2021 Honda Pilot problems & reliability
432 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2021 Honda Pilot, alongside 10 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Sep 21, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several components.
7 complaints report injuries (8 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2021 Honda Pilot vehicles were involved in 29 fatal crashes with 6 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical System → | 126 | 29% |
| Engine → | 104 | 24% |
| Forward Collision Avoidance → | 98 | 23% |
| Unknown / Other | 82 | 19% |
| Lane Departure → | 44 | 10% |
| Air Bags → | 31 | 7% |
| Power Train → | 24 | 6% |
| Service Brakes → | 24 | 6% |
| Fuel/propulsion System → | 21 | 5% |
| Visibility/wiper → | 20 | 5% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 24 reported components →Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 43 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 32,000 miles (middle 50% between 9,400 and 58,500 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The entire ADAS suddenly failed. the vehicle started cycling through all warning indicators (adaptive cruise control problem, abs problem, lane keep assist problem, brake mitigation system problem etc) brought it to Honda today and they confirmed that the "multi purpose camera/millimeter wave radar unit with aiming"…”
Forward Collision Avoidance · filed Sep 15, 2026
“The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under an unknown recall; however, the recall repair failed to prevent the failure. The contact stated that while shifting in reverse(R), the rear-view camera failed to display a clear image. The local dealer was contacted. The…”
Back Over Prevention · filed Sep 14, 2026
“Our pilot is experiencing similar issues found online with catastrophic engine failure due to a misfire caused by a knocking rod. Honda so far has not responded to our claim despite it being a known issue around the same time ours was manufactured.”
Engine · filed Sep 13, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- No Restart After Auto Start/Stop Engages
Engineering Analysis EA25004 · opened Mar 26, 2025 · open
Technical service bulletins
99 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Honda Pilot. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - The wireless charger starts charging the phone and then stops charging, even when the phone remains in the correct position on the charger due to software specifications that can cause some phones to…
A24-061 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 7, 2025
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2022-2025 Passport Blacks, TrailSports & 2019-2022 Pilots with a customer complaint of the taillight and/or brake light being inoperative…
ATI&08212025903 · Other · issued Aug 22, 2025
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2022-2025 Passport Blacks, TrailSports & 2019-2022 Pilots with a customer complaint of the taillight and/or brake light being inoperative…
ATI&08072025902 · Other · issued Aug 7, 2025
Service Bulletin - One or more accessory running board lights are flickering or not working due to a faulty running board light assembly.
A20-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 1, 2025
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2022-2025 Passport Blacks, TrailSports & 2019-2022 Pilots with a customer complaint of the taillight and/or brake light being inoperative…
ATI&07242025904 · Other · issued Jul 25, 2025
Service Bulletin - Under certain circumstances, after coming to a stop and engaging idle stop, the vehicle may not restart automatically due to excessive cylinder pressure and/or low cranking torque. Typically, the…
A23-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 7, 2025
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2022-2025 Passport Blacks, TrailSports & 2019-2022 Pilots with a customer complaint of the taillight and/or brake light being inoperative…
ATI&07072025902 · Other · issued Jul 7, 2025
Service Bulletin - The AWD warning light is on potentially due to water intrusion into the rear differential pump motor connector area that corrodes the terminals.
A24-048 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 22, 2024
Service Bulletin - The wireless charger starts charging the phone and then stops charging, even when the phone remains in the correct position on the charger.
A24-061 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 8, 2024
Service Bulletin - The wireless charger starts charging the phone and then stops charging, even when the phone remains in the correct position on the charger.
A24-061 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 21, 2024
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2021 Honda Pilot has 10 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2021 Honda Pilot?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 32,000 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.