2008 Honda Pilot
This year drew an ordinary 132 complaints for a Honda Pilot — the model's median is 211. What they were about is the unusual part: 9.8% of them mention america, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Honda Pilot ran from 2003 to 2008, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 132 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 211 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| EPA combined | 17.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- america — 9.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: america, approximately miles, anymore, size.
- seem — 6.1% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: seem, xxx information, slightest, desired.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Driving 2008 Honda Pilot with Firestone WeatherGrip P235/70R16 at 70mph on the interstate, the rear driver tire failed causing almost instant and complete deflation. The tires have been maintained properly, to include rotation and proper inflation. The tires h…
WHEN YOU APPLY BRAKES ABOVE 30 MPH STEERING WHEEL SHAKES AND BRAKES PULSE.DTC 84-1 AND ABS SYSTEM TEST SAYS THAT THE VSC/ABS LOSES COMMUNICATION ABOVE 30 MPH WITH NO NUMBER CODE SHOWN.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V182000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19E068000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
- 19V499000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V501000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V268000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V029000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V320000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V344000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Honda Pilot was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Honda Pilot? What happened to yours?
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