The 2005 Honda Pilot has 9 recalls, the most serious being the well-known Takata airbag defect affecting both the driver and front passenger inflators, where the inflator can rupture and send metal fragments into the cabin, causing serious injury or death.
A separate airbag concern involves vehicles where a front passenger airbag may have been installed incorrectly during a prior replacement; an improperly seated inflator can deploy in an unexpected direction in a crash, raising the risk of injury. On the fuel system side, certain Pilots have a fuel tank that can be damaged in a crash and leak fuel, which creates a fire risk if an ignition source is present. There is also a brake-related issue: the electronic stability control system can briefly apply brake force on its own, and if the driver presses the brake pedal at that same moment, the system may amplify the braking far beyond what the driver intended.