RoadVitals

2021 Honda Ridgeline Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
101
+1 complaint in 30 days
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
3
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
17
Reports on file since Apr 5, 2021

What this page shows

Our database holds 101 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Honda Ridgeline. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–25 of 101 · page 1 of 5

ElectricalEngine
Filed Sep 9, 2026

The auto idle function- the car engine doesn't restart. This has happened in a busy intersection and won't restart until you have made several attempts to restart. I have brought this to the attention of Honda certified techs.

NHTSA ID
11763064
Incident
Aug 28, 2026
Driver assistance
Filed Aug 23, 2026

The complete Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has been disabled on my truck and all the warning lights are on. All the safety features ment to keep me safe on the road are no longer working.

NHTSA ID
11758843
Incident
Aug 10, 2026
Other / unspecifiedSuspension
Filed Aug 22, 2026

1.The rear wheel assembly, lug nuts, and potentially the wheel studs/rear suspension system failed due to improper torque and installation by the dealership. Yes, the vehicle components are available for inspection 2.The dealership released my vehicle with completely untorqued lug nuts on the rear wheel assembly. A lug nut physically fell off onto the public street while driving back to the shop. This severe negligence created an immediate, life-threatening risk of the wheel detaching entirely at highway speeds. 3.Yes, the initial loose lug nut failure was witnessed and confirmed on-site by the dealership's staff when I returned. Furthermore, the ongoing mechanical looseness and wobble were confirmed by my own driving experience immediately after their supposed "fix," and an independent shop inspection is scheduled to document the remaining issues. But I couldn't provide the key to the lug nuts because I couldn't find it in my car, after I brought the car to them. 4.It was superficially inspected by the O'Malley Honda service department, who merely rebalanced the tires and claimed nothing was wrong, they said they properly inspect for structural stud or suspension damage and everything seem good, and nothing wrong with it. 5.There were no warning lamps or dashboard messages. The physical symptoms—a heavy clunking noise, severe road wobble, and loose rear wheels—appeared immediately upon driving the vehicle off the dealership lot following their service on July 10th, and the rear end has continued to feel wobbly ever since.

NHTSA ID
11758791
Incident
Jul 31, 2026
Driver assistanceEngine
Filed Aug 11, 2026

This involves the paddle shift operation on the steering wheel. There are two paddles, one at 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock where the hands come into contact with the steering wheel. On four separate occasions, while driving at a relatively high rate of speed, my hands accidentally activated the gear mode by lightly touching one or both of the paddles. Very little pressure is needed to activate the gears. When this occurs, the vehicle shifts to a lower gear, and the vehicle rapidly decelerates from a high rate of speed to a low rate of speed while traveling. In addition to the unexpected and dangerous change in speed while in traffic, the shift into low gear causes the engine to rev and the noise from this caused me to panic while in traffic. On one occasion this occurred when I was trying to cross a road with oncoming traffic. The paddles are very close to where the hands come into contact with the steering wheel and very little pressure, only a tap, will activate the paddles and switch the vehicle into low gear. I have contacted Honda and there is no way to deactivate the paddles.

NHTSA ID
11756223
Incident
Aug 5, 2026
Engine
Filed Aug 3, 2026

Auto Idle Stop failed as I was sitting at a red light. As I came to a stop at the light, the truck entered the Auto Idle Stop. When the light turned green and it was time to accelerate, I released my foot off of the brake and the engine stopped. It cut out right there. Warning lights came on and I had to restart the engine by totally shutting down the truck on a busy highway road. It took 2 attempts to get it to start. After this, I turned the Auto Idle Stop OFF using the button located on the lower console. I am taking it to the Honda dealership tomorrow to work on a remedy via the AutoIdleStopSettlement from Honda.

NHTSA ID
11754528
Incident
Aug 2, 2026
Driver assistance
Filed Jul 23, 2026

When driving the vehicle suddenly displayed warning and failure lights for the following: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, Road Departure, High Beam Support, and Collision Mitigation. The vehicle in the past regularly experiences issues with oncoming traffic (especially on 2 lane roads) when it comes to auto braking and forward crash warnings so I immediately brought the vehicle home as I was worried for my safety and the safety of others on the road that if these systems were now warning of malfunction the vehicle might auto brake in traffic for no reason and cause a crash. I took the vehicle in following this as I looked online and discovered there were multiple recalls on this vehicle for other various issues and I wanted the dealer to fix those in addition to determining if this was part of one of the recalls also. The dealership has diagnosed the issue as the forward multi-purpose camera and is stating it needs to be replaced to correct the safety issues of the vehicle. I reviewed online and found that just a coupe years ago this part was approx $800 and the dealer is not charging over $1600 for the part. The other issue is that I paid for the part and the dealer claims this part will not even ship until August 26 (over a month away). Additionally I have further researched this issue and found that it is a common failure on Honda and Acura vehicles and creates a major safety concern, yet Honda Motors has refused to address the issue and handle this as a recall as it should be done. New vehicles should not be regularly experiencing catastrophic safety system failures regularly and the manufacture not be held liable for the damages and not be able to fix the part or car in a timely manner. The fact the parts are in such short supply and backorder further attests to the common failure of this part. I would appreciate your immediate review and action of this matter to ensure that Honda is held accountable for the major safety failures they have created.

NHTSA ID
11752301
Incident
Jul 19, 2026
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed Jul 14, 2026

My 2021 Honda Ridgeline Sport experienced failure of the forward-facing Honda Sensing camera system. This camera controls safety features including Collision Mitigation Braking, Lane Keeping Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control. The failure disables safety assistance features. Honda acknowledged the issue but refused to provide full repair coverage and only offered $941 toward a repair costing significantly more. I believe a safety-related camera failure should be investigated as a potential defect

NHTSA ID
11750429
Incident
Jun 12, 2026
Driver assistance
Filed May 29, 2026

Front camera system failed lights that are on are brake system, Lane assist lkas and acc

NHTSA ID
11740889
Incident
May 20, 2026
AirbagsBrakesDriver assistance
Filed May 9, 2026
Crash reported

I was involved in a rear end collision earlier today. My vehicle sustained significant front end damage and the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle had to be flat bedded to a Massachusetts State Police Barracks, pending further action by my insurance company. There were no injuries.

NHTSA ID
11736770
Incident
May 9, 2026
Steering
Filed Apr 22, 2026

I CURRENTLY OWN A 2021 HONDA RIDGELINE SPORT AND IT WAS BROUGHT IN TO A HONDA DEALERSHIP THAT HAD DIAGNOSED A STEERING RACK FAILURE. THE QUOTED PRICE OF REPAIR WAS $4,000. AFTER DOING EXTENSIVE READING ON THIS ISSUE I LEARNED THAT SIMILAR ISSUES HAVE OCCURRED IN LATER YEAR MODELS AS WELL AS SIMILAR YEAR MODELS IN THE HONDA FAMILY. THERE WAS A RECALL OF 1.7 MILLION VEHICLES WITH THIS SPECIFIC ISSUE. THE VEHICLE MAKES LOUD AND CRACKING NOISES AND AT TIMES THE STEERING GETS HEAVY AND ALSO LOOSE WHILE DRIVING AT HIGH AND LOW SPEEDS. THE DEALER HAD RESPONDED THAT IT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE IN THE LATER YEAR RIDGELINE MODELS AND THERE HAD BEEN A SERVICE BULLETIN ON HOW TO RECTIFY THE ISSUE ON THESE MODELS. I DID NOT SEE ANY CURENT RECALLS FROM THIS YEAR, HOWEVER THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THIS IS NOT A KNOWN OR GROWING ISSUE FOR THE YEAR HONDA THAT I CURRENTLY OWN. PLEASE ADVISE. THANK YOU

NHTSA ID
11733135
Incident
Apr 17, 2026
Driver assistance
Filed Feb 22, 2026

Forward brake assist, collision mitigation, auto headlight dash lights came on sporadically. As of today the lights are now on constant and unable to clear. Advised that the forward facing camera most likely died and a replacement due to recalibration would be 1500-2000..

