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What 170 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Honda Pilot

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (170)Crash / fire / injury (20)Engine (35)Brakes (28)Electrical system (22)Airbags (20)Transmission & drivetrain (20)Speed control (17)Fuel system (16)Suspension (14)Steering (11)Engine & cooling (10)

3 of 170 complaints match · Fuel system · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Apr 12, 2026Electrical systemEngineFuel systemFire

On April 9, 2026, my daughter came in from school and parked her Honda Pilot at about 5:10PM. At about 7:03PM, my wife and I were sitting outside and heard a loud POP, it sounded like a car backfiring. I went to investigate and saw a little smoke and a small orange glowing piece of something on the ground under the vehicle towards the front of the vehicle. I grab a fire extinguisher from my work truck and went towards the vehicle. The car was locked and I saw flames under the hood standing by the driver door looking down where the windshield wipers are. I used the extinguisher till it was empty and the flames kept getting worse. I just walked away and my wife was already calling 911. No one was hurt no damage to any exposures. My daughter did not indicate that anything was wrong with the vehicle. No lights on, no smells, everything ran fine. It had 154,000 miles on it. I do have RING video footage of the event. I did file a claim with my insurance and sent them the video footage.

NHTSA ODI 11730697

Nov 5, 2017BrakesFuel systemCrash

MY CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED FOR NO KNOWN REASON AND THE BRAKES WOULD NOT STOP THE CAR. THIS HAS HAPPENED 2 TIME IN ONE WEEK. FIRST TIME IT WAS MOVING AT A VERY SLOW RATE AS I WAS COMING TO A STOP AT A STOP LIGHT. THE SECOND TIME I WAS SITTING IN LINE AT A DRIVE THRU, WAITING TO MOVE FORWARD, WHEN I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND WHEN I PUSHED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL IT WENT TO THE FLOOR AND WOULD NOT STOP THE CAR. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY GARAGE AND THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING THIS BUT I AM NOT SURE IF I SHOULD KEEP THIS CAR, AFTER I REPAIR THE DAMAGE OR GET ANOTHER CAR? PLEASE CHECK CARCOMPLAINTS.COM

NHTSA ODI 11043599

Oct 10, 2014BrakesFuel systemCrash3 injuries

ON APRIL 30 2014 MY WIFE [XXX] ENTERED THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA CAMPUS IN THE 2012 HONDA PILOT. SHE APPROACHED THE GUARD BOOTH AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THIS CAN BE VERIFIED AS THE GUARD STOPPED HER AND THEY HAD A BRIEF CONVERSATION ABOUT WHERE TO PARK. [XXX] THEN ACCELERATED OUT OF THE GUARD BOOTH WHILE MAKING AN IMMEDIATE LOW SPEED RIGHT TURN DOWN A RAMP INTO A PARKING GARAGE. FROM THIS POINT THE HONDA PILOT CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE DOWN THE RAMP AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES. THE CAR ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL AND FAILED TO BRAKE. IT JUMPED A SMALL MEDIAN AND EVENTUALLY HIT A CONCRETE BLOCK WALL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RAMP. [XXX] MAINTAINS THAT SHE WAS APPLYING THE BRAKES DURING THE DESCENT DOWN THE RAMP UP THE MOMENT OF IMPACT AND THE CAR WAS STILL CONTINUING TO ACCELERATE AND BRAKES DID NOT RESPOND. I CONTACTED HONDA AND SUBMITTED A WRITTEN REQUEST THAT THE EVENT DATA RECORDER (EDR) BE TESTED. A REPRESENTATIVE FROM HONDA CALLED ME ON SEPTEMBER 6 (I WAS ONLY GIVEN A FIRST NAME OF [XXX]) HE EXPLAINED THAT ON OR ABOUT AUGUST 19 A TECHNICIAN EXAMINED THE VEHICLE AND DETERMINED THAT NO PRE ACCIDENT DATA COULD BE RECOVERED. HE EXPLAINED THAT WHILE THE 2012 HONDA PILOT HAS AN EDR ONLY SOME OF THESE VEHICLES HAVE THE ABILITY TO RECORD PRE ACCIDENT DATA AND THAT MINE DID NOT HAVE THIS ABILITY. HE ALSO SAID THAT I WOULD NOT RECEIVE A REPORT OR ANY CONFIRMATION IN WRITING ABOUT THE INCIDENT OR SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE VEHICLE. THE OWNER MANUAL INDICATES THAT EDRS HAS THE ABILITY TO RECORD DATA UP TO 30 SECONDS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT IT WILL REPORT IF THE ACCELERATOR OR BRAKE WAS BEING ACTIVATED AT THE MOMENT OF IMPACT. IT WILL ALSO INDICATE THE VEHICLE SPEED. MY REQUEST IS THAT HONDA FOLLOW THROUGH AND TEST THE EDR TO DETERMINE IF THE BRAKES AND OR ACCELERATOR MALFUNCTIONED AS [XXX] MAINTAINS AND SUPPLY THE RESULTS TO ME. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI 10643861

Working with the data? Download all 170 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Honda Pilot verdict →