Honda Pilot Maintenance and Repair

blackexv6

Sounds normal. My '06 Odyssey with the VCM (3 cyl) vibrates through the gas pedal & steering wheel when in ECO mode.

user777

i don't own one of these vehicles but i doubt highly this is expected behavior. i could be very wrong but it seems like one of the engine mounts (which i think are controllable) isn't working properly.

stever

The recent "bubble" tire posts and a few others have been sheparded over to the new Pilot Tires and Wheels discussion. Please set your tracking to that one to keep up with new tires or any tire monitoring issues. Here's the link:

Honda Pilot Tires and Wheels

momto3

I bought my EX-L-nav in September, and now the front defroster makes a whistling sound when it is activated. It doesn't do this when the heat is on, only the defroster. (You can hear the whistling sound winding down when the defroster is turned off). Any idea what is causing this?

4burb

Anyone else have this happen before? 2005 EXL w/ Ent, was in Santa Fe last weekend when they got 8 inches of snow just the night I was there. Anyway, when I was sweeping off the next morning the back of the sunroof had dropped a little (I guess from the weight) and it caused the sunroof to bow in the middle. Left a hole about the size of a fist and the entire glass spiderwebbed. My other car with a sunroof was right next to it and nothing happened to it. Thankfully Honda is at least picking up half to replace. Just wondering and or informing, Happy New Year.

justaveragejoe

There is an instruction in a Pilot service manual that says "Loosening the fuel fill cap or filling the tank with the engine running can cause a sudden change in vapor concentration and can cause the engine to run rich, which may cause it to stall."

stever

Left a hole about the size of a fist

I'd check with my insurance company about covering the whole thing.

kipk

Seems to me that HONDA should pick up the whole tab.

I don't know how wet the snow was, which can/will contribute to its weight. But, it seems reasonable that in Northern states 8-10 inches of snow, or more, is not uncommon.

Lots of cars with lots of snow on top would mean lots of broken sun roofs.

Just seems something is wrong with this picture! :sick:

Kip

user777

kipk - i'd have to agree with you.

i don't know how much snow one could literally pile on top of a vehicle before it would tend to slide off, even if everything around the vehicle were also piled high with snow with no place for it to naturally go, but even with wet or frozen ice, i would think the sunroof should have handled it.

it's possible the glass had a material imperfection to begin with or something hit it during transport or driving and there was a minute crack / fracture.

whatever, i would think Honda would pick it up since this seems so unnatural of an occurence.

also, i'd avoid making claims on insurance unless they are absolutely necessary fiscally, and in this case, i don't think so. to what, use your deductible and incur an incident against your insurance record? nope. no way.

i think i would consider approaching the dealership first, and paying out of pocket what i had to, going insurance last.

i'm not sure of the type of sunroof (sliding or power) but this might provide an idea of the cost of the glass:
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&cat- cgry1=Pilot&catcgry2=2006&catcgry3=5DR+EXL+RES&catcgry4=KA5AT&catcgry5=SLIDING+R- OOF

stever

Most of the auto glass companies say that making a claim for broken auto glass doesn't affect your insurance rates link. Glass coverage varies by state, but it doesn't cost anything to ask your agent.

A friend busted his sunroof years ago on an Explorer - he was quoted $700 for a little ol' piece of glass but his insurance paid the whole thing. link

Here's another thread that may be of interest:

cccompson, "Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents" #1945, 23 Jul 2006 4:51 pm

user777

steve, i have to disagree 100%. i strongly believe that even asking an agent if a item would be covered can negatively impact your record...

stever

Ok, you call up and ask my agent. :shades:

This would be a good question to revisit in that Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents discussion, or maybe Marsha7 will drop by with his .02 sometime.

user777

well, ok, i'm perhaps being extreme by suggesting by calling them up and asking if something is covered or not, your rates may increase.

hey, give me your full name, the insurance policy number, your address, the the name and phone of your agent and i'll be happy to make an inquiry on your behalf. :surprise:

but seriously, don't you believe we are rated based on a formula that involves number of claims, claim frequency per unit time (among other things)?

insurance war story: i've personally been red-lined because i had a vehicle stolen and totaled, then two years later i submitted a claim because a tree limb fell on my car which resulted in a claim for replacement of the hood. one year later, i received a speeding ticket for doing 45 in a 30 zone.

i was a professional male in his late 20s at the time, having paid a pretty penny for insurance for 10years or more . both losses were no-fault, the speeding ticket was my fault... i guess i was red-lined for good reason. :lemon:

you know they are in the biz of making money, and you probably also know they have actuaries with all sorts of mathematical modelling expertise predicting if you will be a future loss to them. their best customers are those that make no claims.

so i think it's best when making a claim, one does so out of necessity, not because you are paying for the insurance to begin with. twisted, i know. :sick:

i've heard from other people anecdotally that they had their rates raised after inquiring about a loss they experienced (which they did not use their insurance for). i think a loss is a loss, even if they don't pay out. hey, i could be wrong.

unscientific, but it's my belief and i'm sticking to it. :shades:

stever

You definitely have me wondering - I posted this while you were typing your missive:

steve_, "Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents" #2304, 6 Jan 2007 10:45 am

Note that I tried to limit it to glass claims under comprehensive coverage instead of collision, but I doubt that the responses will stick to that.

fwiw, I've had two or three windshield cracks fixed with the mobile glass outfits (gluing the chip) in the last few years with no out of pocket and my rates haven't jumped 40%.

user777

ahh thanks. i've followed up in that thread.

gmoney2

I have to agree with user777. I made the mistake once of just calling up my insurance agent and asking if something was covered. He took down all the details, and then gave me a claim number. I told him that I didn't want to file a claim, and that I was just calling to see what kind of coverage I had on the incident. I was then told that it was too late, and that by me calling and giving a scenario, a claim has been filed. Whether or not I wanted to pursue the claim any further was up to me. I then asked if my rates could go up even if I didn't pursue the claim at all. He told me that most likely it would not, but technically it could. A friend of mine was an insurance adjuster and I asked him. He said that rates are based on # of claims and amount paid out by the insurance company (as well as things like age, # tickets, etc.). So, in theory, your rates could go up by just having a claim filed, even if the insurance company doesn't pay anything out on it. Most likely it won't, but it could, especially if you have filed other claims in the past and this is the one claim that pushes the insurance company over the edge. After this experience, I learned my lesson. Now, I will be very reluctant to just call up my insurance company and inquire about things, unless I truly plan to go through with things and have them pick up the bill.

kipk

Asked our agent about a windshield replacement! He said the insurance would cover everything after the deductible is paid by me. Would be a good idea to find out exact replacement cost.

I did that and the cost of the new installed windshield was less than $300. The deductible is $1000. It would be foolish in my case to file a claim.

Local agents make a living on the commissions from your and my premiums. (In my case he insures House, cars, and "Umbrella Policy".) It would be very foolish of them to file a needless claim and take the chance of eventually loosing us as a source of income because someone else in the company profiles us as a bad risk.

Dealing with mail order type insurance may possibly be different. We may not have a particular agent. When we call to ask about a possible claim, we may get get a salaried "COMPANY" person that is instructed by the company to gather "ALL INFO". Therefore a claim may have been filed even though we were simply asking a question.

Whether or not a "CLAIM" was filed, a note may have been added to our file. :mad:

"Hmmm... This guy has call 3 times this year concerning damage. Might be a bad risk to the COMPANY"!

Paranoid? Mistrustful?...... YEP!

Kip

user777

thank you for your post!

i've tried to add some additional background in the auto insurance forum steve has pointed us to. i'd like to see if an anonymous insurance adjuster or actuary will be willing to provide supporting information on this topic.

i suggested in the other thread, even if you are no-fault in an accident, being involved and part of some "incident report" may bump a portion of their mathematical models w.r.t. risk and rate determination.

if i'm correct, i would think that if you were were male, single, young, renting, maybe driving a car that tends to be stolen frequently, living or working in an area with high claims, this would be fiscally important to pay attention to. :shades:

bp1171

Ok, you wanted answers .. I am an insurance underwriter. Please keep in mind that I work with commercial insurance and not personal lines, like your personal auto policy, but this is how it works.

First, many companies will not cancel you or increase your rates just for inquiring about a possible claim. Many companies will not cancel you or increase your rates if nothing was paid on a claim. However, filing too many claims in any given period, whether large amounts or not have been paid, may be considered too high of a frequency of claims and have a negative impact. Further, your "loss ratio" ... the amount of claims paid vsthe amount of premium you've paid ... will also affect your premiums. Obviously, if the company has had to pay out significantly more than what you've paid in premiums, whether the claims were your fault or not, you could see an increase in your premiums.

Now, if your agent is filing a claim for you when you just call to inquire whether something is covered or not, it is time to find a new agent. Many agents are not like that. Try calling an Independent Agent who represents many companies rather than going to a Direct Writer who handles only one company, like State Farm or Allstate. We encourage our customers to file an "incident report" so that it doesn't negatively impact the insurance company's right to investigate at a later date. Remember that it is your duty to file a claim within a certain time period of the claim date. If you read your policy (and yes, I know they are not easy to read, even the "simplified" versions are written by lawyers for lawyers), you will find this information about your duties as an insured.

