Honda Recalls Over 200,000 Pilot and Passport Vehicles for Fuel Filler Pipe Separation

The vehicles in question comprise 2023 to 2024 Honda Passport and 2023 to 2025 Honda Pilot crossovers. Production dates range between February 14, 2023 through May 8, 2024 for the more popular model, whereas the Passport is listed with build dates of between February 15, 2023 through May 13, 2024.

Honda's American division received the first warranty claim of the described issue on May 13, 2024. None other than a dealer informed the automaker of the problem. A week later, Honda found no fewer than six vehicles in the automaker's inventory that had an incomplete connection between the neck tube and pipe.

Better late than never, the safety boffins and engineers determined the root cause behind this problem to be an out-of-sequence fuel pipe assembly process. Given the aforementioned, American Honda Motor has improved the assembly process and quality inspection on the day of October 18, 2024.

Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that Honda didn't receive any reports of localized fires or worse related to the recall condition. Dealers have already been told to inspect and – if necessary – connect the neck tube to the pipe as intended. The remedy does not include any replacement components, and customers will not be charged a cent for said remedy.

Speaking of customers, owner notifications will be mailed on or about January 6, 2025. Regarding the recalled vehicles, the three-row Pilot and two-row Passport are very similar in many respects. Be that as it may, there is a huge difference between them sales-wise.

From January 2024 through November 2024, the Passport moved a very disappointing 29,172 units in the United States of America, down a staggering 26.9 percent from the first eleven months of 2023. By comparison, the family-sized Pilot clocked 127,694 deliveries or 28 percent better than the sales figures for January 2023 through November 2023.

There are plenty of reasons for this difference, beginning with Honda redesigning the Pilot for 2023 while leaving the Passport's redesign for model year 2026. Because it's all-wheel drive and better equipped by default, the Passport also happens to be two grand pricier than the Pilot. Fuel economy, meanwhile, favors the Pilot's more advanced engine.

Honda lists 19 miles per gallon city and 27 highway versus 19 and 24 for the five-seat model. In addition to the VTC-equipped engine of the Pilot, the three-row crossover also features a 10-speed auto rather than a niner for the third-gen Passport. With a bit of luck, the fourth gen will sell better than its predecessor.