NHTSA Complaint #10933657 — 2016 HONDA PILOT

WE BOUGHT A NEW 2016 HONDA PILOT AWD EX-L IN OCTOBER 2016 AND ARE EXPERIENCING SOME PRETTY SERIOUS TRANSMISSION ISSUES. THE FIRST INCIDENT HAPPENED ABOUT A MONTH AGO BEFORE THE VEHICLE EVEN HAD 900 MILES ON IT AND IT HAS RE-OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE THEN AND WE ONLY HAVE 2,000 MILES ON IT. IT APPEARS THAT IF YOU DECELERATE RATHER QUICKLY FROM LET'S SAY 50 MPH+ TO ZERO, THAT WHEN YOU RE-START FROM ZERO, THE TRANSMISSION IS ALL OUT OF SORTS. WHEN YOU HIT THE GAS AT ZERO (AFTER THE FAST DECELERATION) THE VEHICLE WILL BE VERY HESITANT/SLOW TO START (ALMOST AS IF YOU'RE STARTING IN A HIGHER GEAR THAN 1ST) AND THEN WHEN YOU GET TO ABOUT 25-30 MPH, THE VEHICLE WILL SLAM INTO THAT GEAR AND SHAKE THE ENTIRE VEHICLE. THAT 'SLAMMING INTO GEAR' ISSUE WILL CONTINUE EVERY TIME YOU DROP DOWN OR ACCELERATE TO THAT 25-30 MPH RANGE DURING THAT DRIVING SESSION. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE ISSUE TO STOP DURING THAT DRIVING SESSION, IS TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND RE-START THE ENGINE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE IT RESETS THE TRANSMISSION OR THE COMPUTER THAT RUNS THE TRANSMISSION' THERE ARE NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS/WARNINGS THAT COME ON AND IT'S A HARD ISSUE TO DUPLICATE, BUT THE ONLY THING THAT SEEMS TO MAKE IT OCCUR SOMETIMES IS FAST DECELERATION FROM A HIGH SPEED DOWN TO ZERO (I.E. COMING OFF AN OFF-RAMP AND HITTING A STOP LIGHT, OR DRIVING ON A 50MPH TYPE ROAD AND THEN HITTING A STOP LIGHT). THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A MAJOR TRANSMISSION FLAW AND THE CONTINUED "SLAMMING INTO GEAR" WHEN THIS ISSUE OCCURS, CAN ONLY BE DOING MORE DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION AND FEELS LIKE THE ENGINE IS ON THE VERGE OF LOCKING UP. *TR