What is the best year for the Honda Pilot?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Honda Pilot
which year?
Compare every Honda Pilot model year the EPA recorded, 2003 to 2026. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Honda Pilot year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Honda Pilot years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect2016
1,684 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2016 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2017911 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2017 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2019880 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2019 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Honda Pilot model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2025 Honda Pilot
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 188
- Combined EPA economy
- 20–22 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 4
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,800–3,100
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsforward collision avoidance 73electrical system 42steering 36
Open the 2025 evidence dossier →2026 Honda Pilot
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 12
- Combined EPA economy
- 20–22 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 4
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,800–3,100
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsseat belts 4steering 4unknown or other 4
Open the 2026 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2026 has 176 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2025.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Honda Pilot by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12 | seat belts 4steering 4unknown or other 4 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2025 | 188 | forward collision avoidance 73electrical system 42steering 36 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2024 | 108 | forward collision avoidance 23seat belts 23steering 19 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2023 | 132 | seat belts 29electrical system 27forward collision avoidance 22 | 20–22 | 4 | $2,800–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2022 | 142 | forward collision avoidance 55unknown or other 32electrical system 31 | 21–23 | 3 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2021 | 418 | forward collision avoidance 150electrical system 120engine 100 | 22–23 | 2 | $2,650–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2020 | 477 | electrical system 209forward collision avoidance 117engine 100 | 21–23 | 4 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2019 | 880 | electrical system 254engine 223forward collision avoidance 189 | 21–23 | 4 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 436 | engine 156electrical system 85power train 78 | 21–23 | 4 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 911 | engine 459electrical system 265unknown or other 133 | 21–23 | 4 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 1,684 | engine 757electrical system 581unknown or other 289 | 21–23 | 4 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 108 | engine 22unknown or other 19electrical system 13 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 116 | engine 31structure 20wheels 16 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 270 | engine 78power train 54structure 47 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 170 | engine 35service brakes 25electrical system 22 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 292 | air bags 68service brakes 39steering 34 | 18–19 | 2 | $3,250–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 2010 | 111 | air bags 32engine 28suspension 17 | 18–19 | 2 | $3,250–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 2009 | 134 | engine 35air bags 29suspension 19 | 18–19 | 2 | $3,250–3,400 | Dossier → |
| 2008 | 133 | air bags 32structure 16power train 11 | 17–18 | 2 | $3,400–3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2007 | 211 | air bags 54electrical system 22exterior lighting 18 | 17–18 | 2 | $3,400–3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2006 | 266 | air bags 61structure 26service brakes 24 | 17–18 | 2 | $3,400–3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 679 | power train 176air bags 120service brakes 98 | 17 | 1 | $3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 544 | power train 143seats 87air bags 81 | 17 | 1 | $3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 720 | power train 225electrical system 132air bags 117 | 17 | 1 | $3,600 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.