Used 2016 Honda Pilot Consumer Reviews

THEY CHANGED IT TO A STATION WAGON

I have owned several Honda Pilots. I lease them for 3 years and at the end of the lease I get another one. NP. 2 days ago I went to my dealer thinking I would leave with another Pilot. Let me state here that I work in the construction trades so I have to be on construction sites every day AND I have to carry specialized testing equipment. This new Pilot is an abomination! They have changed it into a station wagon. If you are a Soccer Mom maybe its a better design but as a true "UTILITY VEHICLE" its a joke.

Buy this car - now!

Just picked up '16 Touring. This thing is sick. I can't believe the negatives reviews on the tranny! Are you people nuts? Stop overthinking and just drive the damn car. The 9-speed is sweet. The touch screen is sweet. Who cares about fingerprints. The touch is seamless and responds beautifullly. No hard knob to control volume? Anyone who cares about that is too old to appreciate modern tech. That's akin to complaining about not having a CD player. The Garmin looks nice but I just use Waze via Bluetooth. No I don't get the graphic but the turn prompts suffice and if they don't I can just look down to see what's up. Waze is just so much better than any Nav. Search capabilities are remarkable and who doesn't want to know about 5-0 up ahead? Bluetooth integration is perfect. Streaming The Dead through Pandora never sounded so good. Leather is very nice and I simply love this car. Technology is slick, although my prior car was a 2005 Acura RL, so I've had proximity sensors for key fob for quite some time. People, don't buy a Highlander...don't buy a Grand Idiot Cherokee (way more off-road capability than most of the chumps buying it would ever even begin to know how to use)...don't buy a Yukon (unless you bought a boat you can't afford); buy a Pilot (2016 that is- the prior ones sucked). If you're intelligent and want a sick family SUV to make memories in, buy this car now! You can thank me later.

Love my new Pilot!

Third Pilot is the Charm!

Oops!

My wife was wanting a Honda Pilot for the last 15 months. We waited for the new model, shopped around, got the best price possible and great she got her wish. Well we have owned it for the last three months. I am not too trilled with it! Blue tooth is outdated, the screen looks awful fingerprints all over it. The motor lacks power if four adults are in the vehicle. Third row seat is a bit too troublesome to get into, luckily my little girl loves hoping into it instead. ENGINE IS TOO NOISY!!!! It's a brand new engine and it is not quite. It sounds like crickets under the hood while in idle. My older truck has a quitter v6 than this Honda. SHAME on HONDA. Well we are already making plans in trading it in later next year. Too bad I had my hopes too high. I will NOT recommend this car to anyone.

Honda Pilot Elite

2016 Honda Pilot Elite is a great vehicle to drive. The Garmin navigation, technology, handling, convenience features, and responsiveness all combine to make this vehicle an all around solid vehicle for the cost- it is the best vehicle I have ever owned.

Long term review @ 105,000 miles

We purchased our 2016 Pilot EX-L AWD in October 2015. Just did the "big" service at 105,000 miles (timing belt, water pump, drive belt, spark plugs, valve cover gasket, etc) and thought I'd give a brief long term review. I did not like the optional 9 speed transmission offered at the time, and so we bought the 6 speed version with a traditionel P-R-N-D-L controller. Didn't like push button transmission selectors then and still don't like them now. This has proven to be a good choice so far. We did experience some intermittent power hesitation issues under load at around 80K miles, which felt all the world to me like a fuel starvation problem, but turned out to be easily solved with updating the transmission software and a transmission fluid change at the dealer. I opted to pay an additional $700 or so when the vehicle as new for the "towing package" including a then-optional transmission fluid cooler, and I've had no problem towing occasional 3000+ pound loads. It is rated for 5000 lb towing capacity configured this way. We did have a couple of first year design problems. The FM reception was very poor on the infotainment system intially. It took several months, but Honda eventually addressed this issue with a TSB calling for a replacment remote tuner with updated software. Shockingly, someone forgot to tighten a brake master cylinder line during assembly, and our brake fluid emptied completely in the first couple hundred miles of driving. Our local dealer (Penske Honda) rectified this right away and was extremely apologetic for the scare it gave my wife. The infotainment system in this model year was only so-so, with the poor design decision to eliminate a physical volume knob. Enough people complained that Honda went back to a physical control in newer versions. The newest generation Pilot was recently introduced, and it is a (subjectively) better looking SUV, but disappointing to me in that it delivers worse fuel economy than my 2016. The newer version claims have softer seating materials and less cabin noise than mine, but I've yet to drive one to confirm this. Other than the above, the Pilot has proven to be a capable and reliable hauler in any weather with mostly routine maintenance over the years. I've become a fan of the Honda "maintenance minder" since owing this vehicle, since it is able to actively monitor remaining oil life rather than basing service intervals on mileage alone. We only use the third row once or twice a year, and it's fine for occasional use, but otherwise claustrophobic for adults ( but less so then the Toyota Highlander that we cross shopped at the time). Overall our long term Pilot experience would rate 4.5 stars, but this isn't possible at Edmunds, so we'll round up and go with 5.0 rating. A purchase we would make again.

Even better than my 2005 EX-L

The new Pilot is hugely improved in every aspect over the outgoing model. I find the looks are much nicer than the outgoing boxy model, which I didn't like compared to the original Pilot design it replaced. I had my '05 Pilot EX-L for over 11 trouble-free years and 168K miles. The new '16 blows it away for gas mileage. I've been getting way better than EPA estimates. My old Pilot was typically 17-18 city and around 22-23 highway with a best of 25 mpg. For first 2,000 miles, the new Pilot returned 22 mpg city and 27-28 highway mpg with one tank a legitimate 30.6 mpg in ECO mode! Keyless key system is great. I wanted a Black Forest Pearl EX cloth AWD but the only one that finally showed up was one with Homda Sensing, $1000 more. I got it. The sensing is okay but to me, it's a bit of a novelty and I find to get the best mileage, I don't use it nor do I use cruise control if the roads are not flat. XM radio is great, as is the other electronic features. I hope they last.

Worth the money!

Own this car for less than a month and it drives like a dream. This is my 4th new Honda and I know I can expect this standard of performance for many years to come

Acceptable but not great

My wife and I went out to try what was available. We went with the Elite trim to get most of the features we wanted. We have a path we drive with all vehicles so it is and Apple to Apple review. The ride was harsher than I expected and the acceleration was disappointing. The road noise was higher than I expected on the interstate. The small detail that caused us to eliminate the Pilot was at the Elite trim level the second row seat option is captains chairs only. We wanted a bench.

Love our Honda Pilot - still - year 3

Update: Dec 7, 2023 We are still very happy with our 2016 Honda Pilot EX. Had to have new brakes front and rear in November 2023, which is the first time since owning vehicle. We replaced the battery last year for the first time. So far, no other issues. Fingers crossed that our good luck continues. =========================================================================== Update: June 6, 2022 We still are very happy with this 2016 Honda Pilot EX, We follow all recommended service items. No issues whatsoever. ========================================================================== Update June 6, 2019. So far so good with this 2016 Honda Pilot. No issues at all. Still love it. We just keep changing the oil at recommended intervals. ======================================================== This is another update on our 2016 Honda Pilot EX. We still love it. We have no complaints whatsoever other than the touch screen for the radio. Glad that Honda is putting knobs back for the radio. ======================================================= This is an update review for our 2016 Honda Pilot EX that we bought in November 2015. We still love it! We have had no problems with this Pilot. Something we didn't mention in the prior review is that the grand kids love sitting in the 3rd row seats. We sometimes have had their friends along too - all of the kids want to ride in the 3rd row seats. A couple of the kids' friends (under age 12) have told us how much they like this vehicle. Adult friends of ours sat in the driver's seat to determine visibility. They liked it alot. They will be shopping for a Honda Pilot rather than the Toyota Highlander that they had previously owned, since they said the new Highlander does not have good visibility . All in all, the 2016 Pilot EX has been great. ====================================================== Prior review: We bought our 2016 Honda Pilot EX with Honda Sensing in November of 2015, so we have had it for a year now. So far so good - no problems whatsoever. We owned a 2004 Honda Pilot prior to the 2016, and had no problems with that vehicle either. We feel that the 2016 is quieter and more comfortable than the 2004. We make good use of the versatility of the 2nd & 3rd row seats: most of the time we keep the 3rd row seat folded down to allow hauling of luggage and other stuff to our vacation cottage, or for those stock-up trips to the local warehouse store. Often we fold the second row seats down too for added hauling space. We have also had 7 adults in this vehicle on several occasions with all the seats in the upright positions. That worked out just fine too. Everyone who has ridden in this Pilot loves it. They remark about how quiet and comfortable the ride is. The Honda Sensing allowed for an additional discount on the vehicle insurance too. We appreciate the lane keeper warning, and the comfort in knowing that there is collision avoidance for the front, although that has not ever deployed. We are very happy with this Pilot.

Hagerstown Honda

Great car, for a good price. The back up camera and Bluetooth are awesome. I'm not a fan of the touch screen. It's hard to use and very confusing. But, overall I love Honda's. I'm very disappointed that there's not a CD player.

Fuel Injectors Failing At 38k Miles

The car just got out of its full warranty. It’s at 38k miles currently. The fuel injectors have failed and the cost to repair is 1800. The fuel injectors aren’t covered by the powertrain warranty, which doesn’t make any sense. Do not purchase a 2016 Pilot. It seems like this is a common problem, and Honda doesn’t stand by it. The car is barely 3 years old, with 38k miles, and it requires a major repair. What happened to Honda reliability??

4th owned pilot, 1st Elite

First off, yes the 9 speed transmission is different and we decided to disable the Auto Engine Idle. We start the car via push button and then select Auto Engine Idle disable which shut off the engine at a stop light or when stopped. I wonder who the bone head designer from Honda was that thought this was a good idea? Your engine shuts off with car in gear when brake pedal is held longer than x amount of time at a stop. All fluids/hydraulics that power an auto transmission come to a stop when engine shuts off. Then when you remove your foot from brake engine starts and away you go, very hard on a transmission resulting in a lot of jerking from a stop, and dumb design. We had Fischer Honda of Boulder re-map (from Honda factory) the 9 speed transmission shift points and programming of transmission which has corrected all jerky and bad performance of the transmission. We wish that Honda had a way to permanently disable the stupid Auto Idle from the factory. Our driving is mixed 50/50 and fuel mpg of this heavy SUV has always been around 22-23mpg. Road trips are around 21-23 mpg with skis on roof rack or cargo box and about 25 mpg without parasitic drag of roof rack. Overall loved this SUV and the safety of Honda. We love the safety of Honda as wife and kids were in head on car crash in our first Pilot when F150 lost control and crossed traffic. Everyone walked away and our trusted pilot was destroyed as it did its job protecting the family. The fire department and police could not believe and were impressed at how well crash ended. We also love Fischer Honda of Boulder, it is a 30 min drive each way to dealer from our residence, but wife will not take it anywhere else for maintenance (when I'm out of town) or repairs under warranty. Hope this helps and demand that Honda re-program the transmission if your having same issues as we did. Update 02/14/2020: Wife still loves her Pilot (3rd one since 2014) . Vehicle has almost 60k on it with no issues (knock on wood). My only complaint is that the rear diff fluid (Honda brand DPFS type) is recommended to be changed every 15k miles due to Honda's AWD rear diff clutches. I have religiously changed this myself including new crush washers per Honda as it's not hard to do but definitely different than all our other 5 vehicles (kids and work trucks). I install Amsoil in all those with 100k mi diff drain interval, even more if I wanted to send in test fluid sample.

Transmission Issues BEWARE!

We have had our Pilot Elite since August 2015. In the past month out of nowhere, we are also experiencing the chirping noise and shifting issue between 20-30 MPH. There are also issues with shifting and jerkiness at other speeds and the cruise control constantly fluctuates and jerks. We took the vehicle in to the dealer today and they admitted that this his a frequent issue they are seeing with the Elite and Touring models. They are going to put us in a rental and replace the transmission. I am not happy that my car that is barely a year old has to have a new transmission. We have always been Honda owners and have NEVER had a problem with our cars. This is beyond disappointing. I intend to contact American Honda and voice my concerns and open a case. If there are any further problems after this transmission is replaced, I will expect Honda to replace the vehicle. Other than issue we have loved the vehicle up until now.

Electronic Issues

So I purchased my 2016 Honda Pilot in September of 2015. From the start I've had nothing but electronic issues that the dealer won't fix because they claim they can't replicate them. My stereo does whatever it wants, whenever it wants...usually blasting the music WAY. TOO. LOUD. and you are completely unable to turn it down. Also, the climate control system changes the settings almost each time I'm in the car...temp changes, recirculate turns on and off on its own, sync turns on and off on its own, etc. My car has also completely shut down in the middle of driving it multiple times. I was told this only happens when going through a deep puddle, which I've not done! My driver's seat heater works sometimes, while the one for the passenger works fine. I even asked the dealer to keep the car for a week and have someone drive it...the drove it for 15 miles and said there was no issue!! We bought a Honda because they are known for their reliability and customer support, neither of which we got. I will never own another Honda product again!!

Engine Failure at 80,000 Miles

Our Engine failed at 80,000 miles below are the details, loved the pilot but not disappointed that Honda will not back their product. We purchased our 2106 Honda Pilot Elite new in 2016 and the 100,000-mile warranty. My wife was in a car accident after three months (not her fault, and nobody was injured), and the car was totaled, so we had to purchase a new vehicle. The interest rate went up from 1.99 to 2.99. Fast forward to February 2022; after paying $800 per month for over five years, we paid it off and received the title! One month later, I was driving the car and heard a rattling noise after accelerating at a stop light. Speaking of stop lights, we had to turn off the auto-shutoff because the car stalled 50% of the time when we had it on. Back to the rattling noise, I took it to Honda and they determined the engine failed and we need a new one. Our engine went out at only 80,000 miles a month after receiving the title for the car. 80,000 miles! It's ok; at least we have the 100k mile warranty:). Our service technician informed us we do NOT have the 100k warranty on the new car. I understand that after the vehicle is totaled, the new purchase is treated as a new car purchase, but we do not remember declining the warranty; pretty sure our sales rep dropped the ball on that one. To Honda's defense, I should have checked our records to ensure we had the warranty, but I didn't. The next thing we did was file a claim with Honda Corporate; 80,000 miles seems very low for engine failure, so we were hoping Honda would stand behind their product and offer a goodwill credit towards the engine repair. Full credit would have been great, but we would have been happy with partial credit. My wife spent hours tracking down every receipt for services on the car. We provided every receipt requested and hand-delivered them to the service manager at Honda Schaumburg. After multiple unreturned phone calls and emails, we finally discovered our claim was denied. I experienced other issues with the Pilot; getting stalled at stop lights due to the auto engine stop and the start was by far the worst. I took it to Honda, and they repaired the start button, but it did not fix the issue. The next time they said my battery was bad, they were wrong because I purchased a new battery a few months prior. The auto tailgate open and close worked about 60% of the time, and we did not open the sunroof by the driver and passenger seats because it did not always close. When we filed our claim, we informed Honda about all of the issues above. The Pilot was the 3rd and last Honda I will ever purchase. I aim to share this story with as many people as possible, hoping they will think twice before buying a Honda.

i hate the inside arm rests

The stick arm rest have got to go, put on console with arm rest like I don't know the CRV. On long trips the stick arm rests don't work for me.

Road Trip Ready

I love my new Pilot. We recently replaced Hyundai Entourage (minivan sim to Odyssey) because it was unreliable. At first I looked at Odysseys because that was out of our price range 7 years ago, but then I looked at Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot. We don't need cavernous space of minivan and wanted an SUV for Wisconsin winters. Space is great for 2 older kids (middle school) and large dog. The kids gave up captain chairs for bench seat, which is very comfy and spacious. It is harder to get in third seat without 2nd seat aisle, and I wish rear door opened all the way 90 degrees. We have a dog blanket on rear bench seat, but can easily take that down, and there is good space back there for 2 humans, even adults. We got Touring package because we didn't want to give up DVD and liked the idea of in-dash navigation. Navigation is good, a bit slower than my phone but interface is good and it is much easier to see and follow. This is my first vehicle where I can listen to iTunes with Bluetooth and that works great with iPhone 6S, as do phone calls. I can transfer contacts and addresses from my phone to my car, but transferring addresses is cumbersome. I think I can use Siri to navigate with my phone, make calls etc but car just works as speaker, but I am not a Siri lover. With Touring package we got Honda Sensing which sounded like bells and whistles or beeps and gimmicks. But I love Honda Sensing I think more than DVD or Nav: Lane Departure Warning is useful, Lane Watch takes some getting used to but makes changing lanes safer, its very similar to the backup camera where you have to get used to looking at the screen and turn and look at mirrors less, but I can see and judge distance better with the camera. Adaptive Cruise Control is just plain Beautiful. Love love love it. Makes highway driving so much more enjoyable. As for the 9-speed transmission, I like it. It is smooth and fuel efficient above 20 mph. Below 20 mph it is weird. I can tolerate it, but I still find it weird that the car in drive doesn't naturally propel forward, it needs acceleration and gear changes are lurchy. Also sub 20 mph I tend to let off the gas into a curve and accelerate out. With this car it really slows down when you let off the gas. I think it downshifts and slows you down rather than coasts. There is room for improvement. And > 20 mph gear shifting is smooth and seamless. Another feature that I want to like, but seems unnatural is the auto engine shut off. This happens at stoplights and such. Brake and engine turns off, let off brake or turn wheel and engine quickly restarts. It seems like a great idea and works well. At first my foot wasn't braking hard enough to engage this feature and it gave me a driver notification. At first it was jarring because you can definitely tell when it restarts when you are driving. My husband feels like there is a delay when he is pulling out at a corner and wants to drive in an opening. I have gotten used to it and feel no delay now, but there was a learning curve. What I don't like is sometimes, like waiting to pick up kids from school, it doesn't stay off, engine restarts and doesn't have to. Also if I put it in Park the engine restarts. I find that annoying and pointless, e.g. I drive up driveway into garage, brake, engine shuts off for split second. Put in Park, engine turns on for split second. Turn off car, engine turns off. Just seems wrong. This car is great for road trips, spacious, comfortable, reliable, safe, and efficient. It is almost as big as my minivan, mostly just lower in vehicle height and this sits higher off the ground, that make for less cargo space but driveability is so much better. It feels smaller than it is and much more manageable than the minivan. When I first drove it home it felt like driving a car again. I liked the Pilot interior more than the Ford Explorer, visibility is better, mileage, safety is better, DVD player is better. I did pay more than I would have for the Explorer. Equivalent Explorer was $33k, I offered $29k, they said hell no. I have bought 3 Fords and never got a deal on any, so I found a Pilot for $42k, asked for their best price and they sold it to me for $38.6k, no hassle, and both gave me the same $2k for crap minivan. I paid cash and took my new car. Months later people were out protest the Ford dealership for selling them a lemon. I'm just saying, no regrets. Yes I paid more for equivalent features, but I liked the Pilot more and because of resale price it has much better value. If I bought the Explorer and traded it in the next day I would have lost $33k-$25k=$8k. With the Pilot I could still get $35k for the trade so I'd be out only out $3k-$4k. Best feature: I love the center console box. It is large easy access - my purse fits right in. I leave my purse "hidden" in my car. Much more functional than Explorer and Highlander. Best unexpected features: Adaptive Cruise Control & Skylight

If Mom is not happy, no one is

I owned a 2007 pilot, followed by a 2012 Odyssey, followed by last year we purchased a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring. I love Hondas and really only had one car in mind when it was time to trade in my vehicle. I have two small children so the entertainment system was definitely important. I also drive a lot for work so a clear, easy to use Bluetooth is also a priority. Honda features are great with no concerns. Now the Bluetooth. I have two iPhones 6 devices (one ATT and one Verizon). When I go to make a call, it has to make a voice connection and THEN you have to touch transfer on the screen to get it to switch to Bluetooth. So long for handsfree calling!! I took it to Honda and they said it was a Handsfree Bluetooth issue and that I should contact them. If you google it and look at their compatibility, it only is up to OS 8.3 (the current update was 10.2). It does not even mention an iPhone 7, so good luck if you have that. My second issue is the RES. If you have a child that can work the remote, they can handle it from the back seat. Otherwise, you are screwed and will have kids yelling at you that the movie won't start and it started over every time you got back in the car while running errands. (Once again, Honda says it is the new DVDs that just do not work). If the DVD goes to a start menu, it will not start automatically. Apparently, older DVDs may have an autoplay and those supposedly will work. Either way, there is no control over the movie from the front seat. After paying 48000 for a new Honda, it feels like a kick in the gut, when all of the older models are more sophisticated and operate better than the new 2016.

Don’t waste your money

I bought a 2016 Honda pilot EX-L 30 days ago. It took a few days of driving it to feel something wasn’t right. The car seemed to lunge or jolt when accelerating. I thought since it was different than my truck i wasn’t use to the way a suv drove. This car has good gas mileage so when i put gas in it and the gas light didn’t turn off I was worried it was a bigger problem than i expected. Called the Honda dealership and was told to get it looked at. Got there and was told it was a battery issue. They didn’t even look at the car to know what the issue was. Took it to carmax and they said the car was driving bad and starting looking at it. They found a animal nest and said my electrical system was shot. They Gave me a rental, i was on my way. Fast forward to still not having my car it’s been 2 weeks. Carmax sent it to Honda and they said some air filter box was loose. They cleared all the codes and said i could come get it. What about the chewed wires or animal nest. I told them i want a different vehicle. Honda didn’t want to fix anything and my car still is running funny. Ugh don’t waste your time. Honda is a JOKE

Brilliant!

My car is amazing! I LOVE it SO much...it's like my best friend! If you view consumer reports, do NOT listen to anything they say about the new 9 speed auto-it shifts so smoothly and the buttons are anything but unintuitive. 5 Stars for sure.

Comfortable touring vehicle

The pilot is a vehicle that will get you to your destination in comfort. It is designed for 7 passengers, but for long trips only 6 people can realistically travel comfortably.The pilot is an SUV, not a sports car. It handles great for what it is the AWD works great in snow and mud. As to the 9 speed transmission, I love it when it works properly and hate it when it feels like I am driving a $200.00 car with a bad transmission, which is the the reason for a 4 instead of 5 star. With this being said, I trust that our Pilot will get us to our destenation safely and we would probably purchase another Honda Pilot again.

Honda Pilot Elite - Awesome car!

The Pilot Elite has an extremely smooth ride with lots of cool conveniences. Love the sound system, heated/air conditioned seats & the heated steering wheel! You won't be disappointed!!

Elite Model was a Lemon for us

We purchased a 2016 Pilot Elite and loved it at first! Then the maintanance lights started popping up (Emissions system problem) at around 20,000 miles. Catalytic converter was replaced. Lights came back on like a Christmas tree shortly after. Fuel injectors were replaced. Lights back again and this time they said we had bad fuel. We had a lot of delayed acceleration problems. The air conditioner started going out. The dealer always helped us, but they couldn't make the vehicle more reliable. We ended up with 30,000 miles on this vehicle before we sold it and took the loss. Please research this trim model.

More 9 sp tranny issues

I understand that things go wrong. The dealership Palm Harbor Honda dropped the ball. From the transmission issue to the promised trailer hitch that never was. Was in the shop for 8 days while I had to rent and pay for a rental car (Toyota) for a new trans on a car that only had 30k mi.

Named Meme's Roadrunner

Excellent car. Great gas mileage. City getting at least 20mpg drops when oil needs changing. Price little steep so shop around for specials or discounts. Could use little more cargo behind 3rd row for luggage for large family other wise Love Love my SUV. Easier to park than my F250 Crewcab

What Hype?? We love our's!!!

To begin my review, I don't know what Larry Pines means by hype. No one should be buying a car because of a "hype". Especially a new car...he sounds like he needs a car that drives like a sedan, sounds like a sedan, and feels like a sedan. But I think that might be too much of a hype for Larry and family.. Yeah, the plastic is super glossy. Did you not test drive this thing before you bought it? I put so many fingerprints on the test drive car, I almost felt bad. Whatever...even satin finish surfaces get fingerprints. 9-speed shift? it's CVT...it "continuously" shifts. There's a brochure about it. It might not be the smoothest shifting transmission, but it's to save a little bit more on gas, right? anyways, I could go on for what "could" be better about the vehicle. But you know what's so great about it?? It's got room! It's like minivan, but in a SUV body. You don't want sliding doors and look like you're driving a get-away car? this would be it. But it IS a get-away car. I was impressed with the acceleration with econ mode off for how much it weighs. It's a SUV, not a sports car. The entertainment system/panoramic sunroof? Definitely a plus! My daughter loves watching Frozen and she doesn't cry. She likes pointing out birds, and says 'tweet-tweet'. She ca barely say 'mama or dada' on good days. Remote start? Awesome. Auto-idle? yeah it's annoying in bumper-to-bumper. But you can't tell me it's so hard to press a button that's right next to your finger when you're just cruising down the road...it's probably easier, safer, and quicker than checking texts on your phone. Jumping battery? meh...if you can afford auto insurance for the Pilot, I'm sure your plan has road-side assistance. Otherwise, carry a screwdriver in the car. boom. problem solved. Horn sounding a bit weak? screw it. high-beams and a finger always work just fine. How about that auto trunk?! I love it. The range of auto start is definitely a plus. It starts the heater or A/C depending on temperature. How cool is that? You want heated seats? How about cooled seats? Have you checked out Toyota highlander's range on their auto start? not cool... Navigation? My daughter loves that the car on the navi looks like a plane. It might be clunky, but that review is all over the internet. Probably should've checked it out if the reviews are saying 'it's clunky'. I installed running boards. Yes, please. Safety features? You can turn them off...the safety features are for people who are distracted anyways...Honda Pilot is not advertised as self-driving car for crying out loud. The lane thing is pretty cool. I love that I can take my hands off the wheel if I wanted to. But if the car can't see, it lets you know. I don't "fight" anything. A little nudge here puts the car right back where it was. The vehicle is quiet. It's a SUV. It's not meant to be aerodynamic...it's not meant to be the best ride you can have in a vehicle. The seats are a bit stiff....that I didn't like. The lumbar option doesn't have as much adjustability as my Hyundai Santa Fe. That might be my only comfort complaint. Oh the steering wheel controls can be re-done..but how many times are you pressing those things while you drive anyways? You want more dashboard car information? get yourself a bluetooth OBD reader and download Torque. Problem solves and you've got whatever information you need/want from your car. Look, the Honda Pilot isn't for everyone. If you're good with the EX-L, then great. If you're good with the Elite, great. The point is, do your homework and make sure you know what you're getting instead of listening to any "hypes". That's just a terrible way to purchase a vehicle. I'm sure the Highlander has some advantages over the Pilot. But it doesn't have what I was looking for, so it didn't cut it. Oh, and try sitting in the 3rd row of the Highlander.

Mediocre at best

It does everything, but not great. To start, the third row is completely unsuitable for three people, even if they are younger kids. Two at best. Interior material is cheap - to the touch as well as sight. It will scratch VERY easily. The Garmin GPS system absolutely sucks! Most of the time, for the first two-three minutes, it has no clue where the car is. This happens to be the most critical period of driving if you are away from home and don't know your surroundings. Audio controls are the most confusing I have ever seen in a Honda! The engine seems to be confused on which gear to pick, and the amount of thrust to apply. Very hesitant. In the first two three months, it worked fine, but then started having a lag - very noticeable - in acceleration. Overall, very disappointed with our decision to buy the new Pilot. Ended up trading it in for a different vehicle after 8 months of ownership.

Great Vehicle compared to MDX

Its been 2 weeks that i bought my new Honda Pilot 2016, overall i am satisfied, thought of buying Acura MDX, settled with Pilot as it is giving all i needed. I really feel its more than worth what i paid, enjoying 6 cylinders performance.

Disappointed!

Wow me Pilot Elite

This is a three seater with lots of bells and whistles. Great ride. No problems. Great service.

A month (now year) and no complaints - UPDATED

***Now it's been a year - Edmunds asked me to update this see below *** Wanted to wait a month before posting a review; I always rely on Edmunds info for car purchases. I have been very pleased. My previous vehicle was a 2011 Sequoia LTD. From an interior perspective, there is not that much less room than the Sequoia, but is so much easier to handle and drive. I have not experienced any problems with acceleration, braking, noises, etc. I did place an 8" screen protector over the navigation and it has helped tremendously on fingerprints. I love the blue LED lighting at night throughout the interior. I find the navigation and Bluetooth features easy to use - I have mainly used the screen and not the voice recognition. In deciding on the Pilot I also seriously considered the Infinity QX60 and the Toyota Highlander. The Highlander was eliminated because I really wanted a bench 2nd row and with that criteria you have to get a basic Highlander without a lot of the "nice" features. The QX60 you could get similar features to the Touring Pilot Model, but the price shot way up and often some of the safety features were "packaged" with other features I didn't want. Another feature I really like on the Pilot is the wide console between the two seats which is "friendly" to hold a purse or papers. It's flat the QX60 was narrow and curved. I routinely have a teenager in the front seat so that is important to me. Lots of storage compartments in the back is another big plus. The only two things I've noticed after driving several hundred miles (things you don't notice when you test drive) the clock is part of the navigation screen. The kids love it - they can clearly see it from the backseat, however you do not see the time until the "warning" messages go away when you start the car. For someone that checks the time the minute they start the car, this is taking some getting used to - again minor - but what I noticed. Also the Auto Engine Stop takes some getting used to when driving in traffic. You can turn it off at any time, but it appears that you have to turn it off every time you start the car. It's not like the "econ" mode that stays on or off indefinitely independent of turning the car on and off. But it's an easy button to reach. I really like the "push button" gear shifts - a lot more than I thought I would - so fast and convenient. One tip on extended warranty - if you choose to do one - I did Honda Care - the dealership started out hundreds more than you can purchase one on-line for. Honda Care is Honda Care - doesn't matter which dealership it is purchased from. If that is something you are interested in, get a price quote from the internet before signing the papers at the dealership. Make them match or beat the price you can get on-line... we saved over $800 buying the warranty this way. UPDATE ONE YEAR LATER Still no complaints... still love it; a pleasure to drive. Have not had not take it back to the dealer for any issues. Just oil change/tire rotation. Gas mileage has been good for all city driving (22 to 24 mpg)...comfy and serves it's purpose as family SUV and hauler of many things. We even had company this summer and 8 of us (all adult size - 5 of us taller than 6 ft) rode in it comfortably for a 30 minute drive to go to a restaurant together. Amazing how much leg room is available in 3rd row.

Buy it! You won't regret it

This is an amazing car. Exterior the rear LED's are awesome. Front ones too. Great dynamic styling for an SUV I think. Interior the car is certainly solidly built. I love the shiny black trim. Amazing technology, and all of it works well. The only thing is the touch screen might be a little bit too sensitive, for me anyway. Drives like a BMW, or Mercedes...not kidding!!! It rides smooth, braking is amazing (may sound weird, but some brakes are better than others). Great handling as well!! As you can see, I love this car! Would not trade it for a X5 ever! Also, remember how great the safety is. The new Pilot beat the Toyota Highlander, Nissan Rogue, Ford Edge, and Mazda CX5 for safety. Buy it...you will not regret.

Transmission issue at 13k Miles for Elite Pilot!!

Just have ~ 13k miles and am having same transmission issues on 9 speed as everyone else. last week dropped the car at the dealer and today morning got the news that transmission and other oils have mixed (no reason given) they are going to change the entire transmission. This is really Honda's failure as it's high end car with major transmission issue for which we have all paid ~ 50 grand. Even if they change the entire transmission, the car has lost it's value who is going to pay for that?I have lost confidence of owing a Honda (have been driving accord and now pilot for last 11 years!!) Honda should recall this [non-permissible content removed]and pay us back- can be all do something about it? This is causing stress... **Update** sold the car at 15K miles eventually as the feel was very different and the problem wasn't fully resolved.- Honda should have been more responsible as their customers loose money (I lost 12K) and general confidence in any Honda vehicles....**

Love it

Great ride and lots of cargo space. Went from a Tahoe to this and I was worried about size with two kids but this has been great! The accessibility to the third row is great with the technology they used. I also enjoy being able to adjust the back seats. Well designed inside and out!

Excellent Vehicle with Good MIleage

Excellent Vehicle with Good MIleage

This SUV might kill you.

I hope it doesnt. In fact I hope you read this, avoid buying the 2016 (or 17) Honda Pilot, and avoid the same mistake our family made. When my wife and I test drove the 2016 Honda Pilot we were not terribly impressed with its acceleration but that was not why we were looking at a new Honda. We were looking for something reliable and Honda has had a great track record in that regard. So, even though we were not over the moon about the Pilot when we test drove it, we thought this is going to last 10+ years and is, therefore, a wise purchase. Boy, were we wrong! One problem with the Honda Pilot is the 9 speed transmission. My 1972 Chevelle shifts smoother than this. When you drop this Honda in drive first thing in the morning, the first-second gear shift will try to separate a few vertebrae... it is brutal. Once warmed up, this transmission is better, but still not so good. Especially in stop and go traffic where you will experience many times where the transmission seems completely out of touch with the throttle, leading to "rev rev rev... wham!". You *will* need a chiropractor if you have to drive in stop and go traffic with this machine. Also, this transmission has a history of early failure already. However, that transmission won't be the thing that kills you. The Honda Sensing system will. Lets say that you are on a highway going 70 mph when someone going 20 mph slower than you pulls out 3 car lengths in front of you. In that situation our Honda Pilot will SLAM on the brakes HARD causing anyone behind us to weave desperately into the adjoining lane or shoulder to keep from hitting us in the rear. Or lets say that you are going around a bend on a country road, the Honda Sensing system gets confused and again SLAMS on the breaks in the middle of hard bend. Lets say you survive the Honda Sensing system... will you be able to survive the throttle? Lets say you are in stopped trying to turn left across rapidly moving traffic. You need your car to move when you step on the gas. The Honda Pilot will occasionally toss in a 5-7 second delay in response time, just to add to the challenge. Did I mention the $200 oil changes? This is because, in our case, about the time we needed to change the oil, the "B16" code would be thrown on the info system, indicating that the rear diff also needed to be changed. This prompted the service manager at our local Honda shop to exclaim, "what is wrong with these new Pilots?!"

