Problems · NHTSA complaints
2025 Honda Pilot problems
Owners filed 216 complaints about the 2025 Honda Pilot with NHTSA between Jun 2024 and Oct 2026. The most-cited component is forward collision avoidance (56).
Complaints
216
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
11
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
11
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
Complaints by component
One complaint can cite several components
- Forward collision avoidance56
- Electrical system45
- Steering44
- Engine33
- Service brakes31
- Power train23
- Lane departure16
- Vehicle speed control15
- Seat belts12
- Fuel/propulsion system12
- Visibility/wiper11
- Air bags6
- Back over prevention5
- Structure4
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
When complaints were filed
Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
19
86
111
View as table
| Model year | Complaints filed per calendar year |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 19 |
| 2025 | 86 |
| 2026 | 111 |
Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.
Top problems in owners’ words
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
Forward collision avoidance
56 reports4 crashes
“While I am driving my vehicle, it suddenly applies the brakes with force and the "BRAKE" dash light appears. This began in Feb 2026 after several months of driving on the same road with no issues. I am at risk of being in a rear end collision if the person behind me is following closely and my car suddenly applies the brakes with force. The dealer cannot reproduce the problem, but it is happening on the same road and they have not tested the vehicle on this road. I do have a video of it happening and the dealership has a copy. We have taken it to the dealership 3 times and I have a lengthy record of each occurrence. The problem seems to be happening more often as time goes on. The dealership keeps telling us they can't find anything wrong - even though they now have the incident on video.”
Electrical system
45 reports1 crash
“My 2025 Honda Pilot TrailSport has lost electric power steering assist twice. First failure, about 6,000 miles: the vehicle lost power steering while driving on pavement in normal road use, with no water or off-road driving involved. The Honda dealer replaced the steering rack under warranty. Second failure, about 24,000 miles: a few days after the vehicle was driven through shallow puddles on a trail at Broken Bow Lake, OK (about 5 inches deep, below the wheel rims, about 5 mph), it lost power steering assist while being driven to work on public roads in Lawton, OK. The dealer attributed the failure to water and mud entering the power steering electrical connector/wiring and denied warranty coverage. A Honda field representative upheld the denial and told me to file an insurance claim. This failure is in the same area the dealer worked on during the first rack replacement. The failed parts are at the dealer. The steering system's electrical connections should be sealed against ordinary road splash, especially on the TrailSport, which Honda markets as its most rugged and off-road capable SUV. Here, shallow water led to a loss of steering assist days later, in…”
Steering
44 reports
“While driving to work my back passenger tire bumped a shallow pothole. After the bump, several warnings came on the screen about ABS, Power Steering, automatic bright headlight control and a couple of others. The power steering was completely out. I turned my car off and restarted my car. This restored the power steering, but there was a lane assist error and one other error. I turned around to head home and the sensors went away as if they were reset. When the vehicle was taken to the dealer it did not display that any alerts had been registered on the car and they were not able to duplicate the problem after driving the car for 50 miles. I took the car back home after getting the tires aligned. 2 weeks later the same thing happened again.”
Engine
33 reports
“A recent drive on the expressway with my two young children turned into a nightmare when my vehicle's transmission failed without warning. Traveling at 65 mph, I was faced with a huge risk to our safety. Sadly, this was not the first time I've experienced problems with this vehicle. The steering wheel has locked up on me multiple times. I've lost count, but it's happened at the least 7 times – and I've been living with the constant fear of being involved in an accident. I've previously tried to address these issues through the lemon law, but unfortunately, I haven't seen any resolution yet.”
Service brakes
31 reports7 crashes
“The automatic breaking sensor put on my brakes at random times. It happens when going over a small rise in the road and also happened on a 2 Lane road when a semi truck was coming the opposite direction totally within its lane and the sensor for some reason thought maybe the vehicle was in my lane. This caused a sudden breaking and could’ve caused an accident by either me reacting to that breaking or by Vehicle following me hitting my car. This has happened multiple times and is very disconcerting. I took it to the dealer, but they could not find anything wrong with the car.”
Power train
23 reports
“My car would rev without increasing speed and would jerk with braking and acceleration. The honda technician diagnosed a transmission problem called a slip flare and the transmission is being replaced under warranty at 28k miles. I do not believe this caused a safety issue because I caught it early but it took the dealership a couple days to reproduce the issue. There were no warning lights or error codes alerting an issue.”
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.