The 2018 Honda Pilot is a popular SUV choice for growing families. Offering seating for as many as eight passengers, on top of generous standard equipment like Bluetooth® connectivity and a seven-speaker sound system, this three-row SUV can also be an excellent alternative to the “traditional” minivan.
In terms of safety, the 2018 Pilot also receives an overall five-star rating from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which may give you added peace of mind behind the wheel. And depending on the specific trim you choose, you can enjoy safety equipment like front and rear parking sensors, forward-collision mitigation, automatic emergency braking, and more.
Since its debut for the 2018 model year, the Pilot has had a couple of notable safety recalls. If you drive a 2018 Honda Pilot, you’ll want to be aware of these recall notices and check to see if any of them may affect your vehicle specifically.
Front Seat Rivets
The first recall issued on the 2018 Pilot occurred in April of 2018, after it was discovered that up to 5,810 Honda vehicles (including the Pilot and Ridgeline) may have been manufactured with defective front seat rivets. Specifically, these rivets are designed to hold the driver and front passenger seat in place on models equipped with powered seats.
Due to a manufacturing defect, the rivets may break in the event of a crash, which may allow the seat(s) to separate from the floor of the vehicle or slide off the seat rails. As a result, these models fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards. Furthermore, in the event of a crash, drivers and front-seat passengers on affected vehicles may be more prone to severe injury.
It is worth noting that this recall only affects Pilot models that are equipped with power-adjustable front seats (manually adjustable seats are not part of this recall). If your 2018 Pilot has power front seats, check the official Honda recall page or the NHTSA recall page to determine whether your vehicle is part of the safety recall.
To remedy this issue, Honda is offering to replace the entire seat assembly for the driver and front passenger seats on all recalled vehicles. This includes the seat slide rail frames and rivets.
Timing Belt Separation
More than 93,000 Honda vehicles (including the Pilot and Odyssey) were recalled in April of 2019 for a potential timing belt issue. On affected vehicles, it was discovered that the teeth of the factory-installed timing belt could slip away or separate from the rest of the belt. A vehicle’s timing belt plays an important role in controlling the camshafts of an engine, allowing for the smooth opening and closing of valves for proper engine operation. The teeth of the timing belt are specifically responsible for turning the camshaft in correct time with the crankshaft.
If the timing belt were to separate, this could cause a sudden engine stall, which may increase the risk of a crash—especially on busy roads or at high speeds. In the event of a stall, it is also possible that the driver will not be able to restart the engine if the timing belt has separated.
If your 2018 Pilot is affected by this recall, you can schedule a service appointment at a licensed Honda dealer to have your vehicle’s timing belt inspected. If needed, the timing belt will be replaced at no charge. If there has been any damage to your vehicle’s engine as a result of a timing belt issue, you may also qualify to have these repairs done for free.
