Ask the Car People.SM


2004 Honda Pilot transmission is junk!

9 messages,  Last post on May 27, 2011 at 6:21 AM

You are in the Honda Pilot Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Pilot, Safe Driving, SUV

Messages Page 2 of 2

#5 of 9 Oil Jet by shodanusmc

Oct 10, 2010 (7:21 am)

I had the Jet installed in my 2003 Pilot, drove it for 5 more years and never had a problem. That Pilot may have been the best vehicle I have ever owned as far as reliability. It had 2 recalls, a window regulatior, and oil changes and maint according to the manual. Ran great in the snow, could carry a lot of great, got decent gas mileage, and always got us from point A to point B.

#6 of 9 Re: 2004 Honda Pilot transmission is junk! [proudmom0507] by pudgey

Oct 15, 2010 (7:00 am)

Replying to: proudmom0507 (Aug 04, 2010 8:41 am)
Hello,
 
My 2003 pilot had the same problem and it was exactly to your story! My transmision failed at100,000 miles and there was a recall that honda claimed they fixed???????????? Honda wanted to charge me 5,000 to fix the trany I cant afford this money! Do you know of anything we can do to hold honda accountable? I am willing to try anything? I am proud to say i will never buy a honda again!
 
Chris

#7 of 9 Re: 2004 Honda Pilot transmission is junk! [pudgey] by blackdragon1

Nov 18, 2010 (12:07 pm)

Replying to: pudgey (Oct 15, 2010 7:00 am)
Lots of other posts/discussions along the same lines:
 
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1155f7/219!keywords=#MSG219
 
http://www.piloteers.org/forums/14-problems/26886-sporadic-vibration-low-speeds-- 2.html
 
http://www.autoobserver.com/2010/03/honda-odyssey-owners-report-transmission-tro- ubles-inconsistent-response-from-maker.html
 
Most people are in disbelief (like myself) that this could be a defect with the Pilot (and MDX and Odyssey) transmissions. I was just recommending the Pilot to a friend over the past weekend and claimed that it was our best purchase ever (vehicle or otherwise). Our only recourse might be to take whatever Honda will do (cover 50% in my case), and submit a complaint as suggested in this post:
 
kpsmith999, "Honda Pilot Transmission Problems" #177, 22 Jul 2010 5:55 pm#MSG176
 
Please take the time to do so, it took me about 10 min and you need your VIN information.

#8 of 9 Re: 2004 Honda Pilot transmission is junk! [blackdragon1] by blackdragon1

Nov 20, 2010 (9:24 am)

Replying to: blackdragon1 (Nov 18, 2010 12:07 pm)
So American Honda will cover some of my costs for replacing the tranny. The bloated estimate from the dealer is $4350 for a rebuilt tranny replacement. Honda basically wants me to pay half. Should I be excited about this? There's no arguing with the customer service guy, he's got his script down pat saying that I am out of warranty and that since it lasted 1/2 its usable life, I should be happy to pay 1/2 for it. I about wanted to reach through the phone and wring his neck. I absoolutely would have bought another SUV if I had known that this thing would have issues starting at 70k. I think I could have easily purchased a domestic SUV for $3k/$4k less and gotten more miles out of it.
 
Anyone have thoughts on getting Honda to pay more for it? I wouldn't mind paying for labor, but they need to at least throw in the tranny instead of covering all their costs and just removing their 50% markup on parts and labor...

#9 of 9 2005 Honda Pilot- Same tranny problem as everyone else! by jtsibes

May 27, 2011 (6:21 am)

I just picked up my 2005 Pilot from the garage after paying a $4,727.85 bill for a new transmission. I too, had problems around 70k miles or so with the shuddering around 40 mph- couldn't recreate the issue for the garage so I kept on driving it...shifting ended up rough and check engine light came on so in it went again. Googled it- and low an behold- there's an entire large group of people with the same problem (MDX & Pilots). Honda knows that they have a defective torque converter causign transmissions to fail. My mechanic tried to prolong then enevitable-new transmission but when it failed failed on the the highway last week there was no saving it (thank you AAA-my mom was right). I opted for a Jasper Tranny since I did not want to take any chances with a rebuilt Honda one. It was slightly more but guaranteed (3 yrs- 100k miles). Note that I am the second owner and have maintained all service. First owner was a lease and also maintained.
 
I'm preparing to write to Honda- anyone that's had success can you let me know what did the trick? I'd love the entire bill picked up but I think I may be too optimistic.

Messages Page 2 of 2

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement