Complaint volume
403 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Honda Pilot Complaints
403 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Honda Pilot, grouped by component category.
403 Total complaints
12 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
7 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, electrical system, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 12 crash reports, 1 fire report, 7 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 42 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 36,320 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, electrical system, engine?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Honda Pilot?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Honda Pilot
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Honda Pilot complaints?
12 Crash
1 Fire
7 Injury
0 Fatality
12 Towed
4 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Honda Pilot complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 37
ENGINE 33
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 29
AIR BAGS 22
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 20
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 16
VISIBILITY/WIPER 16
TIRES 13
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 11
403 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | When I’m stopped and try to drive my car it sometimes dies. It’s a big safety concern and happens often and when I have my kids in the car. I can’t get it to start again for a little while. The lights come on the dashboard but it won’t start at all until a while after trying. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Our brakes failed coming down a steep hill. We missed hitting a car by passing in the wrong lane. We had to cross a road across two lanes which fortunately had no cars on it where we crossed. We were able to get some braking once we got on level ground. We took the car to Honda and they told us the problem was a broken break switch. It is currently at Salem Honda in Salem, Oregon awaiting parts. We were told that the repair may not be covered by warranty. We were also told that if we did not get the brake fluid replaced, the car warranty would be void. We now are being charged about $2000 to get some fluids replaced that are supposed to be replaced at 30,000 miles according to the Honda dealer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This is regarding the MOST FAKRA Service Cables Safety Recall which affects the display in my car. It started off with the radio cutting out but has progressed to the display not working which affects the rear camera. I believe this is extremely dangerous. I have taken my car to the Honda dealership in Burlington, Iowa FOUR times and they have not fixed the problem. It's my understanding that they have not replaced the cable harness but have only "checked the connections" and in one instance, one of the maintenance workers told my husband that they simply "hit the dash" and it started working again. This dealership has been very troublesome to work with as they simply say that the screen never malfunctions for them. I don't believe this as I encounter a problem with the display EVERY time I drive it. I contacted the Honda Customer Support almost a month ago. They followed up with my husband two weeks ago asking for receipts from the dealership which we did not have. He informed them that the dealership should have them on file although the receipts never described what they attempted to do to fix the problem. Since them, I have followed up with Honda Customer Support TWICE and am not able to receive any sort of reply from them. I am at a loss with what to do as I don't feel comfortable driving my car but have no other option to. I heavily rely on my display and its back up camera features. It is greatly increasing my risk of a crash every time I drive it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | When stopped at red light idle stop feature was active and car wouldn’t restart couldn’t turn the truck off or on all electrical components such as radio, screen and heating were on but engine wouldn’t start or stop | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | TIRES | I am writing to formally address a concerning issue I have encountered with my vehicle’s front tires. Since the initial tire swap, I have observed significant degradation in the condition of the Continental Cross Contact LX Sport 245/50 R 102H tires. Specifically, I have noticed gradual chunking of the tire tread, occurring piece by piece. Upon bringing this matter to the attention of , I was informed that this issue falls within the purview of the manufacturer’s warranty. However, upon further communication with the manufacturer, I was informed that the observed deterioration is attributed to road conditions in my locality rather than a manufacturing defect. I am deeply concerned as my SUV has only accumulated 29,000 miles, yet the tires exhibit a severe lack of tread thickness, rendering them nearly unusable. Given the discrepancy in responses between the dealer and the manufacturer, I seek clarification and resolution to this matter at the earliest convenience. I kindly request a thorough investigation into the root cause of the tire deterioration and a comprehensive assessment of its eligibility for warranty coverage. Additionally, I urge for prompt action to rectify this issue to ensure the safety and performance of my vehicle. I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to a swift resolution. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | There appear to be more than one issue. When using the auto idle feature, my car will turn off completely. Meaning the engine turns off and it is difficult to restart. I also have issues starting the car from scratch. This has occurred multiple times where the engine will not turn on but other components will. I cannot be jumped or put in neutral as the transmission won't move out of park if the engine is not on. It has been to the dealership multiple times for both issues. A software update was done to fix the auto idle issue, but it has not fixed the issue. i know longer use the auto idle feature. The most recent incident was today. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | AIR BAGS | My EMS light came on one afternoon while driving home. I took it to the dealer and they stated it was an issue with the air bag system in the passenger side of the vehicle. It would not be covered and would cost me more than $2000 to have it repaired. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While I was at a stop sign my car went from drive to neutral on its own. I tried shifting back to drive and it wouldn't work. I put it in park and then it was telling me my car had to be on. I tried pushing the engine start stop button multiple times and finally it started and went back into drive. Autostop was on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | Hello, Twice in the past two months, my car's engine has lost power while driving on the highway. First, while entering and merging onto the highway, and once while exiting the highway. Both times, the check engine light came on, pressing the gas pedal had no effect, and we could only coast to the side of the road. Both times we had to restart the vehicle. After the first incident, I went to the dealership. They "fixed" the vehicle, replacing gaskets that Honda knew might fail but didn't issue a recall (only fix if there is an issue). This obviously did not fix the issue. Thankfully we did not have an accident, but complete loss of power could have been disastrous. I now have to go back to the dealership. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The reason we took our Honda in to the Honda retailer to begin with is because the car kept alerting a message of an “emissions systems failure.” We took it in and found out that we had 3 recalls on our Honda Pilot. They fixed one recall but stated that they “needed parts” for the other recalls. It has been one month and after continuous follow ups they continue to tell us that they still haven’t gotten the parts and are behind in service. This is unacceptable. The retailer believed that we were receiving the “emissions system failure” error message is because of a fuse. They replaced the fuse but the message returned several days later. I am thinking we received the error message because of the “Passport/Pilot MOST FAKRA Service Cables” failure recall that has a possibility to cause “poor, or lost, connections intermittently between the audio display unit and the vehicle cable connector” (Manufacturer recall explanation). I am not entirely sure exactly what is wrong with our vehicle nevertheless the reason for the complaint is that the manufacturer/certified dealership has “failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall” for our vehicle “in a timely manner.” I hope this complaint will get our recalls fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Auto Engine Idle Stop issue. Engine would stop at intersections and not restart, which was a safety risk. I told the dealership this was a known defect affecting many vehicles and they said no, it was just a “bad battery.” They replaced the battery. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Twice now at red light my pilot has not started due to stop start feature. It was stuck in park / neutral . Car wouldn’t restart or go into gear. Almost everyday at least once car is hesitant to start after engine cuts out . Then dash lights like system collision isn’t working. Extremely dangerous was at a light on major interstate road. Last time it happened I. The summer had it checked out and nothing was resolved . | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The glass on the window driver side fell out of position and I couldn’t close the glass window. I would have to drive in the cold and rain exposed to the elements and hopefully my window shield in front don’t fog and cause me to have accidents. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Auto start/stop function. The auto start/stop engaged and the vehicles engine stopped while we were at a red light. When the light turned green and I released the brake the starter engaged but very slowly and failed to start the engine. I attempted to start the vehicle again but it needed to be in park, which was taking time engaged. We were blocking other vehicles from making a protected turn during this. On the 3rd attempt to restart the vehicle restarted. This has not been inspected or or reproduced. No warning lamps other than vehicle must be in park to start. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the Auto Idle feature on the vehicle intermittently failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that an unknown message was displayed on the instrument panel during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on several occasions and software updates were performed; however, the failure returned soon after the updates were completed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 30,000 |
| Nov 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My greetings. I want to share with you my experience, which, unfortunately, I encounter every day. The problem is this. The car begins to brake unpredictably while driving, even when there are no cars ahead; on an empty road it suddenly brakes. This happens at speeds between 30 mph and above.In slippery road conditions, this can lead to an accident or death. I spoke to the Honda service center about this problem, but they did not help me. The service center is located at: 9903 Bustleton Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19115. The device responsible for emergency braking is included in the price of the car, and does not work properly. The only way to protect yourself from a technically incorrectly functioning emergency braking system is to turn it off manually, using a button. To clarify, I want to say the following. Everything on my car is factory. The windshield has not been replaced, radar below logo as well. Everything is original. The mileage on the car is 10,500. The car is almost new, and at the same time dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,AIR BAGS | On October 18, 2023, at about 11 am, I was approaching to enter our driveway with my foot on the brake system when all of the sudden the car sped up at a very high speed that I was unable to control. The speed was so forceful that the car crashed unto the house resulting in a lot of damage to our house, all this happened in less than one second. I had a next door neighbor in the car with me and thankfully neither of us was hurt, I like to mention at this point that neither air bag deployed to issue protection to us. Of course the safety of both of us was put at risk. We called the insurance with no luck to send an adjuster to inspect the car and/or damage done to the house, so we had to do everything on our own. The car has not been inspected by a representative of the manufacturer nor the police. I did not see any warning nor messages on the screen until the accident happened that said "Crash has been detected" Since we were left to do everything on our own we called Caliber Collision to haul the car to their location to assess the damage done to the car. As of this writing the car is still in their possession and on Friday we received a call from them to inform us what they have found and we were told that as of that day they were sure that the car is 75% totaled. Of course the damage done to the house and car is nothing compared to the damage that it was done to me, because now every time I drive our rental car and approach the driveway I had in my mind if the car is going to do the same thing. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | AIR BAGS | My SRS System's light came on. When I went to the dealership to have it checked, they stated it was an Airbag Seat Sensor that was bad in the passenger side seat. I talked to the warranty people and they stated it was not covered under the warranty and it would cost me over $2000 to repair. I reached out to Honda and I have received nothing back from them. I don't have that kind of money. I purchased this vehicle one year ago and also added an extended warranty to it so I would have peace of mind that I would not have large out of pocket expenses. Why would Honda not stand behind this serious of a safety issue. I am afraid to take anyone with me in case we are in an accident. I also have small children with me, as I am a foster parent. Is this going to affect all of the airbags in the vehicle? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2021 Honda Pilot is subject to "rapid acceleration". We had no notification of this issue until the vehicle drove itself into our home on its own causing damage to the car and our home. Only after we did some research did we know Honda had this issue. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1. DRIVING ON A 2 LANE HIGHWAY, AT ABOUT 65 MPH, USING CRUISE CONTROL. NO VEHICLES AHEAD ON ME IN MY LANE. TRUCK IN ONCOMING LANE CAUSED DASH TO DISPLAY BRAKE WARNING. BRAKE CAME ON MOMENTARILY, WHEEL WAS IN STAIGHT FORWARD POSITION. 2. HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH CRUISE. DRIVING AT 45 MPH IN LEFT LANE, CRUISE ON, CAR AHEAD OF ME MOVES TO LEFT TURN LANE, DASH BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON AND BRAKES MOMENTARILY GO ON. FOR THIS TOOK INTO HONDA DEALER, UNABLE TO REPLICATE BY THEIR SERVICE TECH. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owned a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while her friend was driving at an undisclosed speed, with the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floorboard, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. As a result, the vehicle left the roadway, hitting a stop sign before coming to a complete stop after colliding with a concrete wall. The driver and passenger side air bags did deploy. A police report was filed, and injuries were reported. The vehicle occupants transported themselves to an area hospital for treatment. The driver was treated for a head contusion and pain in her legs and lower back; the contact was treated for chest pain. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard, pending inspection. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number 23V458000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulics), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 5,500. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed Medical attention | 5,500 |
| Oct 2023 | ENGINE | This vehicle has some major concerns. I have issues with the starter on this thing not wanting to restart the engine after a traffic stop. Battery is fine and there are no obvious issues with the car other than the fact that the starter appears to barely spin the engine over the compression stroke. I have been a Honda owner for years but unless Honda issues a fix for this issue, i am finished with them. I continually turn off the auto stop/start feature out of fear that i will have issues at a traffic intersection. Please investigate this issue and force them to recall these vehicles. BTW my vehicle only has 28k miles on it so it is unacceptable for them to keep denying the issue exists when i take it to my dealer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | See attached document from complainant | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Failure to repair recall in a timely manner. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera failed to turn on, causing the vehicle to hit another unoccupied parked vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the VIN was not included in a recall. The contact stated that the failure recurred while reversing on another occasion, and the vehicle hit another unoccupied parked vehicle. The contact stated that both incidents were fender-benders. There was no injury sustained. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V-431000 (Back Over Prevention) that she related to the failure. The dealer was contacted and an appointment was scheduled for recall repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | 25,000 |