2025 Honda Ridgeline Engine Problems

On two occasions, immediately after re-fueling the vehicle, the engine auto idle stop failed to restart the vehicle. Both times this happened at busy intersections. A series of messages appeared on the display. I was flustered because cars behind me were honking as I was blocking traffic so I don’t exactly remember the error messages. One message said to put the transmission in park. Another said to hold the brake and the engine start button. Eventually the engine did re-start by holding the start button down.

NHTSA ID

11755798

Incident

Aug 8, 2026

While sitting in traffic with my 2025 Honda Ridgeline, with the engine stopped as the brake had been fully applied, when I released pressure off the brake, my vehicle would not restart as it normally would in this situation, thereby stranding me in a serious traffic situation. I notified the police and my vehicle was eventually towed to the nearest Honda dealer to try to determine what the issue was . Scary situation since my vehicle only has approximately 25K miles on it.

NHTSA ID

11755532

Incident

Aug 7, 2026

My Honda Ridgeline has experienced a dangerous malfunction involving the Auto Idle Stop system. When the vehicle comes to a stop, the system automatically shuts off the engine as designed to conserve fuel. Normally, the engine should restart when the brake pedal is released. On multiple occasions, however, the engine has failed to restart when the brake pedal is released. A warning appears on the dashboard, and the vehicle becomes difficult to restart. This has left me unexpectedly unable to move the vehicle while stopped in traffic. This creates a serious safety hazard because the failure can occur at an intersection or in an active traffic lane. When traffic begins moving, the vehicle may remain stalled while surrounding drivers expect it to accelerate normally, creating a risk of a rear-end or other collision. The problem is unpredictable, and I am concerned that the Auto Idle Stop system can disable the vehicle during normal operation without adequate warning. I believe this condition should be investigated as a potential safety defect.

NHTSA ID

11755400

Incident

Jul 28, 2026

since I purchased this truck brand new from the dealer, the brakes always had air in the lines. No matter how many times I bleed the brakes, there is still air in the line. From my understanding, previous years of this truck had master cylinder issues. I went to the dealer and they refused to fix the issue, because I already attempted to fix the problem. Also, the car doesn't start when shut off during hot weather and you want to start the car again. You have to wait and try again. The car is laboring to start again. This vehicle is also known for slow starts.I hope you take this matter seriously. This is the issue with every brand new ridgline. Take your pick. I paid over 50k for a new truck and have to deal with these issues.

NHTSA ID

11755067

Incident

Apr 1, 2025

Car just shut off while I was driving. There was no power. It would not start. At first it sounded like it wanted to start and then it just made no sound at all. The brake was hard as well. I put the hazards on but was in the fast lane on Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers. I believe there are traffic cameras that will show the car sitting while cars were trying to get through the traffic light. The car finally started however I have no idea why it happened. We could have been killed sitting in the fast lane of a three lane road. There were three of us in the car.

NHTSA ID

11754845

Incident

Aug 4, 2026

Start stop has failed to restart engine on several occasions.

NHTSA ID

11754660

Incident

Aug 3, 2026

Engine idle start/stop feature shut off the engine while I was waiting to turn at a busy intersection. When I took my foot off the brake, the engine did not restart and all the lights in the dashboard came on. Multiple attempts to get the engine to re-start failed. Police had to block traffic while we waited for a tow truck. After about 15 minutes the system finally allowed the engine to start again, but the tow truck was already there so the car was towed to a local dealership. Problem was diagnosed as a starter pulling excessive voltage causing hard starts and failure of the auto start/stop system. The starter was replaced under warranty. Vehicle is just over a year old with 10k miles. I was lucky there wasn't an accident or any injuries but with cars swerving by me while I blocked the intersection before the police arrived, it could easily have been much worse. Even after the system was repaired, I do not feel safe driving with the automatic start/stop feature engaged. I know I can turn it off every time I get in the car, but it is too easy to forget to do that. I would like for Honda to reprogram the system to allow the driver to permanently disengage the auto stop feature, but I'm told that is not currently an option.

NHTSA ID

11753947

Incident

Jul 30, 2026

This is a followup to a complaint that I submitted on July 10, 2026 at 10:19:37 AM, tracking #11749522. The incident that I am reporting today occurred on July 7, 2026 when my son was driving my 2025 Ridgeline alone. I was not aware of this incident until I happened to mention to him what I had experienced with the auto stop re-start failure (no restart after auto start/stop engages). He then reported to me that on July 7th while he was driving the Ridgeline he experienced a similar incident. When he pulled up to a busy intersection the vehicle failed to re-start after shutting off at the intersection. He said he did not know what was happening and panicked a bit. Until I brought up my incident to him he said that he thought he had done something wrong when operating the Ridgeline because he does not drive the vehicle very often. He said that he placed the vehicle in park and opened the door, similar to what I had done. He said that after he did this the vehicle did re-start which is exactly what I experienced. This is two failures with same vehicle within the same week. I called the Honda Service Department on Friday, July 10, 2026 and have scheduled an appointment for Tuesday, July 14, 2026. When I mentioned NHTSA ODI had launched new Investigation on March 26, 2026 and mentioned Service Bulletins 23-008 and 23-099 to the Service Advisor he told me that they did not apply to my model year including 10-year extended warranty with unlimited mileage also did not apply. He said that my vehicle was still under factory warranty and to bring it in so that they can complete an analysis and order parts if needed. The Service Advisor said "full disclosure, Honda has not developed or provided the updated part needed to fix the problem." Those were his words. I have read that SB 23-008 and 23-099 do not fix this problem and if not completed correctly can create additional problems making me very concerned with what the dealer will propose to fix this problem.

NHTSA ID

11749818

Incident

Jul 7, 2026

No restart after auto start/stop engaged. The engine failed to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light and road intersection with the auto start/stop function engaged. This occurred at a very busy intersection on a road under construction. I had passengers in the truck with outside temperatures above 100 degrees. Traffic was extremely heavy and other vehicles were honking heavily. The vehicle would not re-start even after many attempts to push the ignition re-start button. At first I thought it was a battery issue but when pushing the ignition button there was absolutely no response by the starter. I was in a panic so I did not take a photo of the dash but everything seemed to go dead. I opened the door, got out and popped the hood. I checked the battery terminals. They seemed tight. I got back in the truck and pushed the starter button and the engine started like nothing was wrong and worked fine the rest of the day. This is the only the next morning so I have not driven the vehicle today or contacted the dealer service department yet. I intend to do so. I believe my truck experienced an Auto Idle Stop Restart Failure. I have read that opening and closing the door resets the vehicle's electrical system, allowing the push-button start to engage again. It seems this might be what happened when I got out to check the battery and then re-entered the vehicle. This situation left me and my passengers in a very dangerous situation. There were no warning lamps, messages or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I have read that this exact situation is a reoccurring issue with my model and year Honda Ridgeline and that Honda has not been able to effectively resolve this problem. This is a very serious problem and now I am almost afraid to drive my Honda truck which is almost new. Please help to correct this problem quickly as it creates very dangerous situations. I will be contacting the dealer service department today.

NHTSA ID

11749522

Incident

Jul 9, 2026

After braking to a stop, the default setting of the start stop system randomly fails at intersections and requires a complete restart of the vehicle. Has happened multiple times over the past two months. Dealer has checked all systems and can find no problems with battery or the system itself. Very hazardous when at a ramp end or a turn lane. The dealer recommended that the driver switch off the start stop system manually every time after starting.

NHTSA ID

11749191

Incident

Jul 7, 2026

The Auto Idle Stop system in the truck has become an issue with the vehicle stalling out (sometimes) when I hold the brake pedal. I have to then put the car into Park to restart the engine. This has been a safety issue when I'm driving in heavy traffic and the truck stalls and I can't move forward with the other vehicles. I have taken my truck to the Honda dealer and they could not reproduce the issue at that time. They inspected the vehicle, confirmed the battery is fine, etc. They did mention the vehicle seemed slow to start. I have experienced this as well. At this time, Honda says there is nothing they can do to help me. My truck is only a year old and still under warranty. But this is a serious safety issue and I've experienced some frightening conditions on the road because of it.

NHTSA ID

11748746

Incident

Jun 24, 2026

I forgot to shut off truck when parking in my garage. 3 hours later a carbon monoxide alarm was triggered in the home. The truck was still running and garage was hot as hell, and truck was still running.

NHTSA ID

11747900

Incident

Jun 30, 2026

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request?: The auto start stop feature failed, resulting in the vehicle lurching then dieing without any prior indication. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk?: The vehicle's lurch and sudden loss of power occurred at a red light when turning left. If I were the first car in line, it would have left me in the intersection with a 65 mph speed limit, creating the potential for a significant accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center?: No it has not, but was taken to a dealer in the last two weeks for this problem, in which all systems were operating as intended. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others?: Yes it has where the problem could not be identified. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear?: No warning lamp or messages were displayed prior to this safety incident. This is the third occurrence, I made another report on XXX. If needed, I can find the report number Vehicle failed to restart in 5 attempts, on the 6th attempt, the vehicle started but took an extended amount of time compared to normal. Video link immediately after the incident, the service advisor suggested I film this if it were to happen again. : [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11740897

Incident

May 29, 2026

On two separate instances in the past month, I have come to a complete stop, and the engine automatically shuts off. Upon restarting it either failed to restart the engine or on this last occurence turned the engine over once, made the car lurch and took a few seconds for the engine to idle, almost as if the engine wasn't fully started and the starting motor kicked off as well as turned over slowly. The vehicle has 24,000miles and the batery is approximatley 15 months old and OEM.

NHTSA ID

11737930

Incident

May 14, 2026

My Honda ridgeline had 7,590 miles when it started failing all the dash board lights turned on the engine decelerated I then tried to accelerate it rapidly accelerated my steering wheel vibrated I could not turn or slow down witch caused for me to crash

NHTSA ID

11721115

Incident

Jul 27, 2025

New 2025 Honda Ridgeline Black Edition with under 4k miles on it. Driving one day (10/30/25), smoke started to bellow out from the sides. Nothing on the dashboard indicated a problem. Everyone jumped out and was safe from injury. The truck went up in flames and literally blew up. We have a video of the incident. The truck was a complete loss, and it was difficult to deal with Honda, so we decided settle with the insurance company. Honda after a while stopped taking my calls and would put me on hold indefinitely if I call in. They were given permission to inspect the vehicle from the insurance agency but to my knowledge have not.

NHTSA ID

11705807

Incident

Oct 30, 2025

Multiple instances of emission system warning/stop start failure warning alerts.Warning lights will randomly go off then back on. Replaced sensor and it failed within a month. Truck has under 21000 miles.

NHTSA ID

11691725

Incident

Jan 1, 2025

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed however, the dealer found no failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,300.

NHTSA ID

11685615

Incident

Sep 3, 2025

Mileage

1,300 mi

Engine "Stop/Start" turned off when trying to make a turn. When it did the steering would not move. Also when "Stop/Start" turns off it was dangerous when turning. I email Honda and they called me back. They could have it disabled but it would cost $80 and I would have to buy the part and they would install it. This is a new truck bought last month.

NHTSA ID

11657197

Incident

Apr 1, 2025