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Honda Pilot Maintenance and Repair
Was wondering if anyone has had any problems with their Pilots, especially since it's a first year vehicle. I have an EX cloth and have had no problems yet in my first 1500 miles.
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Regarding problems with noise from the gas tanks and creaking doors, I believe the root problem is with the doors – they do not close to a tight fit and they creak. They also allow noise from the gas tank, which is under the vehicle, to come inside. The solution is to check the doorstops, the door seals and the weather-stripping and make sure that the door closes to a tight fit and do not allow any sound to get inside. (As an example: - Take a walk in a cinema corridor, you will not hear any sound from the cinema hall when the sound resistant doors are closed.)
I don't have problem with gas tank noise, no problem with creak doors either.
I purchased my EX-L on June 2nd, had about 2k miles now.
Our service department was great, sales department was great and honda worked with them. The problem was we did talk to a rude customer service person at ther customer service line in california who should not be working for them.
I live in Lake Tahoe and our roads have very little top coating left on them so they are noisier than most but I'd like to know if someone has had the same problem and what is a good fix!!
Now we owners of the Pilot need to email NHTSA the following message, or a version thereof. Email the message below to: webmaster@nhtsa.dot.gov (alternatively, use the web form on NHTSA safety hotline site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/email.cfm).
Message that needs to be conveyed to NHTSA by as many Pilot owners as possible goes as follows: "The 2003 Pilot headlights are very weak and do not sufficiently illuminate the road ahead. This creates a very serious driving hazard on the freeway especially at speeds as high as 70 mph. The Pilot's headlights fail to illuminate the curves in the freeway, and consequently, Pilots can veer off the highway and get into crashes. Apparently, the Honda company is aware of this problem but has chosen not to take any action. We appeal to NHTSA to urge Honda to recall and replace the defective headlights".
Feel free to modify the message above. Thank you.
Dealer says this rough shifting is normal when cold. All comments are appreciated.
I am going for a new Honda Pilot EX. It comes with a 3yr/36000 miles warranty. The dealer says it is a good idea to get the Ext. Warranty by Honda Care. I understand the dealer wants to sell as much as he can. But what do you people think?
I was going through the Honda Care brochure (Ext. Warranty sold by Honda) and it says in there that parts are not covered.
The dealer quoted $1495 for 7yr/100K warranty.
So what is the point in going for it?
Any points will be appreciated.
The only thing that takes some getting used to is the "grade logic" feature.
When going down a long hill the transmission will sometimes down shift to keep the vehicle freewheeling (speeding up) down the hill.
Skarlekar, huh? You might want to re-read the coverages. Please see the URL below.
http://www.hondacars.com/info/hondacare.asp?ModelName=Pilot
We paid $945.00 for the 7yr/75k mi ZERO deductible warranty on the Pilot.
The vehicle had just previously spent the day in the dealers shop for the timing belt pulley recall, that could have also resulted in a catastrophic outcome for the vehicle and my family. According to the dealer my timing belt had already frayed.
American Honda has been nothing but uncooperative and unresponsive to this problem. The dealer who has my car (of which I didn't purchase the car from) has been very good, but Honda has not given them a time frame on when they will receive the part to fix the vehicle.
My wife asked a representative of Honda customer service for a loaner car. She was told at first that they would look into it, but that they felt that she didn't quailfy. Later in the day, after threats from my wife Honda OK'd a loaner car for my wife. The loaner car beinmg a Plymouth Neon. We have had a Plymouth Neon for a week to haul my six memeber family arround as a replacement for my 32,000 dollar Honda Pilot.
My entire extended family has had Honda's since the 70's. They have been great cars. It appears that they are so great that when Honda makes a mistake they don't nkow how to respond and correct it.
My Pilot has had two failures that could have been catastrophic to the vehicle and my family in less than 2000 miles. A representative from Honda, whose name I can't pronounce has not gotten back to me. My only recourse is to use forums such as yours to get the message out.
Thank you.
If the message is to tell us they can't fix your car because they can't get the part, well it may not be Honda's problem but the West Coast Port strike that has all but halted shipments of auto parts (see link for more details)
http://www.cars.com/news/stories/100902_storya_ap.jhtml?aff=newsstar
The demo car at the dealer had the same problem, so I was forewarned, and I also peeked into another Honda while on vacation in August..the drivers seat was in the same condition.
I have written to Honda and to my dealer about my concerns so I can go on record in case they issue a service bulletin in the future, but at this time no none is willing to do anything about it.
Both the dealership and Honda of America has offer exceptional customer service. They rented me a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer and have been in constant contact with me regarding the status of my vehicle.
I'm supposed to get the car back tomorrow(October 18th) with a full explanation of what happened, what was done to fix the problem and what was done to prevent further problems.
I'm wondering if anyone else has seen or heard of such a problem with their Pilot?
The first trip was to correct the defective water pump that we received a recall notice about not long after taking delivery. The second problem was the power steering pulley problem that fester3 described above. Luckily, no collision or catastrophe, as the right driver in the family was behind the wheel at the time.
Both problems were fixed as promptly as possible by a Honda dealer--not the one who sold us the car--and we were given a loaner when the steering pulley part was unavailable.
Now I read others' posts about a timing belt problem on top of this? Should we have already received a recall letter about the timing belt, or should I be looking into this somewhere?
We have been happy Accord owners for years and did as much research on the Pilot and its Acura cousin as possible before committing to a new model vehicle and so thought, "Hey, it's a Honda! Go for it!" It's a pleasure to drive, has tons of room for gear... But I'm definitely feeling skittish and am starting to twitch at the least little thing the car does now...
Also don't think it's worthy of a "buyers beware" warning either....
On towing. I am still concerned about buying a Pilot (see previous posting). I tow a 1000 lb boat and tried a demo Pilot and towed it. Since we only have the choice of D (no D4) on shift selector, you are towing in 5th gear. The tranny kicks down twice on every little knoll (first out of lock-up torque converter, then into 4th, I believe). Why does Honda not supply a D4 option like the Acura MDX, Explorer and most other vehicles? Can't get any decent answer from 2 different dealers or the factory help line. Seems annoying to have it shift up and down so much, although it is smooth. Must also be hard on transmission. Advice Please from anyone with experience towing with Pilot or an opinion!
Driving and towing in fifth and third gears are recommended because they are both locked in without the torque converter slippage. This prevents additional heat build up that would occur from continued torque converter slippage. Since fourth gear isn't really a direct gear, they don't want you towing continuously in it generating extra heat, thus no D4 selection available.
When you said the tranny kicks down twice on every little knoll, I think it's taking you to third gear. Did you try leaving the selector in D3 while towing?
I tow a light utility trailer with various loads, total trailer+load weight 800-1200 lbs. If I'm cruising down the Interstate at 70 mph I leave it in D(5). If I'm going up and down a lot of hills I drop it into D3 and leave it. I do think that the ratio of the pseudo fourth gear would be nice for towing, but that's not the case with these newer "cost-effective" transmissions.
Of course, I may not have that description totally right, so others feel free to clarify.
-Pete
While I'm no technician, it seems to me that any modern automatic tranny automatically locks out final gear at cruising speed.
Thanks for your response re: towing. I don't know if the explanation you gave is technically correct, but I am suspicious that it may not be, because the Acura MDX sister vehicle has a D4 position on the transmission shifter. I tried towing with the demo vehicle in D3, but tacs at about 3,600 rpm at 70 mph, which is too fast in my view. I just wish there was someone at Honda that I could contact on this, but the customer service people just send you back to the dealer who sends you back to customer service. Interested in additional inputs on this topic from other readers.
Pete, how many miles on your Pilot and how do you like it? With the latest $4,000 rebate on Explorers plus my Rockwell supplier "x" plan discount, plus Ford credit card points, hard to justify the comparable high price on the Honda, even though I just lost the engine in my 3.8 Mercury Sable wagon (again). ~$7,000 premium is a little hard to swallow. Mike
I've got about 3500 miles on mine and have been very happy with the gas mileage, power, smoothness, low noise level, and sound system. I've been getting 19-20 mpg around town and 24-25 mpg on the highway (cc set 70-75mph).
I am not happy with my dealer experience - hard sell, low trade-in, screwed up the towing package install and I lost my power steering pump first day. The Pilot itself had a few defects, outside of the dealer problems, one maplight in back has defective casing, buttons on the steering wheel have sharp edges on back, leather seats are sagging, and I have a clunking noise in the back that I'm trying to pinpoint.
If I had it to do over, I would have bought the MDX, because it has some features that I'm missing and would be willing to pay for - heated mirrors, heated seats, sunroof, memory position for seat, D4, and 4-wheel traction and stability control.
Sounds like you have a tough decision comparing the new Explorer and the Pilot. The Explorer is much cheaper initially, then it's a little bit of a gamble, but some people fair pretty well.
I travel a lot and typically rent Fords. Had an 03 Explorer EB for about 1500 miles and drove it through KS, MO, NE, IA, SD, ND, & MN and had no complaints what so ever. Last week I had an 03 Expedition XLT for about 1000 miles and drove it all around Lake Michigan, and got to test out it's winter abilities. I really like the low-end torque of that V8, the seats were more comfortable than the Pilot, AWD mode would grind gears going in but worked great once engaged, more interior noise than the Pilot, 12mpg in AWD mode, and the power locks stopped working when the temp hit -7F (but I won't hold that against them).
-Pete
Thanks for the great response and extra info, much appreciated. Sounds like there is a thread through the postings of perhaps not the most comfortable seats and some quality problems with Pilot. Am now considering a Windstar (would not drive the 3.8 beyond warranty due to history f headgasket problems)or Chrysler. These vehicles have good high-sitting seats and get decent mileage. Would like the Chrysler AWD, but these are pretty pricey ($38,000). Mike
Mike
Here is a partial list:
Intermittent "grinding" noise in the right rear between 10 and 40 MPH, Head liner cut wrong and peeling away at windshield (replaced...second headliner installed incorrectly, leaving gaps between roof line and door frame area), paint thinning on top and hood (looks like paint gun was running out of paint), rear air vents broken from delivery, middle seat literally fell apart on the way home from the dealership, middle seats will not return to upright without raising rear seat, glove box broken from delivery, stalling from time to time, and the list goes on.
We have been back to the dealer service department numerous times and have been on the phone with Honda Corporate....all to no avail. Meeting with dealership GM tomorrow to discuss options.
We love the vehicle's ride and comfort. Waited 4 years for the Pilot and have gotten off to a bad start.
If you have had any of these issues, particularly the rear grinding sounds, please let me know how your dealer corrected the problem.
Thanks!
Greg
Additionally...If anyone is experiencing the "grinding" rear-end noise, please post your thoughts. I have read a few on consumer reviews on MSN's board that are experiencing the same issue.
Has anyone had problems with the battery light coming on while driving? The owners manual says that this is serious if it stays on, but mine went off within 30 seconds.
I hope this helped.
If anyone gets this problem solved - please post.
I'm having problems programming the Homelink transmitter in my Pilot EX. My garge door opener uses the rolling codes. I've been able to program my Acura and Jeep Homelink systems - but not the Pilot's.
Has anyone run into this problem?
and also told me alignment will change if they try to fix it, which may cause wind noise. Should I be concerned about this problem and has one had similar problem/any suggestions.