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Honda Pilot

Every model year 2016–2026: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

11 Model years 2016–2026

74 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

5,626 Complaints owner reports, all years

A Newest grade 2026 Safety Signal

2020 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2026 Pilot →Which years to avoid Compare it

Honda Pilot — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Honda Pilot · Photo: Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Honda Pilot model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2026	Gas	A	1	27	★★★★★	22 mpg
2025	Gas	C	4	216	★★★★★	22 mpg
2024	Gas	D	6	116	★★★★★	22 mpg
2023	Gas	D	5	146	★★★★★	22 mpg
2022	Gas	D	5	168	★★★★★	23 mpg
2021	Gas	F	10	447	★★★★★	23 mpg
2020	Gas	F	11	492	★★★★★	23 mpg
2019	Gas	F	13	919	★★★★★	23 mpg
2018	Gas	F	7	440	★★★★★	23 mpg
2017	Gas	D	4	936	★★★★★	23 mpg
2016	Gas	F	8	1,719	★★★★★	23 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2020

On the filed record so far, the 2020 is the cleanest Pilot year we hold, and the 2021 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2020	F	1.8	82
2017	D	0.4	104	1 critical
2016	F	0.8	172	1 critical
2018	F	0.9	55	1 critical
2022	D	1.2	42	1 critical
2023	D	1.7	49	1 critical
2019	F	1.9	131	1 critical
2021	F	2	89	1 critical

Which Honda Pilot years reported which system early

Source: NHTSA complaints, odometer at report

Earliest on the record: 2020 electrical system complaints at 0.21× the mileage of same-age vehicles (median 2,100 miles). Latest: 2019 fuel/propulsion system at 3.44× (60,400 miles).

Year	Electrical System	Engine	Fuel/Propulsion System	Power Train	Vehicle Speed Control	Service Brakes
2021	1.79×	—	—	—	—	—
2020	0.21×	—	2.1×	—	—	0.47×
2019	0.46×	1.38×	3.44×	1.19×	0.68×	0.5×
2018	2.33×	2.04×	2.51×	1.5×	1.79×	—
2017	1.1×	0.95×	1.14×	1.0×	0.65×	0.76×
2016	1.11×	1.16×	1.19×	0.92×	1.08×	—

Each cell is that model year’s median odometer when owners reported the system, divided by the median for the same system across every make’s complaints on the same model year. under 0.67× reported early; 1.5× or more late; a dash means too few readings. When problems get reported, not how often — complaint counts are in the table above. Across the whole fleet: which systems go first.

What owners filed about the Honda Pilot, by system

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsEvery system, every year →

The systems the federal record is deep on for this nameplate: the complaints per model year, the mileage owners reported them at, and every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the heading — each one linked, none a failure rate.

engine problems 2,037 complaints, every model year electrical problems 1,675 complaints, every model year fuel system problems 713 complaints, every model year transmission and drivetrain problems 586 complaints, every model year body and structure problems 72 complaints, every model year

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2023: best combined mpg 23 → 22; 3 → 4 EPA configurations
2022: 2 → 3 EPA configurations
2021: 4 → 2 EPA configurations

Compare

All Pilot head-to-heads →Which is better for you? →

Head-to-head	Verdict
2026 Pilot vs Toyota Sequoia · Large SUV	Pilot +9
2026 Pilot vs Toyota 4Runner · Large SUV	Pilot +11.7
2026 Pilot vs Toyota Grand Highlander · Large SUV	Pilot +6.3
2026 Pilot vs Ford Expedition · Large SUV	Pilot +10.2
2026 Pilot vs Jeep Wagoneer · Large SUV	Wagoneer +27.9
2026 Pilot vs Toyota Land Cruiser · Large SUV	Pilot +20.9
2025 Pilot vs Jeep Grand Cherokee · Large SUV	Pilot +21
2025 Pilot vs Toyota Highlander · Large SUV	Pilot +5.3
2025 Pilot vs Kia EV9 · Large SUV	EV9 +14.4
2016 Pilot vs Mercedes-Benz GL-Class · Large SUV	GL-Class +3

In the studies

Source: computed from the same record, method on each page

Odometer at first complaint · rank 39 of 79 1.06× the mileage of same-age vehicles Honda Pilot owners reported problems to NHTSA at a median 19,099 miles across 2018–2021 (fleet 23,512), later than vehicles of the same model year. 479 readings.

Common questions about the Honda Pilot

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Honda Pilot year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2020 Pilot comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade F (59/100), 11 recalls and 492 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Honda Pilot years should I avoid?

2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 have the weakest recall records in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Pilot model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Honda Pilot have?

Across model years 2016–2026, NHTSA has posted 74 recall campaigns for the Honda Pilot. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.