2022 Honda Passport Price Jumps as Base Model Cut

On paper, Honda just raised the price of the 2022 Passport midsize SUV by an eye-popping $5,080. But the increase is mostly a technicality.

What Honda actually did was eliminate the base model Passport, which wasn’t selling well. The Passport trim levels most people buy have seen a much humbler price increase.

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Bolder Look

Honda has begun sending each of its SUVs and pickups in for dramatic makeovers in recent years. They come out looking bigger, tougher, and boxier, even if sometimes very little mechanically changes in the process.

For 2022, it’s the Passport’s turn. The design is entirely new from the windshield forward. A larger, more upright grille remakes the SUV’s appearance completely. A more squared-off hood with what Honda calls a “pronounced power bulge” and front fenders with squared-off character lines complete the more muscular look. In back, larger exhaust tips emphasize the bigger-is-better theme.

Inside, tweaks are less dramatic. A more upright dashboard and larger instrument cluster add a bit to the rugged theme.  There are no mechanical changes to report.

Shuffled Trim Levels

There are, however, significant changes to the trim structure.

The entry-level Sport trim is gone. That makes the EX-L the new base trim. At $37,870, the 2022 Passport EX-L is $1,060 more than the 2021’s EX-L model. But it’s $5,080 more than last year’s base model. Honda says it eliminated the lowest trim because most buyers were stepping up to the EX-L to begin with. So, the change makes the Passport appear much more expensive. But, in practice, prices haven’t gone up by the full amount for most buyers.

The mid-level Touring trim also disappears. In its place is the new Passport TrailSport – an off-road-oriented trim with a slightly wider track, grippier off-road tires, standard torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive, and a traction management system.

Pricing:

Honda also requires a $1,225 destination charge on all Passports.

Class of 2022: All the New and Redesigned Cars, Trucks and, SUVs