2023 Honda Pilot Early Review | Consumer Reports

The 2023 Pilot is Honda’s newly redesigned 3-row SUV, and is entering into a competitive segment that includes the Kia Telluride, and Toyota Highlander. We purchased a Touring model for our test fleet, with a total price of over $48,000. We’ll put over 2,000 miles on this SUV before it enters our test program, and we share our first impressions of its driving dynamics, infotainment system, and whether it’s a good family car for road trips.

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[henryrockefeller]

I bought a brand new 2023 Honda Pilot Sport three weeks ago. It is bigger and looks better than

previous generations. It's gas mileage is average, performance is OKish, nothing impressive. The

brake is not responsive, you have to push the brake harder to get it stopped. But, The second day,

the check engine light on. Here is the message:"Emissions system problem. Power may be reduced. See

dealer". I immediately drove it to the dealership Service Dept. But, that Service Advisor said I

did not make an appointment and has a kind of "do not care" attitude. It took me lots of efforts

and almost 5 trips, eventually, they said it a sensor issues which is in some kind of value of the

gas tank areas.They put order to replace the value and sensor. But, it has been over 15 days and no

ETA from the supplier! Plus, the driver side wiper blade simply flew away the first time I turned

it on in the heavy rain. It took three phone calls and two appointments to get the new wiper blade

installed because it need to be "ordered" also. On the left side of back window,
the bottom trim is not glued well and can easily peel off and has not fixed by the Service
Dept yet. Since 1996, I used two Honda Accord which were very reliable. and a Honda Odysessy van

which had transmission issues after 6 years. After that, I bought new Acura MDX and drove it for

over 15 years and very reliable. That is the reasons I come back to bought this 2023 Honda Pilot.

But, looks like Honda's build quality dramatically degraded. If I have choice now, I will NEVER buy

Honda cars again. First, the manufacturing quality is very bad from my experience with the brand

new Pilot, secondly, the experience with the Service dept is very bad also. Especially with the

ordering of parts, it take over 15 days, no ETA ! what's hectic ! From the Honda manufacturer to

the Service, the Honda is degrading big time. I will not recommand anybody to buy the 2023 Pilot.

[hereigoagain]

Beautiful car. Glad that Honda kept the V6, geared tranny, and no turbos.

[davidwilliams]

Reliability for Honda is traditionally awesome. Have an ‘04 MDX with over 365K miles. Original engine and transmission. Also ‘15 Pilot that runs like new. Hondas/Acuras are awesome

[rathalostitanXII]

Recently got mine in a touring trim and obsedian blue a little over a week ago and it has been amazing. The second and third rows are so comfortable even for adults.

[stevemcdaniel]

Great news that Honda saved this from turbo 4 cylinder oblivion! Also glad to see a move back to a boxier look after the earlier redesign turned this into a minivan without the sliding rear doors!

[AviationandAutos]

I love and miss this kind of CR videos. More!

[sphaera]

I love my ‘17 Pilot, it has aged so well after 5+ years. ZERO issues at 35K miles. I only had to replace the battery after 4 years and more recently its tires, because the thread was almost at the limit. Took it on long trips with the family a few times, it is hard to fault. I’ve recently considered the MDX, Telluride, X5 and XC90, but I always end up asking myself “why?”. I’m likely to get a new one in 2024, I like the sober and practical design of this new model.

[HULK]

I have a 2005 Honda pilot 290, 000 Miles still drives like new and kept it bought my wife a 2023 Honda Pilot she loves it it’s a fantastic SUV the best in its class V6 Naturally aspirated engine No turbo so the engine will last long till less stress on engine components for sure compared to many others with 4 cylinder turbo engines.

[X.Element_]

Good review, but need to mention that the pillars are needed for the side crash safety... which is off the charts

[DisneyMusicVideos]

I've always been much more of a Toyota guy, 4 of the 5 vehicles I've purchased so far have been Lexus/Toyota but I love this new Pilot & would easily buy it over the Highlander. It looks better IMO, but really glad Honda is sticking with a V6. I'd much rather have a V6 over a turbo 4 any day for their much better sound & will likely be more reliable in the long run. Really disappointed that Toyota is starting to replace their silky smooth V6's with turbo 4's.

[nycalien]

I have the 15 Pilot and still running like a beast!

[tomcat]

Good review. I just test drove the trail version. You are correct within minutes i was comfortable with all controls.

Great abbreviated review Mike. I believe they changed some of the engine internals for the 23 Pilot and it will be interesting to see if the changes are noticeable. A good V6 is hard to beat as there are some inherent design characteristics that lead to them being well-balanced. Compared to the inline sixes and flat sixes I've owned, the Vs were the smoothest.

[paulg]

Well done Honda. Wish there was a hybrid or plugin option

[Jimmy-gdho]

Glad to see they got rid of the front folding arm rests, those aren't comfortable in my 2016 pilot. But no digital gauge except on top trim level?

[volcalstone]

We need a Sport Touring. Hopefully the Black Edition will come next year too as Canada has it this year.

[mark]

Honda says they redesigned the 3.5l V6 but, didn’t use the opportunity to replace the timing belt with a chain so, still have the high cost of timing belt replacement at periodic intervals!

[ZOOTSUITBEATNICK]

imo
$50, 000 is dumb for a "pretty nice level of fit and finish..."
imo

[LionRunner]

Did 2023 Honda Pilot redesign engine includes changes to direct injection system or is it still prone to premature injector failures 2016-2022 has? I even see that issue as new as 2022 MDX. I know Honda has send out extended warranty letter for 10yr / 150, 000miles for this problem for existing Pilots. In addition to this injector failures my buddy also told about audio system having some static sound or something, not sure if it was fixed yet.

[Yotamansam]

As a Honda Sales Professional, I’m very excited about our new Pilots! The new DOHC V6 for me is the greatest improvement that I see from the previous J series with the SOHC profile with a Vtec which is gone for 2023. Can’t wait to sell a bunch of these this year!