Problems with 2003 Honda Element VISIBILITY

My 2003 element developed a crack in the lower right hand corner approximately 1 year after i bought it new (i can't remember the date exactly). *jb

I bought a 2003 honda element in december of 2003. a few days after picking up the brand new car, i discovered a 4" crack on my windshield. the cracked started from a very small pinpoint speck on the right side of the windshield in the black area. i contacted the dealer, but they said it's not covered by warranty since the crack was caused by road debris, regardless of how small that debris may be. two months after that, i discovered a 3" crack on the left side of the windshield. again, the cracked started with a pinpoint on the black area of the windshield. i called the windshield experts in my area, who informed me that they've been replacing an overwhelming number of windshields on honda elements. armed with this information, i contacted honda customer relations. the representative denied any issues with windshields on the elements and refused to provide information on whether they have received similar complaints. the most she could do was submit a complaint on my behalf (complaint number n012004-04-2100773). windshields are expensive to replace and honda needs to own up to this prevalent problem with the windshields on the elements. they need to provide a solution.*ak

Windshield cracked. i don't know how this happen because the day it happen i had been in my car all day long. i never heard anything hit the windshield or anything. when i discovered the crack, i was totally surprise because there was nothing i could pinpoint that cause it to crack. i have not repaired it yet b/c i am hoping honda will do a recall of these windshields!! *ak

Stress crack appeared after nothing hit the windshield. crack starts below the drivers side winshield wiper and curves towards the center of the windshield, stopping about 15" later. service manager at honda calls a hole the size of a pin head just above the wiper a "point of impact." how can a rock ever hit there?

A crack appeared on the front windshield, at the top driver side. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

2003 honda element - windshield cracks due to apparent design flaw. *ak

Windshield cracked without an impact in it's lower part. knowing that this is a widespread issue with this model, i would like to see it resolved, since this is a really nice vehicle otherwise.*ak

Morning: parked vehicle outside in low temperatures. sun came out during day and when i returned to vehicle in the afternoon there was a 5 inch crack that started in lower passenger side of front windshield. no impact to windshield.

Windshield cracked in two spot on driver side during high winds. had a glass repair shop fix the cracks, but one has continued to spread across the windshield. design/angle of windshield is at issue as the windshield has 4 "star" fractures as well as the cracks in the 16 months we have owned this vehicle. *jb

Driving 70 mph on interstate 65 degree clear condiditons driver side rear window shattered

Crack in windshield on 2003 honda element after owning for only 1 month. rack only appeared no obvious impact from rock or other objects. *ak

Windshield cracked at 6901 miles when there were no other automobiles on the interstate highway when it occurred. now at 7101 miles we have a 12 inch crack starting from the side of the windscreen on the passenger side. appears to be due to the windshield design and stress on the glass. *jb

Less than three thousand miles into owning the vehicle consumer noticed a crack in the windshield. dealer insisted that the crack came from a rock, and the insurance company could not confirm the allegation. dealer replaced the windshield, but the new windshield had a crack also. *ak

The rear driver's side window shattered while driving approximately 70 mph. nothing had hit the window. will be taking vehicle to mechanic for replacement.*ak

On friday march 12, 2004 i went to lunch and returned to my car three hours later to go home for the day. upon entering my honda element i noticed a crack in my windshield that was not there three hours earlier when i had gone to lunch. honda issued a service bulletin back in may 2003 for the 2003 element in certian vin #'s (of which my element falls in) about stress from the flange on the windshield causing it to crack. upon taking my element to stephen vincel honda in ellisville, mo for inspection they have claimed that it was hit by a rock that caused it to crack. this is the second windshield i will have to replace in an 8 month time frame. the first was caused by a rock thrown from a semi, the second was supposed to have been caused by a rock (according to honda). i am dissapointed and angered that honda has admitted a problem and issued a service bulletin, yet refuses to correct the problem. i am angred that due to either poor quality materials or poor design i am forced to present another claim to my insurance when honda should be correcting their own mistakes. *ak

Spontaneous strees crack in lower right corner of windsheild. no chipping or other damage from road debris.

