Steering column or shaft failure on the 2003 Honda Pilot
1 crash 1 of the 9 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When steering column or shaft failure gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Honda Pilot report steering column or shaft failure at a median of 135,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 125,000 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 22nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 125,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 49,700 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126,400 miles | 127,000 miles | 135,922 miles | 162,000 miles | 176,100 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 25,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 10; the 2003 has 9. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I own a 2003 honda pilot exl,lately I've had problems with the switch not wanting to turn on or unlock steering wheel. What should I do...I've own two other hondas and had the same problems.(98 accord,98 civic);their was recall on them. Is their a recall on the honda pilot switch or steering column. *tr
Smoke came out of the steering column while driving. Had car towed to honda dealership. Honda found burnt connector in the headlight switch due to an electrical short. Replaced entire headlight switch part number 35012-s5a-307, 7743875-35999 set, combination switch. *tr
2003 honda pilot transmission: my transmission continues to slip in 2nd gear. I have replaced numerous items on the vehicle - steering column, motor mounts, etc. The list is numerous. I have had transmission problems almost since the beginning of purchasing this vehicle in february 2006. The dealer never told me that the 2003 pilot had any type of transmission problems. I know as a consumer, I should have done my own research, but I had always heard excellent things about honda. My transmission continues to slip, after revving. I took it to the dealer and even then they never said anything about problems. I had my repairman look at it because I was concerned. He is the one that told me this vehicle had transmission problems & all dealers were aware of it. I bought the extended warranty when I purchased the car - but of course, it is no longer valid. I am really upset because I drive my 2 children and the transmission will just stall in the middle of traffic - won't leave 2nd-3rd gear. It just revs at about 20-30 miles. It happens quite often and now the check engine light is coming on. The message boards say this is the end of the…
Also reported on the 2003 Honda Pilot
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other engine problem
Complete transmission failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does steering column or shaft failure happen on the 2003 Honda Pilot?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 135,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 125,000 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering column or shaft failure on the 2003 Honda Pilot?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed