2025 Honda Ridgeline Engine Problems

Mileage when the problem started

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2025 Honda Ridgeline owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

New 2025 Honda Ridgeline Black Edition with under 4k miles on it. Driving one day (10/30/25), smoke started to bellow out from the sides. Nothing on the dashboard indicated a problem. Everyone jumped out and was safe from injury. The truck went up in flames and literally blew up. We have a video of the incident. The truck was a complete loss, and it was difficult to deal with Honda, so we decided settle with the insurance company. Honda after a while stopped taking my calls and would put me on hold indefinitely if I call in. They were given permission to inspect the vehicle from the insurance agency but to my knowledge have not.

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed however, the dealer found no failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,300.

My Honda ridgeline had 7,590 miles when it started failing all the dash board lights turned on the engine decelerated I then tried to accelerate it rapidly accelerated my steering wheel vibrated I could not turn or slow down witch caused for me to crash

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request?: The auto start stop feature failed, resulting in the vehicle lurching then dieing without any prior indication. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk?: The vehicle's lurch and sudden loss of power occurred at a red light when turning left. If I were the first car in line, it would have left me in the intersection with a 65 mph speed limit, creating the potential for a significant accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center?: No it has not, but was taken to a dealer in the last two weeks for this problem, in which all systems were operating as intended. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others?: Yes it has where the problem could not be identified. …

Engine idle start/stop feature shut off the engine while I was waiting to turn at a busy intersection. When I took my foot off the brake, the engine did not restart and all the lights in the dashboard came on. Multiple attempts to get the engine to re-start failed. Police had to block traffic while we waited for a tow truck. After about 15 minutes the system finally allowed the engine to start again, but the tow truck was already there so the car was towed to a local dealership. Problem was diagnosed as a starter pulling excessive voltage causing hard starts and failure of the auto start/stop system. The starter was replaced under warranty. Vehicle is just over a year old with 10k miles. I was lucky there wasn't an accident or any injuries but with cars swerving by me while I blocked the intersection before the police arrived, it could easily have been much worse. …

This vehicle has auto stop for fuel economy. It can only be turned off each and every time you start the car. I often turn it off but do forget to do so sometimes until it occurs on my trip. The problem is that approximately 7 to 10 times, when the feature is left on and the truck shuts itself off at a stop light, when attempting to go, the truck does not restart, a warning light comes on and instructs you to put it in park. You must put it in park, then shut off the truck, then restart in order to proceed. This is extremely dangerous and very unnerving when it occurs. I travel daily on a 55 mpg road with multiple lights. The problem could easily result in being rear ended as you try to go through the procedure to get going again once the light turns green. At the very least, I get angry beeps trying to get me to move which only heightens the anxiety. I contacted the Honda dealership. …

My Honda Ridgeline has experienced a dangerous malfunction involving the Auto Idle Stop system. When the vehicle comes to a stop, the system automatically shuts off the engine as designed to conserve fuel. Normally, the engine should restart when the brake pedal is released. On multiple occasions, however, the engine has failed to restart when the brake pedal is released. A warning appears on the dashboard, and the vehicle becomes difficult to restart. This has left me unexpectedly unable to move the vehicle while stopped in traffic. This creates a serious safety hazard because the failure can occur at an intersection or in an active traffic lane. When traffic begins moving, the vehicle may remain stalled while surrounding drivers expect it to accelerate normally, creating a risk of a rear-end or other collision. …

I bought the vehicle with around 13k miles in May of 2026. Since I have had the vehicle, I have had 4 incidents with the vehicle auto idle-stop (auto engine start/stop). I have experienced the vehicle completely die when trying to start back up during idle stop. Of the four times - one was on a major 3 lane highway in stop and go traffic. Another time, I was stuck in the middle of an intersection waiting to make a turn. It usually does not restart and battery lights come on the dashboard. After several attempts, or sometimes 30 seconds to 1 minute it does restart. I usually shut off the idle start/stop but sometimes I forget. After researching this issue, it seems to be a common problem. It is a severe issue and needs to be addressed. I use the truck as a second vehicle, but I am scared to let my son or wife use the vehicle. …

The Auto Idle Stop system in the truck has become an issue with the vehicle stalling out (sometimes) when I hold the brake pedal. I have to then put the car into Park to restart the engine. This has been a safety issue when I'm driving in heavy traffic and the truck stalls and I can't move forward with the other vehicles. I have taken my truck to the Honda dealer and they could not reproduce the issue at that time. They inspected the vehicle, confirmed the battery is fine, etc. They did mention the vehicle seemed slow to start. I have experienced this as well. At this time, Honda says there is nothing they can do to help me. My truck is only a year old and still under warranty. But this is a serious safety issue and I've experienced some frightening conditions on the road because of it.

since I purchased this truck brand new from the dealer, the brakes always had air in the lines. No matter how many times I bleed the brakes, there is still air in the line. From my understanding, previous years of this truck had master cylinder issues. I went to the dealer and they refused to fix the issue, because I already attempted to fix the problem. Also, the car doesn't start when shut off during hot weather and you want to start the car again. You have to wait and try again. The car is laboring to start again. This vehicle is also known for slow starts.I hope you take this matter seriously. This is the issue with every brand new ridgline. Take your pick. I paid over 50k for a new truck and have to deal with these issues.

NHTSA investigations

Engine complaints in other Ridgeline years