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What 896 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 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 (896)Crash / fire / injury (14)Engine (451)Electrical system (259)Fuel system (136)Transmission & drivetrain (121)Speed control (28)Brakes (25)Driver assistance (20)Body & structure (15)Visibility & wipers (15)Seat belts (14)

3 of 896 complaints match · Electrical system · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jul 16, 2024Electrical systemCrash

Horn stopped working which prevented notice to other car at stop backing up, resulting in a crash. Vehicle started turning itself on in accessory mode, flashing lights, disabling keyless entry and starting the vehicle and smelled of an electrical fire, was unable to disconnect battery due to unpredictable turning on and off at vehicles will. Brought vehicle to dealer who confirmed that it was a bad smart entry main control unit module which caused the horn to stop working and the vehicle to turn itself on.

NHTSA ODI 11602808

Oct 29, 2023Electrical systemEngineFire

Shortly after entering the freeway, the dask lights began to flicker and car started stuttering. Drive for another mile or slow looking to pull over. By that time smoke coming from rhe engine. Once we pulled over, engine area smoking a lot to where smoke coming into car. All of us git out and saw flames coming from engine area. Our pilot was on fire. Firefighters able to put out, but car was a total loss

NHTSA ODI 11552510

Mar 9, 2021Electrical systemFire

FEW MINUTES AFTER MY WIFE GOT HOME THE CAR ALARM BEGAN BEEPING AND THERE WAS A FIRE COMING FROM THE ENGINE OF THE CAR. WE CALLED 911 AND THE FIRE KEPT GETTING BIGGER. ONCE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED AND PUT OUT THE FIRE WE SAW A HUGE DAMAGE ON THE CAR. WE DON'T KNOW HOW THE FIRE COULD HAVE STARTED WHILE THE ENGINE WAS OFF . WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THIS COMPANY'S CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11400062

Working with the data? Download all 896 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 7, 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 2017 Honda Pilot verdict →