Design Flaws in 2016 Pilots

[SARSteve]

I purchased a 2016 Pilot AWD in December, 2015, trading in (now regrettably) a low milage 2013 Pilot 2WD. After driving this SUV, I decided the upgraded handling and AWD was what I needed for 4 season comfort and safety. I still very much enjoy driving this vehicle, and have bought many accessories and a set to snow tires on rims for it, but...

 

From the very first day of delivery, I had issues with several things that were minor and fixed quickly by my dealer, including the gas cap not fitting flush to the fender (they are all like that from the factory).

 

The first annoying item was the roof rack I ordered and was installed by the dealer. My white car with all black trim and wheels had a roof rack with rails painted metallic silver: apparently, they are all being shipped this way.. Yuck! I had to pay the dealer $270- to have it painted black. That was my first mistake: turns out, the roof rack rails are one solid piece, so there is no way to tie a load on: everything has to be tied to the cross rails, which is not the safest or best way to secure any load: if they loosen up, you can loose the whole load. The rails are bolted into the roof frame: that is where you are supposed to attach loads. Why they changed this from the open rails on the earlier Pilots remains a mystery.

 

Honda's official response: "It Works As Designed; therefor, there is no issue to fix" there is no design flaw." Tell that to the next person trying to secure a load correctly on this vehicle!

 

Next glaring issue was having the Touch Screen onboard computer destroy the OS on my iPhone 6: not just once, but twice now in the past two months; the second one after the touchscreen was updated at the dealer... and each time, the phone had to be replaced. An Apple Senior Technician said he had never seen this level of corruption...

 

The problem started when I first test drove the vehicle, the salesman told me I could plug my phone into the USB to play my extensive music library, and could switch back and forth between it and the phone to make and receive calls (the owners manual supports this): Honda's engineers looked into it, and told the dealer "You cannot plug the phone into the USB outlet and use the phone at the same time..." say, What?! So, instead of admitting they have an interface issue they need to fix, they fix the problem by telling the owners not to use it "as directed by the owners manual". I had a situation 2 weeks ago, where I had to literally disconnect my phone and shut off the car to make a 911 call to report an accident..?! And they are not telling the salespeople at the dealerships there is a problem... even though several salespeople at my dealer have report reoccurring issues with all the touch screens in the 2016 models, especially the Civics.

 

Honda's official response: "It Works As Designed; therefore, there is no issue to fix: there is no design flaw."

 

The next issue is the factory receiver the dealer installed: it's not level to the ground. So, if you put a cargo hauler flat platform in it, it will be angled towards the ground.. BEFORE you load it! If your car is fully loaded, better think twice about a platform: it will hit the ground on any steep driveway or gutter!

 

Honda's official response: "It Works As Designed; therefore, there is nothing to fix: there is no design flaw."

 

Last issue, and a huge Safety issue, is the hood flexing. I drove this vehicle twice across Arizona in the first weeks I owned it, and if there were any gusty winds as I was passing an 18 wheeler, the hood would lift and flex.. in all four directions! Corner to corner, no joke: it did it on both trips in the same manner: I seriously though it was going to come through the windshield. I took it to the dealership, but since they were unable to duplicate the gusty winds conditions, there was nothing to do.

 

Honda's official response: "It Works As Designed; therefore, there is nothing to fix; there is no design flaw."

 

I have now filed a report with the NTSB, as per the owners manual instructions, re this dangerous issue. I intend to video tape this, as I fully expect this to happen again.

 

I can only say that, due to my experience with this vehicle, Honda has lost the sale of three vehicles now to other members of my family: I was on a list to purchase the 2017 Pickup coming out shortly: they lost that as well.

 

Honda's idea of Corporate Customer Service is seriously lacking, as reported on the internet on many sites: I can only describe it as a Brick Wall; they have no desire to help out owners in any manner whatsoever. It seems their job is to close cases as quickly and as quietly as possible, whether the issues are resolved or not. My case had initially 5 issues on it: they closed the entire case when one of them was repaired.. that was the excuse I was given when I called to find out what was being done on the other issues, and why no one had called me. BTW, don't count on them following through, they seldom ever call back when they promise.