There are many reasons why your rates could go up, and they could have nothing at all to do with your loss history. I can talk about the state I am, as I know their rules the best. The state puts out "set rates" and these rates are based on many things. The frequency and severity of OTHER PEOPLE'S claims could negatively impact your rates, and that is because, as you pointed out, the insurance companies are in the business to make money. They are not, as many people would like to believe, non-profit organizations. For example, I live in an area where we have frequent hail claims. I have not turned in hail claim on my roof since I purchased the house 14 years ago. My neighbors have turned in 3 in the past 5 years. This is not uncommon and the insurance industry as a whole is losing money in this area due to hail claims, so they raise rates across the board or they raise deductibles or both. Anyway, many companies will file deviations to these state rates based on their experience with claims, and this could be either higher or lower than the state rates. It pays to shop around.

I know this probably won't answer all of your questions, and probably won't affect your opinion of the insurance industry, but I wanted to attempt to set the record straight.

user777

bp1171, i appreciate your attempt to address the questions posed. i aplogize but i see nothing in your response which is inconsistent with my assertions. in fact, it looks like you're agreeing with me.

4burb

Thanks for the input everyone. We did check with the ins co and this would not affect our policy so we did file it. My belief is it all depends on which co you have and your history with them. Honda fought hard on picking up the tab so once I went up the food chain and got half I decided to let it go concerned if I pushed they might cover nothing, after all hard to prove the issue. Funny thing is when I searched the board I found nothing on a sunroof but did find one post in the NE about the back window shattering apparently due to nothing but it being really cold, go figure. Thanks again.

stever

Well, my CarSpace friend User777 says that you've already affected your policy by asking them if filing a claim affects your policy.

I think the jury is still out but I thought of a solution - we simply get every US driver to call their insurance agent once a week and ask a hypothetical claims question. That'll destroy the actuarial curves and the companies will have to abandon that criteria in setting rates. :shades:

kipk

Well, my CarSpace friend User777 says that you've already affected your policy by asking them if filing a claim affects your policy.

I agree with 777, to a point.

I firmly believe It has to do with the company and the person we are talking too, as per above post.

I think the jury is still out but I thought of a solution - we simply get every US driver to call their insurance agent once a week and ask a hypothetical claims question. That'll destroy the actuarial curves and the companies will have to abandon that criteria in setting rates. :shades:

Now that should work!!

Kip

user777

steve, we have to stop meeting like this. :shades:

i promise not to beat this anymore but, note the agent indicated the claim in question wouldn't affect his/her rate...so they processed it. and again, i'm not being paranoid - but this isn't the sort of thing i trust my agent to fully disclose (or be fully informed of).

maybe it's because i'm married to a lawyer, and i dig what is and isn't explicit (in writing or communication). wait, what does that mean? :confuse:

i wonder, now the claim has been made, how has this person's rating / risk been affected such that a subsequent claim may result in some bump (or drop of coverage). or how might it delay having a rate fall? or how might it impact the rate one gets when and if combining house and vehicle policies or separating them? and what if one's about to add someone like a son or daughter to the policy?

bottom line...we don't know. whatever, it certainly didn't improve the rating or risk of the policy, that's for sure. i assert it probably hurt it. that is why i prescribe to a policy of avoiding a claim if fiscally practical.

bp1171

I was neither trying to disprove nor agree with you. I was merely explaining how it works. If your agent is turning in a claim for you when you call to inquire whether it is covered, find a new agent. And your rates are affected by more than just your claims history. That's all I was trying to explain, maybe a little too wordy. Hope it works out for you.

trdprerunnerdc

When I accelerate slow speed, I can hear a high pitch noise. I can't determine the exact source but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this? It's annoying. Thanks for your help. The local honda dealer is starting to think I'm nuts from their expression.

justaveragejoe

Check out post #2236. There is a thread about a high-pitched noise.

kipk

Thanks bp1171!

