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.
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at slower speeds and attempting to come to a stop, the vehicle revved up and independently accelerated. The contact depressed the brake pedal with excessive force and the vehicle moved forward a little before coming to a stop. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure by the dealer however, the contact was unable to speak with a representative. The approximate failure mileage was 16,000.
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Oct 26, 2021
In my 2017 Honda Pilot Elite the auto idle stop feature has more frequently failed to restart the vehicle when stopped at a traffic light. This leaves the car stalled in traffic instead of restarting after I take my foot off the brake (which is when the system should be restarting the engine). This failure occurs whether I press the gas pedal or just take my foot off the brake. It began happening around the 30,000 mile mark and the vehicle now has 56,000. I notice it most often occurs when the auto idle stop function engages at the first traffic light after a period (approx. more than 20 minutes) of freeway driving. The only way I have found to recover from the stall is to place depress the brake, place the car in Park, press the engine Start/Stop button twice (once to shut off the car then again to restart it), and then place the vehicle in drive and release the brake. Sometimes this process needs to be repeated. My vehicle is almost always in ECON mode. The issue happens whether or not the radio is on. My map is almost always displayed when I am driving.
Power train, Oct 20, 2021
My vehicle is a 6 speed automatic transmission, which is experiencing symptoms known to affect 9 speed transmissions as documented in TSB 20-029, Hard Upshift with Steady Acceleration. The transmission has intermittent harsh or jerky upshifts with steady acceleration. The vehicle will 'clank' and jump slightly forward, while accelerating between 20-45mph. Does not happen always - have not determined a pattern.
Engine, Oct 20, 2021
While driving, the vehicle suddenly stalled then began to jerked and was unable to accelerate above 2000 RPM. If pushed above the 2000 RPM, the car would continue to violently jerk. At this time, all the dash warning lights came on, but no warnings or driving issues prior to the incident. From the manufacturer (dealer inspected), error code P0369-CMP Sensor and this issue applies to a service article A180101 from January 2018 which notes that the camshaft thrust cover roughness out of spec and damaged camshaft position sensor. Concerns for this is that without warning the vehicle stalls out regardless of speed for a vehicle after owning for only 4 years.
Child seat, Oct 18, 2021
The contact owns a Maxi Cosi Magellan Max installed in a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the harness strap detached from the T-bar in the rear of the safety seat. The contact stated that the child was in the safety seat during the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact how to re-attach the strap. The safety seat was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 63,623.
Engine, Oct 16, 2021
Engine does not restart after “auto idle”. The car cannot be turned off because it is shifted in to drive and won’t shift to park until the engine comes on. This leaves you stranded when driving if you’re at a busy intersection causing an extreme safety hazard.
Latches/locks/linkages, Oct 13, 2021
I have had this happen 2 times now! My small child has been locked inside my car with the keys inside the car. Sheriffs had to show up and break into my hot car to rescue my baby. Both times the following situation happened. I strapped my young child into her car seat in the rear passenger seats. I set my purse, with my keyless entry key fob in it, on the front seat. (No one touched the lock from inside). I shut the rear door after strapping my child in. I went to open my drivers door (again, keys in the front seat) and all the doors were locked. It was a terrifying situation. It was hot and I had to call the police to help me out. After 25 minutes we were able to unlock the car. My child was crying the entire time. When we got her out she was drenched in sweat, her hair, clothes, and seat.
Vehicle speed control, Service brakes, Oct 7, 2021
Vehicle driver is 4’11. Unable to safely reach gas pedal and brake pedal. There is no adjustments for a driver of this height.
Power train, Oct 6, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 10-15 MPH, the vehicle started shuddering inadvertently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue to drive to her destination. The dealer was notified of the failure. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while shifting into first gear. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
Engine, Sep 22, 2021
Car stalls at idle when you take foot off of brake in preparation to accelerate. Error lights and warnings flash on dashboard, car automatically shifts to neutral and it takes over a minute to restart. Inconsistently happens and Honda service technicians report there are no error codes. This is happening to MANY people with the same make/model. This is a serious safety and drivability issue. Please investigate.
Steering, Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Sep 20, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the keyless warning, power steering, emissions, and hill assist warning lights activated, and the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The contact recently received a TSB notice from the manufacturer regarding the failure. The failure mileage was 60,951.
Seat belts, Sep 18, 2021
Drivers Side Front Seatbelt webbing unraveling. Occasionally becoming caught in belt buckle assembly. Brought car to dealer on 8/6/21 and they wanted to charge over $500 to fix it. I said it was absolutely absurd and that it should be covered under one of my warranties purchased with the car. After some back an forth they agreed to warranty the repair and let me take the car home. Its now been over 4 weeks of them telling me the seat belt has still not arrived at the dealer and the safety issue is growing much larger as the seat belt webbing is getting worse each day. It seems they are truly not wanting to honor a warranty and are trying to do anything they can to either not fix the problem or make me pay over $500 to fix their defective product.
Engine, Sep 12, 2021
The auto idle stop feature on the vehicle poses a significant safety hazard. On multiple occasions, the engine doesn’t re start after lifting your foot off of the brake. We’ve had the dealer assess several times, but they simply say they can’t repeat the problem. In the most recent instance, we were stopped at a red light and the auto idle stop engaged. When the light turned green, I took my foot off of the brake and the car did t re start. I had to shift from drive to park, and tried to re start the car a few times before the engine re started. I was fortunate I wasn’t rear ended, as cars were coming up behind me in excess of 40 miles per hour. Thankfully, they saw my hazard lights and moved over before hitting me. This problem has been reported in multiple forums, to include here: https://www.piloteers.org/threads/auto-engine-idle-stop-system-problem-message.144153/ Unfortunately, and by design, the feature cannot be permanently disengaged. Please force Honda to take immediate action before it results in fatalities!
Other or unspecified, Sep 9, 2021
When I turn on the car, an error pops up saying KEYLESS START SYSTEM PROBLEM. I already changed the battery in the key fob and that didn’t solve anything. I’ve restarted the car several times and the error continues to pop up.
Power train, Engine, Aug 26, 2021
Keyless start system malfunction.
Engine, Aug 24, 2021
Vehicle stalls after trying to return to normal idle after the idle-stop system has been engaged. Vehicle may take up to 5 minutes to restart. Vehicle has a fly-by-wire push button transmission so the vehicle cannot be placed into neutral and pushed out of harms way without the engine running (which it isn't since it stalled and won't restart). Dealership "fixed" the problem in 2019 by installing a new battery which was warrantied for a bad cell. Problem returns in 2021. Dealership declares the battery good and claims that they cannot replicate the problem, nor have they heard of this issue previously. And possibly related to all of the above: Vehicle ran normally (i.e., engine running normally) until all indicator lights came on and remained on. Dealer claims a new camshaft and associated parts are needed to fix this "new" problem.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Aug 20, 2021
Driving to work in the morning after owning the car for a few years and and dash displays "Keyless Start System Problem".
Engine, Aug 19, 2021
A known a reported issue by others, the auto idle engine function has caused our car to completely shut off at various times requiring us to put the car back in park and restart the engine. This is a clear safety concern as it has happened at stop lights, on the road, etc.
Electrical system, Engine, Aug 15, 2021
When stopped long enough to engage the auto idle function the car does not always recover immediately to drive. The car completely shuts down and usually restarts. This has occurred a few times in the past couple weeks and I have been trying to capture it on video to show the dealership. Yesterday it shut down and did not restart. It took many seconds (20-30) to be able to turn it back on and put it back into gear. We were stuck with cars behind us honking. When this happens all the lights on the dash light up so there is not one warning that indicates what the problem is. A car randomly failing to function is a safety issue. Especially since there is nothing the driver can do to remedy the situation. We have not taken the car in to a mechanic yet as this happened over the weekend. The car will be going to Honda. An internet search shows this is not an isolated issue.
Engine, Aug 9, 2021
The car stalls out at traffic lights and stop signs due to a failure of the automatic idle start/stop feature. It appears this is a common issue that there is no known repair for. It creates for an unsafe driving situation when the car does not go when the light turns green. I am waiting for the day I am rear ended by someone not paying attention.
Engine, Aug 7, 2021
Idle engine-off system on several occasions has failed to restart engine while stopped during normal driving. Car remains in drive and engine stalls. Auto must be completely shut off and restarted for engine to restart. This is extremely unsafe as it has occured while stopped at lights in busy intersections.
Engine, Aug 7, 2021
The engine auto stop/ START feature turned the car off while I was stopped at traffic light. I attempted to disable this feature by pressing the Stop/ Start button which turned the vehicle completely off. I made several attempts to start the vehicle. First, I tried pressing the start button with my foot on the break. Second, I shifted the car into park and pressed the break pedal down and then pressed the start button, still didn't start. I then opened the door and quickly closed it and repeated the last process over again and it still wouldn't start. At that time the display instructed me to press the start engine button twice. By this time the traffic light cycled once which really pissed off everyone behind me! (THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME 2 TIMES AND TO MY WIFE 6 TIMES IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS)
Engine, Jul 29, 2021
On 25 July 2021, I was in stop and go traffic on I-5 South when my start stop function on my 2017 Honda Pilot Elite failed to restart. All the lights lit up on my instrument cluster. My vehicle was unable to restart for about 1 minute as i was frantically trying to shut off my vehicle and restart it repeatedly. I was worried about a vehicle slamming into me with my family in the car. Since that day it has happened a few more times where the start stop function has failed and the engine failed to restart at traffic lights or busy intersections. Today I was able to catch it on video. If you would like me to send you the video from today, please let me know the email address. I have an appointment on Saturday but when I went by the Honda dealership today, they tested my battery and they said it was good and gave me a print out attached below.
Power train, Jul 27, 2021
Auto dashboard warning lights started and remained flashing. Transmission would not up shift - slipped into neutral - surged and jerked when up shifting This experience was repeated after pulling off the highway and attempting to reenter traffic. This was a dangerous experience as it occurred on a high speed Interstate. I took the auto to the dealer BUT they were not able to reproduce the problem and their diagnostics check could not find a problem.
Engine, Jul 20, 2021
The Auto Idle Stop feature was enabled at the time. We came to a complete stop on the interstate highway due to traffic. When traffic cleared and I attempted to resume driving, the engine died completely and pressing the Start button would not re-start the engine. We were stuck with a dead engine in the middle of the highway for about a minute before the engine finally restarted. This happened three additional times since the original incident. I've taken the car to the dealer but their service technicians were unable to replicate the issue or diagnose the problem.