Pin-prick size rock impact resulted in a 12 inch crack in 24 hours. other honda models as well as other manufactures do have this problem. compare the number of visiblity complaints with the element to other makes and models. *ak *tr

Windshield cracks very easily. while driving on the freeway (no surrounding traffic) we heard a pop an a crack appeared just to the left of the rearview mirror, originating from the top of the windshield. the crack has now grown to about 6".*ak upon further inspection i cannot locate any point of impact. it appears that this is simply a stress crack.

2003 honda element ex 4wd - windsheild cracked at approx 6000 miles. no sign of impact. crack originated on driver's side of windshield. *ak

Windshield crack number 2. *la

Cracked windshield origniating from bottom of passenger side. approximately 10 inches from the right side of the vehicle. small pit (sand size) visible.*ak

Drove vehicle home saturday night no problem. sunday morning discovered 8 inch crack in windshield originating under driver side windshild wiper and traveling upwards to the left. dealer claims it is an impact crack not covered under warrenty, but i am sure there was no impact saturday night. i have read on the internet of others having this identical problem.*ak

Starting back in february 2004, my windshield has been cracking for no apparent reason. on 4/3/04, i had my 5th windshield installed due to a microscopic 'impact' right underneath the wiper blade. four cracks in the exact same location is far more then coincidence. *jb

2003 honda element windshield cracked three times within 12,000 miles. first crack appeared on passenger's side, starting from lower edge approximately centered with wiper blade straight up six inches with a sharp turn to the right. went to dealer for replacement (metro honda, johnston ri) representative said crack was caused by stone or foreign object and was not covered by warranty. there was no sign of impact. representative under close inspection found the smallest spec within crack. it is tiny, i'd say the size of a grain of salt. about three weeks later the second crack appeared starting from the lower edge of the drivers side, directly centered with the wiper blade. after close inspection, i found an identical salt grain size spec within the crack. this was not caused by impact! i knew this windshield was defected. that's when i started doing some research and discovered this is an on going problem with many if not thousands of element owners. the third crack appeared about two weeks after the second, this time it appears a rock did cause the crack. located on the driver's side left edge continuing straight across to the right. the impact was slight, leaving a round mark the size of a pea. i read hundreds of complaints, there all the same. there' s huge problem and something must be done. does honda expect me to get a new windshield with every oil change? please look into this as soon as possible. it's wrong and honda needs to not only acknowledge the problem, but to rectify it. people, don't just read about it, submit a complaint. *jb

Defect in windshield on 2003 honda element. crack appears in bottom middle of windshield and then moves upward and the across towards the passenger side.*ak honda dealer said it was a rock impact, however, it is not pitted.

Defective windshield. these were actually two events in february, 2004. about 2-3 weeks apart. both involve what appear to be stress fractures of windshield. each emanates from the very bottom of windshield below the wiper cowl on outer windshield. both rise directly vertical upward about three inches then veer toward side pillars. both near center of windshield. first one was towards passeger side and veered to passenger pillar. second one was towards driver side and veered to driver pillar. dealer claims tiny fleck in each line near bottom of windshield and behind wiper arm mechanism/blade is rock hit and is cause and will not warranty. both of these happenned in the mountains during freezing temperatures. i suspected that windhield washer fluid was collecting between the outer wiper cowl and base of winshield and freezing/expanding and causing fracture lines. no "star" effect normally associated with rockhits. my second suspicion is that the curve in the lower windhield is in opposition to the staightness of the upper windhield and causing stress on bottom of windshield. if those are rock hits at the bottom (and not flakeage from the effect of the cracks) they should have never cause these significant fracture lines or any crack at all. in fact i never heard a rock hit and the second crack happenned while my vehicle was parked in a ski area parking lot and the crack was not there when i parked the car but was fully 8-12 inches long when i returned. honda has either a defective design or perhaps that urethane rimming the window has something to do with it. either way they need to warranty lifetime free glass replacement or fix this defect. this is likely to happen again after i replace this windshield. compel honda to rectify this matter please.*ak

