Honda recalls 635,808 Pilots and Acuras over power steering software

Honda recalls 635,808 Pilots and Acuras over power steering software

10 November 2026: American Honda is recalling 635,808 Honda Pilot, Acura MDX and Acura TLX vehicles in the United States because a configuration error in the electric power steering software can switch steering assist off while the car is moving. Dealers will reprogram the steering control unit free of charge, and Honda estimates that every vehicle in the population carries the defect.

A zero in the denominator

Honda's summary of its safety recall report to NHTSA is unusually specific about the cause. The supplier's software contains an error in what Honda calls the "Driver Attention Monitor road-condition compensation calculation". Under certain operating conditions the code divides a floating-point number by zero, which raises an internal error.

The fault that matters is what happens next. The steering software was configured to answer that internal error by disabling power assist altogether. The driver sees the steering warning lights come on in the instrument cluster, and the wheel becomes much heavier to turn. Honda says this "may reduce vehicle controllability, increasing the risk of a crash or injury."

So there are two mistakes rather than one: a calculation that can fail, and a failsafe that treats the failure of a driver-monitoring feature as a reason to remove a core driving aid. The remedy replaces the software with a version Honda describes only as "the correct EPS software", without saying which of the two it changes.

Three models and eleven model years

The report breaks the 635,808 vehicles down by model and year:

Model	Model years	Vehicles
Honda Pilot	2023 to 2025	383,110
Acura MDX	2022 to 2024	177,100
Acura TLX	2021 to 2025	75,598

The 2025 Pilot alone accounts for 240,830. Production dates run from 11 August 2020 for the earliest TLX to 23 December 2025 for the last Pilot. Honda says the population was set from manufacturing records and reflects every vehicle that could experience the problem.

A dealer visit, not an over-the-air fix

Owners will be asked by post to take the vehicle to an authorised Honda or Acura dealer. NHTSA's record sets its over-the-air field to false, and Honda's own text describes only the dealer route. Neither the "do not drive" nor the "park outside" warning applies.

That puts this recall at the other end of the range from GM's brake software recall of 29 October, where the record allows an update over the air. A fleet running Pilots or MDXs will need workshop time for each vehicle, and with more than 600,000 cars sharing the same dealer network, booking early is the practical step.

Dates and references

• Report received by NHTSA: 29 October 2026
• Dealer notification: on or about 30 October 2026
• Vehicle identification numbers searchable on NHTSA.gov: from 11 November 2026
• Owner letters: on or about 14 December 2026

Honda's internal recall codes are KQB and TQA, and its customer service line is 1-866-784-1870. A fleet can check its vehicle numbers on NHTSA's site from 11 November rather than wait for the letters.

This is the third software recall from a large carmaker in our news in under two weeks, after GM's and Hyundai's airbag control software recall for the Kona Electric and Veloster N.

Sources

• American Honda: 2022-2025 Acura/Honda Multi-model Electronic Power Steering (EPS) Software Recall, 10 November 2026, 10 November 2026
• NHTSA: recall record 26V721000, Honda (American Honda Motor Co.), report received 29 October 2026, 29 October 2026