This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I have a barely 2 month old 2003 Honda Element and at about 2K miles... have suffered a cracked windshield from a very small rock/pebble that should have caused a 8 inch crack. Honda has even issued a service bulletin (tsp #03-028) specifically referring to stress areas within the corner of windshield which in turn would make glass vunerable to any object coming in contact while driving. The dealer blames the crack on the debris and refuses to replace via warranty. Numerous other Element owners throughout country are experiencing the same problem with the new Element.
The front windshield had a crack that started at the bottom /middle and reached upward. Dealership said the crack was caused by road debris. Tsb 03-028 which pertains to faulty windshield construction.
We have a defect in the driver's field of vision which occurred over night. My husband was the last to drive the vehicle and did not notice any pit or star at the time he parked the vehicle. We have less than 1,000 miles on our new 2003 Honda Element and purchased it about two weeks ago. We checked the Honda Element owner's website and found others having the same problem. I am a former auto and home damage insurance adjuster and have some expertise. New glass should not be brittle and should withstand most hail damage I.e. greenhouse glass and windshield glass. I have never had a new windshield with such problems before. I've owned and driven vehicles in excess of 150,000 miles without any problems to the windshield.
Front windshield cracked in lower driver side corner and curved up and over towards center of drivers view. Dealer says rock impact caused collision and will not honor technical service bulletin 03-028 even though my vehicle's identification number is within the tsb call out.
- Vallejo, CA, USA
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Honda Element, model 2003, purchased April 2003, has severe windshield issues. It creeks, pops and taps. Many Honda Element owners report cracked windshields due to a design problem. I cannot go on any long trips for fear our family will be stranded. I have called Honda's dealers and they play as if they don't know. I've called Honda's customer service hotline and, at first, they said they hadn't ever heard of the problem, then after digging in my heals with them, they found a Honda tsb about the problem. They want me to bring my car into the dealership, but admit the dealer may just take it apart and charge me for it. I wrote Honda corporate a month ago and have not received even a form letter reply.
Very small rock chip caused the window to crack all the way up. I didn't hear anything hit the windshield but the dealer said that it was a rock chip and wouldn't fix it under warranty. The window cracked immediately - didn't even have time to see about getting the chip fixed. If the window cracks this easily I'm afraid to see what would happen in a crash!!! see hondaelement.org - lots and lots of complaints about the windshield. Honda needs to address this problem!!!! this is the first Honda I've owned. Would think twice about buying another one.
A six-inch crack seemed to spontaneouisly appear one morning in the windshield of our 2003 Element dx. We made an appointment and specified that we didn't want it fixed unless it was covered under warranty, we soon received a call informing us that there was a pebble that hit the windshield under the hood, and since there was an impact, it was not covered under our warranty. The point of impact is so miniscule it is ridiculous. We still haven't had it fixed, it's not growing very much, and we won't fix it until Honda owns up to the defect and replaces the windshield at their expense.
Due to defective manufacturer(Honda) safety related product, this new Honda Element has had two windshield failures in just 750 miles on the odometer due to cracks because of defective Honda windshield materials and basic defective Honda design & engineering of the windshield mounting and installation. The windshield failures on my Element happened on June, 3, 2003, at 140 odometer mileage, and July 9, 2003 at 748 odometer reading. Honda will not pay for the repairs. Total cost for both added up to $1047. Honda is being allowed to continue to produce and sell a vehicle, for which they are aware contains a basic safety related design and engineering flaw, and for which they are making customers pay for all repairs and related expenses, ie, rental cars, because the Honda windshields are in such demand and are backordered because of the number of failures. If all the Honda Element owners who have had defective windshield failures had filed complaint forms with the NHTSA, the number of complaints would be overwhelming, surely in the thousands. There are many posts on web sites, ie, edmunds.com, elementownersclub.com, plus others. The NHTSA has a responsibility to stop Honda from furthur sales of the Honda Element to unsuspecting buyers, because such a sale is a violation of federal laws governing sale of a product with a designed-in safety defect and not informing the customer of the defect. Such a sale also constitutes fraud, for misrepresenting a product as safe and without defects, when the manufacturer and seller are completely aware of the defects. Additionally, Honda must be made to reimburse Element owners who have had to pay for windshield replacements. Honda is profiting in the billions of dollars at customer expense and unawareness of the existense of the windshield defects. Honda is profiting not only on the sales of the Element, but on the sales of windshields, windshield mounting parts, windshield installations labor and rental cars.
The windshields on the 2003 Honda Element's are faulty, they crack with litte or no impact, many people are complaining. A pebble, and I mean "pebble" tapped my windshield on August 24th and instantly I had an eleven inch crack. I've had 6 cars do date in my life, and with all 6 I've had rocks strike the windshield at on toime or another leaving nothing, or at most a star that can be fixed by a rock chip repair facility. The windshield appears to be under undo stress and that is exactly what these cracks appear to be, .. stress fractures. Honda addmits to having a "tsb" issued for the windshields claiming an "uneaven flange surface" causing the cracks, however Honda claims if it is evedent that something has struck your windshield leaving a "impact point" regardless of that impacts size you are at fault. The problem with this is anything that hits this glass can cause it to break regardless of it's size because of this "uneaven flange surface" ! Honda has a known issue with their vehicle and they aren't owning up to this !
Cracked windshield: I bought 6 days ago a brand new 2003 Honda Element ex 2wd SUV. It still hs less than 400 miles on it. Today it developed a spontanesous 5 inch crack on the windshield. The crack starts at the windoshield edge on the driver side and extends towards the center at about eye level. Tthis is a persistent ongoing problem with the 2003 Honda Element windshields. There are many posts with similar complaint to mine especially at the www.elementownersclub.com/forums/index.php "exterior" website. A class-action lawsuit against Honda is beimg considered.
My windshield has a tiny 1mm spot where a tiny pebble must have hit it and from that I now have a 18" crack stretching from the lower left hand corner to the center of the windshield. I'm certain that the tiny spot would not have spread into that size of a crack if there wasn't so much stress placed on the windshield by the "uneven windshield flange surface" that Honda itself admits to on their service bulletin 03-028. My Element VIN #falls into the range on the service bulletin but Honda will not cover it because of the impact that started the crack. I've had rocks hit other vehicles I've owned and they have never spread into a crack, much less one this size. If Honda Element owners have to replace their windshield everytime a pebble hits it, our insurance companies will end up raising our rates. Honda needs to come to a resolution to this problem.
This is a 2003 Honda Element, purchased May 22nd, 2003. The mileage is now 752 miles.I am currently in the process of having the windshield replaced for the second time. The first replacement was at 150 miles on the odometer. Both were because of damage from small stone chips that would not normally damage the glass on most other vehicles. The 733 miles I have driven this car was on paved urban local roads at speeds between 35 and 50 mph. It appears to me that one of, or both of, the following, could be responsible factors: A) the windshield glass is possibly thinner and mor fragile than others. B) the aerodynamics of this vehicle possibly causes a higher rate of debris hits to the windshield area than other vehicles. Whatever the cause, I would consider it a safety issue warranting investigation. Additionally, if the trend were to continue, requiring windshield replacements, who could afford the maintenance on this vehicle?
Defective windshield is now cracking. The dealer, classic Honda, refuses to correct the problem, stating that the manufacturer, Honda, does not warranty glass. I have filed a complaint with the manufacturer, american Honda, case # N01200-06-0401190. The vehicle is a new 2003 Honda Element. The odometer reading is 147 miles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Atlanta, GA, USA