Owners have filed 1,045 complaints on the Honda Element, covering 2003–2011. The system named most often is Visibility (274 reports). Worst years by volume: 2003, 2004, 2005; cleanest: 2011, 2010, 2009. 71 reports describe a crash, 9 a fire. On average the car was 6.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Honda Element
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,045 Element complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Visibility 274 Read
Stress crack on windshield, driver side, starting at bottom edge traveling towards the left side of the windshield
Stress crack appeared on windshield directly opposite rear view mirror. Crack begins above area of windshield exposed to outside air, extends straight down for several inches, then veers left several inches and stops. Nothing hit the windshield and there is no impact point along the crack. Iphone camera picture was…
The front passenger window regulator went out. Window dropped down into the door panel
Air Bags 260 Read
I had a minor accident and the airbag's powder, white substance burned my skin
The contact owns a 2011 honda element. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, she had noticed that an extension ladder and debris had landed in the middle of the road. In order to avoid the objects, the contact and the driver behind her attempted to make the same turn at the same time into the right lane…
Crash pushed car off the road. Airbags deployed but did not inflate. Airbags had crude cut out circles at the end of wires. Did someone cut out the bag inflators?..updated 06/25/14 *bf updated 06/30/2014 *js updated 12/30/15
Suspension 99 Read
While driving, without notice at all, the drivers side rear suspension ,wheel, and all the holds it together became dislocated/disassembled from the car while going about 40mph. Upon further investigation, I found the whole frame mount for the rear suspension had completely rotted away and caused this whole issue. NO…
Rear Trailing Arm Rusted Out, Car Can not be repaired per two citified mechanics
Our car, traveling at 40 mph was hit from the side at the left front, airbags deployed, significant damage to the left front. The tire and part of the axle were detached and about 10 feet from the car. The sheriff told us that he has seen this type of car in similar accidents where the tire and axel have detached from…
Electrical System 77 Read
I hit a deer last december and the only reason the insurance company did not total it was because the air bags did not deploy. There was just about $10,000 worth of damage to my car. After waiting a month and a half, traveling 18 hours & spending an extra $200 for travel to go get my car I finally got it back. Also,…
On saturday, september 10, 2011, upon starting the ignition of my 2005 honda element, I noticed smoke emitting from the power window switch on the driver's side door. After hearing some crackling noises from the power window switch, it soon popped into a small fire which went out on it's own, proceeded by more…
The contact owns a 2005 honda element. While the vehicle was parked the contact turned the ignition on and noticed smoke and heard a cracking sound coming from the master power window switch on the front drivers side door. The smoke was followed by a small flame. The fire extinguished on its own and caused the door…
Service Brakes 66 Read
2009 honda element, under 2000 miles after certification suffered a brake failure without warning leading to accident
The contact owns a 2008 honda element. While driving between 35-40 mph he applied pressure to the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. Consequently, he rear-ended the proceeding vehicle. The driver in the other vehicle was transported to the hospital in an ambulance. A police report was filed. The front end of…
The contact owns a 2008 honda element. While driving approximately 15 mph, the contact tried to stop abruptly to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of him; however, he crashed into the rear of the other vehicle when the brakes did not engage. The contact drove the vehicle from the scene. The body damage was repaired by…
Structure 42 Read
On a resent trip to colder climates, where there was still some snow on the ground, while parking in a parking lot, I hit a small patch of snow and slid into a tree. Normally I would expect no damage due to the low speed I was traveling at around 5 mph and car bumpers to protect the vehicle in low speed mishaps.…
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,…
The contact owns a 2010 Honda Element. The contact stated that their mechanic had informed them that the vehicle was severely rusted on the underneath of the vehicle. The contact referenced a recall related to the failure however the recall was for Canada manufactured vehicles. The dealer was made aware however there…
Power Train 35 Read
The contact owns a 2006 honda element. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle rolled away and crashed into another vehicle. The contact mentioned that the key was not in the ignition and there was no one inside the vehicle. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was able to be driven to…
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. The contact stated that while his vehicle was parked in a parking lot, the vehicle independently drifted backwards without warning. Due to the failure, the vehicle collided with another vehicle which resulted in the injury of the occupant inside the other vehicle. The other…
My mother arrived at my home in her element to pick up my children. She was going to drop off some items in the house while my children proceeded to get in the car to get in their car seats. The car rolled backward into the pond and the two children ages 3 and 6 (thank the lord) were rescued alive while the car…
Seats 31 Read
Driver's seat rocks forward and backward while driving - braking rocks forward - accelerating rocks backward. Was rear-ended two days ago and realized that the seat or head restrant would not provide support to prevent injury
After the rear driver's side seat has been disconnected from the floor latch, it will not reconnect, so the seat will not connect to the floor. There's something wrong with either the latch or the bar on the floor that the latch connects to. This happened when the vehicle was stationary and in my driveway
I bought a honda element 2007 in july 2007. Since the purchase I have learned that the front seats do not adjust as in previous models. However, both the quick start manual and the regular manual both indicate visually and in writing that the front seats should adjust forward at about a 10 degree angle for access to…
Element years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 14 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 14 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 19 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 407 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.6 |
| Worst single series | 26 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.9 years |
A model average of 2.6 hides a worst series at 26. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Element?
By complaint volume, 2003, 2004, 2005 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Element years are the cleanest?
2011, 2010, 2009 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Honda Element have?
1,045 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2003–2011. Of those, 71 describe a crash and 9 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.