Home / Car Problems Checker / 2012 Honda Pilot

Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2012 Honda Pilot — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 171 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

171

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Honda Pilot — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Honda Pilot

111 complaints

2011 Honda Pilot

293 complaints

2012 Honda Pilot

171 complaints

2013 Honda Pilot

271 complaints

2014 Honda Pilot

116 complaints

2015 Honda Pilot

109 complaints

2016 Honda Pilot AVOID

1,712 complaints

2017 Honda Pilot

933 complaints

2018 Honda Pilot

440 complaints

2019 Honda Pilot

913 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 35 reports

Service Brakes 28 reports

Electrical System 22 reports

Air Bags 20 reports

Power Train 20 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 17 reports

Suspension 14 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 11 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Unknown Or Other ODI 11562614 12/29/2023

The vehicle's paint is literally peeling away from every horizontal and connected vertical surface. Without paint on metal, rust is happening, weakening the metal structure of the vehicle. have reached out to Honda USA and they informed they had no responsibility for the paint, yet the service writer at my local Honda dealer said that my vehicle's paint, Pearl White, has been…

Power Train ODI 11561758 12/25/2023

While driving the vehicle at around 45 MPH it suffered a complete loss of power for 3-5 seconds. The dashboard lights illuminated and then the vehicle restarted without having to restart via the ignition and all of the dash lights turned off. This has happened intermittently on two prior occasions. No electrical issues were evident, new battery and charging system appears to b…

Electrical System ODI 11632204 12/23/2024

Check engine light came on followed by shaking of the vehicle. The code was checked indicating a cylinder 1 misfire. This has been an ongoing issue of cylinders misfiring. The spark plugs and coils have been replaced multiple times and the issue is still persisting.

Service Brakes ODI 10937097 12/22/2016

MY 2012 HONDA PILOT ROTOR WARP PREMATURELY RESULTING IN LOSS OF CONTROL AND INCREASED RISK FOR CRASH WHEN DRIVING AT MODERATE TO HIGH SPEEDS. AFTER BEING SHOOK TO DEATH AFTER HEAVY BREAKING, I TOOK MY PILOT TO THE DEALERSHIP. THEY SAID THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT ROTORS CARRY A 12K MILE WARRANTY. THEY SAY THAT THE ROTORS ARE NOT PROPERLY DESIGNED FOR THE WEIGHT OF THE VE…

Electrical System ODI 10489504 12/21/2012

I PURCHASED A HONDA PILOT 2012 EX-L 4WD IN NOV 2011. SINCE DAY ONE I NOTICED THAT THERE HAS BEEN A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE'S A/C SYSTEM. SPECIFICALLY, I HEAR A LOUD HUMMING NOISE FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WHEN THE A/C COMPRESSOR TURNS ON. THE NOISE IS VERY ANNOYING AND WAS DISMISSED BY THE DEALER AS "NORMAL" WITHOUT DIAGNOSTIC WORKS. HAVING OWNED MANY OTHER VEHICLES OVER TH…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Honda Pilot, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2012 Honda Pilot reliable?

Owners have filed 171 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2012 Honda Pilot, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Honda Pilot years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.