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 2025 | ENGINE | My Honda's engine start-stop system isn't restarting at stop lights. Very frightening when the light turns green and I can’t go anywhere. I have to turn off the car and restart. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On multiple occasions after being stopped at a red light and the engine turns off it failed to restart. After shutting the car completely off and attempting to restart after a few tries it was able to restart however this is an ongoing issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | LANE DEPARTURE | It is a horrible system that makes driving with it on more unsafe. It never knows where the lanes actually are and makes adjustments that take you out of the lane all the time. It's unusable and unsafe | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | The car randomly fails to start up again after stopping it during an auto start auto stop cycle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | While stopped on a red light the auto idle engine restart was engaged, when I released my brakes the vehicle did not restart and went into neutral stalling the vehicle.. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While driving the screen with the Speedometer and essential information goes blank for a few seconds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Headlights were replaced under the 3yr/36k mile warranty just prior to the 3 yr mark due to the clear coat peeling and headlights showing excessive wear and scratching. 6 months after replacement, the replaced headlights are showing the same signs of clear coat peeling and excessive wear and scratching, far sooner than the original 3 yr mark. The headlight condition continues to deteriorate and will eventually need replacement or refurbishment. Now, the Honda emblem on the front, which is covered in clear plastic since it houses anti-collision components, is showing the same signs of wear. This seems premature considering the vehicle was purchased in 2021 and will pose a safety risk soon. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The vehicle will provide "BRAKE" warnings on the dash display or display the warning and auto-brake when on a 2 lane road, with only a painted divided line, when on a curve and an oncoming vehicle is coming wards my vehicle, but there is no apparent oncoming collision with the oncoming vehicle and with no vehicle in front of me. This has been intermittent and ongoing since vehicle purchase. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | All safety/collision prevention systems related to camera have become inoperative. Vehicle will not lane keep assist, emergency brake, or notify of possible collisions. Problem occurs every time vehicle is turned on | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | After having recall work done on the vehicle, the recalled driver side mirror is now not able to be to view roadway safely. The mirror is projecting duplicate images in a single lane and is impossible to view out of. In the photo you can see how the newly installed Honda side mirror is distorted. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Starter bad | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | 1. 2020-22 Multi-Model Seat Weight Sensor Safety Recall NHTSA Recall Number: 24V-064; MFR Campaign ID: OHB; Campaign Description: 2020-22 Multi-Model Seat Weight Sensor Safety Recall; Recall Date: 02/01/2024. 2. I have contacted the Dealership on several occasions and Honda Motor Car Corporation and have been told that a. The replacement part isn't available. b. Unless there is an incident or there has been a diagnostic I have to wait. 3. This is a consumer safety issue, since 02/01/2024, why as a consumer do I have to wait until someone is hurt, injured or killed to have this sensor replaced. When is Honda Motor Car Corporation to be held accountable to provide the required part to have the Seat Weight Sensor replaced? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The auto idle-stop feature in my Honda Pilot prevented from starting the engine again. It is available for inspection upon request. I was at the stop light with the idle-stop feature enabled and when it was time for me to start driving again, the car would not start. The car turned off completely and a lot of the lights including the battery light turned on and a message stating to bring the key fob close to the start button came on. The battery has been changed within a year since I mentioned this problem to the dealership when I brought it in for an oil change. They determined that they had to change the battery. Clearly this did not solve the issue. When this happened today, I was driving on [XXX] which is a highway with a lot of traffic. Since I was unable to move forward, I backed up the traffic coming behind me. The problem has not been produced or confirmed by the dealer since this happened today. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer even though I have brought it up to their attention, police, or insurance representatives. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure have appeared. This is the first time that the car has completely failed to re-start. In the past, it has struggled to start, but it makes it happen. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | The side curtain airbags deployed while I was sitting in the passenger's side of the car looking into the glove compartment for about ten minutes with the car being completely off and parked in the driveway. The Ignition was off and there was glitching and clicking sounds seconds before the airbags deployed. This could have happened at any point while driving on the street or the freeway. It could have caused an accident and could have killed me if it happened elsewhere. It could have been the passenger's side airbag that deployed and I could have been seriously injured. This incident happened on a Sunday, so I had the car towed to Honda the following day. Honda's response after investigating: "We contacted American Honda Technical Support. Our American Honda District Rep informed us to have the customer contact her insurance provider for repairs." Aside from this official response, I was told that they investigated what they could and found no reason as to why the airbags would have deployed. I was told I had two options. Pay for repair with them or report it to the insurance. I stated that the release of the vehicle was a liability if I decided to not pay for repairs with Honda. After some dialogue, they helped with a loaner car and did not release the car to me. There were no warning lights or messages on the dash whatsoever. About a month prior to this incident, the car started alarming randomly. The random alarming would stop when disconnecting the hood latch sensor. I took the car in for a diagnosis and Honda reported that the cause of the alarm was the keyless access unit. The car (screen and dash) would still glitch after the hood latch sensor was disconnected. My hope is that Honda & American Honda admit responsibility & provide a solution not only for me but for all Honda Pilot owners that may be in danger. Investigating should