Pleasanton, CA – July 29, 2020 – Honda (NYSE: HMC) has recalled 607,784 vans and SUVs with malfunctioning instrument panels and rear view cameras.  This is one of the five recalls Honda issued so far this year. This recall includes:

• 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey minivans
• 2019-2020 Honda Passport SUVs
• 2019-2021 Honda Pilot SUVs

Recall summary  

Due to a glitch in programming, the vehicles’ instrument panels have been known to randomly turn off depriving the driver of vital information – such as the car’s speed and oil level – and disabling the rear view camera display.  The shutdown has sometimes been accompanied by a continuous beeping or crackling noise that has been really distracting to drivers.

Risks

Rearview cameras display a 10-foot to 20-foot zone directly behind the car to avoid backover crashes. If the camera malfunctions when the car is in reverse that can result in an accident. In fact, one of the Honda drivers reported leading up to the recall that the frozen rearview camera display caused him to nearly hit his neighbor when backing out of the driveway!

Separately, not having access to vital safety information such as the car’s speed or oil level is very dangerous. It can, for example, cause the driver to go over the speed limit or bring about the engine’s failure, increasing the risk of a crash.

Finally, having the infotainment system fail – or hearing any kind of unusual noises – while driving can be very distracting.  Distracted driving is dangerous— in 2018, distracted driving killed 2,841 people and injured 400,000 more. 

The repair

Honda will update the car’s software, which should stop the infotainment system from crashing. The update is available for free at dealerships now, and should take a half day or less to be completed.

Is your vehicle part of this recall?

Over 600,000 vehicles are included in this Honda recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.