Acura Widens ZDX Brake Recall to 14,648 EVs With a Free Software Fix

• Honda filed an expansion of its 2024 Acura ZDX brake recall with NHTSA on November 5, 2026, covering 14,648 all-wheel-drive SUVs.
• A software error in the electronic brake control module can switch on the anti-lock system and release brake pressure, which lengthens stopping distance and raises the risk of a crash.
• The fix is free, by software update over the air or at a dealer, owner letters are expected December 14, 2026, and owners can check a VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or call Acura at 1-800-382-2238.

The Second ZDX Brake Filing Lists 3.5 Times as Many Vehicles as the First

American Honda Motor Co. told NHTSA on November 5, 2026 that 14,648 Acura ZDX SUVs from the 2024 model year carry brake software that can fail. Only all-wheel-drive ZDX models are on the list. The software error can switch on the anti-lock brake system without warning and release brake pressure, and NHTSA’s recall record states the result in one sentence: “A loss of brake pressure may reduce braking ability, extending the distance needed to stop and increasing the risk of a crash.”

The filing is NHTSA campaign 26V735, and Acura’s own number for it is CQC. It expands an earlier recall, 24V614, which Honda filed in August 2024 for 4,174 ZDX SUVs. Set the two filings side by side and the count has grown from 4,174 to 14,648, a factor of 3.5 (14,648 divided by 4,174). The record does not say whether the new count includes the first 4,174 vehicles or adds to them, so owners should not read 14,648 as a fresh batch or as a running total until Acura confirms it for their own vehicle.

The remedy costs owners nothing. Acura will update the electronic brake control module software over the air or at a dealer, and Acura expects to mail owner letters on December 14, 2026, 39 days after Honda’s report to NHTSA. Owners with questions can call Acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238 and give recall number CQC. NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline is 1-888-327-4236, and a VIN search at nhtsa.gov/recalls lists the recalls on a vehicle. NHTSA’s record does not say when the VINs for 26V735 become searchable, so a clean result this week does not clear a ZDX.

What the First ZDX Brake Recall Said in 2024

Honda’s first filing, 24V-614, is the one document in the record that explains the defect in engineering terms. Honda submitted it to NHTSA as a Part 573 safety recall report on August 23, 2024, and it describes a narrow set of conditions. The trouble shows up when a driver brakes below 25 mph on a dry road and the anti-lock system reacts too sensitively. If the system activates falsely and the wheels then move in a specific sequence, the ABS keeps releasing brake pressure. Honda’s stated risk: stopping performance can drop, or the service brakes can become inoperative, which raises the risk of a crash.

The cause sits with the builder. General Motors manufactured the ZDX, and GM told Honda that faulty software in the electronic brake control module causes it, part number 85016031, with General Motors, LLC of Warren, Michigan listed as the component supplier. The chronology in the filing is short. GM informed Honda on July 29, 2024 and Honda began investigating. On August 8, 2024, GM notified NHTSA of a defect in certain 2023 and 2024 Cadillac Lyriq vehicles (campaign 24V-589), and Honda decided the same day to recall. As of that date Honda had received no warranty claims, field reports, or reports of injuries or crashes involving Acura vehicles. On August 22, 2024, Honda found that a number of vehicles had been updated at the factory before shipment.

The first population was set from manufacturing records. Production ran from December 19, 2023 to August 2, 2024, rear-wheel-drive ZDX models were not affected, and Honda put its estimate of vehicles with the defect at 1 percent. On 4,174 vehicles, that estimate works out to about 42 SUVs (4,174 times 0.01 is 41.74). It is Honda’s own figure from August 2024, and nothing saved from 2026 updates it.

The 2024 remedy was the same kind of software update the new filing describes. Owners who had accepted the applicable terms and conditions could take the update wirelessly and skip the dealership, and everyone else could book an Acura dealer. Owners who had already paid for the repair themselves could be eligible for reimbursement under the plan Honda filed with NHTSA. NHTSA’s recall record shows owner letters for the first recall were mailed September 26, 2024.

GM Has Filed Its Own Brake Software Recalls

The ZDX is not the only GM-built EV with a brake module software recall. GM’s August 2024 Lyriq filing, 24V589, covered 21,469 all-wheel-drive Cadillac Lyriq vehicles from the 2023 and 2024 model years, and NHTSA’s record for it carries the same summary as the ZDX’s first recall: the anti-lock system can activate unexpectedly and release brake pressure. GM reported it to NHTSA on August 8, 2024, one week before Honda’s report.

