Honda Recalls 635,808 Vehicles Over Steering Software

Honda is recalling 635,808 vehicles in the United States because a software error can switch off electric power steering assist while the vehicle is driving straight. The campaign, listed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as recall 26V721, covers 383,110 Honda Pilots from the 2023 to 2025 model years, 177,100 Acura MDXs from 2022 to 2024 and 75,598 Acura TLXs from 2021 to 2025. Honda estimates that every vehicle in the population carries the faulty software.

The defect sits in a road-condition calculation tied to the Driver Attention Monitor, written by supplier Robert Bosch Automotive Steering of Florence, Kentucky. Under certain conditions the calculation performs a floating-point division with a zero denominator and triggers an internal error. The software was configured to answer that error by disabling power steering assist, which lights the warning indicators in the instrument cluster and leaves the driver with noticeably heavier steering.

Honda's filing says the failure occurs only under certain operating conditions while the vehicle is driving straight. It gives no speed range. Without assist, steering effort rises and controllability can fall, which is why the company treated the fault as a safety defect rather than a nuisance. The 2025 Acura MDX and the 2026 Honda Pilot aren't part of the recall population.

The timeline is the uncomfortable part of the filing. Honda received its first report on November 29, 2021, and more reports arrived between August 2023 and August 2025, but returned parts showed no fault because the error codes had been deleted by the dealer or the supplier. Bosch identified the failure from returned parts on August 22, 2025, Honda reproduced it in December 2025, and the company confirmed in February 2026 that it happens only while driving straight. Honda decided a safety defect existed on October 22, 2026, and filed its report on October 29.

From May 22, 2022 to October 22, 2026, the filing lists 146 warranty claims and one report of injury, with no deaths reported. Those figures cover nearly five years of driving on software that could drop assist without warning. The count is small against 635,808 vehicles, but the failure mode leaves a driver wrestling a heavy wheel at road speed.

Dealers will reprogram the electric power steering control unit with improved software, free of charge. Honda notified dealers around October 30, owner letters are expected to be mailed December 14, 2026, and vehicle identification numbers have been searchable on NHTSA.gov since November 11. Owners can also call Honda customer service at 1-866-784-1870. A driver who feels the steering go heavy alongside a steering warning light shouldn't wait for the letter; the filing's advice, in effect, is to contact a dealer.