, we were told there was nothing wrong with the battery and a month later, when the car had to be towed, we were told the battery was completely dead. The concern with the start/stop trouble has been reported to the dealer and we were told there was nothing they could see. There have been no warning lights, lamps or messages. The start/stop problem began approximately a year ago, and we have tried to turn that feature off when driving, due to the problems that occur, since we were told there wasn't a problem that could be seen. On the occasions we forget to take this step, it always struggles at a stoplight or intersection and if not caught in time, the car will stall out, sometimes taking 2-3 tries to restart. The vehicle is currently in the shop, awaiting a battery replacement as we have been told that is what is causing the start/stop issue.
Engine, Sep 17, 2022
When stopped the engine shuts off. It does not always turn back on when attempting to accelerate.
Other or unspecified, Sep 17, 2022
Twice now and it seems to be worse in the summer when the air conditioning is running the auto shut off at a stoplight fails to restart the engine and the car dies at an intersection. This feature is dangerous and very frustrating to the point where I turn this feature off every time I get in the car now. This is happened both to me and to my 16-year-old son. Many times when it tries to reengage it has a hard time starting right back up. This is in addition to the two times it completely died.
Other or unspecified, Sep 15, 2022
The start- stop function will turn the vehicle off at a light, stop sign, or while stopped in traffic. Once the brake is released the vehicle fails to restart. The vehicle is now obstructing traffic and vulnerable to a rear in collision. Took the vehicle to the dealer five times and the were never able to reproduce the problem. The dealer replaced the battery staying out was low thus it was unable to restart the vehicle once it stopped. There had been not warnings when the start-stop was going to fail. It randomly happens in multiple driving conditions, i.e. highway or city driving conditions. For the vehicle to malfunction at random times puts my family and other drivers at risk each time it happens. Currently the Dealer can not find or duplicate the problem. They have been made fully aware of the problem.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 14, 2022
Vehicle failed to restart when stopped at signal light the idle function shut the vehicle down but I had to completely restart the engine rather than it automatically restart as usual. A real traffic hazard
Structure, Latches/locks/linkages, Sep 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the hood would flutter and shake. The contact called the dealer and was informed that his VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V932000 (Structure, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
Engine, Sep 13, 2022
Engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or intersection with the Auto-Idle Stop engaged.
Power train, Sep 13, 2022
Moving from a stationary position while driving under 10 mph the vehicle shifts from 1st gear to 2nd gear with a heavy jerk motion.
Engine, Sep 11, 2022
Since purchasing my car in 2018 the idle stop sometimes seemed like it "glitched". It would take an extra second or two to restart, the radio would turn on and off and lights on the dash would flash, but the car still worked. Within the last few months I've had 3 occasions where the car just wouldn't start again when I hit the gas. I need to shut the entire car off, wait a few seconds, and restart the entire car. This is extremely scary when you are stopping for a quick turn and an huge safety concern when your car won't go when you hit the gas during an unexpected stop (during a turn, at a red light, stop sign, etc.)
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Sep 9, 2022
On multiple occasions, the engine idle stop system has failed to restart the engine at an intersection when releasing the brake leaving the car disabled in a dangerous situation. This started after about 20k miles. When it happens the car is fine until brake release. It seems to try to restart but the entire car loses power. No lights, no anything. Won't restart at first either. After a few moments trying to get it to restart it will fire up and you can put it back in drive and continue. I did note it happened less when I replaced the battery for a while. Dealer has replaced fuel rail and ignition switch to no avail. As a car guy I can say when it happens it's almost like there is not enough power to throw the starter. At that moment it's like all the power is sapped away like a bad ground or something. But then it comes back because obviously it restarts after a bit. Battery, Alternator and starter tests are always good. We now turn engine stop off every time we start the car out of fear but there is no permanent off switch.
Electrical system, Sep 9, 2022
The idle stop feature not working properly. Many times the engine will not restart after releasing the brake and pressing the accelerator. This has left me stranded in busy traffic situations including intersections. This is very dangerous and a hazard for me and my family.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 9, 2022
My 2017 Honda Pilot has intermittent issues with the automatic idle feature at stops. It will sometimes stall out completely, requiring me to shift to park and restart the car completely. This feature has never worked properly; therefore, I have to shut the feature off everytime I drive for safety. I have told my dealer about this problem numerous times and they have “not been able to replicate” the problem. They have replaced battery for this reason at least once but it did not fix the problem.
Engine, Sep 8, 2022
When my car had the engine disable feature on the car will stall out usually at traffic lights or even in the middle of intersections. When it stalls it will not start sometime for a few minutes. I have been stranded in the middle of intersections multiple times and cars have come close to hitting me
Vehicle speed control, Sep 7, 2022
While driving at highway speed and applying the brake the car independently accelerated. Vehicle continued to accelerate while applying greater brake pressure in an attempt to slow down. Vehicle had to be driven onto shoulder to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of it. Acceleration stopped after several attempts at braking.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Sep 6, 2022
I have experienced several instances where the vehicle's auto stop-start system fails to restart the vehicle's engine after a stop. This has happened 2-5 times. Specifically, when the vehicle is at a full stop (with brake fully depressed), the auto stop-start system is designed to stop the engine to conserve fuel by turning the engine off. During the episodes at issue, the system works correctly to stop the system. However, when I have released the brake pedal and attempted to resume driving, the engine has failed to restart and the power system appears to fail/reset. The vehicle then requires that I attempt to restart it using the stop/start button. On at least one occasion, I had to make multiple attempts to restart the vehicle before it finally began operating again. This situation often results in the vehicle obstructing traffic for an extended period of time and creating a dangerous situation. I have begun disabling the auto stop-start system when driving the car to avoid this problem occurring.
Engine, Sep 6, 2022
Multiple times the cars engine shuts down at a light due to the auto start/stop and then stalls immediately when trying to restart the car to proceed. It takes a few attempts to restart the car .