The 2025 Honda Passport arrives with the kind of reputation many midsize SUV shoppers crave: a familiar V6, a straightforward interior, and a long history of solid performance in daily use. Yet when Consumer Reports dug into owner data and projected reliability, the verdict on this latest Passport turned out to be more complicated than the nameplate’s image suggests.
Instead of rubber‑stamping the Passport as a safe bet, the testing and survey results flagged specific trouble spots that potential buyers should weigh against the SUV’s strengths. I looked at what Consumer Reports found, how those scores compare with earlier model years, and what it all means if you are considering a new 2025 Passport or a pre‑owned example built on the same basic hardware.
How Consumer Reports evaluates the 2025 Passport
Consumer Reports bases its reliability predictions on detailed owner surveys that track problems across dozens of vehicle systems, from engines and transmissions to in‑car electronics and body hardware. For the 2025 Honda Passport, the organization combined that historical data with its own testing to generate a forecast for how the SUV is likely to hold up over its first years on the road. The result is not a simple thumbs‑up or thumbs‑down, but a nuanced score that reflects both the Passport’s proven mechanical pieces and its more vulnerable components.
In practice, that means the 2025 Passport’s rating is shaped by how earlier, mechanically similar Hondas have behaved in real‑world use. The Passport shares its basic platform and 3.5‑liter V6 with other Honda models, and Consumer Reports treats those shared parts as a single reliability story. When the outlet notes that the first three years of a given generation tend to be the most telling, it is using that shared history to project how the 2025 SUV will age, rather than treating it as an all‑new experiment.
What the reliability score actually says
On paper, the 2025 Honda Passport lands in the middle of the pack rather than at the top of Consumer Reports’ reliability charts. The SUV does not trigger the kind of red‑flag warning that would steer shoppers away outright, but it also does not earn the glowing marks that some buyers might expect from a Honda badge. The score reflects a mix of strong fundamentals and recurring complaints in specific areas, which is why the Passport can feel both reassuring and slightly disappointing depending on which part of the report you focus on.
According to the detailed breakdown of how reliable the 2025 Honda Passport appears, Consumer Reports highlights that the SUV’s core powertrain hardware looks solid while issues in categories like in‑car tech and minor body hardware drag the overall rating down. That split personality is important for shoppers: it suggests the Passport is unlikely to leave you stranded with catastrophic failures, but it may frustrate you with smaller, nagging problems that show up in owner surveys.
Lessons from earlier Passport and Honda model years
To understand the 2025 Passport’s outlook, I have to look backward. Consumer Reports leans heavily on the first three years of a model’s life cycle, because those early years tend to reveal whether a design is fundamentally sound or hiding deeper flaws. In the case of the current Passport and its close Honda relatives, those initial years showed a pattern of decent mechanical durability paired with more frequent complaints about electronics and trim. That history feeds directly into the 2025 forecast.
One key data point is that the first three years of this generation’s run were strong enough to place the broader Honda family in fourth place in 2022 among comparable brands, a ranking that reflects the combined performance of these related SUVs. Consumer Reports notes that the first three years of the current Honda SUVs were essentially the same under the skin, so their shared reliability record is treated as a single data set. That is why the 2025 Passport inherits both the praise for its sturdy drivetrain and the caution around its more failure‑prone accessories.
Why a familiar V6 is not the whole story
On the surface, the 2025 Honda Passport looks like a safe mechanical bet. It uses a naturally aspirated V6 and a conventional automatic transmission, a combination that many shoppers associate with long‑term durability. Consumer Reports’ data largely supports that intuition for the engine and transmission themselves, which show relatively low rates of serious failures compared with some turbocharged or dual‑clutch rivals in the midsize SUV segment.
The catch is that modern reliability is about much more than the engine block. The Passport’s rating is pulled down by the same kinds of issues that plague many contemporary SUVs: infotainment glitches, sensor problems, and minor but annoying failures in items like door locks and interior trim. When Consumer Reports folds those categories into a single score, the Passport’s robust V6 cannot fully offset the drag from its weaker systems, which is why the overall reliability picture looks more mixed than the powertrain alone would suggest.
How the Passport stacks up against other midsize SUVs
For shoppers cross‑shopping the 2025 Passport with other midsize SUVs, the Consumer Reports findings place it in a competitive but not dominant position. The Passport’s predicted reliability is better than some rivals that rely heavily on complex turbocharged engines or cutting‑edge infotainment suites, yet it trails models that pair simpler tech with a cleaner reliability record. In other words, the Passport is neither the problem child of the class nor the benchmark, but a solid middle‑ground choice.
That context matters if you are comparing the Passport with alternatives like the Toyota 4Runner, Subaru Outback, or Hyundai Santa Fe. The Honda’s blend of a strong V6 and a somewhat fussy electronics package means you are trading a lower risk of major mechanical failure for a higher likelihood of smaller annoyances. Consumer Reports’ scoring framework makes that trade‑off visible, so buyers can decide whether they value bulletproof mechanicals, glitch‑free tech, or a compromise between the two.
New 2025 Passport versus pre‑owned Honda SUVs
One of the more interesting angles in the Consumer Reports analysis is what it implies for shoppers considering a pre‑owned SUV instead of a brand‑new 2025 Passport. Earlier model years that share the same basic platform and powertrain have already logged several years of real‑world use, and their reliability records are baked into the forecast for the latest version. If those older Hondas have held up well mechanically but struggled with minor issues, a carefully inspected used example might deliver similar durability at a lower price.
At the same time, the report suggests that buying used is not automatically safer. If you pick a pre‑owned SUV from the same family that has already accumulated the kind of infotainment and trim problems Consumer Reports tracks, you may inherit those headaches without the benefit of a fresh warranty. The analysis of how reliable a 2025 Honda Passport looks compared with earlier Hondas underscores that the underlying hardware is essentially the same, so the choice between new and used comes down to your tolerance for existing wear versus the cost of buying off the showroom floor.
What owners report going wrong
Consumer Reports’ owner surveys do not just tally whether a vehicle breaks, they categorize the types of problems drivers actually face. For the Passport and its close Honda relatives, the pattern that emerges is one of relatively few catastrophic failures but a noticeable number of complaints about electronics, sensors, and smaller hardware. These can range from infotainment systems that freeze or reboot to warning lights triggered by finicky driver‑assistance components.
Those issues matter because they shape day‑to‑day satisfaction even when the SUV still starts every morning. A Passport that never suffers a blown engine but repeatedly frustrates its owner with malfunctioning touchscreens or intermittent safety alerts will still drag down reliability scores. Consumer Reports folds that lived experience into its ratings, which is why the 2025 Passport’s overall score reflects more than just whether the V6 and transmission survive past 100,000 miles.
How I would shop a 2025 Passport based on the data
Looking at the Consumer Reports findings, I see the 2025 Honda Passport as a calculated choice rather than an automatic default. If I valued a proven V6, straightforward driving manners, and a cabin that can handle family duty, I would be comfortable shortlisting the Passport, but I would walk into the dealership with clear expectations about its quirks. I would assume the core mechanicals are likely to be dependable and budget my patience for the possibility of software updates, sensor recalibrations, or minor hardware fixes over the first few years.
I would also use the reliability data to negotiate and plan. That might mean pushing for an extended warranty that covers electronics, insisting on a thorough pre‑delivery inspection of all infotainment and driver‑assistance features, and keeping meticulous records of any early glitches so they can be addressed under warranty. For buyers who prioritize a quiet ownership experience over all else, the Consumer Reports score might nudge them toward a rival SUV with a cleaner reliability record. For those who like the Passport’s strengths and can live with its weaknesses, the data provides a realistic roadmap of what to expect rather than a reason to walk away.
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