My windshield cracked as explained in the service bulletin 03-028. i know two other element owners that have the same problem. i hear service representatives for honda are lying about the damage to their customers maybe at honda's direction. will this have to turn into a class action lawsuit for honda to take care of its customers? i'm taking mine in this friday 7/30/2004, i hope my dealer will be honest about this. i plan to follow up with the results next week.*ak

I have a 2003 element. i have had two broken windows already. the most recent documented below. *ak

Element bought july 2003. i drive alot of highway miles, allready 28,000 miles. i have probably drove close to 800,000 miles in my 25 years of driving. once that i know off did a windshield crack.....maybe twice. i have four incidents of rock chips allready. one of the cracks spans the width of the window. as a statistical manager for my job, there was obviously a purchasing mess up with sub-standard glass quality. there has to be a recall on this windshield to an upgraded quality of glass. it is not so much the safety factor as it is the $500 replacement and insurance costs. somebody made a major mistake in a vendor and most likely is not supplying windshields to honda anymore and is probably out of business or changed their name for liability sake. this issue will not go away!! *ak

A crack developed in the passenger's side lower corner at the base behind the windshield wiper that eventually spread up 8 inches and across 8 inches and back down to the base. there was never any type of evidence of any type of rock chipping or damage. i took the vehicle in to my local dealership, and they assured me that it would be covered under warranty to replace the windshield. the day it was to be replaced they called and said there was a problem. now there is evidence of some magic "rock chip" and they went ahead and installed the new windshield anyway without my consent. now they want their $553.00. go figure. i also want to mention that this is the third such crack in under 7 months of owning my honda element. my vin falls under the honda service bulletin # 03-028 as having the defective windshield as well. it's all a scam! they want you to claim it on your insurance so they do not have to pay for all of these repairs. then they try to hold your vehicle hostage if you don't pay them immediately. something needs to be done about these gestapo tactics. they knowingly sold me a defective vehicle, and now they want to pass the buck to whomever will pay excluding themselves. *jb

Windshied broke for no apparrent reason while riding with my wife, nice weather, no traffic windshield made a loud popping noise and then we both watched as the crack spread from just below the passenger side wiper arm upward about 12". *ak

Windshield cracked while driving on highway. this was on a new vehicle. *jb

7 windshield replacements so far since purchase date on 12/10/2003. the first 2 replacements were done by the huntington honda dealership. the other 5 replacements were done by safelite. the most recent replacement was done on april 13, 2005. *ak

Cracked windshield.....again. 2nd cracked windshield in two months. told this was impact damage from dealer. dealer pointed out microscopic "chip" at the seal line. 20+ years of driving never had a cracked windshield now have two. *jb

While sitting in a hospital parking ramp my windshield started cracking and spread until it went from directly in front of the driver at the bottom of the glass up about four inches and across to the passenger side and back down to the bottom of the glass. between my wife and myself we have owned close to twenty vehicles and never had anything like this happen. *jb

On 1/24/04, i noticed a crack in my windshield while parked. the crack is in the lower right portion of the windshield, beginning approximately 4 inches from the bottom, extends 2 inches toward the center of the windshield, then makes a 90 degree bend straight down to the bottom. i took my vehicle to the dealer based on the tsb regarding the improper installation of windshields on '03 honda elements. the improper installation creates undue stress that results in cracking. the service manager identified a pinhead size impact mark under the side molding strip that he says caused the damage. even with the tsb that i believe caused the crack to spread beyond repair, the dealer refuses to replace the glass and repair the defect under warranty.*ak

12-inch crack in windshield originating from driver's side cowl branching upwards. a copy of honda tsb 03-028, indicating that the windshield may crack in the lower corners, was shown to the dealer's service department. they were unaware of the tsb and stated that a grain-sized "pit" in the glass under the wiper blade was the cause of the crack. as my auto falls within the vin # range of affected vehicles, this would indicate that my suv is suceptible to windshield cracking. i can understand if a large rock caused the damage, but the "pit" in the windshield was no larger than the period at the end of this sentence. this windshield appears weaker than the industry norm and cannot handle even minute stresses. honda needs to resolve this issue, not keep having their customers continually pay for new windshields.*ak

