Is the KIA Telluride more reliable than the Honda Passport?

No. The Honda Passport has a clear edge. It logged 11.6 complaints per 10,000 sold against 23.3 for the Telluride, with a lower yearly repair cost and fewer unscheduled shop visits. The Telluride still stands well in the data, but it has more early failures.

Which has more recalls, the Telluride or the Passport?

The Passport has slightly more, with 29 recalls across 8 model years in federal recall records. The Telluride has 27 across 6 model years. The counts are close, and the Passport covers more years, so recalls do not separate the two.

Which costs less to repair, the Telluride or the Passport?

The Passport costs less. Independent repair-cost data estimates $521 a year for the Passport and $573 for the Telluride. That is about $260 less over five years. The Passport also needs fewer unscheduled shop visits, 0.3 a year against 0.4.

What is the biggest problem with the Telluride?

Windshield cracking is the most reported, with 288 complaints. Owners describe cracks from small pebbles or with no impact, often in the first few thousand miles. The most serious reports involve engine failure from oil consumption and the vehicle rolling away in Park.

Why does the Honda Passport sometimes not restart at a light?

Owners tie it to the Auto Idle Stop feature. The engine shuts off at a stop and then fails to restart, leaving the car stuck in the intersection until it is jump started. Dealers found the battery and electrical system passed tests, and the stalling returned for some owners after repairs.

Last updated: 2026-10-10

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride: Reliability Compared

More Reliable

Honda Passport

Good

Kia Telluride

Good

The Honda Passport comes out ahead of the KIA Telluride on reliability, with fewer owner complaints per vehicle sold and a lower annual repair bill. Both stand well, but the Telluride draws about twice the complaint rate, led by cracked windshields, blank instrument clusters and engine oil consumption.

How Do the Honda Passport and Kia Telluride Generations Compare?

Only one generation of the Telluride has been sold in the US, covering 2020 through 2025, with a refresh for 2023. Its weakest years, 2020 and 2021, came before that refresh, and its strongest, 2024 and 2025, came after it. The newest years have had less time to collect complaints, so their clean record is partly a matter of age. The Passport's third generation ran from 2019 through 2025 and was updated for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Its weakest years, 2019 and 2020, are the earliest ones. A fourth generation began with the 2026 model year, so that year has the least history of any Passport.

Verdict

The Honda Passport is more reliable than the Kia Telluride, scoring 74/100 vs 66/100.

A clear edge goes to the Honda Passport. Owners filed about half as many complaints per vehicle sold, 11.6 per 10,000 against 23.3 for the Telluride. Repair cost and shop visits also lean toward the Passport, though those gaps are small. Both stand well in the data, so the Telluride is not a bad buy. It simply draws more early failures, such as cracked windshields and blank instrument clusters, while the Passport's faults turn up less often.

Key Differences

1Honda Passport costs $52 less per year to repair
2Honda Passport has 11.7 fewer complaints per 10k sold
3Honda Passport scores 8 points higher in reliability

Category Scoreboard

4Honda Passport

—

1Kia Telluride

Reliability ScoreTotal RecallsComplaint RateAnnual Repair CostRepair Frequency

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride: Which Is More Reliable?

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride at-a-glance reliability comparison
Metric	Honda Passport	Kia Telluride
Reliability Score	74/100	66/100
Years Tracked	8	6
Total Recalls	29	27
Complaints per 10k Sold	11.6	23.3
Annual Repair Cost	$521/yr	$573/yr
Repair Frequency	0.3/yr	0.4/yr
Year Wins	6	0

What Are the Common Problems With the Honda Passport and Kia Telluride?

Early failures dominate the Telluride's record: windshields that crack from small pebbles or with no impact, an instrument cluster that goes blank, and oil consumption that can end in engine failure. Its most serious pattern is rollaway, where the SUV moves on its own after being parked. Passport complaints center on the engine not restarting after Auto Idle Stop, phantom braking, and a transmission that can drop into neutral while driving. Crash-linked reports appear in electrical and power train for both. Only the Passport has them in forward collision avoidance, service brakes and engine. Only the Telluride has one in exterior lighting.