On October 29, 2026, GM filed 26V717 for 67,380 vehicles across four models: the 2023 to 2027 Cadillac Lyriq, the 2025 and 2026 Cadillac Celestiq, the 2024 to 2027 Chevrolet Blazer EV and the 2026 and 2027 Cadillac Vistiq. NHTSA’s record describes a software defect in the brake system control module that can cause a loss of braking under certain driving conditions. The fix is a free software update over the air or at a dealer, and GM also expects its letters on December 14, 2026, the same date as Acura. The full details are in our coverage of GM’s 67,380-vehicle brake recall.

NHTSA’s record for 26V735 names only 24V614 as the recall it expands and does not mention GM’s October filing. Neither company’s summary says what prompted its expansion, and no saved record says whether the two 2026 filings share a cause. The 2024 Part 573 establishes one link: it names GM as the builder of the ZDX and the supplier of the module software. Owners should not assume more than that.

A separate NHTSA action also reaches the ZDX. On August 21, 2026, NHTSA opened investigation EA26006, its engineering stage, into GM’s eBoost brake system, and its opening document says the agency is aware that 2024 to 2026 Acura ZDX and 2024 to 2026 Honda Prologue vehicles were built with this system by GM in a joint venture with Honda. Those vehicles are included in the investigation as peer vehicles. It is an investigation, not a recall, and our report on NHTSA’s probe into GM brake failures lists the models it covers.

Six NHTSA Recalls on One Model Year

NHTSA’s database lists six recall campaigns on the 2024 Acura ZDX dating back to August 2024, and the brake software is both the first and the latest of them.

The brake campaign opened with 24V614 in August 2024. On January 17, 2025, Honda filed 25V018: the front passenger stabilizer bar bracket bolts can work loose and come away from the vehicle, which can damage the high-voltage cables or the EV battery coolant lines and cause a loss of drive power. Dealers inspect and tighten the bolts and repair damaged parts free of charge, and letters went out February 24, 2025. A second stabilizer bar filing, 25V234, followed on April 11, 2025 for bolts that could have been tightened improperly, with letters mailed May 30, 2025.

On February 27, 2026, Honda filed 26V112 for a software error that can fail the instrument panel display and blank the rearview camera in reverse, a recall that also covers the Prologue. Dealers update the radio control module software, and letters were mailed April 22, 2026. On May 15, 2026, Honda filed 26V306 for a rearview camera that can show a distorted or blank image on 2024 and 2025 Prologue models and 2024 ZDX models. Dealers will replace the camera, interim letters went out July 7, 2026, and a second round of letters follows once the remedy is available, which NHTSA’s record puts in late 2026. The brake expansion, 26V735, is the sixth.

Counting from August 2024 to November 2026, the first and last of the six sit 27 months apart. A ZDX owner can hold a camera recall whose remedy is still pending and a brake recall whose letters are due December 14. That is a reason to check each campaign by VIN rather than assume one letter covers the car.

What ZDX Owners Should Do Now

Enter the 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The search shows every open campaign on that vehicle, and a car can carry more than one. Then call Acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238, give recall number CQC, and ask two things the public record leaves open: whether the vehicle sits in the expanded population, and whether an owner who already had the 2024 brake update needs another one.

Owners who have accepted the vehicle’s terms and conditions can take the update wirelessly, which is how the 2024 Part 573 described the over-the-air route. Everyone else books an Acura dealer, and the update is free. Keep any repair receipts: the 2024 filing carried a reimbursement plan for owners who paid for the brake repair themselves, and the record does not say yet whether the same plan applies to the new filing.

Rear-wheel-drive ZDX models were outside the 2024 recall, and the 2026 summary again lists all-wheel-drive vehicles only. Owners of those models still gain from the VIN check: the stabilizer bar, display and camera campaigns carry no all-wheel-drive limit in NHTSA’s summaries. The same goes for Acura owners in other models: a separate Honda power steering recall covers 635,808 Pilots, MDXs and TLXs.

If no letter arrives after December 14, the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 is the federal contact for recall questions. The owner’s job is to give Acura the VIN and ask.

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Sources

• NHTSA: Recall 26V735, 2024 Acura ZDX brake control module software
• NHTSA: Part 573 Safety Recall Report 24V-614
• NHTSA: Recalls for the 2024 Acura ZDX
• The Truth About Cars: Acura ZDX Recall: 14,648 EVs May Dump Brake Pressure

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar