Honda Ridgeline: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Honda Ridgeline: 9 model years scored from 1,211 NHTSA owner complaints and 48 recall campaigns. Worst year 2025, best year 2024.
Honda Ridgeline: which years to avoid
Across 8 scored model years the Honda Ridgeline ranges from 48/100 in 2025 to 85/100 in 2024 — a 37-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a Ridgeline at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Exterior Lighting (23 of them).
Avoid: 2025 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2021, 2022, 2024 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
The Honda Ridgeline's only AVOID year is 2025, at 48 on 81 complaints, and its 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2023 trucks are CAUTION at 61, 60, 69 and 64. The years to buy are 2024 (85 on 54 complaints), 2022 (80 on 113) and 2021 (76 on 100). The Ridgeline's complaint counts are moderate, from 337 on the 2017 truck down to 54, but its recall counts are high, 48 campaigns with 12 on the 2019 truck alone. Electrical System leads the 2017 truck at 92, and 16V888000 covers water entering the rear wiring harness through a connector under the bed drain hole; Fuel System leads the 2019 truck at 39, and 19V053000 covers a fuel pump feed port that can crack. Engine is second on the 2017 truck at 81, and 23V751000 covers connecting rod bearings on the 2017 and 2019 trucks. From 2022 Exterior Lighting leads (30, then 39), with no matching campaign. The 2023 truck carries 24V184000 for a steering gearbox ball joint that may detach.
Read the guide
Used mid-size pickups: Colorado, Canyon and Ridgeline years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2024 (score 85). Worst: 2025 (score 48, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 48 | AVOID | $5,019 | 81 | 2 |
| 2024 | 85 | BUY | $4,133 | 54 | 1 |
| 2023 | 64 | CAUTION | $4,558 | 126 | 5 |
| 2022 | 80 | BUY | $4,436 | 113 | 3 |
| 2021 | 76 | BUY | $4,420 | 100 | 7 |
| 2020 | 69 | CAUTION | $4,712 | 168 | 9 |
| 2019 | 60 | CAUTION | $4,949 | 232 | 12 |
| 2018 | — | DATA PENDING | $4,460 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 61 | CAUTION | $5,311 | 337 | 9 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Ridgeline, through the years →
Ridgeline sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Ridgeline on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Honda Ridgeline
Across every Ridgeline model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Electrical System265 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Engine253 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Unknown Or Other143 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Exterior Lighting131 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Headlamp assembly or lighting-module replacement$360–$1,380
- Power Train114 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Fuel/Propulsion System76 complaints across all Ridgeline years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Honda Ridgeline years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2025 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2025 is the weakest at 48/100, with its complaints concentrated in Exterior Lighting.
What are the best Honda Ridgeline years to buy?
2021, 2022, 2024 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2024 at 85/100, on 54 complaints and 1 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Honda Ridgeline problem?
265 of the complaints filed against the Ridgeline across all its model years sit in the Electrical System group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04