Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Great Ride; Unfriendly Electonics User Interface - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Kenneth Smith - September 25 - 1:52 am

  I really like the new design and ride of the vehicle, but I have to say, the center electronics stack has a very "user unfriendly" interface. I have owned many vehicles over the past 15 years (Infinity, Acura, BMW to name a few) and all have far superior electronics packages. I am very disappointed in how unresponsive the the touch screen is and how inaccurate the nav system can be. Many well established main stream restaurants do not show up in the database. The voice activation interface is almost useless. You must go through layers of screens to make a call or to utilize the nav system. I have returned to the dealership on two different occasions to have a total of four sales reps agree with me that the electronics interface leaves a lot to be desired. It is impossible to control the rear entertainment system from the touch screen in terms of starting a DVD for a child. I have read several reviews and blogs critical of the design and ergonomics of the electronics user interface. Not sure why Honda would install such a rudimentary system in a $50,000 Pilot Elite???

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  Mediocre at best - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Car Fan - September 2 - 11:49 pm

  It does everything, but not great. To start, the third row is completely unsuitable for three people, even if they are younger kids. Two at best. Interior material is cheap - to the touch as well as sight. It will scratch VERY easily. The Garmin GPS system absolutely sucks! Most of the time, for the first two-three minutes, it has no clue where the car is. This happens to be the most critical period of driving if you are away from home and dont know your surroundings. Audio controls are the most confusing I have ever seen in a Honda! The engine seems to be confused on which gear to pick, and the amount of thrust to apply. Very hesitant. In the first two three months, it worked fine, but then started having a lag - very noticeable - in acceleration. Overall, very disappointed with our decision to buy the new Pilot. Ended up trading it in for a different vehicle after 8 months of ownership.

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  Transmission issue at 13k Miles for Elite Pilot!! - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Praveen Madan - August 25 - 7:42 pm

  Just have ~ 13k miles and am having same transmission issues on 9 speed as everyone else. last week dropped the car at the dealer and today morning got the news that transmission and other oils have mixed (no reason given) they are going to change the entire transmission. This is really Hondas failure as its high end car with major transmission issue for which we have all paid ~ 50 grand. Even if they change the entire transmission, the car has lost its value who is going to pay for that?I have lost confidence of owing a Honda (have been driving accord and now pilot for last 11 years!!) Honda should recall this [non-permissible content removed]and pay us back- can be all do something about it? This is causing stress...

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  Not What I Paid For - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Stephanie - July 26 - 3:04 am

  I bought the 2016 Elite in December and right off we had transmission problems. Lots of jerking at low speeds. The dealer flushed the transmission and that went away...for right now. My idle stop stopped working also and dealer said it was fixed..2 days later it stopped working. A week after the idle stop was "fixed" my check engine light comes on. Dealer said it was probably just a loose gas cap. They obviously dont know a thing about their vehicles. The pilot doesnt come with a gas cap. So, now the dealer has it for idle stop not working, engine light, remote start-sometimes it will start, sometimes it wont. If it does remote start then the seat warmers dont work. You have to shut the engine off and restart then they will work. Ive owned 4 other Pilots and Ive never had a problem. I will be contacting Honda Corporation today. Hopefully this will be resolved.

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  Not impressed - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Michele - May 28 - 7:26 am

  Poor service. My 2016 Pilot is in for the 3rd time due to a poor seal on the rear hatch allowing water in the vehicle when I go through a touch free car wash, the top roof rail blows off in car washes and the drivers window rattles. The 3rd time in to get fixed and they offer me a comparable loaner (a bottom of the line KIA minivan). I called Honda corporate to complain about the issues with Pilot, the service and the loaner only to be told that I was lucky to get a loaner as Honda usually only covers parts and service for their warranty work. I have bought a lot of Hondas but this will be the last. If you cannot go through a car wash without the inside of the vehicle getting soaked and the poor service that goes along with it. Overpriced! Not impressed with the quality of this Pilot or of the service. My Pilot has now been to the shop more times than I can count. They finally fixed the water getting inside during the car wash. It is in the shop for the 5th time for the top rails coming off and has been in the shop 3 times for laud noises when i hit the brakes. The drivers window still rattles. Biggest mistake I have ever made. I miss Honda quality.

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  Embarrassing FM stereo quality, customer service - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Rochelle Webb - March 5 - 8:53 pm

  Similar reports have shown up in many varied places concerning the embarrassingly horrible sound quality of the FM radio on several 2016 Honda Pilot models. Despite this, what is more troubling is that Honda seems to be giving owners with this issue terrible customer service, ranging from denying there could possibly be an issue, to assigning case managers who eventually deliver a message that nothing can apparently be done about the issue. This type of services is unacceptable. Had we been aware of this issue and the lack of concern for it from Honda, we would most certainly have looked at other brands. Our 2008 Odyssey had a better radio! Regardless of speed or setting, including the SVC setting, the volume fluctuates up and down randomly every 5 to 60 seconds on any FM station. The sound is great while using a bluetooth connected device or SiriusXM. It is only the FM radio sound quality and volume that is terrible, regardless of station, radio setting, or speed of the vehicle.

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  Less Than Expected - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Dubs - November 17 - 5:05 am

  This is the first Honda vehicle I have owned. I previously had an Acura, which I enjoyed other than a dashboard rattle that the dealer could never find and, thus, never eradicate. After some research, it seemed as though the Pilot Elite would essentially get me an Acura MDX while saving some money. Not so fast, as I am finding out. I am not having problems with the 9 speed transmission as others have, and mechanically, everything seems to be okay. However, the interior is not comparable to an Acura, in my opinion. The leather isnt as soft and the dash and door panels, while not plastic, arent as "cushy" as the Acura. I didnt buy an Acura, so I accept these downgrades. This car reminds me in some ways of the stuff old Detroit (the "Big 3") used to put out. Some things were okay, some not so much. My Elite rattles and vibrates even on pavement with only slight imperfections. Some of the body parts needed aligned. The fan circulating the air for heat and defrost sounds like it has a bad bearing as it squeals when it runs. The dealer wont replace it since it still "works". The navigation unit is weak - it tells the driver to make a turn when the car has already passed the turning point. It seems to be off by about 75 feet. The parking sensors are next to useless and the auto braking for collision avoidance activates for no reason at times. As I said, this is my first Honda and most likely will be my last. I may even trade the car in soon and take the "loss". I traded an Infiniti in on the Elite after being less than overwhelmed with the performance of the Infiniti. I have to say that even "stepping down" from a luxury model to the Honda, the Elite is much less than I expected it to be. And, I dont consider myself all that demanding. Just give me value commensurate with the money I am spending. Unfortunately, this Elite isnt doing that!

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  Terrible transmission - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Mo - August 12 - 7:57 am

  2016 Honda Touring! Will be trading in this fairly new care as the transmission is horrible. $45,000 and you get a transmission that is stuttering, slow to respond and a car that is jerking at low speeds. May others with the same problem....look it up. Loved Honda until this.

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  Dont Buy if you want to pull the 5,000lb limit - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Debbie - August 11 - 6:11 am

  We bought the 2016 Pilot Touring thinking it would be a good upgrade from our 2013. However, even though they advertise that it will pull 5000lbs, all the towing equipment is extra, unlike our 2013. (We only had to put a electric harness on it.) First our salesman told us that the hitch, and harness are all separate add-ons now. Then we get a call telling us that the radiator has to have a special cooler installed for another $500. Guess what folks, they havent made the cooler yet. We have been waiting since July for our new Pilot. It finally came on Sept. 3, but we are still waiting for Honda to develop a cooler for it. Of course the warranty would be void if you pulled without it. We love our Hondas but this ridiculous. Very disappointed with Honda this time around

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  Worst Infotainment System in History! - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By Diane Larkin - July 16 - 2:11 pm

  I love many things about the Honda Pilot Elite, but I absolutely "hate" the Infotainment system after 7 weeks and 1,300 miles of usage! It is cumbersome, slow to respond and in no way aids the driver in safe and efficient access to information. When driving, you cannot access the phone book, speed dial (more than the first 3 listings), call history (more than the first 3 listings), touch tones (for automated attendant inputs) and many other features without pulling off the road and stopping the vehicle. VERY DANGEROUS!!! The "rear audio" screen is completely useless other than pausing a DVD. I have found the navigation system to be confusing and missing many standard points of interest. I thought my Garmin database need to be updated, however, Honda in-car tech support was unable to walk me through the update procedure using a thumb drive and USB port as described in the manual. The nav screen will indicate that you need to "take a right" when it is clean you need to take a "left"?? Very poor accuracy and slow to catch up while driving. I spend way to much time "touching the screen" as opposed to looking at the road. Again, VERY DANGEROUS!!! I have used several Infotainment systems and this is absolutely the worst! Voice commands are almost non existent for many screens. My other vehicles would allow me to give voice commands for any topic displayed on the screen or to access a main topic (Nav, FM radio, Map, Phone, Phonebook, Speed Dial, Next Screen, etc.). A dynamic voice command system would alleviate the need to constantly be looking at the screen and touching the screen. There is also many inconsistencies in what can be accessed through the touch screen while driving and what cannot be accessed. The driver is constantly "guessing" about whether to use voice activation or touch or being locked out of the selection. Very poor design, confusing and very user unfriendly. Would not have purchased this vehicle had I known how deficient and cumbersome the Infotainment system is. I cannot understand why Honda would take such a "giant" step back in Infotainment technology, yet take such a giant step forward in all other aspects of the Honda Pilot safety features.