NHTSA ID
11719722
Incident
Feb 22, 2026
Engine
Filed Feb 11, 2026

The check engine light came on Dec 26 which I took to have checked and was told that it should go to the shop. The code was not being stored. I took it to the Honda dealership and they did a complete check and said the engine had gone back. The connecting rods and barrings cause the engine to fail and it needed to be replaced. I contacted Honda Goodwill and they declined to do anything to help repair the engine.

NHTSA ID
11717426
Incident
Dec 26, 2025
Engine
Filed Feb 10, 2026

Driving home from work on a Friday about 1am and my engine started t knock and sputter and the engine light started flashing. Luckily I made it home. I let it sit for a minute and started it back up and it ran fine. I let it sit over the weekend I made an appointment the the dealership for the following Monday. On Monday it started fine to go to my dealer appointment but half way there every caution light imaginable came on and the info screen was scrolling failure of every system in the truck it seamed. Even the D for drive was flashing. It was knocking, sputtering with loss of power. Like it was in limp mode. Made it to the dealer and they said it was misfiring which caused the engine to come apart inside. 11K for a new engine or 8K for a used one with 46K miles. The truck only had 86,000 miles on it and has been always dealer maintained. We buy Hondas mostly for their reliability. Skeptical about buying another one

NHTSA ID
11716899
Incident
Feb 9, 2026
Suspension
Filed Jan 22, 2026

Vehicle started making a clunking noise that could be felt at 45,000 miles when steering left and right. An independent auto business found loose subframe bolts and lower control arm as well as checked sway bar links and found loose core support braces. The clunking stopped after the bolts were tightened. I found this very odd and concerning. 2021 Honda Rigdeline RTL. Cost to remedy included two hours of labor.

NHTSA ID
11712592
Incident
Jan 20, 2026
Engine
Filed Dec 8, 2025

The contact's husband owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while her husband was driving 55 MPH, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode and made an abnormal knocking sound. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to pull over to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the timing belt, the water pump, and the tensioner pulley were replaced; however, the knocking sound persisted. The dealer determined that the lower bearing had failed, and the dealer recommended replacing the engine with a used engine. Additionally, the contact was advised that the oil pump was leaking and might need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was filed. The manufacturer requested the vehicle service records. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: EA25004 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.

NHTSA ID
11703807
Incident
Dec 1, 2025
Mileage
102,000 mi
Engine
Filed Oct 25, 2025

I began to hear a knocking noise at 2500 to 3500 rpms and I immediately took my vehicle to the dealer who confirmed rod bearing damage.

NHTSA ID
11695599
Incident
Oct 14, 2025
Filed Oct 19, 2025

The Multipurpose Camera had an Internal Electronic Failure. Indications we all of the warning lights were illuminated on my dash. Initially it began when I had about 43, 400 miles on my truck. The warning lights would all remail lighted on starting the vehicle. I could restart the vehicle and eventually get the lights to go off. Then the slowly began to stay on permanently. I eventually made an appointment and took my truck into a Honda dealership and it was diagnosed a the failure of the Multipurpose Camera at 44,000 miles. The Honda Service Tech told me that none of my safety features were working at this time which really scared me. The Honda Dealership witnessed the dashboard warning lights and ran a diagnostic indicating the problem. The dealership ordered a replacement camera and replaced it. Parts and Labor were $2118.78. The first indication was when the warning lights began staying lit on my dash.

NHTSA ID
11694352
Incident
Oct 15, 2025
Driver assistance
Filed Sep 27, 2025

2021 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E. Part number 36160-T6Z-A62-M1 failure, hard code U3000-49. Results in total loss of Honda Sense Safety system. Including Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, Traffic Sign Recognition, Auto High-Beam Headlights. This appears to be a fairly common issue across Honda models where the multipurpose camera fails, generally due to heat from exposure to sun. The replacement cost and required re-calibration via the dealer is ~$2000. Living in northern California with extreme heat, I will assume this problem will resurface after a few years resulting in another $2000+ repair.

NHTSA ID
11690126
Incident
Jul 30, 2025
Exterior lighting
Filed Sep 26, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that there was moisture inside driver's side headlight housing. The contact took the headlight assembly apart and blew out the moisture. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 43,928.

NHTSA ID
11689930
Incident
Sep 26, 2024
Mileage
43,928 mi
Exterior lighting
Filed Sep 12, 2025

Auto High Beam. Very sensitive. Sometimes they don't go on when they should and sometimes, they stay on blinding oncoming traffic. I have researched this problem and also have been told this is a known problem with this particular model and year - not just my vehicle.

NHTSA ID
11686938
Incident
Apr 3, 2025
Driver assistance
Filed Sep 12, 2025

The forward collision system frequently goes off from a vehicle simply driving in their lane normally. The truck alarms, shakes the wheel, and sometimes brakes automatically. This is alarming for my kids riding in the car and the braking is dangerous for cars behind me. This could cause a rear end collision.

NHTSA ID
11686830
Incident
Sep 12, 2025
Engine
Filed Aug 25, 2025

Engine began knocking from the bottom end at 53k miles. It was determined that a connecting rod bearing had failed and Honda is replacing my engine under warranty. No cost was incurred to me but I am adding my complaint because my VIN is not included in the recall for this exact problem in other years close to mine and the recall my need to be expanded to a wider range of VINs.

NHTSA ID
11682881
Incident
Aug 13, 2025
Fuel system
Filed Aug 20, 2025

While making a right turn from a yield sign into oncoming traffic and doing about 15 mph, I depressed the accelerator to speed up and the truck stalled for about 2 seconds. The RPM's drop and you literally lunge forward until power resumes. No warning lights come on and no codes are given. This put my safety at risk and the driver accelerating towards me at risk. This is the first time it happened with my 2021 Ridgeline. However, my 2019 Ridgeline had this happen about a dozen times. Honda Service could never replicate the issue with the 2019 Ridgeline, but there was enough data out there about defective High Pressure Fuel Pumps that they agreed to replace the pump. After replacing the pump, the issue went away. Now my 2021 Ridgeline is doing the exact same thing. I can therefore only assume it's the High Pressure Fuel Pump again. I see that Honda recalled 628,000 vehicles in 2021 and then recalled an additional 720,000 vehicles in 2024 for the High Pressure Fuel Pump failing. My current VIN for some reason is not in this recall. Honda Corporate was of no help whatsoever when contacting them. They told me my truck is not under recall. This is a severe Safety Issue and Honda needs to expand the recall to cover my VIN and any other VIN's that are affected by this defective High Pressure Fuel Pump.

NHTSA ID
11681946
Incident
Aug 11, 2025
ElectricalEnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Jul 10, 2025

Truck was waiting at a stop light in drive mode and foot on brake pedal. When the light changed to green. I tried to accelerate to go and the whole vehicle shook/lunges forward and shut off. Vehicle went into neutral and wouldn't allow me to go into drive mode. I had to restart the vehicle twice before it allowed me to go into drive again. Vehicle was stuck in the middle of the street with oncoming/ongoing traffic. I had this vehicle at the honda dealer(with documents) three times previous for this issue and its still not resolved. Please help.

NHTSA ID
11672492
Incident
Jul 2, 2025
Engine
Filed Jul 8, 2025

My 2021 Honda Ridgeline engine failed in heavy traffic on the freeway. The car malfunctioned and I lost complete power and started coasting and barely made it through 4 lanes of heavy traffic before the car coasted to a stop. Very dangerous and very lucky not to get hit changing lanes and then waiting on the freeway for assistance. I've made regular oil changes as directed by the computer on the vehicle. The problem was not connected to a lack of oil. I'm [XXX] and I take very good care of my vehicles. Not one scratch on my black edition Ridgeline. My vehicle is still at the Honda dealership. I don't believe I should pay for another engine nor do I have the money to do so. Having a complete engine failure on the freeway is a major safety issue and Honda needs to fix it now and in the future. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID
11671968
Incident
Jun 14, 2025

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.

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