Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  I used to love Honda! But now ... - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Johnson - February 16 - 5:57 am

  I am continually frustrated with my new Honda Pilot, and want to share a brief glimpse into my experience in case it can help someone else… Electronics: -imagine computers in the 90s … -imagine IT department back then ... turn it on/off, and if that doesnt fix it, "thats the way its supposed to work" -I have twice gone to dealer with a typed list 2-3 pages long of all the issues. Yes, most are just annoying things, like feeling a $5 radio from Walmart wouldnt have the same intermittent reception issues, or that the navigation on my phone (pick any app!) is 10x better, or that I sometimes have to turn the Pilot off/on to adjust the temperature controls, or that sometimes things just randomly stop working for a while (and then magically work again … and then not …), etc. -the dealer people are nice and mean well, and yes they have had some updates that seemed to fix much of the issues, but not all, and other issues come back after awhile -SERIOUS: situations where Pilot could have caused an accident 1) while turning onto a busy street, my vehicle 100% on its own, went into neutral and the engine revved all the way up, then a second later it was back in Drive, and fortunately the accelerator was not all the way on its own 2) car slammed on the brakes, 100% on its own (and I mean slammed, screeching tires, everything in the car going flying), stopping me ~30’ from where a car had been slowly turning off the road into a parking lot. The thought of self braking is great, but even if the turning car had stopped, worst case a small corner would have been sticking in the road and I would have slowed down/around, or even had plenty of time/room to stop. Other examples: -cup holders in front are made for Big Gulps, so every other drink container bounces around, so my whole middle console is covered with coffee/other stains -front storage is just one monster tub (old Pilots had compartments that let you organize space) -rear seats do not lean back 1/3 as much as in previous Pilots (so kids cant sleep as easily) -stainless steel running boards have rusting screws/or other fastener behind them that are constantly leaking rust out; and because “elbow grease” can remove the leaking rust from the stainless steel, its not a warranty issue (we just need to apply “elbow grease” after it rains every time) -maintenance plan is basically bring it in, and we’ll let you know what’s needed -engine always sounds like its short a few quarts of oil -at random times (independent of outside humidity or dryness) all of the windows will fog up, and I need to blast the defroster -and a laundry list of other annoyances Are there a lot of good to great things about the new Pilot – Yes, absolutely. But I have never had a vehicle that had so many issues and annoyances. I previously owned an older Honda Pilot and LOVED it! Had I known what the new Pilot is like, I would have rather kept my old model and put $40K into it!! I have looked into the lemon laws, but all of the problem above are generally intermittent, and can be rationalized away as subjective opinion (“that’s the way its supposed to work”) For what its worth!

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  Not for a 64 plus height person - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Durham - February 15 - 4:58 pm

  We test drove an EX in July and went with the Touring model b/c of the features. Who would have known the seat belts were different from the EX to the Touring. I took the car into the dealership and they fixed what they could but I was told by American Honda the seat belts were mounted differently on these 2 models- so stupid!!! Youd think since you are paying more for a Touring it would have the better features in seat belts? WRONG! The passenger seat belt is 4 inches off from the drivers side, my husbands knees hit the dash on the drivers side but not the passengers side (yes the seat is all the way back), and the seat belt barely fits him (he is a bigger guy, broader shoulder guy) on the drivers side but every other seat belt in the vehicle, he can buckle just fine and not be "locked up". His brother is 66 and doesnt fit comfortably in the car either. We are already looking to trade it in within a year. Not the comfort we test drove in July.