Awesome car!!!

This car is amazing. It beats all the other SUVs of it's class, and the technology is incredible too. The ride is much quieter than the 2015 model, and looks 100% better too. The front and rear LEDs look great. Get this Honda! You won't regret it.

Great car!!!

This is my 2nd Pilot. I went from the 2010 EX-L to the 2016 Elite and I love the navigation and all of the bells and whistles which are standard in the Elite. I can't speak of the reliability yet since I only own it for 2 weeks.

Transmission problem even in a EXL

At 14k miles, the car transmission is slippery and makes a knocking sound at 27mph. The dealer took it away from me to find a fix, it will take a week they said. I'm hoping that's fixed since is an issue from the car, the car is brand new and only has 7 months.

Best family mid size suv

7 adults can be seated comfortably, superior handling on freeways and village roads too, city 20/21 mpg, highway 26.1 mpg. Best inclass outward visibility, lots of storage space and cup holders, only downside Honda should offer navigation on the available 8" touch screen.

Great Value

This is a great value for a family vehicle. Great engine, we're getting 25 MPG in mixed use in a semi rural setting. Extremely comfortable, pleasant to drive and also to ride in as a passenger. Has great pickup when you need it, cruises smoothly on the highway and on country roads. Good cargo, great interior layout. Stylish, but also Honda practicality. Infotainment system is a mixed bag. Highly recommended.

Pleasantly Surprised

I own a 2016 Pilot Ex 2wd and absolutely love it! I am a former owner of a 2012 Acadia and it does not compare to my Honda. I have a family of 5 and there's enough space for us all even on long trips its comfortable. Touchscreen works great, I love being able to have my music played via Bluetooth from my phone. I have experienced FM will sound like static on the station I listen to but I haven't let that bother me. Working at a dealership has helped me to distinguished sounds that are normal characteristics of the vehicle that others might think aren't so normal. I was excited and awaited for the Pilot ever since I was told the new body style was coming. I love the way it looks, it's sleek, roomy and I will never go back to a GMC!

You cannot ask more.

Just hit 500 miles from brand new ground 0. Everything works great and will work for another 100 K or more miles. Honda means reliability and minimum breakdowns. I know because I owned couple Hondas before and currently own Acura which is also Honda. Big, comfortable, strong SUV. I didnt asked for anything more.

Well executed design

If price were no object, this would be my favorite SUV hands down! The salesman was professional, courteous and thorough. The pilot is a well thought out design. From the storage compartments to the folding seats, the versatile cargo area floor storage, and the electronic display. One thing I found a little un-nerving was the blind spot camera being displayed on the large center display. It just doesn't seem as intuitive as the other controls. This is my wife's favorite SUV in the 3 row seating class. While the Honda Pilot is an excellent value, the domestic competitors have been "upping the game" with zero percent financing and huge discounts. Their products may not be quite as good as the Honda, but they are excellent competitors.

Piloting the Pilot

The cruise control with the auto braking sucks. When utilizing the cruise control on the freeway and in some traffic it starts applying the brakes when the other vehicle is 100 yards away. Then after it slows (needlessly) it speeds up quickly. It makes it useless to drive in most normal traffic situations. Maybe crossing the great state of Texas it could be useful but in any area that experiences traffic it is too much trouble. Also, when you go around a curve and another car is passing you (in their lane) the Honda will slam on the brakes as if it is in my lane. I really believe it is "too" sensitive for normal driving. I still do not like the auto shut off mode and the paddle shifters are totally useless (read wasted $$). The Honda has not had any issues and the comfort and ride are awesome. The transmission is also great. I love taking off and feeling the shifting, so smooth. Overall I would rate the Honda as Excellent with a few quirks that can be improved.

3 Annoying Things on Honda Pilot

4 Things that I don't like about this car 1. When you turn a corner and it downshifts it hesitates to find the next gear---hate this. 2. Subwoofer is useless, no low end sound. 3. Air conditioning is not cold enough for Florida--Toyota has much better a/c. 4. Too much road noise for a car of this price.

A True judgment

This is an excellent suv; way much better than a Tahoe/Yukon /suburban (did have a very bad experience with a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe); it is my second Pilot and I do love it; the quality is there.

Early review

Some of the review questions could not be adequately answered due to ownership being only 3 weeks. So far, the vehicle has lived up to our expectations. In my opinion a better review would be at the 1+ year mark of ownership. UPDATE 1yr - the Pilot is very nice to drive and comfortable all around. Believe it or not the only issues we have had have been with the services folks. The vehicle itself has far exceeded our expectations.