2021 Honda Passport Reliability Report

Most reports here describe phantom automatic braking. A BRAKE alert flashes, the steering wheel shakes, and the car slows hard with nothing ahead, in one case from 70 to about 50 mph. A smaller group reports a brake pedal that sinks to the floor, needs pumping, or locks the wheels, including one garage crash after a sudden surge. Warped rotors cause steering shake under braking by 10k to 15k miles, and Honda treats this as wear. One independent inspection found loose master cylinder and booster bolts.

Knocking at low rpm on a warm engine turns out to be crankshaft bearing wear. Two reports place it around 22k miles and link it to Honda's V6 crankshaft recalls, and in one case the noise came back after a bearing was replaced. Other owners report Auto Idle Stop failures that leave the engine dead for up to 5 minutes, sudden power loss with emissions and transmission warnings that required a tow, and an antitheft fault that shut the engine off. One crash involved the engine racing to full throttle while parking.

These reports are mostly about recall delays, not failures. Owners received notice of recall campaign 24V064000, but dealers say the repair part is not yet available, and several call the wait unreasonable. One separate complaint describes a passenger seat weight sensor that still does not work after replacement following a collision repair. That owner was sent back and forth between the dealer and the body shop with no answer on whether wiring or the airbag system is at fault.

A sudden lockup after turning a corner leaves the car impossible to steer in one report, which ends in a crash. In another, five safety-system warnings come on at once, and the dealer traces them to a failed control chip that also governs power steering and brakes. A third complaint describes false forward collision warnings set off by oncoming cars over 2+ years, with no software fix offered. Reports are few, but the lockup and control failures carry a real loss-of-control risk.

The power-folding side mirrors stop working, and the fault returns soon after the dealer replaces the wiring. Other complaints concern recall campaign 23V174000, where owners are told the repair part is not yet available and the wait is called unreasonable. In one case the owner's mirror fault turned out not to be covered by that recall. One complaint includes no details beyond an attached document.

Sidewalls separate or blow out after minor impacts, such as a branch about 3" across at roughly 10 mph or a small pothole. The reports involve the 265 45 R 20 size, and one names the Continental CrossContact LX. One owner notes that similar tires were recalled for sidewall separation but theirs was not included. Owners warn that a blowout could cause loss of control.

Side mirrors replaced under recall 23V-174 come back distorted, like a fun-house mirror, and the replacement for the replacement is just as bad. Another report describes the driver's mirror vibrating so hard at 70 mph that lane changes become difficult, and the dealer declines to replace it. Separately, a windshield cracks on its own on a cold morning at low speed, and Honda refuses to cover the repair.