Home » Honda Prologue Owners Are Discovering What It’s Like To Own A GM-Built Product

Honda Prologue Owners Are Discovering What It’s Like To Own A GM-Built Product

Prologue Complaints Ts
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If you’re a major automaker who needs to introduce something new overnight, you have two options: Either throw all resources at it and throw caution to the wind, or pull a steamed hams and disguise someone else’s cooking as your own. The Honda Prologue may look like a Honda and say Honda on the back, but it’s built by General Motors from GM powertrain components in GM’s Ramos Arizpe assembly plant. This isn’t a first-generation EV — the Chevrolet Bolt was on GM’s previous dedicated EV platform — but judging by what owners are experiencing, it doesn’t seem that all the technology underneath the Honda Prologue is mature. It’s actually causing problems that are giving Prologue owners serious headaches.

First, let’s set the scene: It’s 2025 and car forums are still miraculously kicking. While broader interest forums have largely been supplanted by Facebook groups, model-specific forums are still chugging along, and the general discussion section of most new car forums is filled with a wide variety of topics. Talk about features, specs, accessories, economy, and all the facets of owning a particular vehicle. The Prologue Drivers forum is a little bit different. Click on the general discussion tab, and you’ll find that it’s heavily composed of Prologue owners complaining about their GM-built EVs.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

While minor complaints from memory seat issues to wireless Apple CarPlay dropouts pepper the board, sadly, a few tech glitches are par for the course on new cars. What isn’t par for the course? Actual mechanical issues, that’s what. Unfortunately, it seems that a bunch of Prologue owners have been experiencing real problems with their vehicles, things that really shouldn’t be failing on brand-new cars.

2024 Honda Prologue Fast Charging

Take this thread titled “I’ve got the axle issue,” for example. One Honda Prologue owner noticed their EV was making a clicking noise while turning with just 700 miles on the dashboard, booked their Prologue in for servicing, and asked the forums for advice, seeing as others had been there before. Naturally, it didn’t take long for more owners to chime in about experiencing this issue. Blastoid wrote “It was diagnosed on my car as axles. I think the one or two that had the CV joints replaced, had the sound come back,” while other owners went into further detail. In the words of Fastermac:

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I have the bad axles as well. 3150 miles. First heard the clunks after 1500 miles. It has gotten more frequent. Noise occurs at both left and right turns but not every time. Dealer is in the process of getting replacement approval. I’ll keep driving the car since this will probably take at least a month. Hopefully Honda/GM can figure out why this is happening. I see no point in replacing them with parts that are still defective.

Honda Prologue Axle Problems

It’s not great to see multiple reports of CV axle issue on low-mileage cars, but it also makes me feel like I’m not crazy and imagining the clicking sound I heard in the last Prologue I drove, notably while turning and accelerating from slow speeds. However, it’s not the most serious mechanical issue that lots of Prologue owners are talking about.

Another thing you’ll see on the board is wide reporting of high voltage system error messages. One thread, titled ““Service High Voltage System” and “Reduced Acceleration Drive with Care” errors on dashboard,” details one Prologue owner’s encounter with dashboard lights and subsequent replacement of air conditioning system valves, with other owners chiming in reporting similar issues. As aslam wrote:

I have Honda Prologue Touring 2024 for about 2 weeks now. I was quite happy with the vehicle but all of sudden these 2 warning messages started popping on my dashboard screen, “Service High Voltage System” and “Reduced Acceleration Drive with Care” errors on dashboard. Vehicle is not getting charged after that and throwing this error “Unable to Charge, Service charging station”. Only thing that I remember did extra on that particular day that I turned on the heater on “Hi”.

Prologue Hv Issue 1

However, air conditioning valves is one of the better outcomes of high voltage system errors. Prologue owners have also reported battery pack failure at low mileage, with a thread titled “Battery replacement already!” started by Jesse1320 striking a chord with the community. Here’s what the initial post said:

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Jesse1230

 

So I purchased a Prologue Elite and within my first week of ownership SO many issues were found with the vehicle. The main one being 500 miles into the car the high voltage battery needing replacement!! The battery is on back order and now I am out of my brand new car for no one knows how many months. Anyone else have had similar issues?? Should I wait for the battery replacement?? Or should I try to switch to a new Prologue if allowed through the dealership and hope for no problems??
Help!!

Jesse1320 definitely isn’t the only Prologue owner to require battery pack replacement at low mileage. Forum user ST0818 chimed in on the thread with their own experience, writing:

I’m having the same issue except at 994 miles. My car has been in the shop for the past 7+ weeks. They have no timeline on how long the battery will take and I have no patience left. I filed a case with American Honda but it’s been pointless.

In addition, forum member james reported experiencing similar issues with their Prologue, adding to the thread:

As an FYI on this thread – I had to take my car in for this error on 8/23. They tested and informed me they would have to order a new battery as something had shorted, that the batteries were backordered, and it would likely take a month or so to fix. I just got the call today that the battery came earlier this week and its installed and ready for pickup tomorrow. Hopefully others w/ this issue have been able to get this cleared up quickly as well.

Oh, and the list goes on. Forum user Heidifleck kept things short, writing “I am in the exact same boat. 2024 Elite, 510 miles needs new battery. Any update on your car?” Joeyfadem added “Now my car needs a new battery as well.”, while DarthRater went into more detail:

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Hey lucky me, I got to join this club today! 500 miles in, the app starts harassing me about “charge aborted” and by morning stops reporting data completely, and the red car was on. Take it to dealer, the warning had gone off but the app still unresponsive. And the damned battery is on backorder.

In another thread titled “High Voltage Battery failure and service engine soon,” forum member A’Mazin detailed their own experience with high voltage system failure, eventually diagnosed as bad modules in the high-voltage battery pack. As the forum member wrote:

Prologue Battery Failure 3

Literally took posseion of my new 2024 Honda Prologue a week ago today. 5 days in and I went to charge at a public charging station (waiting on Honda to send me our home charger) and all was going well. At 72% it stopped charging with an error message stating that it cannot find a charger and the connection cannot be detected. I unplugged and then tried to plug back in, however the charging station could not establish a connection. I figured 72% was good enough and cut my loss. When I stared the car immediately error messages appeared . High voltage battery failure and service engine soon. Of course I freaked out thinking I did something wrong ( new to EV and first time charging myself). Of course read the owners manual and then did my own research and found this forum and YouTube channels. Looks like I am falling in the same boat as many of you. Car is at the dealership and they tried to charge it and it will not charge. Needless to say, I’m on a loaner and my dealership is lost. We have been a Honda family for ever. We currently own two CR-V’s, one civic, and now a prologue. I just traded my odyssey for the prologue and I’m really questioning my decision. I know that the prologue is made with a collaboration with GM but I’m not loving the EV life so far. My question is after you have experienced this situation has the car been working fine afterwards? I don’t want to give up on it but I don’t need to be stuck on the side of the road with my kids. I buy Honda because of the reliability

If that sounds like a lot of frustration, then boy, do I have a forum thread for you. It’s titled “For everyone who is frustrated with the car and wish they never bought it,” and it seems to be one of the more popular threads this week on the Prologue Drivers forum. It starts off with forum member “Blastoid” recommending selling troublesome cars for peace of mind, and while a few owners have chimed in reporting trouble-free experiences, others have reported glitches and hardware issues that prevent them from really loving their EVs.

Blastoid Prologue

 

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At the same time, threads like this won’t help people who are underwater on their cars and can’t afford to take a bath, or who are locked into a lease term and can’t justify the termination fee. While these problems certainly don’t apply to all GM products, they do seem to apply to the Ultium EVs, and GM has a history of a fix-it-in-post mentality. Some of these problems owners report like drivetrain clicking and Apple CarPlay dropping out were issues I experienced in a press car, and I also experienced the tire pressure monitoring system dropping out. Meanwhile, I experienced no software or mechanical issues in a Honda HR-V press car I drove the prior week in similar conditions.

02 2024 Prologue Elite

We asked Honda about these reported powertrain issues, and the firm responded by stating “Owners with concerns should contact their local Honda dealer for assistance. The Prologue is covered by a robust warranty.”

The bottom line? Owners are frustrated and disappointed, and if you’re looking at a Honda Prologue, don’t go into it expecting Honda reliability. Perhaps this pattern of problems will be fixed as time goes on, but for now, more reasons why Honda’s launching its own EVs soon are coming into focus.

(Photo credits: Honda, Prologue Drivers forum)

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Norek Koss
Norek Koss
11 days ago

My smile says everything.

VictoriousSandwich
VictoriousSandwich
11 days ago

I shouldn’t laugh but blind brand loyalty is kinda dumb. Too bad though the Prologue looks way better than any GM EV. Seems like Honda kind of hoodwinked their customers with this one and will probably regret it-you’d think they’d have learned their lesson with the Passport in the ’90s.

I’ve honestly wondered this when Honda has teamed up with GM, or Toyota with BMW, like there’s no way the reliability matches their typical build quality and reliability standards.

Duke Woolworth
Duke Woolworth
11 days ago

I’m looking to get an EV bigger than My 5YO Bolt, but problems such as these have kept me waiting for better. That includes the Koreans with 12V battery charging problems.

Daniil Ivshin
Daniil Ivshin
12 days ago
Mr E
Mr E
12 days ago

I’ve barely seen a Blazer around here, but I’ve seen a million Prologues.

Regardless, it always struck me as odd that Honda would hitch their PR wagon to a GM product, even if only temporarily.

ClamDigger
ClamDigger
12 days ago

A little perspective here. Author makes a conclusory statement that owners are “frustrated and disappointed”. The Prologue Driver’s forum has just under 1,500 members, which represents approximately 5% of Prologue owners (Honda has sold roughly 30K+ Prologues). While I am not doubting for a moment the issues some folks are having, and it certainly is disappointing to experience these failures in a new car, it is a big stretch to say that the Prologue is a problem vehicle. This is not supported by any data that I’m aware of, and the posts on an owner’s forum aren’t it. For what it’s worth, I’m 6 months in with 5700 miles and mine has been problem free. I am neither frustrated nor disappointed. I really enjoy the car.

Last edited 12 days ago by ClamDigger
Faloopa Jones
Faloopa Jones
11 days ago
Reply to  ClamDigger

True, but look at the GM forums too: the platform overall has a LOT of early issues compared to other vehicles. It’s not a lemon perhaps, but it is leagues from the experience Honda owners have come to expect over the last fifty-something years here in America. As a “car person” I knew what was behind the badges, but not everyone does.

ClamDigger
ClamDigger
10 days ago
Reply to  Faloopa Jones

I agree – I suspect a lot of the folks who are dissatisfied with the Prologue are current or former Honda owners and loyalists. I have no love for GM, never owned one, nor have I owned a Honda product since 2008. I chose the Prologue after doing a ton of research, and knew full well it was a GM platform, and a first-year model. Not usually a recipe for success. But as I mentioned, my experience has been stellar. Hope it stays that way.

Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
12 days ago

This is disconcerting. We’ve been looking at the Prologue lease offers and I was thinking about taking a spin to the local dealer. My wife’s commute and work charging situation is perfect for a BEV, and allows us to keep the Pacifica for the heavy lifting.

Willybear
Willybear
12 days ago

Buy a kia/hyundai product

Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
11 days ago
Reply to  Willybear

Given the myriad of quality issues they still have (albeit with ICE), I’m not quite ready to do that. My neighbor has an Ionic5 (? The less weird-looking one) that he seems to like. He also has the Chrysler 200 I mentioned in another article, if that gives any context.

Willybear
Willybear
10 days ago

Im a huge fanboy, so just know that. I own an Ioniq 5, wife owns an ev6. Shes done ~70k miles in 2 1/2 years for work. tires, rotors got rusty (our fault) but no issues. I suggest test driving one. the ioniq 5/ev6 platform is quite undervalued IMO. I test drove 5 different PHEVs as well from hyundai/kia, GM, volvo. all around the $55-60k pricepoint, none were as nice as the kia/hyundai evs, not even close. Great car, that is very “high touch” for the procepoint. Dealers around me doing 24 month lease with 5k down for about $250/mo. Bumbed they never made a awd pacifica PHEV, I rented one oncein AZ and it was fantastic. Great vehicle.

Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker
10 days ago
Reply to  Willybear

Hmm. Good to know. Neighbor loves his, but based on how he drives, it was hard to get any kind of good feedback from him.

Nick Fortes
Nick Fortes
12 days ago

LOL, everyone knows you buy a GM product when it goes into its last year of production.

Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson
12 days ago
Reply to  Nick Fortes

This is so funny because it is so true (and I say this as a GM fan). Once they iron out all of the new model kinks, that model is promptly discontinued. Over and over and over again.

Stephen Reed
Stephen Reed
12 days ago

Two truths of GM:

They discontinue something just as it becomes good, and they can’t design an automatic transmission worth a crap, at least in a truck.

(Yes, I have recently had a GM transmission start to give up the ghost, how did you know? Actually, both GM autos I’ve had were plagued.)

Last edited 12 days ago by Stephen Reed
Mike
Mike
12 days ago

The Bolt was built on an ice platform, out the ice parts bin.

How can you trust an article that gets fundamentals wrong?

Stephen Reed
Stephen Reed
12 days ago
Reply to  Mike

Actually, no. It was originally going to be on the Gamma platform, but it ended up being changed so much that it became a separate platform known as BEV2.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-platforms/gm-bev-2-platform/

Seth Albaum
Seth Albaum
12 days ago

I knew what it was when I leased it.

First, I went to a Chevy dealer and sat in a Blazer. I was not offered a test drive. The sales person didn’t seem to want to sell anything that day. And, I didn’t like the GUI.

I walked into the Honda dealership knowing full well the Prologue was a mildly Hondified Blazer. The lease deal, without getting into all the details, was going to be lower than I was paying on my previous car, and surprisingly, with cheaper insurance. The salesperson even let me test drive it. Go figure.

I had owned Saturns in the 90’s. That was my GM exposure besides a friend’s car here and there. I was used to wind noise from the panel gaps and that sort of thing. What I’ve noticed in the Prologue is some loose seat stitching, the center console not fit quite right, and a wiring harness hanging from the left rear suspension — that the dealer fixed in about 5 minutes after I pointed it out.

I’ve only gotten the knocking on rare occasions. I’m waiting for it to happen often enough to be confident it’ll repeat the issue at the dealer. I’m also hoping that Honda has a recall/fix/parts in stock before it gets bad enough that I have to bring it in.

I’m counting on the warranty and this being a lease. It will be less expensive to own that my previous car, a VW Atlas, so it has that going for it, at least…

A Reader
A Reader
12 days ago

Sigh … I was so hopeful for this rollout … the unfortunate truth is that widespread mechanical issues on a new EV are going to be magnified to the utmost, as they should be, because at this stage there is no excuse to start selling a model that’s going to have these issues happen. Especially when, if it had been reliable, this could have been a smash hit. Double shame if you knew there could be issues but you weren’t ready to address them ASAP and make this a good experience for anyone going out on a limb with this car. SMH.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago

I am not sure how it is possible to be underwater on one of these!

Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden
12 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

If these problems are widespread, the word will get out and the price for these cars will start to fall. That could put the current buyers underwater.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Clearly you aren’t aware of the immense EV depreciation curve.

Unless you are and this was sarcasm. Intonation is hard on the interwebs.

JDE
JDE
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

not to mention the New Car drive it off the lot depreciation curve. But if you add in these type of consumer news reports the curve gets less favorable fast.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

But everyone is leasing these….

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Aware of that. Mr. Durden was questioning how people could be underwater. You’re still TANKED in a car during the lease. You just get out of it while the manufacturer takes the depreciation bath.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
11 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

That was me.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Goddammit. I’m an idiot. My apologies.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
11 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

Just do what I do… blame autocorrect.

Mike
Mike
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

That “immense depreciation curve” is basically a combination of new ev price drops and a return to normal depreciation curves after a global pandemic.

Not immense at all. Quite normal. You’re just not used to normal.

AlterId has reverted to their original pseud
AlterId has reverted to their original pseud
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

I am not sure how it is possible to be underwater on one of these!

Get drunk and back it into a pond… oh. that was just Tesla.

Never mind.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
11 days ago

This might be my plan if mine keeps acting up.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago

As a current Ultium lessee, I can state that this it is single handedly the worst new car I’ve ever purchased. From new, I’ve owned a 2013 Ford Focus, 2018 GTI, 2019 Alltrack(twice, one was totalled), 2019 Arteon, 2021 Gladiator and now this 2024 Blazer EV. That’s one Ford, four VWs and one Stellantis product, so it’s safe to say I’m a glutton for punishment. NONE of those have had anywhere near the issues that this Blazer has.

I cannot wait for my lease to be up next year. Fuck this car.

Last edited 12 days ago by TheCoryJihad
Justin Thiel
Justin Thiel
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

What made you pick the Blazer, just a great deal or what?

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  Justin Thiel

The lease deal was unreal. I got a $56,000 RS AWD on a 2 year lease with zero down at 15,000 miles a year under $400 a month and the dealership included a charger with the purchase. With the home charger installed, my monthly electric increase has been nominal. The overall savings have me convinced on electric ownership(as long as it’s a lease because that depreciation curve is devastating) so I’ll be replacing it with another EV, but it’ll probably be a Kia or Hyundai product.

Boris Berkovich
Boris Berkovich
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

Kia or Hyundai product? You are a glutton for punishment.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago

For ICE cars, I’d agree. Their EVs are the best in the industry.

Boris Berkovich
Boris Berkovich
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

Design-wise, I would agree. The 800-watt infrastructure seems to be the best in class. However, I wouldn’t trust the rest of the vehicle. Every Hyundai/Kia product I’ve had exposure to has had significant issues at some point in the first few years of ownership. That, and the dealership experience is miserable.

JDE
JDE
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

I just saw the new GV90 with suicide doors. It was kind of interesting. Also, and I might be biased, but at least in the Genesis side of Hyundai, the Ice motors seem to be as good as anyone elses.

Citrus
Citrus
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

*Looks at list*

What are you planning on replacing it with so I don’t buy that?

Dumb Shadetree
Dumb Shadetree
12 days ago
Reply to  Citrus

Probably a Hornet.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  Dumb Shadetree

That’s far too reliable. I was thinking a Fiat 500e.

JDE
JDE
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

move to Colorado first. Very Favorable Leasing. Might take you 3 weeks to get it home, but I digress.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
11 days ago
Reply to  JDE

At least it’ll be a pretty drive back to Pennsylvania.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  Citrus

In all seriousness, it’ll more than likely be a Korean EV. Hyundai, Kia or Genesis. It’ll all depend on who’s lease is best.

Citrus
Citrus
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

Dammit, I’m looking at an Ioniq 6, now I’m worried.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  Citrus

This is not to say my other cars had issues. They didn’t. Out of the other cars, this is the one that from a statistical standpoint held the best chance of being relatively reliable. It flat out is not.

Citrus
Citrus
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

I’m mostly impressed that everything was something that became famously unreliable – though there are always good cars even if the model winds up bad.

Though I’m assuming it was a manual Focus and not a PowerShit.

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
12 days ago
Reply to  Citrus

Oh yeah. Definitely a manual, one of the few manual Titanium trims that were built. As a matter of fact, that car NEVER went in the shop for anything aside from normal maintenance. From a reliability standpoint, that was the best car I owned.

Jerkstore
Jerkstore
12 days ago
Reply to  TheCoryJihad

Assalottacars!

TheCoryJihad
TheCoryJihad
11 days ago
Reply to  Jerkstore

I work in the dealership world. We trade a lot. When you can buy at wholesale and trade at retail, it’s a pretty common thing. Plus two got totalled.

J G
J G
12 days ago

What might say this is a Prologue (preface or introduction) to the world of crappy GM quality.

I’ll see myself out…

Bags
Bags
12 days ago
Reply to  J G

Could be the Epilogue to Honda’s relationship with the Ultium platform…

Urban Runabout
Urban Runabout
12 days ago
Reply to  J G

That would be the Civic thing to do.

That Guy with the Sunbird
That Guy with the Sunbird
12 days ago
Reply to  Urban Runabout

Speaking of one’s own Accord.

AlterId has reverted to their original pseud
AlterId has reverted to their original pseud
11 days ago
Reply to  J G

It just may be that for these people, an EV wasn’t the right Fit.

behindTheTimes
behindTheTimes
11 days ago
Reply to  J G

If the GM/Honda relationship continues, it could become a tale akin to the Odyssey.

Ron Gartner
Ron Gartner
12 days ago

It seems that the launch of Ultium has lead to a lot of “SHVCS” and drivetrain failures for these smaller platforms. It sounds like GM has found solutions for these, just like Ford did with the launch of the Mach E and their similar issues.

LastStandard
LastStandard
12 days ago

In 2.5 years and 57k miles of ownership, I’ve had to bring my GM vehicle back to the dealer once for a warranty fix that took 2.5 hours. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Last edited 12 days ago by LastStandard
V10omous
V10omous
12 days ago

I am shocked at the number of people commenting here (as well as the tone of the article itself) implying that Honda still has a good reputation for reliability. For at least a decade they’ve been middle of the pack; unexceptional compared to most mass market brands.

I’d trust a modern GM to go 200,000 miles without trouble before a modern Honda. This isn’t the 1990s anymore.

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2024-us-vehicle-dependability-study-vds

My Goat Ate My Homework
My Goat Ate My Homework
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

I was thinking the same thing. Goes to show how hard it is to change reputations sometimes (in good or bad directions).

The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

Honda has struggled a little bit in the transition to turbocharging. I’ve owned two Type R’s – one was fine, the other started having weird issues before it even got to 10k miles and I sold it on before they started getting worse. The two naturally-aspirated 11th-gen Civics I’ve had have been bulletproof after 40k miles combined so far. There’s a few with 150k+ miles I’ve seen that have also had no issues.

Crimedog
Crimedog
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

I have always said that a GM will run like shit longer than most vehicles will run.
Want a Gambler 500 entry? Get a Cavalier.
Want to survive the apocalypse? Get a Cavalier
Want to truck forever? Get a used Silverado

The vast interconnectedness of systems and twitchiness of high-rpm motors has always made me shy from Honda products.

Their bikes are a different story.

No Kids, Just Bikes
No Kids, Just Bikes
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

All the well-used (read:cheap) Hondas near me have head gasket issues. It really gives me pause thinking about a used RDX for the wife to haul her mom around in.

That Guy with the Sunbird
That Guy with the Sunbird
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

Yep. Everyone says “Get a Toyota or a Honda.” if you want a reliable car. And that reputation, earned/deserved or not, is hard to break out of people’s minds. Meanwhile, Toyota has the transmissions granting in Tacomas, Honda has the turbo engines with the oil dilution issues, etc. Not to say they’re all unreliable. Not by any means. But they aren’t the over-engineered stalwarts they once were.

V10omous
V10omous
12 days ago

Until 2023 or so, I would have drawn a very clear distinction between Toyota and anyone else, including Honda.

Downsizing seems to have gone about as poorly for Toyota as it has for most others, so I’m not sure if I can recommend them in the same way anymore. The hybrids are still rock solid at least.

That Guy with the Sunbird
That Guy with the Sunbird
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

Agreed.

I think the small, over-worked turbo engines are just by and large more troublesome especially with Americans’ short and stop-and-go driving habits.

Mike B
Mike B
12 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

My general thought on Honda is that anything with a V6 is eventually going to have a transmission failure. Also, timing belt, ewwww.

Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
11 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

VDS =/= long term mechanical reliability. The VDS is primarily tech illiterates not knowing how to use the technology in their cars. It even says that on the page, well maybe not as crassly as I did.

Infotainment system woes continue to plague owners: As vehicles roll off the assembly line with increasingly more technology, it is not unexpected that the most problematic vehicle category is infotainment (49.1 PP100)—nearly twice as many problems as the next-highest category, which is exterior. Among infotainment issues, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity (6.3 PP100) is the top problem, followed by built-in voice recognition (6.1 PP100).

Annoyance with driver assistance alerts grows over time: The number of problems related to driver assistance system alerts has increased between the 90-day ownership period and the three-year ownership period. “Many would think that after three years, owners would become used to the alerts on their vehicle,” Hanley said. “However, that is not the case. Increased problem levels are experienced across multiple driver assistance features including, but not limited to, lane departure warning/lane keeping assistance and forward collision warning/automatic emergency braking.”

Almost half of the problems per 100 vehicles are simply infotainment and have nothing do with anything mechanical. VDS has been this way for a long time now.

Last edited 11 days ago by Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
V10omous
V10omous
11 days ago

I agree the counting/total numbers are suspect, but Honda’s position has fallen relative to peers (who have all introduced infotainment and driver assist features) recently. So unless Hondas are especially prone to non-mechanical complaints, it still speaks to an overall fall in quality vs the competition.

Last edited 11 days ago by V10omous
Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
11 days ago
Reply to  V10omous

If we remove 49 problems from Chevy and Honda, that puts Chevy at 125 and Honda at 157 problems per 100 vehicles. A 25% difference. Hey that sounds like a lot! But let’s switch it to problems per 1 vehicle; 1.25 problems per vehicle or 1.57 problems per vehicle. Knowing the history of each brand, is .32 problems per car enough to make one switch? Not me. Honda has given their customers loads of goodwill coverage for out of warranty failures over the years. I don’t know that the same same can be said for GM. I have on anecdote, but, thats anecdotal.

Putting on my tin foil hat: Expanding the metric to problems per 100 vehicles feels like a marketing trick to aid in the sales of extended warranties.

Last edited 11 days ago by Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
Robot Turds
Robot Turds
12 days ago

Not great to read this since we started leasing a Chevy Equinox 3 weeks ago. Hopefully I will have one of the “good” ones.

Dinklesmith
Dinklesmith
12 days ago
Reply to  Robot Turds

The Blazer, on which the Prologue is based, has been cursed from the start. Who knows why. The Equinox has been largely smooth sailing so far even though it’s so similar. That may be a function of it being so new that issues haven’t cropped up yet, but the Blazer had issues from day 1

John Crouch
John Crouch
12 days ago

How about touching up the editing on this story. Lots of repeat quotes here.

DONALD FOLEY
DONALD FOLEY
12 days ago
Reply to  John Crouch

Yes, I’ve seen repeat quotes as an increasingly common practice and I don’t understand why.

Baron Usurper
Baron Usurper
12 days ago
Reply to  DONALD FOLEY

It’s for accessibility. Screen readers can’t read text in pictures.

DONALD FOLEY
DONALD FOLEY
12 days ago
Reply to  Baron Usurper

Of course we all read The Autopian on screens. If there’s an editorial choice between a readable versus an unreadable format, use only the readable one.

Taargus Taargus
Taargus Taargus
12 days ago

Semi-related: A friend’s brother recently bought a Prologue, and was randomly assigned the license plate MRS-9969. Which I find entertaining.

Drive By Commenter
Drive By Commenter
12 days ago

Turns out switching to making EV’s is harder than the legacy OEM’s predicted.

Greg
Greg
12 days ago

The author, and commentors want to pile on GM here, but I think you need to focus more on Honda. They have been having a lot of recalls lately, and their own stuff isn’t that great. Then they make a dumb choice to partner with GM, and don’t do QC they need to to sell a good car.

That’s HONDAS FAULT, NOT GM.

Honda/Toyota and all these others we used to be able to “trust” to make a good car, no longer do. They cheaped out, cut corners and give us shit products while accepting no blame. So sick of passing the buck, TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR CHOICES.

RallyMech
RallyMech
12 days ago
Reply to  Greg

When the 10/100k warranty became the norm, the big 3 all had to figure out how to make a vehicle good enough to not cost them too much fixing it.

Meanwhile Honda and Toyota realized they had been overbuilding vehicles to such a degree they were losing money in the long run.

This is just the two different ethos slamming their heads together.

Greg
Greg
12 days ago
Reply to  RallyMech

Great point. Sad to see though, and I will argue that its not ALL that. Because Toyota and Honda still sold a shit ton of cars, people knew they were reliable and always went back, and sent their kids and friends. So what you are saying is true, but I don’t think its the full story. I am not sure what that full story is though.

Last edited 12 days ago by Greg
Eric Beaudoin
Eric Beaudoin
12 days ago
Reply to  Greg

Honda service advisor here, I can absolutely agree with you. New Hondas are definitely not the Hondas of old. The 1.5T and 2.0 hybrids have head gasket failures, the older 3.5 V6 has piston ring failures, almost every single model since 2016 has injector issues, etc. Definitely not the same old Hondas.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago
Reply to  Eric Beaudoin

I appreciate your courage for attaching this comment using your real name, but for the sake of your career maybe you want to redact this.

Ultradrive
Ultradrive
12 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Or do what Don Anderson here does. 😉

Last edited 12 days ago by Ultradrive
NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago
Reply to  Ultradrive

🙂 Well, I’m Retired. My posts won’t have any negative effect on me. Plus there are a million Don Anderson’s out there. We are the Toyota Camry of guys. Pretty good, sorta dependable but nondescript as hell.

Last edited 12 days ago by NosrednaNod
David Smith
David Smith
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

This is my real name. Didn’t think I’d need a pseudonym.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
11 days ago
Reply to  David Smith

You know what I’m talking about!

Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden
12 days ago
Reply to  Eric Beaudoin

This is just one example but my 2014 Civic had its CVT replaced under warranty. I bought the car used so I don’t know how hard the previous owner beat on it though.

The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
12 days ago
Reply to  Greg

I mean, GM is the one actually building the car, though. GM is responsible for doing the QC. Honda may have made some tweaks to their own version of the platform, but it’s still being built at a GM plant. GM knows how to make a decent EV and are, in many respects, not a bad choice for a partnership like this, but they really beefed it with this platform. I remember when the Blazer first came out and they immediately started bricking themselves.

Greg
Greg
12 days ago

When you put your name on it, the buck stops with you. They should have refused delivery for poor construction and quality.

The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
The NSX Was Only in Development for 4 Years
12 days ago
Reply to  Greg

Not saying Honda shouldn’t shoulder some blame, which they obviously are, but GM’s name is also on this car – they are responsible for QC in their own factories.

MustangIIMatt
MustangIIMatt
12 days ago

Partnering with GM on this was such a stupid decision, and now it’s going to bite them in the ass.

Most of the people that bought it are probably blissfully unaware that it’s a GM product, and this will turn them off on EVs or Hondas.

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
12 days ago
Reply to  MustangIIMatt

The part I find hilarious is that most of these Prologue buyers not only think it was a “collaboration” with GM rather than just a badge-engineered all-GM car, but they also paid a premium over the identical Chevy just for the Honda badge and the added headache of having to go through a Honda dealer middleman to get their car fixed.

Dinklesmith
Dinklesmith
12 days ago

Funny enough, the suspension is fully Honda on them….so the clicking may actually be a Honda issue, not a GM issue

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago

Who designed it?

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
12 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

It’s a Chevy, designed & built in a Chevy plant.
I guess you could call it a Pontiac 🙂

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago

I don’t believe that is 100% accurate.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Prologue

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
12 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Did you not read the wiki link you posted??
It’s a Chevy Blazer with slightly different specc’d springs & dampers, built by GM in the same plant that builds the Blazer.

Even the Toyobaru twins (86/BRZ) have more differences between them.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
12 days ago

I did.

“ Styled by Honda Design Studio in Los Angeles, …
Development of the Prologue was led by chief engineer John Hwang. … Honda designers and engineer are given freedom to develop its own sheetmetal, and tuned the steering calibration, springs and dampers independently from the Blazer EV….While having a unique interior design,”

So Honda styled it, assigned one of their engineers to head up the project, developed their own sheetmetal and interior and tuned the suspension.

So saying it is “a Chevy, designed & built in a Chevy plant.“ is not 100% accurate.

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

The sheetmetal & interior design are more fashion than engineering.

“Tuned the steering calibration” on electric power-steering is just changing a couple of numbers with software, I can also do that with my laptop for most of my cars, does that mean I’m “engineering” them? 🙂

If you really want to believe it’s a japanese car, not an american car built in Mexico, I guess nobody could convince you otherwise. Plenty of people believe things counter to reality and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Last edited 11 days ago by SarlaccRoadster
NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
11 days ago

Thank you for putting words in my mouth.

No where did I suggest anything other than your unequivocal statement that the Honda Prologue is “a Chevy, designed & built in a Chevy plant” was “not 100% accurate”. I never suggested it was a Japanese car.

You way underestimate the amount of engineering that goes into the sheetmetal and interior aspects of car design. The crash-test portion of these alone are seriously challenging.

As far as someone believing things counter to reality, I am not the person in this discussion afflicted with that condition.

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
11 days ago
Reply to  NosrednaNod

Crash-worthiness has all to do with the unibody structure of a car than with the sheetmetal. And about that interior, when I replaced the factory radio with a double-DIN unit in my old Mitsubishi, did I “engineer” its interior?

There was time in car history when carmaking companies would build an entire car, then a coachbuilder would shape & build the sheetmetal. While those coachbuilders sure had a hand in the finished product, calling that “engineering” would be a bit of a stretch. I’m an engineer by trade, so if I warm up a frozen pizza in the oven, did I “engineer” it? 🙂

Scoutdude
Scoutdude
12 days ago

What was that about how successful the Prologue was and how smart it was for Honda to do this?

The smart one in this deal is definitely GM since Honda was under contract to buy 35k of them for 2024 at a price that is variable profit positive.

Meanwhile Honda is truly loosing money on everyone they sell and throwing years of goodwill out the window and hobbling the sales of their upcoming in-house EV’s.

BagoBoiling
BagoBoiling
12 days ago

“and I also experienced the tire pressure monitoring system dropping out.”
Interesting, we have a ZDX and are experiencing TPMS issues currently. We bought a second set of wheels for our snows and then had to buy Acura (GM) sensors as we were told the off the shelf ones wouldn’t work. Ok fine. Well they get installed and everything seems fine, then a day later the system drops out. We can reconnect them and they continue to drop out every day. Just dropped off car tonight to the dealer.

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
12 days ago
Reply to  BagoBoiling

The in-wheel TPMS sensors issues are not specific to a particular brand of car or sensor, they all have their gremlins. That’s why I think the ABS wheel-speed method is much superior: sure, you don’t get an actual tire pressure reading, only a warning if one tire is low, but there’s no sensors to replace or fiddle around with.

You want to put another set of wheels on? No biggie, slap them on and just press one button to reset the stats and you’re good to go.

BagoBoiling
BagoBoiling
12 days ago

Agreed, my Volvos work off wheel speed and I love it. A way better solution.

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