2021 Honda Passport Electrical System Problems

After having constant issues with the idle stop and the car alarm going off in the middle of the night and day for no apparent reason I took it to the dealer to get it fixed. After supposedly fixing the idle stop, about two weeks later I was going up a ramp during a heavy traffic hour and the car completely shot down. It took me a few minutes to get it back on. I’ve had issues with this car from day one (brand new). I’m currently trying to get another car.

Vehicle has been having AIS issues for a couple of years, requiring new batteries, new starter/relays and countless internal computer updates (none of which have helped btw...). This morning she had the AIS engaged, went to turn left at a green light and when she released the brake the vehicle threw itself into Neutral and flashed a "Auto Idle Stop System Problem" message on the dash. She put it into park and tried to restart, which failed, she then had to turn the vehicle off completely and restart from there. As I mentioned, none of the computer updates Honda has done for this vehicle have helped and it's my understanding there is a block of vehicles in this age range (all Passports, Ridgelines and Pilots) that continue to have problems with the AIS as well. Honda needs to disable this "feature" on any vehicles they cannot fix via computer updates IMMEDIATELY before they get someone killed. Not to mention, we are sick and tired of having to replace the battery and/or starter every couple of years. Honda should not be putting tax breaks above their customers safety and satisfaction. You know it's bad when their 30+ year techs go out of their way to buy a used Honda just to avoid the AIS because they don't know what to do with it at this point either.

No incident has occurred. However, my concern is that a recall was issued on February 1, 2024 (NHTSA Recall Number 24V-064), and as of October 31, 2025, Honda is still stating that parts are not available to complete the repair. I first contacted Honda in March 2025—over a year after the recall was issued—and was informed that the necessary parts were still unavailable. I called again in October 2025, and received the same response. We are now approaching two years since this recall was announced, and it is unacceptable and inexcusable that Honda has yet to provide the parts needed to correct this safety issue.

To preface: All of these issues only occur when the engine idle feature is on. I have not experienced any of these problems when the feature is off. Question #1: When I release the brake with the engine idle on, the vehicle will sometimes completely shut off. When this happens, the steering wheel and brakes lock up, and I am unable to restart the vehicle for at least 60 seconds. Question #2: On one occasion, my wife, our 8-month-old child, and I were stuck at a green light for about 60 seconds while unable to restart the vehicle. Cars were passing by at over 50 mph, and we were relying on other drivers to notice us in time. This situation has happened multiple times and poses a serious safety risk to both us and others on the road. Question #3: I have not taken the vehicle in for service because the issue is difficult to reproduce consistently. That uncertainty is part of the problem, along with the anxiety of not knowing whether the car will suddenly shut off. Question #4: For the same reason, I have not been able to demonstrate the problem on demand. However, the main concern is that I should not have to worry about my vehicle stalling when I go to accelerate. Question #5: The vehicle has completely shut off four separate times over the past year. On one occasion, after releasing the brake, the engine struggled to reach normal RPMs and the check engine light came on. I pulled over, turned the vehicle off, restarted it, and it seemed fine afterward, although it had noticeably less power while the check engine light was on. Lastly, there have been several instances where the engine did not completely shut off when the idle feature was on, but when I released the brake to accelerate, I heard a clicking sound and the vehicle seemed as though it was about to stall. It then resumed operation normally as the idle system re-engaged. Since this happens intermittently, it has been difficult to recreate during a diagnostic inspection.

CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking System) Problem

My Passport has shut down 4 times recently while idling at a stop. There is a auto start/stop feature on the car that shuts down the engine at stops until the brake is released. The problem is that it sometimes does not restart after releasing the brake. The first 3 times it happened at an intersection so it was no big deal. The last time, today, it stalled on a highway as soon as I stopped for heavy traffic. The car was automatically put it neutral and it took me about 40-50 seconds to realize what happened and to restart while the lanes next to me started moving at highway speeds. I looked up the problem online and saw a "Honda Idle-Stop Class Action Suit ([XXX])" and found out that it is happening to others as well. [XXX] I am not looking for money but want this to be looked at. I will be taking my vehicle in for repairs at a Honda dealership later this week. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Owned the 2021 Honda Passport for 4 years and have had multiple issues over that time. 1st. Electrical issues. Randomly while driving the center/head unit will continuously restart on a loop until vehicle is turned off and turned back on. 2nd. The speakers make crackling noises randomly while driving. Even when the audio/speakers are turned off the crackling continues. (Very loud and annoying) 3rd. The Passport sometimes shuts off completely when stopped at red lights and has difficultly turning back on / restarting. This showed an error that there was a battery issue, which the battery had just been replaced a month or two earlier. It said something about being in accessory mode. 4th. The sensor that tracks oncoming traffic goes off sporadically. There are times on single lane roads that the car forces the breaks on because it senses cars on the other side. 5th. There has been issues while accelerating that feel like the car is having trouble shifting. It continues to rev but not go, when letting off the gas it almost feels like its doing an engine break to get back down to a certain rpm or something. Had the whole car bouncing, had to pull over and turn off the car to get it to start working properly. *** All of that said, this car has been and continues to feel unsafe to drive for multiple reasons listed above. I'd be more than happy to go into more detail for them if needed. ***

The vehicle infotainment system froze. Several minutes later after driving, I pressed the brakes but they did not function. The vehicle would not stop and crashed into the vehicle in front of me. Emergency braking did not engage or otherwise show signs of activation. After turning off the car and dealing with the accident, I restarted the vehicle and the brakes and infotainment system operated normally.