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride common problem areas comparison
Component	Honda Passport	Kia Telluride
UNKNOWN OR OTHER	1.2Low	4.4Average
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	2.6Low	2.8Low
VISIBILITY/WIPER	0.1Very Low	4.2Average
POWER TRAIN	1.2Low	1.7Low
ENGINE	0.7Very Low	1.9Low
EXTERIOR LIGHTING	—None	2.5Low
STRUCTURE	0.2Very Low	1.6Low
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE	1.4Low	0.1Very Low
SERVICE BRAKES	1Very Low	0.3Very Low
VISIBILITY	0.1Very Low	0.7Very Low
SUSPENSION	—None	0.6Very Low
FUEL SYSTEM	0.5Very Low	—None
AIR BAGS	0.2Very Low	0.1Very Low
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	0.1Very Low	0.2Very Low
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM	0.2Very Low	—None
STEERING	0.1Very Low	0.1Very Low
LANE DEPARTURE	0.1Very Low	—None
TIRES	0.1Very Low	—None
SEAT BELTS	—None	0.1Very Low
BACK OVER PREVENTION	—None	—None
SEATS	—None	—None

Complaints per 10,000 units sold, aggregated across all tracked model years from NHTSA owner reports.

Which Is Cheaper to Maintain: Honda Passport or Kia Telluride?

Independent repair-cost data puts the Telluride at $573 a year and the Passport at $521. That gap is $52 a year, or about $260 over five years. Unscheduled shop visits run 0.4 a year for the Telluride and 0.3 for the Passport. Major repairs are possible on both. Telluride owners reported new engines after oil consumption and a head unit quoted near $7,500. Passport owners reported a $7,700 transmission repair and camera fixes quoted at $1,800 to $2,500. The Telluride's higher complaint rate points to a greater chance of meeting one.

How Does Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride Reliability Compare by Year?

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride year-by-year reliability scores
Year	Honda Passport	Kia Telluride	Edge
2025	82/1000R / 11C	78/1002R / 32C	Honda Passport
2024	79/1001R / 12C	69/1004R / 180C	Honda Passport
2023	75/1004R / 24C	68/1005R / 161C	Honda Passport
2022	74/1003R / 45C	63/1006R / 280C	Honda Passport
2021	68/1005R / 119C	63/1004R / 280C	Honda Passport
2020	68/1008R / 84C	55/1006R / 667C	Honda Passport

Best years to cross-shop: The 2024 Honda Passport scored 79/100 and the 2024 Kia Telluride scored 69/100 — the strongest shared model years that have been on the road for at least two years, where available.

Who Should Buy the Honda Passport vs the Kia Telluride?

Pick the Passport if you want fewer surprises. It had about half the complaint rate and a lower repair bill. Its strongest years are 2026 and 2025, but those are the newest and have had the least time to collect complaints, so do not read them as proven. Avoid 2019 and 2020, its weakest years. Test that the engine restarts cleanly at stops, and ask whether the front camera has ever thrown a fault. Pick the Telluride if its size and features matter more to you and you can accept more risk. Its strongest years, 2025 and 2024, are also recent, so the same caution applies. Avoid 2020 and 2021, the weakest years. Before buying, ask how many windshields the car has had, watch for a blank instrument cluster at startup, and get service records, since owners reported Kia denying engine claims over missing records.

Honda Passport vs Kia Telluride: Common Questions

Is the KIA Telluride more reliable than the Honda Passport?: No. The Honda Passport has a clear edge. It logged 11.6 complaints per 10,000 sold against 23.3 for the Telluride, with a lower yearly repair cost and fewer unscheduled shop visits. The Telluride still stands well in the data, but it has more early failures.
Which has more recalls, the Telluride or the Passport?: The Passport has slightly more, with 29 recalls across 8 model years in federal recall records. The Telluride has 27 across 6 model years. The counts are close, and the Passport covers more years, so recalls do not separate the two.
Which costs less to repair, the Telluride or the Passport?: The Passport costs less. Independent repair-cost data estimates $521 a year for the Passport and $573 for the Telluride. That is about $260 less over five years. The Passport also needs fewer unscheduled shop visits, 0.3 a year against 0.4.
What is the biggest problem with the Telluride?: Windshield cracking is the most reported, with 288 complaints. Owners describe cracks from small pebbles or with no impact, often in the first few thousand miles. The most serious reports involve engine failure from oil consumption and the vehicle rolling away in Park.
Why does the Honda Passport sometimes not restart at a light?: Owners tie it to the Auto Idle Stop feature. The engine shuts off at a stop and then fails to restart, leaving the car stuck in the intersection until it is jump started. Dealers found the battery and electrical system passed tests, and the stalling returned for some owners after repairs.

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How we score the Honda Passport and Kia Telluride

Scores weight complaint severity at 35%, repair costs at 30%, recall impact at 20%, and the spread of complaints across systems at 15%, with complaint counts adjusted for US sales. Read the full methodology.

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