I purchased a 2003 honda element in oct-03 and currently have 4400 miles on the vehicle. on 1-24-04 a very small pebble "nicked" my windshield ( no star) at the base ( just under the drivers side windshield wiper blade) causing a windshield crack that has grown to about 12 inches in length. i have driven vehicles over 35 years and have never had this experience with such a minor pebble hit. i checked the honda website - see tech advisory( 03-028) but honda authorizations are only for windshield cracked without any type of impact. i don't buy honda's explanation. glass stress is just that & stress on glass that is not properly installed, fitted, or designed will lead to cracks from minor impacts at a higher rate. i visited the http://www.hondaelement.org/showthread.php website and noted that 25 to 30 % of new element owner complaints had to do with cracked windshields. in some cases owner had already replaced their windshields twice ($500.00 a pop). honda's current policy is to side step the problem. this is unacceptable. this is a brand new vehicle and honda has a responsibility to step up and work to solve the problem. i am also greatly concerned about having the windshield replaced before the problem is identified and solved. there are also a number of problems reported on the web site noted above regarding problems with improper installation/fit of new windshields (several attempts, persistent rattles, & cracks) after replacement. if honda isn't going to step up - someone ( hopefully nhtsa) will. accordingly, i am surprised at honda's "head in the sand" attitude about this issue. i would like to receive feedback from nhtsa on the evolution of this problem if that is within your policy. *jb

Sand cracked windshield bottom passenger side corner. *ak

After a lot of complaining, to several dealers and honda customer service, i finally had my windshield replaced after a 12" crack appeared from underneath the driver's side wiper blade one night in june 03. it took until december 03 to get this issue resolved. honda customer service (800 number) was terrible and after a while they just kept repeating the same things over and over again. my dealership stepped up after i complained to the sales manager and let him know how many people ask about the car and exactly what i was going to start telling them-that we were getting treated poorly by honda. they replaced it under "goodwill". a few weeks ago there was a small ding in the center of the windshield, no star, and we turned on the defrost and the windshield cracked from corner to corner before our eyes. dealer claims this is totally normal behavior for a windshield. i let state farm know what was going on and they're looking into it. we are really disappointed--no, irate--with honda, and not afraid to talk about it until the problem is taken care of for good.*ak

Consumer had windshield replaced on four occasions, because it made a howling noise. *ts the company that replaced the windshield blamed the manufacturer for not fixing a bad weld. the manufacturer claimed the consumers model was prone to breakage because of the vertical position when struck by even the slightest impact within the black area on the outside edge of the glass, however the consumer disagreed with that theory, stating there had been other vehicle down through the years that had this type of windshield positioning without excessive windshield breakage. *jb

I have a 2003 honda element. it has approximately 2400 miles on it. my windshield has a crack, approximately 6 inches long, that began under the passenger side windshield wiper and curls to the right. *cb

Cracked windshield twice in 6 months time

Windshield on 2003 honda element found in garage with a crack near the bottom corner on the drivers side. the honda dealer and regional service manager refused to replace the windshield under warranty even though there was no damage from any impact. this has become a growing problem with many of these vehicles which honda has thusfar not taken care of. *jb

Unexplained passenger side windshield cracked, no impact apparent. was about 8" the first day, continues to grow.*ak

Windshield has a stress crack in the bottom right corner. manufacturer has agreed to fix the problem without cost to the owner. *ak due to malfunctioning and improperly finished rivets in the lower section of the window frame. *sc

Consumer stated in last past three months dealer had replaced windshield twice. *ak consumer telephoned odi and reported that the lower-right corner of the windshield on the vehicle has a crack in it. third time this problem has occurred. *mjj (04-20-2005)

Windshield cracked in lower right corner. *la

The windshield chips very easily. we incurred three chips in just one day, one of which quickly turned into a twelve inch crack.

I just bought a honda element 2003 in october '03. the windshield has cracked twice. the crack goes from the bottom and spreads in the line of my driving vision. there is a flaw in the manufacturing; however, the dealer and honda says that only the early models has this problem and mine doesn't. i disagree. i suggest no one buy a honda element 'cause they are not fixing this problem.