2004 Honda Element problems
NHTSA has received 329 complaints about the 2004 Honda Element, and 33% of them involve wipers, windshield & visibility. After that come air bags (22%) and seats (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 329 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 20 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 25 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 60,000 miles 210 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 65 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 23 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 15 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 22 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 19 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 25 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 10 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 10 |
What the data shows
Among the 210 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 60,000 miles. For wipers, windshield & visibility specifically, the median reported mileage is about 10,000 miles (70 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 20 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 25 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Honda Element with enough data (181 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 9 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
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 quickly sank. When the car was pulled from the pond it was in neutral and the keys were on the floor.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 honda element. The contact stated that a vehicle crashed into the rear of the vehicle, causing the contact to crash into a preceding vehicle. The front driver side seat belt did not restrain the contact and caused the contact to be injured. A passenger was also reported injured. In addition, the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was destroyed and was not inspected to for the seat belt and air bag failures. The failure and the current mileage was 108,000.
I own a 2004 honda element. As with thousands of others, I have a stress crack in the windshield with no discernible cause. Honda refuses to fix the problem. The vehicle was not in accident nor is there a road stone incident. The crack goes from just under the left side windshield wiper, up and to the left to the side of the windshield. It has a vertical component of approx. 6 inches and then a horizontal component of 3 inches. The crack cannot be felt on the inside or outside of the windshield.
I have a 2004 honda element. I noticed for the past two years every time that I fill the tank completely, I smell strong gasoline fumes until I use about 4 or 5 gallons. I failed a chattanooga, tn emissions check. They said that I have a leak in the fuel tank. I noticed the web that others have reported leaks at the top of the fuel tank near the filler cap for the same model year. Can you issue a safety recall? The vehicle is garage kept.