2021 Honda Pilot Problems, Recalls & Reliability
706 owner complaints sit in the federal file for the 2021 Honda Pilot, alongside 10 recall campaigns and 1 defect investigation. It scores 32/100 on the trouble index — a middle-of-the-pack year for this model. Driver assistance leads the reports.
Typical
Where 2021 sits among all Pilot years
What owners report
“Dash warning lights come on for Lane keeping assist, collision mitigation, ACC, brake system, auto high beam.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
“The infotainment screen was black and not working at all so no back up camera. Also all the sensors warning you that you are getting to close to hitting something stopped working.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
“Auto restart stalls the car when reengaging the engine after coming to a full stop”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
“Car does not restart after auto start stop is engaged, car stalls at intersections, causing dangerous conditions.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
“There was a recall for driver side mirrors. The original mirror was fine but they replaced it with a mirror that is distorted/warped. They replaced it again with another distorted mirror. All the replacement mirrors are faulty. You can not safely drive with them !”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
“The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer…”— owner report to NHTSA, 2021 Pilot
Mileage when trouble shows up
Among the 55 reports that include an odometer reading, problems most often appear around 32,000 miles. Half of those reports fall between 9,800 and 62,000 miles — a useful range to weigh against the mileage of the exact car you're looking at.
Recalls (10)
American Honda Motor Company (Honda) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Honda Pilot, 2017-2023 Ridgeline, 2019-2023 Passport, and 2014-2020 Acura MDX vehicles that were sold in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine,…
Fix: Dealers will inspect the rear subframe and install a rear subframe reinforcement kit and, as necessary, repair or replace the rear subframe components, free of charge. Interim letters notifying…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V,…
Fix: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Pilot, Accord, Civic sedan, HR-V, Odyssey, 2020 Civic coupe, Fit, 2021-2022 Civic hatchback, 2021 Civic Type R, Insight, 2020-2021 CR-V, CR-V Hybrid, Passport, Ridgeline, Accord Hybrid, 2020…
Fix: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Honda customer service at…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda…
Fix: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Civic, 2020-2023 Ridgeline, 2021-2023 Passport, 2021-2022 Pilot, and 2020 Acura MDX vehicles. The tie rod fastener that connects the brake booster and the brake master cylinder may have been…
Fix: Dealers will inspect and repair the brake booster assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 7, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2023 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Pilot, and 2019-2023 Passport vehicles. Due to a faulty Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) communication coaxial cable connector, the rearview camera image may not appear…
Fix: Dealers will replace the MOST cable harness and install a straightening cover over the vehicle cable connector, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 24, 2023. Owners may…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Pilot and Ridgeline, and 2020-2022 Passport and Odyssey vehicles. The heating pads behind both side-view mirrors may not be bonded properly, allowing the mirror glass to detach. As such, these…
Fix: Dealers will replace both left and right side-view mirrors, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed January 17, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number…
American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain 2021 Pilot vehicles equipped with Continental CrossContact LX Sport 245/50R20 102 H tires with DOT serial number A376 D3K9 2920 and mold numbers S-421920 and S-421921. The tires may have been cured for a…
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect all four tires and replace the tires that have the affected DOT serial number and mold number, free of charge. The recall began January 11, 2021.…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Pilot, 2019-2020 Odyssey and 2019-2020 Passport vehicles. Incorrect central network software programming may cause several errors to occur that can delay or prevent the rearview camera image…
Fix: Honda will notify owners that updated software is available. Owners have the option to either follow the mailed instructions to download and update the software for free, or visit a dealer to have…
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019-2020 Passport, and 2019-2021 Pilot vehicles. Incorrect instrument panel control module software can cause the instrument panel to not display critical information, such as engine…
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the instrument panel control module software, free of charge. The recall began September 23, 2020. Owners may contact Honda customer service at…
Federal defect investigations
Complaint history for this model year
When owners filed their reports — a long tail means problems kept surfacing for years.
Questions buyers ask
Is the 2021 Honda Pilot reliable?
The 2021 Honda Pilot drew 706 complaints in federal safety records — a middle-of-the-pack year for this model. Its trouble index is 32/100, scored against the model's worst year (2016).
What are the most common 2021 Honda Pilot problems?
The top reported problems for the 2021 Honda Pilot are driver assistance (224 complaints), electrical (124), and engine (102).
At what mileage do 2021 Honda Pilot problems show up?
Owners most often report 2021 Honda Pilot problems around 32,000 miles. Half of all reports that include an odometer reading fall between 9,800 and 62,000 miles.
Does the 2021 Honda Pilot have recalls?
10 recall campaigns apply to the 2021 Honda Pilot. Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.