Here’s a sentence you never want to read about your own car: the rear suspension could, in the worst case, separate from the body while you’re driving. That’s the nightmare scenario behind Honda’s latest recall, and it’s why roughly 880,514 vehicles are getting called back in.
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Rust Is the Real Culprit
The villain here is rust, specifically, corrosion attacking the rear subframe, the structural piece the suspension actually bolts onto. Road salt slowly chews away at the metal around those mounting points, and if it eats far enough, the rear suspension can let go from the body. At speed, that’s exactly as sudden and ugly as it sounds.
Since salt is the culprit, Honda is zeroing in on the so-called salt belt, where crews dump treatment on icy roads all winter long. The affected list covers 22 states plus the District of Columbia: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Honda says nothing comparable has cropped up on cars sold anywhere else in the country.
Which Models Are Affected
As for what’s affected, four models fall inside the recall window: the 2016-2022 Honda Pilot, the 2017-2023 Honda Ridgeline, the 2019-2023 Honda Passport, and the 2014-2020 Acura MDX.
How Worried Should You Actually Be
Now for the reassuring part. Honda thinks the defect is pretty rare, pegging it at only about 1 percent of the recalled fleet actually being affected. So far the company says it has zero warranty claims tied to the problem and no reports of crashes, injuries, or deaths.
You also don’t need to do anything right this second. Honda and Acura will reach out to affected owners by mail and ask them to bring the vehicle in for a dealer inspection. If a tech finds corrosion, the dealer will reinforce, repair, or replace whatever’s needed at no charge.
If you’d rather not wait on the mail, you can check whether your vehicle is included through federal safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is tracking this one under recall number 26V365.