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  A moms take: All seems well, except for the radio - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By FirstHonda17 - February 15 - 3:16 am

  This is my first Honda. Before this I had Sienna AWD minivans (two back to back.) My kids are a little older, so I was excited to get out of the van. (Personally, if you have small kids-go with a van for a while, worry less about image and go for space and ease of use. Nothing beats sliding doors with young kids and the extra space is grand. I cant live without AWD- so the Sienna was the only choice- but my goodness the van really could go places (think hauling grain through the pasture to the horse barn....steep driveway in snow.) So, I knew I wanted an AWD model and I knew I need some space, since I was used to a van for a dozen years! Honda Pilot earned my purchase with the following: -Love the ease of the flip 3rd row space. One pull. Can do it with a grocery bag in your arms. -Love the flip up hidden space in the back- and the genius of storing the board. Makes a great grocery bag pit one day and can flip to flat storage (hauling more grain) in like 3 seconds. -3rd row is for real- I can fit three smaller 12 year olds back there and it will work for 2 growing teens with ease. -Easy to get to back row with push button flip. -Second row folds flat- or I can fold part of it flat to produce the cargo room I need. -Like the AWD. Drove home in snow last night and liked the SNOW mode. -Driver seat super comfy and adjustable. -GREAT SIGHT LINES out of vehicle. -Fun to drive. -This was my first smart key. Love the remote start, and most of all, never having to take key out of purse to unlock or lock. -Sunroof is nice. Like the light it gives the cabin. -EX-L model seemed to have enough to feel luxurious to me, without the extra bells I didnt want. -Lane watch for right lane is pretty cool. -Easy connection for blue tooth to my phone. -I love the look. I think function comes before form in cars, but so far I feel I have both. The BIG disappointment: The radio. Sounds isnt really good. But that I can live with better than the fade that happens on FM. It just gets softer and muffled out of no where and then will turn up later. It doesnt matter the station. My dealer did not warn me of this, which was disappointing. Honda claims they will fix it---when a fix is determined.

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  Happy with my new Pilot - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By JG - February 10 - 9:17 pm

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  Chronic problems with BlueTooth and Audio System - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By K Curtiss - January 20 - 10:40 am

  I purchased my Honda Pilot brand new in January. Within two weeks I started getting error messages on the audio system and the bluetooth system does not work regularly - frequently I get a message saying the the car can not find a phone to connect to - even though the BlueTooth on my phone is turned on and the phone is plugged into the car. I have spent 7 months trying to get Honda to fix this but they can not seem to figure it out - they have told me that many Pilot owners are experiencing the same issue but they do not yet have a solution. I purchased this car for the Hands Free Technology and since it is not working regularly I am in the process of asking Honda to refund my car.

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  Great Grandma Taxi - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Mary DeRose - January 10 - 1:57 pm

  I care for my two grandsons every day so I need a big, reliable car. This does more than what I need and I am thrilled with it. That said, I was VERY disappointed that it does not come with power folding side mirrors! The manual implies that it does, as does the icon on the mirror adjustment button. Since I have a three bay garage, I only have about 2" of clearance on each side! I really was (am) bummed about this. I manually fold in the left mirror when I pull in to give myself a few more inches. (Yes, I think Honda should remedy this.) The styling is awesome and the interior is designed beautifully. It has great acceleration, braking and handling. I went from a BMW 3 series to this car so I care about quality and handling. It is classy looking and I think I will have this car for a long, long time.

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  Serious transmission trouble. - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Ed Kolb - December 25 - 5:39 pm

  Our family purchased a 2016 Honda Pilot Elite based on Hondas good reputation and experience weve had with other Honda vehicles. Unfortunately the 2016 Honda Pilot Elite, which comes with the 9 speed transmission, has serious transmission problems . We travel a lot and after owning the vehicle for 1 1/2 years already have 69 thousand miles on our Honda Pilot Elite. Problems with the transmission started at 53 thousand miles while driving on the highway at which time the vehicles transmission went out unable to shift out of the gear it was in. Multiple display warning lights came on causing us to drop the car off at a Honda dealership out of town while on vacation. The dealership recognized the transmission issue which reset itself after the car was parked in their shop for several hours. Diagnostic testing failed to reveal any defects. After picking up our vehicle which appeared to be functioning normally, the same problems started againg at 69 thousand miles. After bringing our vehicle in to the local Honda dealership additional tests were done. The transmission problem was again recognized by the Honda Service department, however no diagnosis was able to be made after updating software, changing transmission fluid and consulting directly with Honda Corporate. We were lead to deal with Honda Corporate regarding our transmission issue as the vehicles transmission was now no longer under warranty (ending at 60 thousand miles). Although the initial transmission issue occurred at 53 thousand miles Honda has refused to cover the cost of our transmission. The customer service at Honda Corporate was not what we expected from a reputable company such as Honda. Our Honda has been in the shop for 1 1/2 weeks now without having any work done on it since Honda will not agree to cover our transmission problem. Since the Honda dealership was unable to diagnose the transmission problem while under warranty, they felt justified in passing the bill to us, the Honda customer. We followed the Honda maintenance schedule and brought the vehicle in when the service lights presented themselves on our display. It is apparently recommended that the Honda Pilot undergo transmission fluid changes every 30 thousand miles costing approximately $250 each service. Our Honda Pilot was at the Honda dealership at 32K and 45K miles and thereafter, it was never recommended to us to change the transmission fluid. Honda Corporate appeared to use this information against us to hold us responsible to pay for the failed transmission. A district manager from Honda made a decision that wed be responsible for $750 of the repair while Honda would cover the rest of the $6200 transmission. Although better than paying for a new transmission, this problem occurred while under warranty and Honda is not living up to their promise or reputation. The district manager who is responsible for deciding how much the Honda customer is responsible for paying apparently will not speak directly to the Honda customer, interesting to us. We have already incurred the cost of a rental car while on vacation due to this problem and will be without our Honda Pilot for at least 2 1/2 weeks for the transmission repair not including the number of hours dealing with various customer service representatives getting to the point we are at now waiting for our transmission repair. We are disappointed with Hondas handling of our transmission problem which will inevitably affect many more Honda owners in the future as most drivers of these vehicles have yet to place as many miles on the 2016 Honda Pilot as we have.

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  Transmission issues and temperature issues - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By frustratedminnesotan - November 27 - 2:30 am

  I purchased my 2016 Honda Pilot in September 2015 and did not notice transmission issues or temperature issues at first but they have steadily increased over the months. I now have owned it for almost 5 months and have brought it in to be serviced twice due to transmission and temperature gauge issues. I am so disappointed with the lack of support from Honda regarding their transmission issues. My Pilot does not accelerate properly, in fact I have to push hard on the pedal for it to accelerate and it shifts at the incorrect times and causes me major issues when driving up hill or on the interstate. My local Honda dealer had a tech drive it and he said he felt the issue but could not fix it since the "computer" found no issue with the transmission. That is completely unacceptable. I am also having issues with my Pilot not properly warming up on cooler days and the heated seats are a joke. The heated seats do not warm up properly and the temperature is no different for the Low or High setting. Again, this was reviewed by my local Honda dealer but was told once again that they could not fix it because the "computer" could not find anything wrong. Again, unacceptable. I now have another appointment scheduled next week to have my cruise control fixed since that has now stopped working as well. I plan to turn in my Pilot next month if all of my issues cannot be resolved.

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  The best SUV! - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Justin - November 11 - 11:47 am

  I had a 2007 Pilot, with 200,000 miles. And it was great but I wanted something newer. Im glad I made it the new Pilot! It is seriously the best SUV after comparing other similar ones. The safety is amazing. Comfort is great, the seats are the best. I love the LEDs in the front and the back. Also, its an awesome looking SUV. I think its the best looking one. If you are looking for an SUV with great technology, safety, comfort, and all around luxury, I highly suggest that you make it the Pilot. I fogot to mention the gas mileage, I get an average of 26 to 27 mpg. Which is incredible for this SUV. GREAT VAN!!!

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  2016 Touring Review- The Ugly, the Bad & the Good. - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Zman - November 1 - 1:33 am

  Hi, I had an older Mercury villager that still ran great but lacked the looks. Wife and kids wanted bling bling with Nav, DVD, AWD etc. We test drove the 2016 pilot. I drove an MDX a few times which is owned by a friend. That will be my benchmark. Well, The Honda Sensing package was the ONLY reason I was attracted to the 16 Pilot. The shape and other changes in 16 seemed frivolous to me. I wanted a SUV that works great & safe in Chicagos winters. I wanted to get the EX with sensing. Wife wanted leather (EXL), kids wanted the DVD, friends chimed in and we were looking at the Touring. A south side Chicago dealer quoted 2k below list on the phone. We drove 2 hours in traffic to get it. When we were ready to buy, he raised the price by $1799. When I asked he said there were some useless dealer added options (paint stripes and door molding..). I came home and complained to Honda USA Inc about the false advertisement. They said we hope you buy a Pilot from another dealer. That bothered me a bit that Honda Inc. didnt care about that dealer. The Touring MSRP is 43700. Chicago Tax of 10% and extended warranty put it closer to 50k. I still have a sticker remorse heartburn when I think of the price. This thing was hard to get. Lot of dealers added unnecessary options that bump the price higher and most were selling at the MSRP. A dealer nearby quoted 42k (1700 below list) and we decided to buy it. I came to know later that he made up some money on the overpriced ext warranty. Ahhh car dealers. I have been driving the touring now and these are my observations. THE UGLY: The things that I hate was that even Touring does not have blind spot monitoring and does not have parking sensors on the front bumper. Only on the rear bumpers. No blind spot monitoring on a 2016 SUV that people have to shell out close to 50K? You have to go to Elite for that. Come on Honda - Elite is your greedy option. They should have added the blind spot and the front bumper sensors on lower models. Even Subarus have blind spot detection. There is a camera on the passenger side mirror and not on the drivers side. In case it is counter intuitive to look at the right (console) while you want to go to the left lane, how come the MDX has cameras on both the sides? THE BAD: The steering wheel is light and I do not get a feeling that I am driving such a big SUV. Maybe I will get used to the steering. Navigation: I think google maps on the phone are much better, especially when you want to search. The remote start is disappointing. I have to park a bit away at my work and the range is not enough. There is no indicator on the remote to indicate if the car started or not. My old car has a 2 way remote start. Some times it remote starts and other times it wont. Honda saved $50 by making a 1 way remote start. Great Savings Honda;) Noise : We had a storm recently and it was windy. When I drove, the noise was very loud. Could have been better noise insulated. SNOW...ahh driving in snow. While moving the car from the parking spot, the rear parking sensors beeped. Maybe the bumper sensors think snow is an obstruction. The sensors beeped even when I wiped clean the sensors during snow. I was driving about 45 MPH on a highway during snow. There was no vehicle in front on me. Guess what? The auto brake mitigation was activated for a few seconds and the vehicle slowed down from 45 to about 30 MPH. I was able to push the gas and continue normally. It kinda bothered me that it incorrectly detected snow as an obstruction. What if it stops in the middle of the highway? Hope the ones behind you have good insurance. The sound is OK. They should have had a better sound system. FM radio isnt great. The leather seemed OK compared to the leather on the MDX. Mats - Cant they use weathertech like mats? Lane watch - It has its own mind when there is snow on the roads or if the roads are dirty (winter). I guess the lines are not clear enough for the camera. Warranty: For the price they should have at-least 4 year warranty like some other brands. There are too many electronics and you will be forced to purchase extended warranty. The good: Spacious, enough space in the 3rd row. AWD is good. Drives good. Looks good. Handles well. USB!!! Blue Ray DVD player. My wife thinks it is easy to drive even though it is big. The cameras help. Honda Sensing features are very useful. Bluetooth is good. Phone integration is good and fast. 2 drivers seat settings. auto lights. Fog lights. LEDs. Good family car. Mileage is decent. Regular gas. Heated seats. Lot of options on the steering wheel. Keyless start......and more Load it up and go places!