There are 4 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2020 Honda Passportin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
2020 Honda Passport VIN [XXX] engine start stop system fails at stop in a crossroad light. Vehicle becomes inoperable, on screen instructions not executable. After several attempts of turning vehicle off / on it finally starts. Stranded vehicle at light causes traffic to start swerving to avoid stalled vehicle - unsafe condition. No warning lights nor messages were observed in driver information system previous to failure occurrence. Malfunction has happened at least 3 times in last 6 months INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The auto idle stop failed to restart at a traffic light. This happened at a busy intersection in heavy traffic. The date given below is the most recent incident; it has happened twice now. Usually I try to remember to disable the idle stop feature, but this time I forgot, and it failed. The first time it happened was November 2024.
The engine lost power and shut down while driving on the highway. The vehicle has been at a Honda dealership since this date (so about 8 weeks now). It can be inspected but I am on the verge of replacing the engine at my cost. The loss of power resulted in putting the vehicle on the side of and icy highway at night and at risk of being hit or sideswiped. There was very little cell service which meant that a tow truck couldn't be called right away. There were no warning signs that the engine was experiencing trouble before this engine failure. The problem has not been reproduced by the dealership. They have inspected the vehicle and have only pointed to low oil/leaking oil as the issue. I myself have no evidence of leaking oil or low oil. There again, were no warnings/symptoms prior to the failure. The problem occurred at the moment that the engine supposedly failed completely. The dealership and American Honda have not entertained any failure other than the low oil and my oil change which occured 5300 miles and over three months prior. I cannot understand as a consumer with a PowerTrain warranty and a car with some known recalls (fuel pump/ connecting rod) refuse to be concerned for the safety of their customers and use my vehicle to determine what the real issue was or is.
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Passport. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission erroneously shifted to neural and suddenly the vehicle would not accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. During the failure, the shift indicator displayed that the transmission was in drive(D). The failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate or determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 40,000. The VIN was invalid.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026