Problems with 2003 Honda Element STRUCTURE

I have replaced everything possible that would control the headlights. as i drive or after the car heats up while parked, whether on dim or bright the lights dim and brighten themselves causing it hard to see sometimes. i myself and other people that have talked about this online are having problems with the key fob. it stopped working and then it starts working again but the driver door lock wont work after that. *tr

Both door locks (driver and passenger) are jammed. at times the key goes in and others it doesn't but do not turn. i have two keys and neither of them open either door. i have to enter through the back door, climb over the back seats to get to the driver's seat. this appears to be an issue with many honda elements made in 2003. i have read many reviews and see that many people have this same issue. i have back problems and cannot be climbing in through the back of my car to open the driver side door to enter my car. i think honda should be responsible for replacing these locks. *tr

I was traveling north on nc hwy 12 on my way to work, alone, and i rear ended another vehicle traveling between 35-40 mph, when i glanced down to scratch my leg and when i glanced back down, the car in front of me was at a dead stop and i rear ended it. my passenger airbag deployed, however i had no passenger with me, my drivers side airbag failed. luckily i was wearing my seatbelt and only received minor injuries. *tr

Drivers side door would not open with key. had to use passenger's side. since that time, all of the door keys (including back) have become difficult to open. have to move key up and down to get it to slide in. now the ignition is also becoming problematic. *tr

I pulled the hood release latch and it broke. it almost hit me in the left eye. *tr

The drivers side and passenger side door locks will freeze up and not allow the keys to be removed. this keeps the car from being able to be locked. honda will not honor a warranty or recall on this item they charge $250.00 per door to fix the problem. this happened to both the drivers side and passengers side doors, and is a very common complaint among honda element owners. *tr

Like many others, driver side door key was difficult to insert. then it inserted and was unable to turn; despite greasing lock. now using passenger side door lock. i am hoping this does not get stuck on me too like it has happened with many others. lock costs ~$33 on ebay and $55 from dealer, but this does not include installation and it lock will have a separate key. i was quoted around $350-375 to have a matching lock installed. i am worried to even do this because it sounds like it is a recurring problem even after replacement. this needs to be made a recall. *tr

Windshield leaked water, dealership refused to fix. windshield cracked and was cited by police officer for not fixing, dealership refused to fix. upon replacement the repair guys just laughed and said that that glass was seated improperly and asked who had replaced it. i responded that it was the original, they told me not to buy any more hondas. key would no longer work in the driver side door. replaced something at dealership for $800 as well as the driver side window as it stopped moving due to the motor dying at around 60,000 miles. now the keys don't work in the passenger side of vehicle nor does the window. in another incident the vehicle failed to stop after fully depressing the brake when traveling about 5-10 mph and drifting into another vehicle causing moderate damage. honda has not responded to any inquires made by consumer. nor has dealership. i still owe 10,000 dollars on this car, have spent over 3000 in repairs and at this point want to drive it into a tree at a high speed. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda element. while parked, the contact inserted the key into the front driver's side door to unlock the door but the key would not turn. the contact unlocked the front passenger side door and entered the vehicle. after some time, the front passenger side door failed to unlock intermittently. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 55,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda element. the contact stated that the vehicle would not recognize the key remote unlock feature. in addition, the key would not unlock the driver side door even when it was manually inserted. in order to unlock the driver's door, the passenger door had to be unlocked to get to the driver's door inside the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing, but the results were not provided. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 185,000.

Crack formed on the lower driver side of my 2003 honda element with no sign of impact. the vehicle was parked. *tr

1. honda element windshield spontaneously cracked and repaired at my cost 2. passenger side window spontaneously imploded on 7/18/05. glass hit my son the driver and covered passenger seat. 3. honda tells me over $300.00 repair bill is my problem

I have a honda element with windshield that consistently cracks. i have the 5th cracked windshield on my car and ive had this car just 2 years now. this is not normal. i have had many other cars that could sustain road conditions and have never raplaced a windshield this often. this windshield cracks upon an immediate impact of a rock, and always comes out of one of the lower corners. i believe that there is defect in the framing of the windshield and honda as well as the dealerships wont do anything for me unless i pay. i have replaced the windshields 4 times through insurance because honda will not accept insurance claims. due to that fact i have to use the company that my insurance co. sends to me. i assume geico ins. co. does not use glass companys that use faulty glass, as i was told by the honda dealership. i believe that honda should assess the framing of the windshield free of charge to determine the problem. there have been windshield recals fro 2003 elements and honda states that my 2003 vehicle is not one of them. i find it too coincidental that i am having such similar problems. the incident date listed below just indicattes the date of the most recent crack after just being replaced to pass nys inspection on 2-23-05.*ak

The consumer has had consistent problems with the vehicle's factory installed horn and alarm. *nm the dealer was unable to remedy the communication system. other problems were; the bumper cover would pop out intermittently, the right side corner piece was loose, the horn sound was abnormal and anti-freeze was leaking. *sc

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

Problems with windshield, cd player, horn and alarm.*mr the windshield cracked after a small piece of debris hit it. the cd player stopped working after it had been playing for 5 hours. the right side bumper fell off. *nm

Leased this vehicle may 27, 2003. rattles, popping noises at windshield area. popping noise at driver's side pillar. had windshield replaced, framework welded, dashboard removed twice, foam installed, and windshield molding replaced. pillar adjusted. noises continue. very fearful when driving this vehicle knowing that frame has been repaired and there are problems with the windshield. the noises are distracting. honda service tech, service manager,and factory representative heard all sounds. honda willing to attempt pillar repair only. *la

We purchased a honda element and within 6 hours i foolishly rear-ended a vechicle from a complete stop at a traffic signal when the light turned green. it was a very low speed (3-5 mph maximum) collision however the subsequent damage was astounding, my element basically does not seem to have any front bumper support, rather appears to have two beams protruding from the front of the car, that look like they should have something horizontal between them but they do not. one of the beams impaled the car ahead of me stabbing thru its bumper into the vehicle slightly bending the metal below the bumper. my element ended up with $1786.00 in damage. the plastic bumper cover (that has no bumper support beneath it) shattered and the single point impact allowed my car to somehow destroy the condenser, radiater, and frame that supports the condenser. i have involved honda of my concerns and they are telling me that the element is designed to not have a horizontal bumper support in the front of the car. my question remains how is the vehicle engineered to be safe if there is not supposed to be anything there to distribute the force in the case of a higher-than-3-5mph collision? i noticed that you have released steller front collision ratings on this vehicle, it would help me tremendosly if you could confirm that this particular design makes sense. i am currently too nervous to drive the vehicle and have left it (repaired back to it's original no bumper support form) at the dealership. please oh please oh please respond so we can put this behind us and move on. we do have photos on disc if that would help my words make sense. thank you so much, diane munizza goodnight. *jb