Short answer: the Honda Passport runs on one of the shortest factory warranty clocks in the midsize SUV class — 3 years or 36,000 miles for most of the vehicle and 5 years or 60,000 miles for the powertrain — on a two-row SUV built to work for 150,000 miles and more. Every modern Passport — the generation Honda revived for 2019 and built through 2025, and the all-new 2026 model — carries Honda’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty of 3 years or 36,000 miles and a Powertrain Limited Warranty of 5 years or 60,000 miles, counted from the original in-service date. That means every 2019, 2020 and 2021 Passport is already past both factory terms on time alone, every 2022 Passport joins them during 2027, and any Passport that crossed 60,000 miles lost its powertrain cover sooner. An extended warranty for a Honda Passport — correctly called a vehicle service contract — picks up covered mechanical and electrical repairs after the factory warranty ends. At Empire Auto Protect, plans start at $69/month, coverage is honored in all 50 states, and you can cancel at any time. This guide covers what Passport owners actually face: the real factory warranty timeline, the 3.5-litre V6 and ZF 9-speed story, the idle-stop remedy that is Honda’s to provide first where it applies, and how to judge the cost honestly.

Want your exact number first? Get a free quote online — priced from your Passport’s year, mileage, and trim, with no payment required to see it. Or call 1-888-345-0084 — Empire is open 24/7, with humans answering around the clock and a human-supervised AI agent after hours. Empire is built as a technology platform, so covered claims move through a digital process designed for same-day approval — service approved in minutes, not days of phone tag — with integrity and respect in every interaction.

What “extended warranty” means on a Honda Passport

Only Honda can extend Honda’s factory warranty. What third-party providers sell — including Empire — is a vehicle service contract (VSC): a contract that helps pay for covered mechanical and electrical repairs after the factory warranty expires. Extended warranty” is the everyday name shoppers use for the same product, which is why this guide uses both terms.

• A vehicle service contract is not insurance. Empire’s plans are service contracts, not insurance policies.
• Coverage is honored in all 50 states at licensed repair facilities, following the contract’s claim process, including authorization before a covered repair.
• Your contract’s covered-parts list is the truth. Compare lists, not labels — that rule protects you with every provider, including us. On a Passport, read the transmission section first (the ZF 9-speed is this vehicle’s defining repair risk), then the engine section, then the all-wheel-drive and electronics sections: this SUV’s most expensive repairs sit in exactly those places.

If you own any Honda, start with our general Honda extended warranty guide. This page goes deeper on the Passport alone. Its three-row sibling is covered in our Honda Pilot extended warranty guide, and the family minivan in our Honda Odyssey extended warranty guide — same V6 family, different vehicles and different repair bills. Not sure when any brand’s factory cover ends? Our factory warranty expiration guide by brand lays the timelines side by side.

Honda Passport factory warranty: when Honda’s coverage actually ends

The Passport’s factory warranty is the standard Honda clock — the same terms on a Passport as on a Civic, applied to a 4,500-pound SUV that tows, hauls and commutes for a living:

• New Vehicle Limited Warranty: 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first, counted from the original in-service date. This is where the infotainment system, driver-assistance electronics, air conditioning, power seats and tailgate, and most accessories live.
• Powertrain Limited Warranty: 5 years or 60,000 miles behind the engine, transmission and drive system.
• Rust perforation: 5 years with unlimited miles, and roadside assistance: 3 years or 36,000 miles — useful terms, but neither one pays for a mechanical failure.

Now do the calendar math. Honda revived the Passport name for 2019 as a shorter, more rugged two-row counterpart to the Pilot, built in Lincoln, Alabama — 36,285 sold in the US in 2019, 39,567 in 2020, and a peak of 53,133 in 2021, with well over 200,000 of the 2019–2025 generation on American roads in total. Every one of those early cars is out of factory cover on time: a 2019 Passport passed its powertrain term in 2024, a 2020 in 2025, and a 2021 in 2026, whatever their mileage — and higher-mileage cars crossed 60,000 miles sooner. A 2023 or 2024 Passport has already lost its 3-year cover, so its screens, air conditioning and electronics are the owner’s bill today, with only the powertrain term standing until 2028–2029 or 60,000 miles. The all-new 2026 Passport is still inside both terms — which, as the last section explains, is exactly when coverage is cheapest to price. For the large majority of modern Passports, Honda’s factory cover is already over or in its final stretch. Everything after that is the owner’s bill unless a contract stands behind it.

One engine, two transmissions: the Passport powertrain story

The 2019–2025 Passport: 3.5-litre V6 and the ZF 9-speed

Every 2019–2025 Passport runs the same powertrain: Honda’s 3.5-litre V6 (280 horsepower, 262 lb-ft of torque) driving through a ZF 9-speed automatic. Front-wheel drive was standard at launch with Honda’s torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system optional; all-wheel drive became standard across the range in 2023. Properly equipped, the Passport tows up to 5,000 pounds — this is a working SUV, and its powertrain is worked accordingly. Two honest notes belong here. First, the V6 uses a timing belt: replacing it when Honda’s Maintenance Minder calls for it is scheduled maintenance, the owner’s cost under any legitimate contract — but skipping it is the expensive mistake, because a failed belt can destroy the engine it was meant to protect. Second, the 9-speed has a documented owner-report pattern of hesitant, rough or delayed shifting on some cars. A Passport already hesitating, lurching or slipping at enrollment is showing a pre-existing condition — diagnosis comes first. A smooth-shifting 9-speed with documented service history is exactly what coverage is for.

The 2026 Passport: same V6 idea, new 10-speed

The all-new 2026 Passport keeps a 3.5-litre V6 (now 285 horsepower) but pairs it with a new 10-speed automatic, with all-wheel drive standard on every trim. These cars are inside their factory terms today. If you own one, the decision is not urgent — but it is cheapest now: coverage prices from your current low mileage, and the broadest plan options exist before miles and symptoms arrive. Confirm in writing, with any provider, how the new 10-speed is treated on your plan before you sign.

The parts that are not powertrain

The Passport’s Honda Sensing driver-assistance hardware, infotainment screen, climate system and power accessories all live in the shortest term — the 3-year, 36,000-mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty that has already ended on every 2024-and-earlier Passport. On a modern SUV, that electronics layer is where a growing share of four-figure repair bills comes from, and it is the layer owners most often assume is still covered when it is not.

Two Passport ownership facts that drive the coverage decision

1. The idle-stop story: Honda’s remedy comes first — and there is no idle-stop recall

The Passport’s Auto Idle Stop system cuts the engine at a stop to save fuel and is supposed to restart it the instant you lift off the brake. On some 3.5-litre, 9-speed Honda and Acura vehicles — the Passport’s exact powertrain family — owners have reported the engine failing to restart. Be precise about what Honda has and has not done, because it decides who pays: there is no idle-stop recall. What exists is a Honda service-bulletin remedy published in January 2023 — a software update first, and, if the failure returns, starter, relay or valve-adjustment work — alongside a class settlement for the affected vehicle family and a federal engineering analysis that remains open. The rule that protects you: if your Passport has the restart failure, pursue Honda’s bulletin and settlement route first — where Honda’s remedy applies to your vehicle, that work is Honda’s to provide on its terms, before any contract conversation. The honest other half: a Passport that already fails to restart at enrollment is showing a pre-existing condition, so diagnosis comes first; and once the factory terms above have ended, the starter, battery-sensing and electrical components around this system are otherwise the owner’s bill — or a covered contract’s, on a car that is restarting cleanly.

2. Recalls are Honda’s bill first — and they do not cover the rest of the car’s life

Passports, like every modern Honda, accumulate recall campaigns over a generation — including fuel-pump recalls, expanded in December 2023 (NHTSA campaign 23V-858) to cover certain Passports, and rearview-camera campaigns on early cars. The rule is simple and it protects you: run your VIN at Honda or NHTSA first. Where a recall covers your car, the remedy is Honda’s, free, at any mileage — take it before any contract conversation. But a recall pays only for the named defect, on the named VINs, with the named remedy. No recall pays for a worn 9-speed at 120,000 miles, a failed A/C compressor at 90,000 miles, an alternator, a water pump, or a dead infotainment screen on a 2020 car. Honda stands behind the items it has formally covered, for covered VINs, on their stated terms. Everything else after the factory clocks above is yours — or your contract’s.

Most common Honda Passport repairs owners pay for out of warranty

The ranges below are typical independent-shop and dealer market ranges for repairs of this type, given as context for judging coverage — they are not Empire quotes, and your exact repair will depend on your Passport’s year, region, and whether the part is new, remanufactured, or used. Read them against the timeline above: on a 2021-or-earlier Passport, nearly every item on this list is already outside the factory terms.

• 9-speed automatic transmission replacement: commonly $5,000–$8,000 fitted for a remanufactured unit. A gearbox already hesitating or slipping is diagnosis first.
• 9-speed repair (valve body, solenoids, internal work): commonly $1,800–$4,000 depending on the confirmed fault.
• Engine work — valvetrain, VCM-related and internal repairs: commonly $1,500–$5,000 depending on the confirmed fault. A misfiring or oil-consuming engine is diagnosis first. Full engine replacement runs well beyond that.
• Starter and idle-stop system components (outside any Honda bulletin or settlement remedy): commonly $600–$1,500 depending on the component confirmed. Pursue Honda’s route first where it applies to your vehicle.
• All-wheel-drive components (rear differential, transfer components): commonly $1,200–$3,500 depending on the component confirmed.
• Infotainment display, camera and driver-assistance electronics: commonly $900–$2,500 fitted. All of it lives in the 36,000-mile term most Passports have already passed.
• Air-conditioning compressor and condenser work: commonly $1,200–$2,600 fitted.
• Water pump and cooling-system components: commonly $700–$1,600 depending on the component confirmed — an overheating Passport should never be driven on; heat turns a small repair into an engine.
• Alternator, and charging-system components: commonly $700–$1,500 fitted.
• Brakes, tires, 12-volt batteries, fluids, filters, and the timing-belt service: these are maintenance and wear items, the owner’s cost under any legitimate contract, including Empire’s. Any provider who implies otherwise is telling you something untrue about every contract in this industry.

Stack any two of the covered-type repairs in the same year — a transmission repair plus an A/C system, or engine work plus electronics — and a single year’s out-of-warranty bills on a Passport can exceed the total cost of a multi-year plan. That arithmetic, not fear, is the case for coverage on this vehicle.

What an Empire plan covers on a Honda Passport

Empire Auto Protect plans are vehicle service contracts, structured in coverage levels from powertrain-focused protection to broad, exclusionary-style coverage. On a Passport, the conversation to have — with us or with any provider — is about the covered-parts list for your exact vehicle:

• Transmission: the ZF 9-speed on 2019–2025 cars (and the 10-speed on 2026 cars) — confirm your vehicle’s exact unit is the one named on your contract, and run the recall and bulletin checks first so anything Honda owes you is claimed from Honda.
• Engine: internally lubricated parts and the components your plan level lists, on a documented, healthy 3.5-litre V6 — with the timing belt honestly understood as maintenance you keep current, with receipts.
• Drive system: the all-wheel-drive components your level lists — standard equipment on 2023-and-later cars and fitted to most earlier ones.
• Electrical and electronics: from the infotainment display and camera systems to power seats, windows and tailgate — the 36,000-mile layer that is already the owner’s bill on most Passports.
• Air conditioning and cooling: the compressor, condenser, and cooling-system components — check them level by level.
• Steering and suspension: power steering and suspension components your level lists.

Empire’s terms are built to be simple to use: plans start at $69/month, you can cancel at any time, coverage is honored in all 50 states at licensed repair facilities, and the claims process is digital — designed for same-day approval, with service approved in minutes once a covered claim is authorized, rather than days of phone tag with an old-school mail-order operation. Empire is open 24/7 at 1-888-345-0084, with humans answering around the clock and a human-supervised AI agent also answering after hours and weekends. Empire is rated 4.4 stars on Google — check the live rating yourself before you buy, as you should with any provider.

Honda Passport extended warranty cost: how to judge it honestly

At Empire, Passport plans start at $69/month. Your exact price depends on your vehicle’s year, mileage, coverage level, deductible, and term — a 130,000-mile 2019 Passport and a 30,000-mile 2023 Passport will not price the same, and anyone who quotes you a single exact figure without your year and mileage is guessing.

Judge any quote — ours included — by total contract cost: the monthly price multiplied by the number of months, plus the deductible you would pay per covered claim. The arithmetic at the starting price is simple: $69 a month is $828 over 12 months, $1,656 over 24 months, and $2,484 over 36 months. Set that total beside the repair ranges above. One 9-speed replacement can exceed a full multi-year plan’s total cost several times over — before a single electronics or A/C repair is counted. The honest question is not “is $69 a month cheap?” but “is the total cost of the plan less than the one or two covered repairs I am most likely to face as this SUV ages past 60,000 miles?” On a Passport — a heavy, hard-working SUV on Honda’s shortest clocks — that comparison is favourable for many owners, and you should run it with your own mileage before deciding either way.

Run the same value check in the other direction, too: do not pay to duplicate what Honda already owes you. If your Passport still has powertrain term left, price coverage to begin from where you are and weigh the remaining factory months in the decision. If a recall or the idle-stop bulletin route covers your VIN, that work is Honda’s on its terms — take it, and cover the rest of the vehicle. Our full vehicle service contract cost guide explains how total cost, deductibles, and waiting periods work across providers, and our extended car warranty cost guide shows how pricing varies by vehicle and mileage — use both to check any quote, including ours, before you sign.

When should a Honda Passport owner buy coverage?

1. 2019–2021 owners, at any mileage: now. Your factory coverage has expired on time — every one of those vehicles is past both terms. Coverage is priced and broadest while the vehicle is working cleanly, and every additional year runs unprotected without it.
2. Used buyers of any year: decide at purchase, after the VIN and in-service-date checks. Confirm the original in-service date and any remaining factory term in writing, run the recall check, ask specifically about the idle-stop bulletin history and the timing-belt service record, test the 9-speed’s shifts, the A/C, the camera and every electronic on the test drive, then enroll while the vehicle is demonstrably healthy.
3. 2022–2025 owners: decide early. Your bumper-to-bumper cover is already gone, and your powertrain clock ends during 2027–2030 or at 60,000 miles. Lower mileage at enrollment means a lower monthly price and the broadest plan options.
4. 2026 owners: price it while the car is new. You hold the cheapest enrollment moment this model will ever offer — confirm the new 10-speed’s treatment in writing and decide from your real number, not a guess.

However long you plan to keep your Passport, the rule is the same: coverage is cheapest and broadest before mileage and symptoms pile up — and on this SUV, the factory clock has already run out for the entire first wave of the modern fleet.

Your next step: get your free Empire quote — enter your Passport’s year, mileage, and trim, see your real monthly price and coverage options in writing, then run the total-cost math on this page before you decide. Or call 1-888-345-0084 any time — coverage is honored in all 50 states. Simple, in writing, on your schedule.

Considering Honda’s smaller crossover instead? Our Honda HR-V extended warranty guide covers the HR-V’s 3-year/36,000-mile and 5-year/60,000-mile factory clocks, its CVT story and Honda’s expiring 7-year CVT extension, the recalls Honda fixes first, and what coverage costs from $69/mo.

Truck owners in the same Honda family should also see our Honda Ridgeline extended warranty guide, which covers the Ridgeline’s short 3-year/36,000-mile basic and 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain terms, its V6 and transmissions, and what coverage costs from $69/month.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Honda Passport extended warranty cost?

At Empire Auto Protect, plans start at $69/month. Your exact price depends on your Passport’s year, mileage, coverage level, deductible, and term. Always convert the monthly price to a total contract cost — monthly price multiplied by the number of months, plus your deductible per covered claim — before comparing providers.

How long is the Honda Passport factory warranty?

Every modern Passport carries a New Vehicle Limited Warranty of 3 years or 36,000 miles and a Powertrain Limited Warranty of 5 years or 60,000 miles, both counted from the original in-service date, plus rust-perforation cover of 5 years with unlimited miles. Every 2019, 2020 and 2021 Passport has passed both main terms on time.

Is my 2020 or 2021 Passport already out of warranty?

Yes, on time alone — a 2020 Passport passed its powertrain term in 2025, and a 2021 passed its in 2026, whatever their mileage. A 2022 Passport’s powertrain term ends during 2027 or at 60,000 miles. Confirm your in-service date with Honda in writing.

Is the 9-speed automatic transmission covered?

The 9-speed is a covered-type component on a powertrain-level plan, subject to your contract’s covered-parts list. A transmission already hesitating, lurching or slipping at enrollment is a pre-existing condition, so diagnosis comes first; a smooth-shifting gearbox with documented service history is exactly what coverage is for.

Is the idle-stop restart failure covered?

There is no idle-stop recall. Honda’s January 2023 service-bulletin remedy — a software update first, then starter, relay or valve-adjustment work where the failure returns — and the class settlement for this vehicle family are Honda’s route first where they apply to your vehicle. A Passport already failing to restart at enrollment is showing a pre-existing condition, so diagnosis comes first.

Is the timing belt covered?

No — replacing the V6’s timing belt when Honda’s Maintenance Minder calls for it is scheduled maintenance, the owner’s cost under any legitimate contract, including Empire’s. It still matters enormously: keeping it current, with receipts, protects the engine and any future engine claim.

What changed on the 2026 Passport?

The all-new 2026 Passport keeps a 3.5-litre V6, now at 285 horsepower, pairs it with a new 10-speed automatic instead of the 9-speed, and makes all-wheel drive standard on every trim. Those cars are still inside their factory terms — the cheapest moment to price coverage.

Is Empire Auto Protect insurance?

No. Empire sells vehicle service contracts, which are not insurance and are not an extension of Honda’s factory warranty. Empire is open 24/7 at 1-888-345-0084 and is rated 4.4 stars on Google — verify the live rating before you buy, as you should with any provider.