We are in agreement here!
Kip

user777

ok - i can't help myself; it's like scratching an itch...

if you call your agent and inquire, they don't have to put in a claim, no disagreement, *BUT*, can they flag your file based on the fact you are inquiring about a loss you did experience? if so, can THAT piece of information be used against you?

stever

Better call from a pay phone so they can't caller-id you too. :shades:

But good luck finding a pay phone....

user777

True, but honestly, good luck getting an answer on it without identifying who you are, and then, don't expect to be told what will happen if SUBSEQUENT claims are made against your policy. :P

stever

Maybe some more agents will weigh in over on the insurance discussion; meanwhile we best let the Pilot problems topic return to the fore before we get yelled at. :shades:

4burb

Good idea, sorry when the basic question was had anyone had a problem with glass shattering. Thanks for the input and I'll let you know if my rates go up. :shades: (Hiding behind the sunglasses so my agent won't know it's me.)

saintsfan2

We have a 07 Pilot with the Navigation System. When we search for Wal Mart (or anywhere else for that matter!), it tells us that the closest location is 466 miles away. The dealer can’t help us, Alpine can’t help us, and Honda customer service can’t help us. I know someone knows how to make this thing work. So far, this is the only thing that is frustrating us! Thanks for the help, John

blackexv6

We have the NAV in our '06 Odyssey and found out it is a very primitive system compared to the handheld units (garmin, tomtom, etc.)

I'm not aware of a default setting that recognizes you are looking for the nearest Walmart & not one 500 miles away. You will have to manually enter the city, state, and name via several input screens.

My wife & I stopped using the NAV after a month because it is so frustrating. Try one of the handheld units at your local electronic stores they are very user friendly. Also, the maps are updated for free over the internet & contain recent data, poi's, roads unlike Honda's outdated maps.

saintsfan2

Thanks for the help and the quick reply! That is what I was afraid of......I have a Garmin in my Jeep and it works fine. My buddy has a Toyota Tundra with factory Navigation and his has no problems pulling up a location. Plus, if it can find one 500 miles away, why not 1 mile? I dont get it....Im with you, I just quit using the thing. Once again, thanks for the help. John

boughtalemon

This just proves to me, again, that buying the Pilot wasn't the best choice of car. Besides a frustrating nav system, the leather is of the worst quality, there is no blue tooth capability, the mileage is bad, the cargo net is a joke and from other people's comments there are a lot of other problems. It is an outdated car and it will have a poor resale value as well.

mattchalmers

I will ad myself to the list of people who have disagreed with you lemon.

My wife and I have been very happy with our Pilot. We are only 6 months and 9,000 miles into ownership, but we love the vehicle. Our fuel economy has been normal for a 4WD SUV this size (18.02). The leather seems pretty standard to me (I have owned three vehicles with leather and ridden in hundreds - there is nothing special about this leather, but nothing bad either). The cargo net is a cargo net, what exactly were you expecting from that particular item? Bluetooth is not a common item on a vehicle in this class, so how can you attack the Pilot for that omission.

I regret that you seem to have purchased what you consider a lemon, and good luck getting it bought back by Honda, seriously. I encourage you to purchase a Tahoe LTZ (or something similar) and be happy.

mattchalmers

The biggest problem with the Nav system is that it seems to be working off a strict database and not a smart one. It seems to be similar to the difference between heritage Windows (not sure about Vista) compared to Mac OS.

You are typing in "W-a-l - M-a-r-t," your local "WALMART" (they decided to misspell the name in the phone book) is not showing up, but the guys in Hoboken that spelled it "Wal-Mart" pop right to the front of the line. Instead of the Nav defaulting to things nearby, it just finds the closest "exact" match. There are ways to begin to work around those issues, but they take some time and trial/error work.

The system does leave much to be desired, but my wife and I have found it to be on the whole beneficial. Good luck, don't give up on the system yet. :shades:

user777

if you type W-A-L, will it find WalMart, Wal-Mart, Wallyworld, and the like and let you select the one you are interested in from a list?

stever

With my sense of direction, I'd wind up at Wall Drug in South Dakota, even with the navigation system. :shades:

prosource1

I owned my first 2004 Pilot for nearly 90,000 miles over a 20 month period. The vehicle never saw a dealer bay. I changed fluids, tires and brakes. It was impeccable.

I traded it for a 2006 and now have 14,000 miles on the new vehicle. I had one issue in the first month with a 'check gas cap' light which was resolved by consulting my owners manual.

These vehicles have been perfect for me and my family. I get 23 highway and 17 city. No complaints.

acutts

My 2004 Pilot was recently shipped from California to South America. I have the anti-theft code but I don't have the owner's manual yet. How do I reset the stereo?

Also, we are living at a high altitude, is there anything I should adjust? The car will be primarly used at 9,000 - 12,000 feet.

tsy

I agree with mattchalmers, we have 15000 trouble free miles. My wife loves her Pilot and for what it's supposed to do, it does them very well. I never expected great gas mileage, but it's certainly better than my Sequoia (or my Suburban!). The leather is as expected in this price range. I too like bluetooth, and it can be added if you really want aftermarket fairly inexpensively (check a company called Parrot)

Or you can buy a Lexus and have all that you asked for- for $20-30k more.

As for resale, it will do much better than an explorer! (Not that resale for SUVs is particularly good right now)

Sorry you're not happy with your ride. Hope you do better next time.

tom

saintsfan2

First off, thanks for the pointers and suggestions. I have tried all variations known to man to pull by location (Walmart, Target, Sears, etc), but the bottom line is it just wont do it. However, if I plug in the locations address out of the phone book...it takes me right there. Overall big picture, it's not that big of a deal. Half the time I know where the stores are and the other half my wife tells me where to go! My main goal was to make sure the dealer wasnt blowing smoke up my skirt and to see if anyone had a work around. If I find something out, I will post it online. Thanks again, John

jensad

Dear mattchaimers

Me or better We too like our Pilot.

My wife purchased it in Oct 06, exl + nav and now has about 8000 miles on it. She traded in a 95 ex Oddessy, (sp)with 77000 miles on it. Yes my wife does not drive it far.

No problems so far. My lexus rx330 gets a little bit better milage and in more comfortable, but the Pilot has more get up and go, and was lots less costly. Pilot about 17-18 in city, about 22 on highway. Lexus about 19 in city, and 23 on highway.

I think the hard part when buying a new car, is the chance one takes that it will not meet the expectations of the purchaser. I have bought cars I have regretted, but not recently.

Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad

trdprerunnerdc

I disagree with your poor resale value assesment. The Honda Pilot albeit "outdated" will have a higher resale value compared to in same class vehicles. The Honda Pilot isn't typically offered in a rental fleet.

If you're experiencing difficulty with your navigation system, I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of your system for further assistance. I suspect they maybe more qualified to assist you.

I currently own a Pioneer Avic Z1 and let me tell you, it's fantastic system. But I am not able to use the blue tooth because of very bad echo problem.

I also traded in a newer design 2005 Toyota Tacoma 4 Door for this vehicle. I was very happy to see that it was awarded the INSURANCE INSTUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY award for frontal & side crash TOP SAFETY PICK.

About the mileage, I average about 18.5 mix city/hwy driving. I've experienced better mileage on out of town trips.

It's not a perfect car...show me one that is.

boughtalemon

This is in reply to everybody who is so happy with their Pilot. Good for you! Yes, no car is perfect, but it is, after all, Honda's top of the line car and one should expect more. What did I expect from the cargo net? It's a divider, not a net. I don't know how everybody else gets 18 miles/gallon when I only get 15 (and that's combined city/highway). Do you all have a 4WD? Or maybe I get such poor mileage because they changed my noisy fuel pump (twice) and now it's not noisy but it probably contributes to the poor mileage. I compared the leather to the one in other cars, and it is of poorer quality. Yes, it does have a nice, smooth ride. But you'll see, when you want to trade it in, you'll have an unpleasant surprise.

bamacar

I have checked on the Pilot trade in value at the dealer. It is better than any other midsize SUV on the road. If this vehicle's resale value disappoints you, don't dare look at any American or Japanese make as they are all inferior to the Honda's.

trdprerunnerdc

It's a known fact, trading in your vehicle is a Loss/Loss situation. I traded in my Tacoma for a Pilot. Most people do it for convenience. It's simple numbers game. But what really helps is when forums such as this lets customer be aware of actual OTD price and incentives. I was so unhappy w/ my Toyota Tacoma TRD Prerunner 4 Door, that I was willing to pay $29K + tax for a pilot exl 2wd. I was able to get my mine $25K + tax, bec this forum made me aware of this promotion. Well the dealer was honest enough to call me and just say..pls come in , ive got phenomenal pricing.

By the way, I just picked up my Pilot from the dealer this afternoon. I was complaining of Tire Pressure Indicator on and a unknown source high pitch noise during slow speed acceleration. They fixed the TPI bec we've had extremely cold mornings lately by adding air to all 4 tires. It also appears they repaired the annoying high pitch noise as I don't hear it anymore. "Bent back firewall near axle" ...IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.

I've got to admit, I've been in a few rental SUV's lately while I'm out of town. I find the interior of other SUV's a lot nicer. Oh well, the price you pay for first generation vehicle.

Oh and in regards to fuel mileage, I hope you're not expecting to get even close to the EPA estimate posted on the window stick. It's a know fact, that formula will be changed soon as it is very inacurate. If you have 4wd, i assume you'll get even worst mileage.

Good luck to you! If you sell it, let us know how much you sold it for.