Other steering problem on the 2005 Honda Pilot
2 crashes 2 of the 25 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 other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Honda Pilot report other steering problem at a median of 110,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 155,000 miles, from 23 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 185,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 136,800 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
9% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,600 miles | 82,000 miles | 108,000 miles | 156,450 miles | 185,400 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, 2 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 $350–$2,400 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.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2024 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 2016 carries the most reports, with 26; the 2005 has 25. 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.
Make: honda pilot 2005 please also review: http://www.hondapilot.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4117&perpage=15&pagenumber=27 which has 27 pages of similar complaints. I just bought a 2005 pilot. I had the hitch installed by honda. I noticed some vibration lower than 70 MPH but assumed that I was unfamiliar with the car. Lo and behold, when I drove the car home I noticed a significant vibration in the steering starting around 69mph, peaking at around 76 MPH and fading to "normal" at around 80 MPH. The vibration feels like a wheel balance problem. Currently the dealer is trying to help, however they are not confident that they can fix the problem. Things we have tried: a. May 30 problem noted on test drive before purchase but ignored as a new vehicle/driver interpretation problem. Problem was noted days later though. B. June 4 car taken in for inspection 1) test drive should minimal problem not driven at 76 MPH though 2) dealer (richard/brett) aligned wheels 3) short test drive (below 76 MPH) indicates fixed 4) longer drive at 69 through 80 MPH indicates problem still exists 5) suggested to bring the car in for a ''ford''…
Since I bought my 2005 honda pilot on 06/25/2007. Every time I would drive between 65 and 70 MPH my steering wheel would shake. I took my pilot in today for inspection(06/06/2009)and here they tell me my motor mount engine needs repaired. Prior to this I had called them on several occasions and told them that my steering wheel shakes when I drive close to 65-70mph. I was told several times that it is just my alignment "easy fix". Last year for inspection I needed tires got tires,alignment checked asked service people again if the shaking was fixed I was reassured it was to only find out it was not. Now today a year later this happens and to find out it is happening to alot of other 2005 honda pilots motor mount is going out. I'm outraged. I owned several hondas through-out my life and never once had this problem with any of them. I use to own a civic and an accord. Hondas are great vehicles until now. I believe honda should recall this. And this will be the last honda I own. *tr
I have a 2005 honda pilot which I brought at the end of 2006. Every since I have had the car when I run over a rain puddle the steering locks. I thought it was only when it was a hugh puddle but in march 2009 I rain over a puddle that came from a car wash and the same thing happen. I took it to the dealer ship and they informed me that I need a new belt. I had them replace it and 3 weeks later it rained and the same thing happen on the freeway which almost lead to an accident. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Honda Pilot
Other brake problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other driver assistance problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 25 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 other steering problem happen on the 2005 Honda Pilot?
Across 23 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 155,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2005 Honda Pilot?
25 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