NHTSA Complaint #11558635 — 2017 HONDA PILOT

Auto idle had been turning off and not re-starting quickly for past 6 months. I asked them to look at it last service. They didn't find anything wrong and said to turn off the auto idle. I did turn off the auto idle most of the time and never had a problem when it was off. Sometimes I forgot to turn off the autoidle. On Dec 5 2023, I was at a red light and had forgotten to turn off auto idle. The car would not turn back on and it was stuck in park. I had it towed and the mechanics said they needed to use a special tool to get it into neutral since the usual protocol had not worked. My car was stuck at a light and I directed traffic to go around me for about 30mins before the tow tuck came. There was no way to push the car out of the way because the wheels were locked due to it being stuck in Park. My safety and the safety of other cars was at risk because the cars went into the incoming traffic lane to go around me. If this had happened on a busy road or in traffic on a highway, it would have been more dangerous. A previous time they replaced the battery and this time they are replacing the starter. I am concerned that the problem will persist since the mechanics say there is nothing wrong with the auto idle. I do see that there is a class action suit and over 200 complaints to NHTSA on the autoidle for Honda Pilots. This is a serious safety concern to have a car stop that will not re-start and then cannot be put into neutral to be towed or pushed to the side.