2010 Honda Element problems
NHTSA has received 39 complaints about the 2010 Honda Element, and 18% of them involve air bags. After that come suspension (15%) and brakes (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 39 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 46,000 miles 19 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 | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 19 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 46,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Honda Element with enough data (17 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 10 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.
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 updated 06/30/2014 updated 12/30/15
Tl* takata recall. The contact owned a 2010 honda element. While driving approximately 20 MPH, a second vehicle crashed into the front driver's side of the contact's vehicle. The side curtain air bags failed to deploy. The driver and rear driver side occupant sustained multiple lacerations to the face and neck. The contact indicated that the injuries were caused by debris from the air bag deploying. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. A police report was filed. The cause of the failure was not determined.
2/27/10 purchased new honda element, delivered with windshield chips, dealer subcontracted. New windshield install & gave guarantee of customer satisfaction. Took delivery 3/8/10, noted excessive dash/windshield rattle. Called dealer next day-was asked to 'monitor through summer mos. As rattle would 'settle'. It only got worse. Contacted dealer several times over summer & was assured if problem persisted they would 'stand behind it until it was done right'. Returned.
I was mowing my lawn when the lawn-mower kicked up a small (less than 1.5 cm diameter) pebble and threw it into the rear window. The entire window shattered, the sides fell out, the middle cracked all the way across. You could see a small white area(size of a dime) where the impact was, it was nowhere near where the glass fell out. Then about 1 hour later the entire window fell out. Normal glass should have been able to withstand, perhaps chip or crack, but not blow out the entire window. This was defective glass.
When using my directionals the high beams flash on then off by themselves. Progressively getting worse. Unsafe for other vehicles in front of me.