Honda’s 2023 Passport is a midsize five-passenger SUV. Larger than the CR-V, and with a bit more off-pavement capability, the Passport is ideal for those shoppers who want more space, standard V6 power, and more capability than the RAV4 and CR-V segment can offer.

The Honda Passport is one of this tester’s favorite SUVs. Not all buyers want or need three rows, but many do want more space and power than the RAV4 and CR-V segment-sized vehicles offer. The Passport fits the bill for many SUV shoppers looking for just the right size and right capability.

All Passports have standard V6 engines with geared transmissions. No rubber-banding CVTs here. Honda’s outstanding i-VTM4 torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system is optional, and anyone buying a Passport would be wise to get it. With four-mode Intelligent Traction Management, the Passport is an excellent vehicle in which to head off-pavement.

The Passport is not a hard-core off-roader, and that is refreshing. Very, very few owners of SUVs take their vehicles into extreme situations, but a lot of them do head to ski mountain lodges in snowstorms and down sketchy access trails when biking, camping, and kayaking. The Passport is perfectly suited to handle what most owners will use it for.

Importantly, the TrailSport trim is great when the asphalt ends but wonderful the whole way to that spot. The Honda Passport is a very comfortable and enjoyable vehicle in which to drive mountain roads, back-country byways, or to simply use as a daily driver. If you plan to camp and then sleep inside your vehicle, the Passport is an ideal choice.

With over four decades of doling out trusted automotive advice and extensive vehicle knowledge, both behind the wheel and under the hood, Car Talk's founder and original Tappet Brother Ray Magliozzi shares his first-hand experience test driving the Honda Passport.

Ford’s Edge is a great alternative to the Honda Passport for those shoppers not planning any off-road adventures. The Edge has two great engine choices, both turbocharged and, like the Passport, is a roomy five-passenger SUV.

The Pilot is a lot like a three-row Passport but has more and better off-road capability. If you want skid plates, a front recovery point, and hill descent control, we suggest you cross-shop the larger Honda Pilot.

If you want a green five-passenger Honda SUV, there is one choice - the CR-V Hybrid. The new CR-V feels and looks bigger and has either its great Hybrid powertrain or its 1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. With Hill Descent Control and improved AWD modes for 2024, we feel the CR-V is worth a serious look if one is considering a 2023 Passport. One tip: You only get a spare tire in the non-hybrid trims.

A Honda Passport TrailSport with all its bells and whistles costs about the same as a 4-cylinder Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, which is dramatically smaller in size. We use this as just one way to illustrate the bang for the buck offered by the Passport.

The base Passport EX-L in 2WD starts at just $39,095. Adding AWD bumps that up to $41,195. The TrailsSport (which we tested) starts at under $44K. The top-trim Elite has a price of $46,655. These prices must be going up for 2024, since they seem almost comically too low for what one gets.

The table below shows the most common trim levels and how much they will run you.

The Passport was refreshed “from the A-pillars forward” in 2022. Honda didn’t change it in 2023. Looking at the significant recent changes Honda has made to the bigger Pilot and slightly smaller CR-V, we suspect one of two things will soon happen for the Passport. 1) It will be cancelled. 2) It will receive a meaningful redesign along the lines of the Pilot in 2024 or 2025.

The 2022 Honda Passport was tested by IIHS and it did not score “Good” on two important crash tests. By contrast, the Pilot and CR-V are both Top Safety Pick + award earners. NHTSA has not tested the refreshed Passport.

Honda’s Passport has good reliability ratings according to Consumer Reports, which gives the Passport its “Recommended” nod. In 2022, it earned a solid 5/5 reliability rating. In its 2023 Dependability Study, J.D. Power ranked the Honda brand just below average.

The Passport sets itself apart from the CR-V by being more off-road capable, but that is really only true if you get the more rugged TrailSport trim. That trim has better off-pavement tires. Having tested it twice, we loved the TrailSport and found that it came with no bad habits. We’d opt for that trim or seriously consider the new (now larger) CR-V. There are front-wheel drive Passports according to Honda, but we don’t know why anyone would forgo all-wheel drive.

Honda’s warranty is among the shortest in the industry. However, Honda does now include two years of maintenance.

• Basic: 3 years / 36k miles
• Powertrain: 5 years / 60k miles
• If buying used look at our best extended warranties

We looked back at the Consumer Reports reliability scores earned by the Passport since 2019 and were impressed. It has scored either 5/5 or ⅘ every year. We would suggest that a used Passport would be a safer-than-average bet, and that a certified pre-owned Honda Passport would be a solid purchase if one can be found.

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