American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 880,514 Pilots, Passports and Ridgelines, along with the related Acura MDX, sold mostly across the northern half of the country, because a supplier’s protective coating failed to meet its own adhesion specification and let road salt reach bare metal at the rear suspension mounts. Over time, the exposed weld area near the rear control arm bracket can corrode enough to thin the metal toward fracture, a failure that can happen while a vehicle is being driven.
The recall ties together four model lines built on different platforms across the better part of a decade, from the 2014 Acura MDX to the 2023 Honda Passport and Ridgeline, connected only by a shared parts supplier and the same coating defect. Corrosion recalls of this kind tend to surface years after the vehicles were sold, because road salt needs repeated winters of exposure to work through a protective coating before it reaches bare metal underneath, which is why the affected model years stretch back to 2014 even though the recall itself only reached regulators in 2026.
A Coating Spec That Didn’t Hold Up to Road Salt
Honda has told regulators the rear subframes involved were manufactured with improper coating specifications, and that paint failed to adhere properly and peeled away near the arm bracket weld area. In regions where de-icing salt sees heavy winter use, that exposed weld corrodes prematurely, and the resulting material thinning can progress all the way to fracture and failure of the rear suspension mounting points.
“Failure of rear suspension components, such as the rear control arm, can cause a loss of vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s acknowledgment letter for the campaign, filed under number 26V365.
The rear subframe is what keeps the rear control arms and trailing arms anchored in a fixed position, holding the rear wheels at the correct alignment relative to the body. A corroded mounting point does not just feel loose underfoot; it can let a wheel shift out of position entirely, which is a different and more sudden problem than a worn bushing or a soft strut would produce.
Four Nameplates, Nearly a Decade of Model Years
The recall breaks down unevenly across the four nameplates: 463,253 Honda Pilots from 2016 through 2022, 217,517 Acura MDXs from 2014 through 2020, 110,070 Honda Ridgelines from 2017 through 2023, and 89,674 Honda Passports from 2019 through 2023, for the total of 880,514 vehicles.
The Pilot alone accounts for more than half the affected population, a reflection of how many of Honda’s three-row SUVs were built and sold during the years the flawed coating was in use. All four nameplates share a common light-truck platform underneath their separate styling, which is why a single supplier’s coating problem could reach a Honda SUV, a Honda pickup-based crossover, and an Acura crossover at the same time rather than staying confined to one badge.
The Recall Is Geography-Specific, Not Nationwide
Unlike most safety recalls, this one is limited by where the vehicles were originally sold rather than covering every VIN nationwide. Honda’s filing lists Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, the stretch of the country where road crews rely most heavily on de-icing salt.
A vehicle originally sold outside that list is not automatically excluded if it later spent years registered somewhere colder, so Honda has said owners anywhere can check a vehicle identification number rather than assume the geography rule settles the question. NHTSA’s filing notes that VINs tied to the campaign became searchable on the agency’s own recall lookup tool starting June 10, 2026, a few days ahead of the mailed notification letters, giving owners a way to check status before any letter arrives in the mail.
NHTSA’s Recall Management Division Signed Off in June
Honda reported the defect to NHTSA on June 4, 2026, and the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, over the signature of Recall Management Division chief Alex Ansley, acknowledged the campaign five days later under number 26V365. Dealers were notified June 5, 2026, and Honda’s own recall summary states owner notification letters went out beginning July 7, 2026.
The remedy is a dealer inspection of the rear subframe followed by installation of a reinforcement kit, with repair or replacement of subframe components as needed, all performed at no charge. Honda’s own customer service line, 1-888-234-2138, can confirm whether a specific VIN falls inside the recalled population, and NHTSA’s separate vehicle safety hotline, 1-888-327-4236, takes reports from owners whose dealer visit does not resolve the concern.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
More from Morning Overview
- A granite sarcophagus surfaced in Egypt with its original lid still sealed
- The FBI tells phone owners to delete these toll-payment texts draining accounts nationwide
- Herbal supplements are landing Americans in the hospital with liver damage, doctors warn
- Long-term use of common heartburn pills is linked to kidney and dementia risk
