Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2019 Honda Passport submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 50 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 50, in the owner's own words
The vehicle engine is dying at intersections and going into “neutral” on its own when stopped. This has been ongoing for over a year, Honda denies any issues. It is becoming more of a safety problem more recently as the vehicle “downshifted” on its own while driving on the highway. (On that instance, the vehicle went from approx 45 mph to a slow crawl - just enough to pull off the road to safety).
04/10/2026 at around 8am and 04/14/2026 at around 7pm - At both times, car stopped at red light. Auto start-stop shut off car engine. When light turned green and stepped on gas, engine shut down and warning lights came on. Car was still in “drive.” Had to push “park” button and then started engine.
Every so often, while waiting at a light, once I try to press the gas, the car will stall and loses power. It takes me turning the car off and back on several times before getting the car to stay on and accelerate.
My vehicle has experienced multiple dangerous incidents where it shuts down or shifts into neutral while driving. This has happened on highways, tunnels, busy on-ramps and main streets. The car loses power and requires restarting, which takes about 30 seconds. On a busy highway or street, this is enough time for a serious accident to occur if other vehicles cannot switch lanes on time. This has happened multiple times with my child in the car, and me being currently pregnant. The vehicle has never given me a warning prior. The issue appears to be related to the Auto start/stop system and/or electrical drivetrain controls. the vehicle is unsafe to operate because the driver can forget to disable auto start/stop and the car can suddenly lose power in traffic. There was also a separate incident (in between the multiple incidents above) where I was on the highway, my car accelerated, brakes wouldn't work, and my foot wasn't on the gas. the car then shifted to neutral and the only way I could stop was by shutting it off and moving to the breakdown lane. There have been two repair attempts. The first repair was done in 2024 after the initial loss-of-power incident related to the auto start/stop feature. In this repair, the battery was replaced and I was told a full diagnostic was run and the car was safe to drive. On 11/11/25 the serious incident with acceleration/ loss of brake function on the highway occurred. A full diagnostic was run and the transmission was replaced under warranty. However, a month after the transmission replacement, the loss of power issue returned. It has now been at least 4 incidents since the transmission was changed. I reported this to Honda corporate and received a case number, but despite multiple attempts to receive an update over the past 2 months, I have not been contacted by Honda, and no resolution has been provided. I do not feel safe driving this vehicle and no longer trust further repairs.
TIMING BELT TENSIONER - started leaking at only 31K miles. Honda has denied the request to fix this for free of cost. Dealer is demanding $2000 to replace the 6 Cyl Timing Belt Package. Per the link below, this is a common issue with Honda cars (94,000 card recalled so far): [XXX] . I am [XXX] with limited driving needs, and my 2019 Honda Passport Touring is not drivable now. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Passport. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal sound coming from under the hood, with the engine temperature gauge rising. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and was left for further investigation into possible internal engine failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 49,092.
On 10/16/2025 at 1:30 AM, I was driving home from work on the I-94 freeway in Wisconsin from my work in Franklin, WI to my home in Union Grove, WI. I was driving at the speed limit, which was 70 Mph. I started to hear a ticking sound coming from the engine, and then the check engine light started to flash. The car then began a rapid speed decrease. I started to move from to the right-hand side of the road when the car stopped ticking and the check engine light went out and began to accelerate again. The sudden deceleration and acceleration on a major highway that had many other vehicles around me was very dangerous. I drove the car to my home since it seemed to be working again. I then had it towed to Zeigler Honda in Racine, WI, on the morning of 10/16/2025, to find out what the cause of the incident was. The Authorized Honda dealership (Zeigler) inspected the car and found that the crank bearing for the second cylinder had failed. They said the engine was not repairable. Before this incident, the car had no other problems. All required Honda maintenance was performed on the car, which I purchased new. The week before the incident, I had a routine oil change done at the Zeigler dealership with a passing inspection on the car during the oil change on 10/10/2025.
The auto-start/stop function sometimes fails to restart the engine after coming to a complete stop. Vehicle is left stranded in a traveling lane.
[XXX] Start/Stop system failed when stopped in Starbucks drive thru. Unable to restart, or move vehicle. Honda Passport had to be towed. Problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer. Honda dealership deep charged battery and battery tested good? I was charged a Diagnostic fee for Starting & Charging Systems & Battery. Test name was GR8 diagnostic test by Honda. Vehicle was inspected by local Honda dealer. Diagnosed parasitic drain on battery? A new battery had been purchased 9/16/2024 @ a Honda dealership in Va. New battery is just 6 months old. Never had a problem with the new battery or Start/Stop system until [XXX] when failure occurred. There was never a warning lamp, message, or other symptoms prior to the failure. Original Start/Stop recall repair done 5/2/2023 at Honda dealership. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
My Auto Start/Stop repeatedly fails to start after engaging during a traffic stop (stop sign, red light, etc.). The engine cuts off and will not start again, causing safety issues as the car is idle and “stalled” when traffic begins moving. Things an ongoing problem that I have reported to the dealer several times. The below questions ask for dates and mileage of incident, but this has been an ongoing incident for several thousand miles. I have completed the info using approximate dates and mileage of first of many occurrences.
Description: I have a concern that I will follow-up with a letter via USPS. Imagine driving your 2019 Honda Passport on an Interstate, Speed Limit is set at 70; your speed is 75; you're in the middle of the three lanes of travel; and your vehicle suddenly decelerates and every warning the vehicle is equipped with start giving alerts in rapid succession. This is what happened to me on [XXX] at approximately [XXX]. What is concerning is that this exact same thing happened April 2023 and I was told it was the Idle Control Sensor. The dealership that sold me the vehicle was gracious enough to let me bring it to them for repair, without charging the full cost of the part but, labor cost I incurred. When a consumer purchases a vehicle, the second most expensive purchase in one's lifetime, it is implied that outside of normal and routine maintenance, the car has been assessed and inspected for drivability. Being that this is the second occurrence, I am questioning if this vehicle was thoroughly inspected for this issue? I had my vehicle towed to the Greensboro Honda Dealership, 3633 W. Wendover Ave., Greensboro NC 27407. Although my faith and loyalty to the Honda brand has diminished, the customer service provided by Ms. Karen was comforting and reassuring. She understood my concerns and was phenomenal in letting me know what to expect. Surprising for a weekend as, most employees are not wanting to work. The reason for this email is two fold, notification of the issue and hoping that Honda will take accountability financially and resolve whatever "root" issue(s) that could be cause. Thank you and if my life has any significance to you, I hope to hear from you regarding this serious concern. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
This issue has happened three times. The first two times, I attempted to accelerate while driving on the highway and the engine momentarily lost power. I would say the events lasted 3 - 5 seconds. The third time, the engine lost power while I was driving on the highway and the vehicle never regained enough power to go over 26 miles an hour - with the accelerator depressed to its maximum limit. Fortunately, I was near my exit, so I exited the highway and drove the car 4 miles to my destination. This is the only time out of the 3 instances a flashing "Check Engine" light came on. I shut the car off, went to my appointment and then restarted the vehicle approximately 30 minutes later. No other issues were noted on the 3 hour return trip. This last event happened on [XXX]. I took the car into the service department at Ken Vance Honda, in Eau Claire, WI on January 29, 2025 and they were unable to find any stored codes in the computer related to the issue. The service advisor said he has heard of this issue several times. The estimate to fix the issue was roughly $850.00 with parts accounting for $501.74 I researched this issue online and found several references to it. The first is a post from a online group for Honda Odyssey owners. One post in that thread leads to another thread for Honda Ridgeline owners. The first website: [XXX] and the post on that site that has a link to the second and more damning site. MtMan 124 posts · Joined 2017 #4 · Jun 22, 2024 Been a nagging problem on the Ridgeline since 2019 on cold winter days. [XXX] There are several other references to similar issues on the Internet and Honda is obviously aware there is an issue. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The Idle-Stop system engages as expected when the vehicle comes to a stop, but the engine fails to restart when I release the brake pedal. This leaves me stranded in traffic and vulnerable to collisions, especially in high-traffic areas like intersections. The car has completely stalled and remains frozen for at least 3 minutes. Instrument panel lights up and says to depress pedal fully and press the start button. Another message says something about being in neutral and then to put it in park. I'm doing what it says and I cannot get the car to start. I have a green light and I'm stuck in an intersection where opposing traffic has a green light as well. People are honking at me and nervous because of the unpredictibilty of my car. - Frequency: This occurs at least 1x/month for the past 65 months (lifetime of the vehicle) - Conditions: Occurs during normal driving conditions, typically in stop-and-go traffic. - Impact: This issue has resulted in significant delays and near-misses with other vehicles, posing a clear safety hazard. The vehicle has been evaluated by a Honda dealer regarding Idle-Stop system malfunction specifically on the following dates October 1st, 2020, February 2nd 2023, March 16th, 2023 May 11th 2023, November 7th 2024 and January 9th 2025. The vehicle was found to be in normal working order and multiple times I was told to disengage the auto idle stop (press the button) to prevent that from happening. There was a recall for idle-stop software update which failed to repair the issue. This has been a persistent problem and the above dates by no means reflects the only times that the engine fails to restart after auto-stopping.
The 3.5 engine is ticking (knocking hard from 1-2 rpm same engine that is in all the recall on pilots and other Honda cars! My car has 65k miles on it . Honda has it for a week they can’t figure it out and say it’s normal. I know my car and a loud tick is not normal! Honda knows these engine have issue and don’t want to fix it. I’m now out of warranty and they don’t want to do anything basically they want me to get stranded when it breaks down or I’m in an accident if my engine breaks.
Auto Stop feature will engage when I stop the car at a light, and then the engine will fail to turn back on when I take my foot off the break. I then have to try and get the car to turn off so I can restart it. I’ve taken it to Honda and they did a system update and also had the battery replaced. It was better for a while, but has now happed again twice in the last couple months.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Passport. The contact stated that while stopping at a red traffic light, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power, after which the vehicle was able to be restarted. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000. The VIN was not available.
The vehicle does not restart after entering 'Auto Idle Stop' even with latest software update by Honda. About 2 month ago, my car started to act weird and stopped restarting during traffic stops, causing dangerous situations. (I was waiting in the intersection to make left turn and the vehicle was stopped in the middle) I went to Honda dealership for repair, and they explained that its known issue and can be solved by software update. They promised that it won't happen again, but starting few days ago, it is doing it again. I went to the dealership again, and they are now saying that they have to replace the starter. I don't think it is a safe approach to let customer "test" the software and replace problematic part depending on the test outcome. I feel like Honda should update the software AND replace starter.
This happens intermittently since I have owned vehicle. When car is stopped for a light or stop sign the engine idle stop engages. Then the car will not start up again when foot is taken off brake. In fact car automatically switches into neutral and care will not start. I been stranded on busy roads and almost hit twice because of this issue. I also had to purchase a new battery as I was told this is what was the issue by dealership and my battery was out of warranty
Since I purchased this car in 2020, I have regularly experienced my car stalling out because of the auto idle function. The car shuts off when I brake and then does not turn back on, leaving me stranded in traffic until I can manually shut off my car and turn it back on. This is a major safety hazard that Honda has yet to properly address. Honda had a recall to "fix" this, which was just a software update. This was conducted 5/12/2023 on my car. Unfortunately, today (5/20/2023) my car stalled out again at a traffic light due to the auto idle function. Honda needs to address this issue, and if they cannot, then they need to provide those with defective models a path to upgrade their car.
This has been happening from the beginning of ownership. There was a recent recall but it DID NOT fix the problem. I come to a stop, and then start to go and my car stalls out for a second and then restart. Every time I took it in to the service center, they said they can't recreate it and there's nothing wrong. As it stalls, the "collision mitigation system" warning light comes on. I have almost been rear-ended many times and it's really scary. You can see all the complaints online for this same problem but Honda is not acknowledging the problem. Someone is going to get seriously hurt. The contact stated that Honda told them to get a video of the failure happening but the failure occurs unexpectantly and while driving.
On 01/24/2023 with IdleStop engaged car stalled on busy intersection during rush hour and couldn't be restarted. Since Honda vehicles don't have a shift interlock anymore we couldn't move vehicle since it automatically went into "Park". Car is currently at the dealer who is unable to do repairs due to lack of ECU modules.
With auto stop/start disabled as this feature regularly fails, stopped to turn left and car shifted itself into neutral, could not be shifted into drive or restarted for a few minutes despite multiple attempts. If car had auto stop start feature engaged, this often happens, which has been reported, but this time it happened without that feature on. Luckily we were turning from a parking lot so did not hold up traffic or have risk of being hit.
On several occasions engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. Car shifts itself into Neutral and cannot be restarted by pressing Start button. It required jump was required for the vehicle to restart once. Usual work around posted by Honda is to put car in Park and then attempt to press Start button. Crash was avoided once in heavy traffic.
At a stop light, the auto engine idle kicked in. When the light turned green, and I took my foot off the brake pedal, the engine did not stop. I put the car in park and tried to restart. It would not restart at all. I was there for at least 15 minutes trying to turn the car back on and off. It finally did start but caused lots of traffic and was dangerous for everyone. This should not be happening to a new car.
Several times, the car shuts off at stop lights or stop signs. It has a feature that is supposed to save gas and put it into low power mode. But sometimes, especially if I take my foot off the break and press on the gas too quickly, the car completely shuts off and goes into neutral. This is VERY dangerous. Once I was on a hill when this happened and the car began rolling down and I nearly hit another vehicle. I have seen hundreds of other such complaints on the Honda Pilot. This is it's cousin, the Honda Passport and likely has the same power failure. Honda needs to recall these immediately before someone gets hurt. (It may also be related to the distance calculator being incorrect on my car. It often says I have over 1,000 miles left on my single tank.) There is for sure something wrong.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .