AutoUtility currently tracks 108 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2015 Honda Pilot. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 23 complaints (21.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 7 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 3 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 108 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (23 reports • 21.3% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (13), Air Bags & Restraints (12)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 7 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 3 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
108
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
7
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
3
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2015 Honda Pilot

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 21.3% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

23 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 1 fire report
#2 Problem Area 12% of complaints

Electrical System

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#3 Problem Area 11.1% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 3 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 4 crash reports
#4 Problem Area 11.1% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#5 Problem Area 10.2% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

11 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2015 Honda Pilot

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11753531
Filed: 07/29/2026

"On July 3, 2026 the check engine light, check VSA warning and check emissions warning indicators all illuminated simultaneously and the vehicle began to misfire and sputter which triggered an immediate slow down of traffic behind me. My local Honda dealership acknowledged a known defect with 2013 -..."

Incident Date: 07/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Suspension NHTSA ODI ID: #11743154
Filed: 06/10/2026

"The contact owns a 2015 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that upon pulling into the gas station and parking the vehicle, the vehicle made an abnormally loud sound, and the contact also noticed a grinding sound coming from the underbody of the vehicle. The contact stated that the grinding sound..."

Incident Date: 06/10/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11737134
Filed: 05/11/2026

"1. The engine assembly failed — Piston 1 suffered catastrophic failure due to VCM-related piston ring wear and oil sludge buildup, generating DTCs P0301–P0304 (engine misfire, cylinders 1–4). Vehicle is completely non-operational. Failed engine is available for inspection in Mableton, GA 30126. 2...."

Incident Date: 04/16/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11723907
Filed: 03/12/2026

"While driving in traffic the vehicle suddenly began to sputter and lose power with check engine light flashing on the dash board. I was able to pull over and limp the car the one mile to my home on side streets. I parked the vehicle and called for a tow truck to tow the vehicle to my local..."

Incident Date: 01/15/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11721437
Filed: 03/02/2026

"The contact owns a 2015 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. In addition, the error message instructed the driver to pull over immediately. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with piston ring..."

Incident Date: 02/28/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Honda Pilot

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Honda Pilot Current Page 108 7 4 Current
2016 Honda Pilot 1688 23 8 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Honda Pilot 913 9 4 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Honda Pilot 436 9 7 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Honda Pilot 886 13 13 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Honda Pilot 480 10 11 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Honda Pilot 423 12 10 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Honda Pilot 147 7 5 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Honda Pilot 134 3 5 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Honda Pilot 109 2 6 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Honda Pilot 190 11 4 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Honda Pilot 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2015 Honda Pilot

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 34 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 13 1 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13 0 0 6 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 10 2 0 1 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 7 2 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 7 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 6 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 6 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 5 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Equipment & Accessories NHTSA category: EQUIPMENT 3 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 2 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,AIR BAGS 1 1 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (108). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

1 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
CLOSED Recall Query (RQ) ODI Action #RQ24013
Opened: 2024-11-08 • Closed: 2025-08-20

Engine failure

Affected Component: ENGINE

On November 8, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Recall Query RQ24013 to assess the scope of Honda recall 23V-751 after receiving complaints that alleged connecting rod bearing failures in vehicles that were not within the scope of recall 23V-751. In November 2023, Honda recalled 248,999 various Model Year (MY)2016–2020 Honda and Acura vehicles equipped with the 3.5L V6 engine. Honda recalled these vehicles due to a cranksh...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.