be a priority, but even if repairs are done to my vehicle, I no longer feel safe driving a my vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My push start is not starting the car. Then while driving the car will shut off on parkway, at a light and won't start. This has been going on since I purchased the vehicle 9/23 I have warranty and th auto dealership keep acting like they fixed it yet the haven't. This is the most dangerous issue. We can die getting hit from behind or the car can catch fire keep pushing start button and not turning on | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | SEATS | I would like to present an issue with the third row seat headrest in my 2021 Honda Pilot. After stowing the third row seat to utilize the rear storage area the third row driver side head rest on the seat would not return to the upright position. After a few attempts to fold the seat/reset the position of the seat and still the headrest not folding up - took to dealership and upon their inspection determined the seat folding mechanism (which also folds the headrest) needed to be replaced. This was not covered by the factory warranty nor the extended warranty company which the dealership uses. As such, the mechanism needed to be replaced by the dealership (the third row in my vehicle is used everyday for occupants). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | On two occasions my car has stalled out and would not start. The engine turns over but it seems to not be getting fuel. There is still a quarter of a tank of gas in the car. After adding additional fuel and clearing the code P0087. The car runs. I brought the car to the dealership but they said there were no codes and there is nothing they can do. There are recalls for fuel related problems on Honda Pilots 2015-2020 this was issued 12/17/2023. There was a more recent recall on Honda Pilots 2022-2025 for fuel related problems on 1/22/2025. My Pilot is a 2021 the only Pilot not recalled in the past 10 years for fuel related issues. Please recall the 2021 Pilot. I tried reaching out to American Honda and they were no help. They told me they do the recalls and to reach out to you. Please help I am afraid the car will stall out at high speeds and cause harm to me and my family | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and inquired if there was air bag warning light illuminated. The dealer confirmed that the warning light was not illuminated and informed that parts would not be available until December 2025. The contact called another dealer, Honda of Annapolis (1736 West St, Annapolis, MD 21401); who confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and opened a case. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS,ENGINE | I have had numerous issues with the car stalling while in idle- it will shut off but still display all the warning lights on the dash. It would require the car engine to be restarted. Has happened at stop signs, stop lights, carpool lights. This has happened at least 10 times over 3.5 years. Last week I had a similar issue but this time it was much scarier- it did that same shut off but completely shut off the engine. All systems were black and the start button did not trigger a response for at least a minute. Once it finally restarted it displayed a “lost power” message on the screen. More similar issues to report. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | SEATS | Third row seat headrest on passenger side will not stay up, so actually does make the seat unusable. Numberous complaints have been posted on line as a manufacturing defect, and a service bulletin was issued. I do not think it has ever worked I purchased the car in March of 24 with only 27,000 miles still under Honda Warranty. Discovered the issue when trying to use the third row seat. Dealer said there are no parts to fix it. Another dealer said they can fix it $650.00. Should not be responsible for paying for this to be fixed. On line states there is a recall number Y7Y. Honda Customer Service can not find anything. I bought a Honda because it is a Honda. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This issue has to do with the Auto Engine Idle Shut Off feature. While the issue does not happen all the time, but when it starts to happen, I have to turn the Auto Engine Idle Shut Off feature off. I have not found a way to reproduce the issue on demand, which is why I have not taken the vehicle into Honda. It would be a waste of time and money. I bought the vehicle used and the battery was new when we bought it. The first time it happened, we were traveling to the beach. We had already driven about 1.5 hours on the interstate without stopping and then we got into a lot of stop and go traffic due to an accident. The Engine would cut off like normal after coming to a complete stop and having my foot on the break. When I took my foot off of the break, the engine sounded like the vehicle was trying to start, but was sluggish. It sounded like it was a bad battery issue. I had to place the vehicle in park, then press the start/stop button to turn the vehicle off with my foot on the brake, then press the start/stop button to start the vehicle. The vehicle did not have any issues starting. After a few times of this, I replaced the battery even though Advanced Auto Parts said it tested fine. I did not have the issue for 4 or 5 months after that. Then it started happening on occasion again. I have taken it back to Advanced Auto Parts and the battery tested fine. Another scenario was just today where I had been driving for about an hour on the interstate. I got off the interstate and shortly after getting off the interstate I was stopped at traffic light. The Auto Engine Idle Shut Off feature activated. When the light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and the vehicle would not even attempt to start and the shifter changed to neutral automatically. I tried to start the car and it would not even start. I had to put the vehicle into Park, then I was able to start the vehicle without any issues. I plan to take the vehicle in to test the battery, but have not yet. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | my vehicle had died on the road, i had it towed to the local independent shop that does most of my repairs needed on our vehicles, it was diagnosed with a fuel pump issue, the shop checked for recalls on our 2021 Honda pilot and showed no recalls, i had them replace the fuel pump and repaired the issue, i kept possession of the old fuel pump and when i got the car home and started looking into the issues we were having, i found that there was a fuel pump recall on certain 2021 Honda pilots but our vin # was not listed in that recall, i searched the NHTSA web site and found the recall report on the fuel pumps that were affected and showed all the part numbers associated with that recall, (part 573 safety recall report 23V-858) the fuel pump that was in our Honda had one of the recalled fuel pumps in it,(part #17708-Tz5-A11-M1). Honda will not help with this issue because our vin# was not listed or included in the recall. not sure what the next step is other than filing a complaint here. | Crash: No Fire: No | 53,591 |