2021 Honda Pilot Consumer Reviews

I purchased my 2016 Honda Pilot Elite in late October 2015 for $50,000+ out the door. The Good: I was very impress with the redesign and all the safety features that were standard on the Elite trim. I was also impressed with the test drive and how the vehicle handled on the road. Having owned a 2012 Acura TSX which has a "state of the art" user interface (voice command) to the Infotainment electronics stack (navigation, phone, audio, RES), I assumed the "Elite" would be as good or better than a four-year-old Acura TSX. This is where we come to the "bad" and "ugly" part of my review. After 6 weeks of driving my new Pilot Elite, I have come to realize there is absolutely nothing "Elite" about the Infotainment electronics stack. It is absolutely, in my opinion, one of the worst designs I have yet to encounter in a vehicle. To begin with, the touch screen is very slow to respond. I spend an inordinate amount of time looking and touching the screen while driving, when the same functions could be accomplished through "voice commands" or using a steering wheel or middle console input device. Every time I use the voice command button on the steering wheel, it takes me to a redundant screen of options for nav, phone, audio, help, etc., as opposed to just letting me give a voice command for "Call Home", "Navigation" or "FM Radio". While driving, I can only access 3 speed dial listings or call history listings. I cannot give a voice command for "next screen" or "call history". Again, I must touch the screen and take my eyes off the road. The touch must be used for the majority of input to the system which I am finding very distracting while driving and is becoming a safety hazard as I try to input to the system. All this screen touching poses another problem which is fingerprint glare on the screen. Living in Florida with abundant sunlight, I must constantly wipe the fingerprints off the screen in order to see the screen info under the fingerprint glare. Very frustrating! While driving I called Honda Tech Support through the touch screen and got their voice automation system. The system asked me to select one for Honda or two for Acura. Guess what, the number tone selection on the touch screen was "blacked out" since I was driving. The system let me make several touch inputs to make a call, but I could not select a number input for voice automation??? The worst system I have encountered is the RES (rear entertainment system) touch screen. It is absolutely worthless! While driving, if my 6-year-old daughter asks for me to put in a DVD, it is impossible for me to get it started without pulling off the road, getting in the back seat and using the back seat controls for the RES. The touch screen does not display any DVD menu information that would allow me to select, language, chapter or play movie. I have challenged several dealership sales reps to start a DVD from the driver’s seat and none have been successful in starting a DVD without getting in the back seat. The only thing the touch screen can do it "pause" a movie once it is playing. In my opinion, the safety on the Honda Pilot Elite is severely compromised by the amount of time one spends looking at the screen and doing inputs in order to initiate functions in the vehicle. A robust "voice command" system would accomplish the same thing without taking your eyes of the road or needing to pull off the road to accomplish simple tasks. Had I known how rudimentary, deficient and totally frustrating the Infotainment system is, I would not have purchased this vehicle. The Honda Pilot "Elite" is definitely not "Elite" when it comes to the Infotainment user interface to the electronics stack!