2018 Honda Pilot
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 440 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 8th highest complaint count among 23 Pilot model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 9 involved a crash and 2 involved a fire. 11 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
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
Engine and engine cooling, engine, gasoline, belts and associated pulleysApr 12, 2019
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Acura MDX and Honda Pilot vehicles and 2019 Acura RLX, RLX Sport Hybrid, TLX and Honda Odyssey and Ridgeline vehicles. The timing belt teeth may separate from the belt.
Teeth separation from the timing belt may result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of crash.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace any affected timing belt free of charge. Vehicles receiving a replacement timing belt will also have the engine inspected and any damaged components will be replaced for free. The recall began June 7, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is L4M. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is Z4L.
Campaign 19V298000 on NHTSA.gov
SeatsApr 5, 2018
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018 Honda Pilot and Ridgeline vehicles and 2018 Acura MDX vehicles. The front driver and passenger powered seats in the Honda vehicles and the driver powered seats in the Acura vehicles may have been assembled with improperly manufactured rivets. In the event of a crash, the rivets can break causing the seats not to be secured to the floor. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 207, "Seating Systems," and 210, "Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages."
In the event of a crash, if the seat does not remain secured to the floor, the seat occupant has an increased risk of injury.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver seat frame assembly in Acura MDX vehicles, and replace the driver and front passenger seat slide rail frames in Honda Pilot and Ridgeline vehicles, free of charge. The recall began May 30, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall is D0S, and T0T.
Campaign 18V221000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
440 reports, newest first.
Engine, Nov 29, 2022
On 8/15/22 I was driving my honda pilot. I came to a stop and when I proceeded to accelerate the car got stuck in low gear and would not pick up speed. It made a strange sound and I could feel a hard bang and it kept getting stuck in low gear. I took the car to the dealer immediately and was told the 5th gear pressure switch had failed. The transmission has a 60000 mile warranty but I was told this part was not under warranty since even though it controls the transmission it is not part of it. This is a very dangerous situation because if I was trying to accelerate to go on a freeway the car would not have been able to pick up speed and I could have been in an accident. Honda has not helped me at all even though I filed a complaint with them and they only offered me a $300 voucher instead of covering a known defect in their vehicle. I feel this car should be recalled for this defect.
Engine, Nov 24, 2022
Problem with start-stop system. Engine shuts off when vehicle is stopped but engine does not restart at times. Dealership could not find a problem and said they’ve never heard of it happening to anyone else, BUT a simple online search shows that it is a problem and NHTSA has an open investigation. VERY DANGEROUS when the vehicle doesn’t restart at a stop light or in stop and go traffic. Honda needs to step up and rectify immediately!
Electrical system, Nov 21, 2022
Numerous restart issues when car in in idle mode stopped at a traffic light or stop sign. Car does not idle but completely powers off. I'm required to place car into "park", turn on power, shift to drive in order to accelerate
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Nov 19, 2022
On at least three occasions after being stopped at a light the engine suddenly died (not simply auto idle stop). After putting in park and shutting off ignition (button start) and waiting some time the vehicle could be restarted. Battery is good. Fuel is good. Injectors already replaced. Dangerous as vehicle may be unexpectedly on powered while in traffic
Electrical system, Engine, Nov 17, 2022
Car does not turn on after stopping at a red light with auto start/off on. Turns on after being jump started. Also windows automatically come down without pressing any buttons after opening or turning off car. Dealer reports no issues. Battery has been changed with no solution. Car is inoperable with concern for pedestrian safety and personal safety.
Engine, Nov 3, 2022
Car won’t start after auto stop engages at red lights. I was on a busy road at a red light when my car wouldn’t restart. I had to sit a few embarrassing minutes (felt longer) turning the car off and on until it finally restarted. I noticed the issue occurred a few months ago as well, but because it only happened once I wasn’t concerned. This time was on a very busy road with cars coming 45mph towards me. Since the first incident, I did notice when it auto starts 9/10 times it turns my radio off and my cabin lights cut on then off (as if I’m starting the whole car again). Sometimes it will flash lights on the dash as well but I cannot recall which ones (I know battery is one). I try to remember to turn the feature off every time I get in my car, because you can’t turn it off and leave it off.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Nov 3, 2022
I was stopped at a red light, the engine cycled down because of the environmentally friendly option. My foot was on the break. The transmission shifted to neutral and turned orange. I could not get it to shift back to Drive. I had to turn the car off and restart it. At that point I was able to put it in drive and move the car. This was very dangerous because I was on a busy highway and could have been rear ended by a driver not noticing the car was stopped and off.
Engine, Oct 27, 2022
I was driving on a city street, during traffic I came to a complete stop and the car turned off the engine automatically by the idle-stop feature. When traffic was moving, I lifted my foot off the brake pedal expecting the engine turn back on and move forward but the engine never started and I tried to start the engine manually stepping on the brake and press the Engine Start button but in didn't work either, all the while I could have easily gotten rear-ended by driver behind me. Luckily other drivers were paying attention but nonetheless I was pressure to move my car. After struggling for 5 minutes, I finally manage to restart the engine again. I am the original owner and service my car at the dealer and the car only have 39160 miles on it. This problem happened before but is happening more often now, which is causing more safety concerns for me.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Oct 26, 2022
At 50,000 miles the car started to make a clanking noise. The car was checked no issued were found. at 60,000 oil change was preformed vehicle was checked no issued were found. At 63,000 the following lights came on at once: check engine, TSA, Hill start problem. Took the car again to get checked and now they have stated the car needs a new engine no lights had previously came on.
Fuel/propulsion system, Oct 18, 2022
My 2018 Pilot has started to stall when the auto start-stop is engaged. It has happened 3 times at busy intersections creating a dangerous situation. It doesn't look like this issue has been recalled, but I have seen hundreds of posts regarding the same issue.
Electrical system, Oct 10, 2022
Auto engine on/off option- when on and at a stop the whole vehicle shuts down I have to hold brakes down press engine on/off to correctly shut it down the start the vehicle
Engine, Oct 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while at a stop light and attempting to accelerate the vehicle stalled with an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for another issue and the contact inquired about the failure. The contact was informed that the idle Start/Stop system sensor might need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated there was a Technical Service Bulletin for the failure however, the vehicle was not included. The failure mileage was 60,000.
Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Oct 6, 2022
The auto off/on is dangerous. Multiple time the car does not turn back on and everything turns off. A few times the car started to roll backwards, when on a hill and I took my foot of the break. The car didn't start, I had to reapply the break and push the start button again.
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 3, 2022
The vehicle routinely shuts off at intersections and is unable to restart. This often causes traffic to back up behind the vehicle and vehicles around us having to make sudden stops. This occurs during normal driving conditions about 3 times/month. It seems to be attributed to the automatic shut-off feature but does not restart as it should when operating properly.
Engine, Sep 28, 2022
On September 27, 2022 the vehicle start/stop failed at Georgetown Texas highway 195/I35 overpass stop light. When the light changed the vehicle started to move forward then stalled in the left lane. I engaged the emergency flashers, stopped the vehicle, put it in park and proceeded to restart the vehicle. During this event, there were several near misses including a gravel truck. I believe a review of service orders will conclude the vehicle’s engine start/stop feature has been problematic for a few years.
Engine, Sep 26, 2022
The engine stop feature did not allow the car to restart at multiple stops. I was not able to immediately restart the car. It did restart after some time. This was concerning, since I was stuck on the middle of an intersection. There are no problems if we immediately disable this feature when starting the car.
Other or unspecified, Sep 25, 2022
Unknown component or system malfunction. There is sometimes a delay in acceleration when I press on the gas. Most of the time it's when I'm accelerating from a stop but can happen at any time. Once I press the gas and the car doesn't accelerate for about 2or 3 second I'll then have a surge of acceleration. This is very dangerous when I'm trying to pull out in to traffic or turn at a light as I end up dead stopped with oncoming traffic. I did take my SUV to be seen at a dealership but they could not reproduce the problem, someone needs to drive the car longer than 10 min to try and reproduce issue. Stop and go traffic is the best way to try and reproduce this issue. This issue began soon after purchasing in 2019
Power train, Sep 25, 2022
Vehicle will randomly stall after the auto stop-start has kicked in. Car starts then stalls immediately in the middle of an intersection. Shift selector would switch to neutral when this happened requiring the driver to shift into drive even further delaying the ability to get out of traffic. Have since had to replace the shifter switch (PRNDL) to the tune of $750 and have the same random problem. My wife wants to get rid of this car as she afraid to drive it.
Other or unspecified, Sep 21, 2022
The auto stop and start has almost caused multiple accidents. When I remove my foot from the break the vehicle will not always start. Sometimes it dies and I must restart it and sometimes the vehicle rolls backwards before it starts.
Power train, Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Sep 19, 2022
On multiple occasions the idle stop feature will engage and upon re-engage it will stall my vehicle. When I place the vehicle in park, press the brake and press the ignition start, nothing happens. Upon multiple attempts to restart the car it will either do nothing or making a chug without restarting. Continuing my attempts to restart the vehicle it will finally restart. During these times I will be stalled at a stop sign or traffic light with impatient drivers going around me. All the dashboard lights come on. I have taken it to the dealership, they stated they couldn’t duplicate the problem. This is unsafe for motorists or pedestrians. If this happens while I'm in an intersection or other location with moving traffic it could be very unsafe for myself, other motorists and/or pedestrians.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Sep 16, 2022
Was in the middle of an intersection and pressed the button to turn off Engine Idle Mode as I have had instances where it was very slow to go when this mode is on and it delays getting out of the way of other drivers. When I pressed the Idle Off button - the car “shut down” and went into neutral. I could not get it out of neutral. Pressed D, R, P. Multiple times. Didn’t work. Had to press the turn off car button twice to turn off car then it finally restarted. I was stranded in the intersection and almost got hit by several cars. Once it started I pulled into a gas station and the radio stopped working. I turned off the car and restarted. Then the engine wasn’t shifting properly. Shut off the car again and went to the dealer. Dealer ran diagnostics and couldn’t find a problem. Checked the battery and all other items - no issues. Somebody is going to get killed and now I’m scared to drive my car.
Other or unspecified, Sep 16, 2022
On multiple occasions the idle stop feature will engage and upon re-engage it will stall my vehicle. When I place the vehicle in park, press the brake and press the ignition start, nothing happens. Upon multiple attempts to restart the car it will either do nothing or making a chug without restarting. Continuing my attempts to restart the vehicle it will finally restart. During these times I will be stalled at a stop sign or traffic light with impatient drivers going around me which I believe is unsafe for motorists or pedestrians. If this happens while I'm in an intersection or other location with moving traffic it could be very unsafe for myself, other motorists and/or pedestrians.
Other or unspecified, Sep 13, 2022
auto start/stop failure - Vehicle stops, engine shuts off as usual. however, when brake is released the engine does not start back up. It then needs to be put in park and takes several takes to start again.
Power train, Fuel/propulsion system, Lane departure, Sep 11, 2022
While driving, the transmission would not gear up to any higher gears and could only drive 40mph with 3000+ RPMS. The MIL lights showed "Check Engine," "Emissions System Problem," "Transmission System Problem," and "Blind Spot Info System Problem," all at once. When pressing the "P" button for Park, it did not always want to engage in Park. The engine would sometime stutter on acceleration. The "P" and "D" for Park and Driver on the MIL would constantly blink. This action placed the driver and occupants at risk of injury because of the stutter and slow speeds on the highway. Also, when the "Park" button did not engage, the car was at risk of rolling into person or property. Currently, service has been scheduled for the dealership to diagnose the issue. There were no warning signs prior to all of these warning lights showing up all at once.
Engine, Sep 10, 2022
I was on a six lane highway at a traffic light. The idle stop engaged while I was sitting for the light to turn green. I released the break and the car didn’t start. I tried to put the car in park and push the start button and the car wouldn’t start. I sat through a couple light cycles in the middle lane with my hazards on. I turned off all accessories and the car did start and I was able to drive off.