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Transmission and drivetrainPart report

2011 Honda Pilot Transmission and drivetrain Problems

Complaints
21about this part
Share
7%of 293 total for the year
Median mileage
45,000miles
Trend
StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 21 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2011 Honda Pilot, 7% of the 293 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 45,000 miles. 3 of these say a crash was involved and 1 a fire, according to the filers.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Takata recall - front driver and passenger and front dash airbags, the sendor does not work. They will not deploy if we were to be in an accident. Also, I have been experiencing transmission shudder in my 2011 Pilot exl. When on light throttle between 25-40 MPH, then it disappears. This is while driving on the highway and city streets.”

NHTSA complaint #11220666, filed 2019-06, 102,600 miles

“I was stopped in a drive thru with my foot on the brake and 2 vehicles in front of me. Suddenly ,while my foot was still on the brake, my truck lunged forward hitting the truck in front on me and forcing that truck to hit the truck in front of them. But it didn't end there. When my truck originally lunged, the engine revved and after hitting the truck in front of me, my truck engine continued to rev up and down and my truck continued to bounce off and on the truck in front of me. …”

NHTSA complaint #10604414, filed 2014-06, 75,760 miles

“My 18 year old daughter was driving home 6/28/19 at midnight. Car died while driving. Coasted to side of road. Restarted and drove some. Same thing. Many lights came on. Coasted to side of highway. Tried one more time and made it home. Miles on odo: 118,279. The next morning I started the ca and tried to drive to dealership. After 3 miles, the same happened to me. I was able to pull over and had aaa tow it 5 miles to dealership. At dealership, the said many error codes came up but they recommended replacing the powertrain control module (PCM). I pd $1,410.16 to do this on july 2. …”

NHTSA complaint #11268207, filed 2019-10, 118,279 miles

“On july 19, 2014 I had an oil appoinmentat 1:30 to have my free oil change. Of course the dealership has to make money some how, so my service advisor offered that I have the transmission serviced. Since I was getting the free oil I felt as though I needed to buy for some service. So the did both oil and transmission service. Left the dealship no more than ten minutes later on my way home,my Pilot started smoking on the right side as I stopped and was praying the light turn gree n so I could go I turned and more smoke come up. …”

NHTSA complaint #10712548, filed 2015-04, 37,000 miles

“I bought 2011 Honda Pilot ex-l res at the end of april, 2011. I noticed there was a pink color oil leak (3 size) on my garage floor on the first day after about 60 mile drive. After then, it kept leaking every time after running the car. I have Honda dealer checked it yesterday. I was told that was the transmission fluid leak. I was shocked when I heard this. It is a brand new car and transmission oil leaked at the first day when I drove from dealer back to home (~60 miles). …”

NHTSA complaint #10404424, filed 2011-06, 60 miles

Related service bulletins

Transmission and drivetrain: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2026311%
20252311%
20241210%
2023107%
20221811%
2021256%
2020357%
20199410%
20187818%
201712213%
201620112%
20151110%
201476%
20135420%
20122012%
2011217%
201065%
2009129%
2008118%
2007136%
2006135%
200517626%
200414226%
200322431%

Other parts of the 2011 Honda Pilot

Air bags
68 complaints
Brakes
41 complaints
Steering
34 complaints
Suspension
34 complaints
Engine
31 complaints
Electrical system
26 complaints
Other or unknown
23 complaints
Body and structure
19 complaints
Vehicle speed control
18 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
16 complaints
Fuel system
10 complaints
Seat belts
8 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2011 Honda Pilot

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology