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 electrical system, unknown or other, 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 electrical system, unknown or other, 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?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 62
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 49
ENGINE 47
AIR BAGS 24
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 20
VISIBILITY/WIPER 17
TIRES 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 12
SERVICE BRAKES 12
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 11
403 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Wife was driving car and it stalled when slowing down for a red light. No check engine light or dash warning notices. Car then displayed instructions to restart the car Tried to restart 4 or 5 times. Finally started. We were lucky she was not on a highway driving at highway speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission failed and car would no longer get into gears. It started when I tried accelerating on the highway and heard a whine The car would not accelerate. I tried again and this time it accelerated just fine. Made it home and the next day the car would turn on but not go into gears. The front panel showed warning of “Transmission Failed”, and “Engine trouble”. The dealership diagnosed that I needed a new transmission for $9,000! The previous day the car was working fine until and after that “whine” noise. I have not paid for repairs yet. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | AIR BAGS | UNKNOWN | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Component inspected by Honda dealer It’s the forward camera it has already malfunctioned and no longer works I only have 62,000 miles on my pilot. This seems excessive there is definitely a defect in these vehicles. The incident is the warning lights that came up and no longer worked | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ENGINE | While stopped at a traffic light the “Auto Stop” engine shut off feature engaged. When releasing the brake, the vehicle completely shut down, all dash lights came on as did the transmission mode lights. Upon trying to restart with the start button, prompts came up to place the vehicle in park. Trans select button did not work. Pressed the Start button several more times. At one time all dash lights went off, except for the battery light. Brake pedal went all the way down to the floor. Opened the drivers door and then tried the start button one more time with the AutoStart button switched off after dash lights returned. Vehicle started after that. Blocked traffic for one traffic light sequence. Occurred on Route 30 and Schoolhouse Road; New Lenox IL on 10/25/25. Attempted to restart several times afterward and vehicle restarted. Trying to drive with “autostart” feature manually turned off from now on, if I remember. Scheduled checkup @ dealer 10/29/25. Honda of Joliet Vehicle has slightly over 40k miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ENGINE | Per the mechanic the rod bearing broke into the engine and caused sudden engine failure. I was on a highway when this occured, thankfully I was already in the right lane and right before an exit to which I took and secured the vehicle in a safe location. It was extremely dangerous location for this to occur and thankfully no one was right behind me. There were no warnings or messages prior to the incident. It was just routinely serviced within the past month. I heard a loud clank, the engine light started flashing, and the car started to slow down, there was knocking sounds in the engine. We had it towed to D and M service center then moved to Gillman Honda service center. It was confirmed by two different shops, D and M service center at 1029 Pat Booker Rd, Universal City, TX 78148 and Gillman Honda dealership at 16044 I-35 N Selma, TX 78154 that the rod bearing cracked into the engine and metal shavings were identified in the engine oil. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Car is slow to start or doesn't start at all, particularly after frequent engine stops/starts or when engine has idled for a period of time. Battery has been replaced. Symptom comes and goes, but seems to get worse with frequent engine stops/starts (i.e., driving to different locations with short stays at each, or with the automatic engine shut off) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the rearview camera became inoperable. The contact stated that the rearview camera image was blank. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 55,000 |
| Oct 2025 | ENGINE | After stopping at a traffic light or stop sign the car's auto-stop/restart feature has failed multiple times to restart the engine. This has left the car stalled at a light and needing to manually place the car in park, turn off the electrical, then attempt to restart the vehicle. The problem started about 4 months ago and has been starting to happen more frequently. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | The front camera which controls all of the safety features went out! 1 week ago. It has been confirmed and I am now having to pay almost $2700.00 to have it fixed. I am really upset to see how many issues this year of the car has. And the fact that Honda has known about it since 2019 and did nothing to fix them. There are 318 complaints on this car and I’m guessing over half of them have to do with the front camera. It is showing 5 safety codes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My Honda Pilot experiences a serious safety issue with the Auto Idle Stop feature. When the system engages at a stop (such as a red light), the vehicle sometimes fails to restart, leaving me stalled in traffic. This creates a dangerous situation for myself and other drivers. The problem appears to be related to the Auto Idle Stop system and/or the auxiliary battery. Many other Honda owners are reporting similar issues, which suggests this may be a widespread defect that needs investigation. I just dropped the car at Honda dealership for further inspection | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | POWER TRAIN | My 2021 Honda Pilot AWD (40,200 miles) shifting from Drive to Neutral at intersections by itself, then Engine dies. It happened multiple times. If you need more information, pls contact me at [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 50 MPH, the engine seized, and the functions on the vehicle became inoperable. After waiting for an hour, the vehicle restarted. The contact was unaware if there were any warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while the contact's wife was driving 30 MPH, the engine seized. No warning lights were illuminated. After waiting for a long while, the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Honda of Whittier; however, no cause for the failure was found. The dealer restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,000 |
| Sep 2025 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the infotainment system had turned off unintendedly while driving. Additionally, the rearview camera image was black while reversing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the repair could not be covered under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V431000 (Back Over Prevention), which was previously performed on the vehicle. The contact stated that the recall repair failed to correct the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 48,000 |