On Sunday April 14 while driving on the LIE middle lane a person driving at a high speed went from right side across to left lane in front of me when all of a sudden the brakes activated itself and my car nearly came to a stop nearly causing a car behind me to rear end me. This happened several times before while driving approaching vehicles in front scaring my family and I. Now my CMBS lights are permanently on on the dash. This system is nerve racking and will cause a severe fatal crash. Many people on several platforms are complaining about the same or similar issues. And understand an investigation has begun. Something needs to be done to resolve this issue. I have owned my 2021 Honda passport since November of 2023. With 19k miles.

I purchased my vehicle in August 2023 (used). Phone calls (both through using CarPlay and with the phone unplugged and with genuine cables) sound terrible on the part of the recipient. We replaced the FAKRA cables and harness late last year and just replaced the microphone (and I got charged a diagnosis fee). The issue is continuing. It's gotten so bad that I have to use my AirPods to make any calls for my recipient to hear anything I'm saying (which is illegal in my state and should not be a requirement in a car that is less than 3 years old). I've dug in to forums and this is a common issue for the EX-L trim level in the 2021 model. Additionally, this can impact the backup camera and other lane keeping assist issues. I have factory reset it multiple times and it's still having similar issues.

The forward colision warning comes on for no reason and brakes are getting applied for no reason. Very dangerous and can cause a rear end crash.

My car is equipped to cut off when you come to a stop. It has failed to restart after taking your foot off the brake a couple of times, and it has been slow to restart many times.

The auto engine idle is failing to properly restart the vehicle. After coming to a complete stop the vehicle will not restart on its own. I have to put the vehicle in park, wait a few minutes and then push the start button to restart the vehicle. The vehicle will be available for inspection upon request. My safety and the safety of others has been put at risk numerous times. The vehicle has failed to restart mid-intersection in heavy traffic., on the highway during stop and go traffic, and at stop lights. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance company. No prior warning signs, messages or lamps have appeared before the problem.

I was driving at 60mph and the entire dash went blank for about 30seconds. There was no speedometer, warnings, no display at all. After about 30 seconds the tach showed back up followed by the gear indicator and speedometer with the drivers information center showing up last. This happened on Sunday 5/7/23 this has happened once before but it was brief and I wasn’t sure it had actually happened. This time I saw it go blank and watched the whole process of it coming back on.

The radio stops and pauses. At times the radio and phone are unusable. When it does come back on the volume is very loud and is shocking . Please see NHTSA ID # 10198172

The Radio started to "crackle or skip" while using apple CarPlay. The crackle noise continued after audio had been paused. Our safety was at risk because the noise was very distracting. I needed to take my hand off the wheel to unplug my phone to stop the noise. The equipment has not been inspected. The only sign of failure were small cracks that were much more intermittent, compared to constant crackling that I am experiencing now.

SUV randomly unable to shift out of Park. Push-button electronic shifter rendered useless. Car cannot be manually put into NEUTRAL for towing because Honda does not provide its customers with the tool. They apparently will sell it to you for $200+ dollars if they even have or are willing to give you one. Warning for Transmission System and Blind Spot Systems both appeared. No other codes or indicator prior or at incident.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Passport. The contact stated that while driving the 49 mph they noticed their radio suddenly went off and the vehicle's instrument panel blacked out. The vehicle's horn no longer functions properly. The vehicle's windows failed to open and close and the vehicle turned completely off in the middle of the highway losing all power. The contact stated the failure caused an oncoming vehicle to end up rear-ending them. There were no injuries and no medical attention was needed. The vehicle was towed. A police report was filed. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who was informed by the manufacturer that they were not to proceed forward with any diagnosing or repairs for the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case regarding the matter. The failure mileage was 3,627.

When using the audio system (Apple Airplay, Bluetooth, Sirius Navigation, or FM Radio), the speakers or radio will at some point start to crackle and make noises similar to static noise, like wires sparking. which causes the music to cut out and shut off completely. Our safety is at risk because the noise is very distracting, it is very annoying, it makes me nervous and angry because it becomes unbearable. I have to stop and turn off the car, turn it back on because I can't use music or browser or anything. I took it to the dealer where I bought it and they told me that it was a factory defect due to poorly installed cables. That creak is now constant that the car is barely drivable in those conditions. The equipment has not been inspected. I was never warned about this defect of the car. And I am sure I am overpaying for this car for it to have such a major and obvious issue.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Passport. The contact stated while driving 40-45 MPH, the instrument panel lights, and GPS navigator screen inadvertently turned black. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the dashboard wiring connectors were faulty. The contact stated that the vehicle was not repaired as the parts for repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring upon starting the vehicle and while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000.