Welcome to another installment of my 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport long-term test series. Today, I’ll update you on how the Passport has been lately, as my last review was two and a half months ago, and roughly 5,000 miles ago. Most importantly, we officially welcomed winter in the Midwest, and it’s come full force with more snow this year so far than almost all of last winter. It was also time for the Passport’s first visit to the dealer. And while it was nothing of considerable weight, I finally hooked up a trailer to the back for some light lifting during a recent move.
If you want to revisit previous installments before reading the latest update, here are the shortcuts:
10K Club
Wow, I’ve never put 10,000 miles on a press car before. It almost feels a bit wrong? Honda did say I had unlimited miles, so I guess it’s okay. And man, what a 10,000 miles it’s been. From a few road trips across the Midwest, to moving my son out to university, numerous grocery and school runs, and even a somewhat unexpected move to a new residence, the Magical Pumpkin (as I often refer to it) has been with me all along. We’ve seen good times, bad times, open freeways, bumper-to-bumper traffic, dry weather, torrential rain, and lately, loads of snow and ice.
We’ve listened to happy tunes in moments of joy and cheesy love songs in moments of sadness. As I stated in the very first blog of this series, the whole point of the Passport sticking with me for eight months, rather than switching it out, is to see how a vehicle fits into an average American family. It’s not just an errand-runner or a weekend adventurer. It’s also not just a fleet vehicle used only by staffers on randomly assigned days. This Passport is the only car I’ve driven multiple times a day, every day, since July. We’ve grown close, but we’ve also had our differences over the last 10,000 miles.
So far, I’m really digging the Passport, and so does the family. It’s become a bit of a star in the neighborhood, as people now recognize it (rather than a press car that only sticks around for a week) and identify it as my ride. From neighbors to friends and people at my kids’ schools, they follow the SUV’s journey here to see how it’s been performing.
So far, there have been no big takeaways or changes since the 5,000-mile review. The car feels better than ever, though I can’t say whether that’s because I’ve grown more comfortable with it and its behaviors, or because it’s actually gotten better over time. It just feels broken-in, y’know? Kinda like when you finally wear in a pair of shoes, and they finally feel perfect. And much like when a relationship with a new boyfriend or girlfriend evolves into the crucial six-month stage, there are no new “bad things” that I’ve noticed in the last two months (except a few minor things mentioned in the sections below as they’re pretty specific), so it’s pretty much all happy times.
Winter
Adapting to changing weather is a significant variable in any vehicle’s ownership experience. When you live in the Midwest, you gotta deal with wet springs, blazing summers, fluctuating falls, and frigid winters, so a car’s practicality and features can make all of that easier or harder. In this case, November and December brought heavy snow, so it was time to take advantage of the heated seats, heated steering wheel, and AWD capabilities.
Driving in the Snow: The Intelligent Traction Management System, located below the shifter, offers several modes, including Snow. During the first heavy snowfall, which later led to frozen roads, I took the opportunity to learn the differences between Normal mode and Snow mode. The differences are vast, and once you get used to one, switching to the other essentially transforms the Passport into a different machine. In Snow mode, the throttle response is delayed to prevent wheelspin in slippery conditions. Torque is cut back considerably, so much so that you’ll wonder whether you’ll be moving anytime soon. However drastic you may think this is, it fulfills its purpose of making driving in poor conditions much safer. On frozen roads, you’ll also feel how the traction and stability control systems kick in much sooner to keep the car pointing in the right direction, and not let things get too out of control before the nannies step in. Keep your foot down through a slippery corner, and you’ll feel individual tires brake, while others keep powering the Passport to maintain trajectory.
Attempting the same corner in Normal mode instead of Snow results in heavy understeer or the rear stepping out, as the torque hits the tires much earlier in the pedal’s travel. Likewise, steering feel is softer, and its reflexes are more relaxed, providing a more chill driving experience. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Passport aced whatever winter driving challenges I threw at it. One detail worth mentioning is that, if you get stuck and you need to disable traction control, there is no physical button to do so. You have to activate Sand or Trail mode to bring the vehicle stability control to its off setting. I did not get stuck, but I did explore this detail before venturing into deep snow, just in case. Also, I wanted to do snow donuts.
Honda Link App: I’ve covered this app quite a bit before, but winter has made me a regular user of the remote start on the Passport, getting it nice and toasty before I step into the cabin. As I’ve already said, yes, this requires a subscription, but I find it worth it. I can literally remote start the SUV while my plane is pulling up to the gate, and my seat and wheel be nice and warm when I walk up to the airport parking lot 15 minutes later. I can fine-tune which seats have a certain level of heating (or cooling), whether I want to defrost the windshield and side mirrors, or warm up the cabin, and I can even set the right indoor temperature. It makes single-digit winters much more palatable. Tip: If you don’t want to pay for remote start, you can use the key fob’s native button, but you’ll need to be within range of the remote, unlike the app.
Features: As I mentioned above, the usual suspects make life easier: heated front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, heated windshield, and heated side mirrors. All of these get pretty toasty, so after five or eight minutes, I have to dial it back to the middle or lowest setting for the seats and turn off the steering wheel.
Baby’s First Trip to the Shop
Right around 8,000 miles, the service light came on and said I had about 15% oil life, so I scheduled a service appointment. I always service my own Hondas at an independent mechanic, but given that I don’t own this thing and it’s brand-new, I went the dealer route. Also, I’d like to clarify that the folks at Honda who made this long-term project possible weren’t informed of the car needing serviced, nor were they involved in where I took the car, so my experience with the dealer and its service department is 100% my own and is what any consumer would undergo.
I visited Great Lakes Honda of Fishers because it’s like seven minutes from my house, and I couldn’t have been happier. From easily making an appointment over the phone and being informed that the oil change and general inspection were included, to being asked whether I was waiting or needed a ride somewhere, it was all very easy and convenient. The service advisor I worked with was super upbeat and friendly, and we quickly bonded over our love for old and new Hondas. The waiting room was super comfortable and a good space for my weekly video meeting with my boss, Kyle. Considering I hadn’t set foot in a dealership in years, this was a great experience from beginning to end.
As you would expect from a Honda with 10,000 miles, nothing was wrong with it. It received a full synthetic oil change, an inspection, and the tires were rotated at my request. I didn’t have to pay a thing.
Moving and a Little Towing
I had to move recently, and moving sucks. I’m almost 40, so you won’t catch me carrying big items and loading them into a truck or trailer. But, you’ll catch me doing some minor lifting and moving small-ish things around to save time and a little money with the moving crew. So, I rented a 6×12 open trailer with a fold-down ramp and hauled it around town for about a week. U-Haul claims it weighs 2,300 pounds, which seems a bit high for me, but I guess it’s probably about right.
Once loaded with a bunch of junk, I wouldn’t be shocked if the total weight got close to 3,000, so that’s already over half of its max towing capacity. You felt the weight a bit when you needed to slow down in a hurry, but otherwise the V6 is plenty strong, and along with the 10-speed transmission, it never showed any sign of working more than usual. The soft suspension felt even better with a loaded trailer, making the ride a bit less bouncy than usual.
Towing a bigger, heavier trailer is still in the works for the spring, so stay tuned for an in-depth towing write-up.
More noteworthy than my towing experience is my packing experience with the Passport. I can’t recall how many times over the last six weeks I’ve had to fold the rear seats down to absolutely cram as much shit as possible in it. Heck, even on top of it. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
Email the author at jerry@thedrive.com