| Sep 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Vehicle: 2021 Honda Pilot VIN: [XXX] Complaint: My 2021 Honda Pilot continues to have the same issues described in NHTSA Recall 23V-431 (backup camera / infotainment coaxial cable defect). The recall was marked “completed” about two years ago, but the safety problem persists. Symptoms include: •Infotainment screen going black •“Network communication lost” error messages •Backup camera flickering or failing to display Because the backup camera is federally required under FMVSS 111, my vehicle is not compliant with safety standards. The dealership told me that since the recall was already performed, I would now have to pay out of pocket for further repairs. This means the original recall remedy either failed or was not effective. I am filing this complaint because Honda and its dealership are refusing to correct an unresolved safety defect, leaving my vehicle unsafe to operate. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ENGINE | when stopped at a stop light the engine idle kills the engine and want start back up causing traffic backups...have to go through process to setting back to park and trying to start which does not happen quickly leaving people behind you frustrated and honking. This needs to have an option to disable it if you don't want that function as it's very frustrating and dangerous. Please get honda to fix issue. Thanks for your help. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | On the afternoon of Friday, August 29, 2025 while driving the Honda Pilot on a US Highway, the "Check Engine" light came on and the vehicle immediately experience a decrease in speed. Top speed on the highway suddenly became approximately 25 MPH and the Pilot became sluggish and was shaking. We had to drive with the vehicle's "flashing hazard lights" on due to the low speed on the 55 MPH highway speeds. Multiple alerts appeared on the vehicle information display panel. I was just able to get the vehicle home. Due to the Labor Day Holiday, we were not able to get the vehicle scheduled to go into the shop until the Tuesday following the Monday Labor Day holiday. It was very difficult to get the Pilot to start on the Monday "Labor Day" to drive to the automobile shop for them to look at it the next morning (Tuesday, September 02, 2025). Once it did start, it again displayed multiple alerts on the vehicle information display panel behind the steering wheel. Speed was again limited to a maximum of 25 MPH. While driving to the shop (less than 5 miles away), the engine stopped completely and the car shifted out of the "Drive" mode and switched into Neutral without any action of the driver to do so. We had to coast into a nearby parking lot to get the vehicle out of the active city road. All attempts to restart the vehicle in the lot failed. We had to call for a tow truck with a flat bed to take the AWD Pilot to the local shop. While in the shop the codes were diagnosed by the attached "Full Diagnostic Report" via "TOPDON". The shop owner called us saying that the fuel pump had failed and that there was an active NHTSA recall for this issue with Pilots. We called the local Honda Service Department and they stated that our VIN number was outside of the current recall for the same Fuel Pump issue. We feel that the VIN coverage for the already Active Recall for the Honda Pilots should be expanded to include our VIN for the same reasons as the Active Recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ENGINE | AFTER I had the softwear update! When idle at stoplight, auto idle feature kicked on. When light turn green and I pushed gas, car shut off entirely. This happened on multiple occasions. While waiting for an appointment to get this issue looked at, my car failed to start after being parked. It would not start after a jump from another vehicle. The tow truck driver was able to bet it jumped using a battery pack case. At the dealership, battery failed load test. Waiting to see if starter needs to be replaced and valves adjusted under extended warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | rearview camera images ot appear on the dashboard screen | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When using Apple CarPlay (wired or wireless), audio intermittently skips and stutters like a skipping CD or static AM radio. This only occurs on CarPlay, not Bluetooth. The skipping can make navigation prompts and hands-free calls unintelligible. Bluetooth audio works fine. Concern: The infotainment/head unit system may be part of the known MOST bus / FAKRA connector issue documented in Honda TSB A20-058 (which covers 2019-21 Pilot/Passport). Although my VIN shows no recalls, the behavior suggests a communication defect in the infotainment system. Safety relevance: This impacts driver attention and safety, since distorted CarPlay audio interferes with navigation directions, voice calls, and Siri prompts. It forces the driver to look down at the phone more frequently, which increases distraction. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I have two issues. First issue is the car will hit an intermediately not start once shut off and will take a few times of making sure the car is completely shut off opening your doors letting it power down before being able to restart. The next issue is the forward collision notification will randomly beep at every car that goes by specifically white cars. And also the adaptive cruise control brakes a little bit harder than expected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags). The local dealer was contacted regarding the recall and confirmed that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The contact had not experienced a failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS | Dash warning lights come on for Lane keeping assist, collision mitigation, ACC, brake system, auto high beam. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Car does not restart after auto start stop is engaged, car stalls at intersections, causing dangerous conditions. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | My 2021 Honda Pilot SE has developed a failure of the forward-facing Multipurpose Camera Unit (mounted behind the rearview mirror). A scan with a professional tool confirmed Diagnostic Trouble Code U3000-49 – “Multipurpose Camera Unit Internal Electronic Failure.” When this occurs, the vehicle immediately displays multiple warning lights at every startup: Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keeping Assist (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Automatic High-Beam/Dimming headlights. In addition, the dashboard shows a “brake system failure” message, although the brakes continue to function normally. This single camera failure disables all of Honda’s Honda Sensing crash-avoidance features, leaving the driver without forward collision prevention or lane-keeping systems. The failure is persistent, and the DTC remains “Current” after clearing. I took the vehicle to a Honda dealer, but because the car is out of warranty they refused to perform diagnosis or provide a repair estimate, essentially telling me it was my responsibility to resolve. This problem is widely reported by owners of Pilots, Odysseys, CR-Vs, Accords, and Passports, all showing the same U3000-49 code and symptoms. Independent shops confirm they often see these failures, and forums show repeated cases of owners paying high out-of-pocket costs, sometimes with parts on back-order. Honda has recalled less serious issues, such as rearview camera display faults, while this defect disables forward collision prevention and lane safety systems—far more critical to protection. Other automakers (Toyota, GM, Subaru) have recalled forward cameras and radar modules under similar conditions. This is a major safety defect that removes federally promoted crash-avoidance systems with no fallback. I urge NHTSA to investigate and require Honda to issue a recall at manufacturer expense, and please advise how long the process may take, as my vehicle is less safe to drive | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |