Honda Ridgeline vs Nissan Frontier: which is more reliable?
The Nissan Frontier is clearly ahead of the Honda Ridgeline on the federal record: 85/100 against 68/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Honda Ridgeline
- 8 model years scored
- 1,211 owner complaints on record
- about 37 complaints per year on the road
- 48 recall campaigns, 22 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (85/100) · worst 2025 (48/100)
Nissan Frontier
- 15 model years scored
- 509 owner complaints on record
- about 4 complaints per year on the road
- 29 recall campaigns, 10 safety-critical
- best year 2015 (93/100) · worst 2022 (41/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Ridgeline against Frontier
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Honda Ridgeline
- Electrical System — 265 complaints
- Engine — 253 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 143 complaints
Nissan Frontier
- Air Bags — 97 complaints
- Power Train — 86 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 75 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Ridgeline's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Frontier's in Air Bags. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Honda Ridgeline — avoid: 2025.
Nissan Frontier — avoid: 2022.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Honda Ridgeline prices at about $51,700 and a Nissan Frontier at about $51,700 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 21.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Honda Ridgeline or the Nissan Frontier more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Nissan Frontier scores 85/100 against the Honda Ridgeline's 68/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Nissan Frontier carries about 4 complaints per year on the road against 37 for the Honda Ridgeline.
Which Honda Ridgeline and Nissan Frontier years should I avoid?
Honda Ridgeline: 2025. Nissan Frontier: 2022. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Honda Ridgeline and the Nissan Frontier?
The largest complaint group on the Honda Ridgeline is Electrical System (265 complaints); on the Nissan Frontier it is Air Bags (97).
Is the Honda Ridgeline or the Nissan Frontier cheaper to own?
A recent used Honda Ridgeline prices at about $51,700 and a Nissan Frontier at about $51,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.