NHTSA Complaint #10460991 — 2003 HONDA PILOT

THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT CHANGE TO A HIGHER GEAR CAUSING THE ENGINE RPMS TO INCREASE DRAMATICALLY. I WAS ALMOST REAR-ENDED BY THE AUTOMOBILE BEHIND ME. EVENTUALLY THE TRANSMISSION DID FIND 3RD GEAR. THIS SITUATION HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE THE INITIAL EPISODE. THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEM ALWAYS OCCURS WITH THE SECOND GEAR. ONCE THE GEAR WOULDN'T CHANGE WHILE I WAS MERGING INTO INTERSTATE TRAFFIC. I COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN KILLED. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO MY DEALER, CROWN HONDA OF DURHAM, NC, BECAUSE I HAD PURCHASED BY PILOT FROM THEM AS A NEW VEHICLE, HAD THE 2004 TRANSMISSION 2ND GEAR RECALL "FIX" PERFORMED BY THEM, AND HAD THEM PERFORM ALL REGULARLY SCHEDULE MAINTENANCE FOR THE FIRST 5 YEARS. I ALSO HAD MAINTENANCE RECORDS SHOWING THAT I HAD PERFORMED ALL MAINTENANCE AS REQUIRED BY HONDA FOR THE PAST 9.5 YEARS, INCLUDING HAVING THE TRANSMISSION FLUID REPLACED. ALTHOUGH THEY DIDN'T DENY KNOWING OF THE MANY TRANSMISSION FAILURES OF HONDA VEHICLES, THEY REFUSED TO REPLACE MY TRANSMISSION AT NO COST OR AT A DISCOUNTED COST. *JS