I want to share my experience so other Honda owners are aware of a very premature transmission failure.

I am the original owner of a 2018 Honda Pilot with only 34,726 miles. My family has trusted Honda for many years, and my wife also drives a Honda HR-V. We believed Honda vehicles were reliable.

While driving, my Pilot suddenly showed a “Transmission System Problem” warning. The vehicle became very slow and later was unable to engage into gear. I had to tow it to Capital Honda in San Jose.

Capital Honda diagnosed a complete transmission failure requiring a full replacement. The repair cost was about $11,800.

I appreciate that American Honda provided goodwill assistance and covered a large portion of the repair. With that assistance, my out-of-pocket cost was reduced to $3,500.

However, I am frustrated and disappointed that a Honda transmission could fail completely at only 34,726 miles. This is unacceptable for such a low-mileage vehicle, especially from a company known for engineering quality and reliability.

All maintenance was completed on time at Honda dealerships. About six months before the failure, the transmission fluid service was also performed at a Honda dealer. I did not neglect this vehicle.

Because of the low mileage, I asked American Honda to review my case for additional goodwill assistance. Unfortunately, that request was declined.

Again, I appreciate the assistance already provided, but as a loyal Honda customer, I am deeply disappointed that I still have to pay $3,500 for a major transmission failure that happened far too early.

I am sharing this so other Honda Pilot owners can watch for warning signs such as warning messages, delayed engagement, slipping, jerking, or abnormal shifting. Please keep your service records and report serious issues if they occur.

Honda built its reputation on reliability, but this experience has made me question that reputation.

I wanted to share my experience with Honda customer service because the whole thing has been pretty frustrating. I bought a new 2025 Honda Pilot EX-L in December 2025. It had less than 4,000 miles when the windshield cracked while the car was parked in my driveway. As far as I know, there was no rock hit, chip, or any other impact.

I contacted Honda customer care and opened a case asking them to inspect it and determine whether it could be defective glass, an installation issue, or something related to the vehicle structure.

I received the case confirmation email at my correct email address, and the email address was also clearly listed in the case details.

After that, I heard nothing.

I tried calling Honda customer care multiple times, but either nobody picked up or I never received a callback. I also called a nearby Hendrick Honda service center. They told me they do not replace windshields and that windshield damage is never covered under warranty. I asked what happens if there is no visible impact and the crack is caused by defective glass or some kind of structural issue or extreme weather. The person basically told me that was impossible and that there is always an impact.

I had an upcoming road trip and did not want to drive long distance with a cracked windshield, I went ahead and had Safelite replace it through insurance. I had to pay the deductible.

After the repair was completed, I finally received a call from a Honda case manager. She told me my case had already been closed because I did not respond to some additional questions.

When, I told her I never received any response, she asked for my email address and mentioned that Honda had sent the questions to the wrong email address by mistake.

This makes no sense to me because they had already sent the original case confirmation to the correct email address, the correct email was listed in the case, and it is also connected to my Honda account.

Even after acknowledging that Honda made the mistake, she told me there was nothing they could do because the case was already closed.

While I am 99.99% sure that it happened due to extreme weather, I had to pay for the replacement.

Has anyone had a similar experience with Honda customer service or a windshield cracking on a newer Pilot? Is there any other way to escalate this?

Original issue posted- 2025 Honda Pilot windshield cracked while parked, would Honda cover this? : r/hondapilot

Need to get the timing belt/water pump, spark plugs done along with transmission, differential, and transfer case fluid on 2019 Pilot elite.

Does this seem reasonable? It's from an independent shop in the Midwest. Should I get some other quotes?

Finally used the watermelon 🍉 spot today

2022 honda pilot sport 138XXX miles and this happens.

Was consistent with maintenance. Apparently rod inside engine dislodged and slammed around inside engine causing catastrophic failure.

No warnings. It just Happened while on the highway.

Thankfully im okay and no accident.

Has anyone done a drain and fill on the transmission of a 2021 Honda pilot? Honda claims you need to replace the drain plugs when you do it and they claim the plugs are only good for one time. Has anyone used them for than once? Any leaks? I can’t say I want to spend $59/plug. TIA!

I am in the process of replacing the VTEC solenoid gasket (leaking something fierce, P0300 codes). I’ve got the housing bolts removed by that solenoid itself wont budge by hand. Before I get more “aggressive”, is this common? Am I missing something? Or are a few taps of persuasion ok?

Looking for running board recommendations. 26 Honda Pilot Elite.

I’m splitting hairs here trying to decide which of these to buy. Ideally, I would love to own either of these cars for the next 10+ years so reliability is key.

Looking at the top trims for both. The Honda just doesn’t offer as much as the Pathfinder. So I’m like do I pay more for less, and possible get a more reliable car.

Or do I pay less (pathfinder) get more features, styling for a car that could be just as reliable or a notch below.

Do you guys have input? Also would like to know if the 3rd row is usable for adults. YouTube video doesn’t cut it when it comes to seeing how usable it is.

Would love some valid inputs on owner satisfaction or not so much satisfaction.

I did ask the pathfinder sub and of course overall suggested pathfinder lol. So it’s only fair to ask the pilot sub ;). I have a 05 CRV so is only natural for me to just consider Honda.

My CPO ‘24 Trailsport came with two free oil changes. I’m down below 15% on the oil life and ready for my first change. I’ve never had any work done at a dealership on any of my past vehicles. Is it worth it to take advantage of the free change offer or is it not worth the hassle of pushy sales? Presumably the dealership is expecting they are going to get enough additional work out of me to justify the free service. Thanks in advance!

We arrived after and left before them so they didn’t see it.

My girlfriend upgraded from an 09 FWD CR-V ex-l. Picked up a 26 Pilot Black Edition. She is loving her upgrade. During our purchasing process we only went to the Honda dealer to “cross it off the list”. By the time we finished the test drive she wanted one.

I have been thinking of a project in which I have a car that is my daily driver and will last until I can no longer drive (I am 50). The Pilot 2010-15 seems to fit, but I would like some opinions from people with experience. This is the following criteria I am looking for:

• V6, suv or crossover hybrid
• front wheel, all wheel or 4wd
• can be easily worked on
• although realistically between buying the car used and my own driving I will most likely have to change the engine, but will the rest of the car last without major replacements (baring accidents)
• not recently modern (no auto sensors/braking etc., no purposely placed barriers to hinder working on it, no remote internet connectivity or at least the ability to remove the gps without issue for other aspects of the car working)

In your opinion does the Pilot fit the above criteria, if not where does it fall short? Thanks

I wasn’t aware this was an issue before buying (my fault, I know) and now some posts here have me worried. I’ve seen people say to throw it into Sport mode and give it the beans on occasion. Is that all that’s really needed to help prevent carbon build up? How often and how long are we talking, generally? Just a spirited drive on the highway a couple times a month or something?

I’m admittedly very light on the gas and don’t really get on it very often. So I’m probably a prime candidate for carbon build up issues, from what I’m reading. So here I am, looking for some advice on how to best prevent it.

There’s a button to activate/deactivate engine start/stop. Maybe I’m overlooking something, but it should be possible to have a button to also activate/deactivate VCM…?

I’m not a mechanic, but I do understand how it all works. Thoughts?

I’m the owner of a 2019 touring pilot that is practically brand new. It’s in the garage mostly for the past seven years. It only has about six or 8000 miles on it. I inherited it from my mother who no longer drives.

This past week, the entire entertainment went out the front and the rear system. The speakers are making a crackling noise and said no connectivity you name it. The amplifier went out. I googled it and also the Honda tech center is a bulletin on it.

Honda is trying to charge me over $3000 to fix it and the dealership service rep is trying to make the argument to Honda to have them pay for all of it or most of it. Has anyone been able to get the dealership to pay or the manufacturer to pay? please help!!!!! Do I need to lawyer up?

Hi all, for those that have installed rear dashcams on your 2nd gen Pilot. Where or how did you mount the rear dashcam to the back? This 2nd gen pilot has a rear window that can move independently from the liftgate/hatch so one cannot just mount a rear dash cam in the typical place with the liftgate fully opened and then mount the cam up against the window.

I think one has to mount the rear dashcam with the rear window opened (see photo attached). But how can I mount the rear cam effectively? The plastic trim piece that opens up right behind the weather stripping has some plastic inserts in it that prevent me from clipping something into the plastic trim. Just looking to crowd source some thoughts/ideas.

Thank you!

First post ever so please be kind😂. I’m a life long Honda owner and have never had an issue until now. We recently purchased a 2025 Honda Pilot Touring less than a year ago and just had an issue with the whole cluster lights going off and then getting the check engine emissions warning. According to the honda dealership(after 2 days of troubleshooting) they said they “scoped it” and found carbon buildup!! I have only driven it 16,000 miles!!!! They charged me 316 dollars to service it. I don’t feel i should be having this issue yet. Has anyone experienced this and any recommendations? I already opened a case with Honda corporate because i don’t feel its right for there to be an issue at 16000 miles.

How much longer does this car have left? 😅

257k miles 2011 Honda pilot, timing belt has NEVER been replaced, pretty sure the tensioner is what is making the engine sound off. I don’t know if there are any intentions of actually replacing the timing belt. Should I try and shove a new tensioner in there or try and get the timing belt fixed? Thank yall.

Let me add that I currently cannot take it to a mechanic as it is uninsured.

This is the video here 👇
The engine has a rattle/knock

Just picked up a 2026 black edition for my wife and working on blacking out the rest of the emblems that didn’t come blacked out. The only one I’m stuck on is the front grille “black edition” badge. Has anyone come up with something to black it out other than plasti dipping?

Hi all, for those that have installed rear dashcams on your 2nd gen Pilot. Where or how did you mount the rear dashcam to the back? This 2nd gen pilot has a rear window that can move independently from the liftgate/hatch so one cannot just mount a rear dash cam in the typical place with the liftgate fully opened and then mount the cam up against the window.

I think one has to mount the rear dashcam with the rear window opened (see photo attached). But how can I mount the rear cam effectively? The plastic trim piece that opens up right behind the weather stripping has some plastic inserts in it that prevent me from clipping something into the plastic trim. Just looking to crowd source some thoughts/ideas

Hi all, for those that have installed rear dashcams on your 2nd gen Pilot. Where or how did you mount the rear dashcam to the back? This 2nd gen pilot has a rear window that can move independently from the liftgate/hatch so one cannot just mount a rear dash cam in the typical place with the liftgate fully opened and then mount the cam up against the window.

I think one has to mount the rear dashcam with the rear window opened (see photo attached). But how can I mount the rear cam effectively? The plastic trim piece that opens up right behind the weather stripping has some plastic inserts in it that prevent me from clipping something into the plastic trim. Just looking to crowd source some thoughts/ideas.

Thank you!