Used 2016 Honda Pilot Consumer Reviews
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Do Not Buy This Car!!!!!
Lily, 02/03/2016
2016 Honda Pilot Touring 4dr SUV w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment System (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
21 of 22 people found this review helpful
I have only owned 5 cars in my life and I am now 50 Years old. My first car was a Honda Prelude, then a Honda Station Wagon, and two Honda mini Vans to follow. The 2016 Pilot is my 5th car. I am a Honda advocate and normally one of their biggest supporters but the new Pilot has disappointed me immensely and the dealership's ability to help as well. I have now owned the car for 6 months and have been plagued with issues that no one can solve from day one. The first issue is the radio. Regardless of whether I am listening to XM or local radio, periodically a crackling sound will occur and the only thing that will make it go away is turning the car off and then restarting it. This however does not always work. I have even driven the car to the dealership (making me very late to work) to prove to the dealership that this irritating crackling noise does exist. The technicians listened to the noise and tried to determine the source but were unable to give me a definitive answer/solution. I have since been back three times and still no results. I now have the pleasure of listening to music with a loud crackling noise in the background. The second and more serious issue is the acceleration problem. This to me is extremely dangerous and an issue Honda needs to address ASAP, as other owners have also mentioned this problem. it doesn't matter if the car is in the ECO mode or regular mode, when you are at a stop sign or light and go to accelerate there is a distinct delay and abrupt jarring that follows. It is very dangerous because you assume when trying to pull out into a busy intersection that your car will move quickly to avoid getting hit. This however is not the case because your acceleration is delayed and frequently panic ensues because you worry if you can get out of the way in time. Again, I have brought the car into the dealership three times and they tell me the computers have been reprogrammed. The issue has not improved or been corrected. I have now been told to go back to American Honda Motor Company to see what can be done. I am now in the process of seeing what my options are because I do not feel safe driving a car that does not accelerate properly. The third issue is the same as another writer who wrote a review about the Auto Idle Stop is also a problem and will only work sporadically. If you think I'm the only one you better go on line and research the acceleration problems and Honda's denial that they have a problem. Getting ready for battle and hope you don't make the same mistake I made. It's a shame that after 35 years of being a loyal customer they have lost my business.
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It's OK. Some good. Some bad.
KidHorn, 06/29/2016
2016 Honda Pilot LX 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
I've had my Pilot since March 2016. It replaced a Mazda CX-9 that was hit from the side by a red light runner who totaled it. I wanted to get another CX-9, but no one had any in stock locally and I needed a replacement car immediately, I didn't feel paying an extra $5k for the EX was worth it, so I got an LX. I basically needed AC/heat, power windows, bluetooth for the phone, and a backup camera. Everything else was useless to me. Paid $34k cash bottom line. I needed an 8 seater since I have 3 kids and they have friends who need rides too. I looked at the Traverse, Highlander, etc... . They're all kind of the same. Got the Honda mainly based on reputation. It's an OK vehicle. Gets me from point A to B safely and comfortably. I don't like it as much as my CX-9 though for a few reasons. It doesn't accelerate as well as the CX-9. It doesn't coast well. It downshifts quickly and I find myself having to give it gas when coasting to a red light since it goes from 35 to 20 in 5 seconds on a flat road due to unneeded down shifting. My CX-9 was better at sensing it didn't need HP so it stayed in a higher gear. it also has an issue with the break pedal that others have mentioned. If you stop, after a while, the break pedal will go down like it's losing air. I always fear that if the red light stays red too long, I might hit bottom and not be able to stop. Not sure if it would ever actually happen. It's not a bad car. I'm just not overly impressed at this point in time.
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2016 Honda Pilot for sale near you
Showing 3 of 83 listings
- EX-L 4dr SUVMSRP: $15,9906 mi away
- Touring 4dr SUV w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment SystemMSRP: $22,9909 mi away
- EX 4dr SUVMSRP: $10,99513 mi away
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Loyal Honda Owner
JW, 11/11/2016
updated 05/19/2025
2016 Honda Pilot EX-L 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
17 of 18 people found this review helpful
I love my new 2016 Honda Pilot EX-L AWD. It is powerful and accelerates very nicely. It looks great and handles well. It is comfortable and I love having the sun roof or moon roof, or whatever you call it. This is my second Honda Pilot, I traded my 2004 Pilot (180,000 mi) in for the new one. I also own a 2014 Honda Accord (wife's car). I find that Honda's are well built and reliable. I love the amount of room my new Pilot has, and I love the features of raising and lowering the last row of seats. It handles well, has lots of room, and I love driving it. The down sides are the visibility out of the windows for some reason seems difficult when I am checking traffic during freeway driving and changing lanes. I love the side and backup cameras but hate the fact that "objects are closer than they appear". That is certainly a true statement and if you ask me it takes away most of the advantage of having the cameras. I do find it difficult to look at the screen when changing lanes, I have too much around me to watch and keep track of and rarely have the opportunity to safely look at the monitor long enough for it to be a benefit. So it doesn't provide me much advantage while actually driving but I like it at stop lights and situations like that when I am sitting still and want to see my blind spot on that side of the car. I only use the back up camera to see what is behind me before I start rolling backward. If you try to use it to see where you are going while backing up you will most likely run into things because you will close in on stuff terribly fast. However, the back up camera is a big help in parking lots to see if cars are coming down the isles from left or right before backing out of your space. Controls: I hate... hate... hate... the fact that there is no volume control knob. I thought it would just take some getting used to, but no! I WANT IT BACK!!! Instead of glancing at the knob while reaching for it, and returning my eyes to driving while I adjust things by feel and sound, I have to maintain eye contact with the touch screen on my dash far too long to adjust the volume or to mute the radio. The eyes have to watch the screen while adjusting and I find it and unsafe distraction. I hate that with a passion. Huge down-side and should be brought back. I will never buy a future car that has no volume knob and I hope Honda is listening. The other part about that is trying to adjust something on the touch screen when you turn on your right hand blinker. The right side camera view activates and your touch screen disappears in the middle of you tapping on the screen. Very frustrating. This also happens if you are in the process of making a phone call. Blinker on, phone call stops. Frustrating. By maximizing the touch screen technology they've removed some important tactile abilities of driving and overloaded the visual and mental aspects. For the same reason I would never purchase an automobile that removes the gear shift. My version of the pilot has the gear shift, but I noticed the Touring model doesn't. I would never buy a model that removes the tactile sensation of dropping the car into drive without looking at it to make sure it is in "D". I believe the traditional gear lever method that auto stops at "D" when pulling downward (or backward) on the gear shift provides more error-proofing than the simply feeling for buttons and choosing the proper direction like is found on the touring model. The button method relies upon making the correct visual choice every time, whereas the gear shift method is more of an automatic muscle memory process rather than a decision process that the buttons cause. Again, the tactile ability is removed and adds more visual and mental distractions for the driver. Since I made the purchase I have driven a lot of personal trips for pleasure and visiting family. As of May 2017 I have put 14,000 miles on it, in all kinds of conditions including Montana in February and Colorado in April. I've driven it in heavy snow, rain, sleet, fog, wind, etc. Every weather condition that makes driving a challenge and it handles beautifully. It is an AWD and from here on out I will own nothing else. AWD is definitely the way to go. UPDATE: 11/15/2018: I've now driven my Pilot 35,000 miles. I do city driving everyday going back and fourth to work, but on weekends I travel a lot to neighboring downs and states to compete in my past time sport. I still love my Pilot for all the reasons named, and I still have disappointments for all reasons named. My opinion have not changed and experiences have not changed. A very good automobile that suits my purposes greatly, with a few annoyances. I love having an AWD, definitely worth the extra money! 5/17/2024: My pilot now has 115,000 miles on it, and I still love it and have had no problems with it except the moon roof malfunctions and has for quite some time. No problems opening it, but when closing it, it moves all the way forward to engage and latch. When it tries to latch, it reverses course and opens again by itself. I've taken to Honda dealership and their mechanics could not figure out what is wrong, so it didn't get fixed. The way to close it is to watch it while closing. Immediately before it engages the latching mechanism, STOP IT, then start it forward again and it will finish latching. Researching on the internet, apparently this is a common problem. When I reached 100,000 miles I put it into the shop to replace items I know will likely wear out over the next 100,000 miles. It cost me a few grand to put it into the dealership garage and have the belts, hoses, plugs, plug wires, and water pump all replaced, and changed out all fluids. This is when I had the moon roof addressed and they couldn't figure it out, so they left it alone. Still loving the Pilot. I highly recommend this automobile. I love driving it in all kinds of conditions, it's roomy, handles well, and rides well. 05/17/2025: I still have my 2016 Pilot and I still love it. I travel a lot for my hobby which is trapshooting. This SUV is spacious, handles well with AWD, gets decent mileage, and is comfortable and easy to drive. I currently have nearly 130,000 miles on it and have had no issues with it. At 100,000 miles I did put it in the shop and had them replace many of the items that would likely go out, like water pump, belts, hoses, spark plugs, changed all fluids, new brakes, etc. Spent a few $grand$ for the maintenance but doing so makes me very comfortable getting into it and trusting it for road trips across the desert southwest. Rides nice, handles well, and I am still a believer in the Honda brand.
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I used to love Honda! But now ...
Johnson, 05/13/2016
updated 05/15/2017
2016 Honda Pilot Touring 4dr SUV AWD w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment System (3.5L 6cyl 9A)
23 of 25 people found this review helpful
I am continually frustrated with my new Honda Pilot, and want to share a brief glimpse into my experience in case it can help someone else… Electronics: -imagine computers in the '90s … -imagine IT department back then ... turn it on/off, and if that doesn't fix it, "that's the way its supposed to work" -I have gone to dealer numerous times with a typed list 2-3 pages long of all the issues. Yes, most are just annoying things, like feeling a $5 radio from Walmart wouldn't have the same intermittent reception issues, or that the navigation on my phone (pick any app!) is 10x better, or the audio for the bluray play just stops working for a couple days every now and then, or that I sometimes have to turn the Pilot off/on to adjust the temperature controls, or that sometimes things just randomly stop working for a while (and then magically work again … and then not …), etc. -the dealer people are nice and mean well, and yes they have had some updates that seemed to fix much of the issues, but not all, and other issues come back after awhile -SERIOUS: situations where Pilot could have caused an accident 1) while turning onto a busy street, my vehicle 100% on its own, went into neutral and the engine revved all the way up, then a second later it was back in Drive, and fortunately the accelerator was not still all the way down on its own 2) car slammed on the brakes, 100% on its own (and I mean slammed, screeching tires, everything in the car going flying), stopping me ~30’ from where a car in front of me had been slowly turning off the road into a parking lot. The thought of self braking is great, but even if the turning car had stopped, worst case a small corner would have been sticking in the road and I would have slowed down/around, or even had plenty of time/room to stop. Other examples: -cup holders in front are made for Big Gulps, so every other drink container bounces around, so my whole middle console is covered with coffee/other stains -front storage is just one monster tub (old Pilots had compartments that let you organize space) -rear seats do not lean back 1/3 as much as in previous Pilots (so kids can't sleep as easily) -had to replace all 4 tires after just ~19,000 miles -stainless steel running boards have rusting screws/or other fastener behind them that are constantly leaking rust out; and because “elbow grease” can remove the leaking rust from the stainless steel, its not a warranty issue (we just need to apply “elbow grease” after it rains every time) -maintenance plan is basically bring it in, and we’ll let you know what’s needed -engine always sounds like its short a few quarts of oil -at random times (independent of outside humidity or dryness) all of the windows will fog up, and I need to blast the defroster -and a laundry list of other annoyances Are there a lot of good to great things about the new Pilot – Yes, absolutely. But I have never had a vehicle that had so many issues and annoyances. I previously owned an older Honda Pilot and LOVED it! Had I known what the new Pilot is like, I would have rather kept my old model and put $40K into it!! I have looked into the lemon laws, but all of the problem above are generally intermittent, and can be rationalized away as subjective opinion (“that’s the way its supposed to work”) For what its worth!
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2016 Pilot is a Winner!!
Dustin, 07/20/2016
2016 Honda Pilot EX-L 4dr SUV AWD w/Honda Sensing (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
We have had our Pilot for a little over a month. We've taken it to Lake Tahoe, and around town of course. It climbed the mountains and handled the corners with ease on the way to Tahoe. I'm anxious for winter to come so I can test the AWD system as I head to the ski resorts. The vehicle is incredibly comfortable (I suppose that's subjective based on each person's comfort level), and the interior is very nicely laid out. I actually look forward to road trips since we have more room to spread out. We will probably have the 3rd row folded down 99% of the time. With that, there is a lot of cargo space in the back. There is even a fair amount of room with the 3rd row up. My wife and I have two young boys, and they it is nice that their car seats are far enough away so that they cannot reach each other. No more fists flying back and forth between the two of them as was the case in our '06 CRV, which we kept since it is a great vehicle in its own right. The touchscreen radio takes a little getting used to, but it is easy to navigate once you get the hang of it. We were considering purchasing a Tahoe or Explorer, but are very happy we went with the Pilot. We are looking forward to having the Pilot as our family car for many years to come.
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