Hi Everyone. I have a problem with my Element, and I am hoping to get some advice from this forum.

I live in Boston, and I got my Element in February. I love the car, and as of yesterday I have put 2300 miles on it.

Yesterday (Friday,4/25), I had to take a business trip to meet with a client in Connecticut. About 2 ˝ hours into the trip, I noticed a “pissy” smell in the car, and minutes later the check engine light came on. Within 5 minutes there was a lot of smoke and/or steam coming from under the hood, I pulled over at the next exit ( I was on I-95, and there was no safe shoulder to stop on). I popped the hood open to find that there was coolant splattered all over the engine compartment. There was also a white jelly like substance. A hose was blown off the radiator near the cap; I do not know if this was a cause or an effect of the problem.

I called Honda National, and was given the name of a local dealer in Milford CT, and I arranges to have the car towed to their service department. The service manager was great, and assured me they would take care of everything. The reaction I got from the mechanics was pretty funny...they could not believe that there was an Element with a problem in the shop. They said on first look that there was no coolant in the sytem. They set me up with a rental car, and I proceeded to my meeting, 1 ˝ hours late.

Later in the afternoon, I spoke with the service manager, who told me that “something strange is going on” with the car, and They would need to keep it over the weekend. I drove the rental car back to Boston that evening.

So now it is Saturday morning, and I am wondering how things are going to go next week. I am in Boston driving a rental car, and my car is at a Honda dealer in CT. I really can not afford to take a day off from work to drive there and pick up my car and drop off the rental. Here are some questions I have that I would like some thoughts on:

Should I expect or demand that my local Honda dealer (from whom I bought the car) drive the rental back and pick up the Element for me when it has been repaired?

Should I expect Honda to cover the expense of the tow and the loaner car?

Should I be worried about the Element and any long term damage the incident may of had on the car?

Is there anything else I should be concerned about?

thanks for your thoughts.

You might consider posting this in the "Ask the Dealer" subforum too.

Yes, I think someone should be responsible for your expenses, being as you just bought this vehicle a couple of months ago and had to experience this huge inconvenience. You may want to talk to the dealer that you bought the car from first, then if they don't offer to pay, I would contact Honda directly. Sorry this happened to you, let us know what was the cause when you find out.

it sounds like more than just a hose since you said something about a white jelly! this is somthing you would see if oil entered in to the coolant, suggesting a blown head gasket, cracked head, or block! but Im sure honda will take care of it since these would all be warranty items!!

Towing and rental is typically as additional cost on an "Extended Warranty" plan. The dealer I used offered it to me, but I passed. Hey, it's a HONDA, right? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Sorry you had to find out.

well, you are right, it was a blown head gasket. at 2300 miles !!

I am still waiting to find out what caused it.

I thought this was not suppose to happen to Hondas!

[quote:deb0a5e654="alball"]well, you are right, it was a blown head gasket. at 2300 miles !!

I am still waiting to find out what caused it.

I thought this was not suppose to happen to Hondas![/quote:deb0a5e654]

It usually doesn't.

Honda has sold more than 20,000 Elements already and yours is the first blown head gasket I've seen reported anywhere.

Since AFAIK less than .002% of all Elements have had the issue currently that's a 99.998% reliability rate on the head gasket.

Not too shabby unless there's a few hundred people out there who are having the problem and are not reporting it on boards like this. :D

Remind the dealer that there is opportunity in crisis. Remind him that he (and Honda) have the opportunity to make a loyal customer out of you for doing the right things right now.

Good luck.

[quote:93e3253829="alball"]The reaction I got from the mechanics was pretty funny...they could not believe that there was an Element with a problem in the shop.[/quote:93e3253829]

Actually, on the day that I picked up my EX from the dealer, there was an identical SOP EX up on the lift in the service bay! That made me a bit nervous. Close to 1000 mi now though without any trouble... *knock wood*

Drew

I moved the thread over there as I was advised that it might be a better place for it.

al

Prior to my Element, we had a 99 Dodge and a Honda.

The same thing happened to my 99 Dodge, and I came to find out that the car was produced (designed) with a bad Head Gasket. Dodge fixed all with less than 60,000 miles - if you had more miles - too bad. No adjustment - no help. They even redesigned the part.

Since I drive a lot, I was past the 60,000 miles. I had maintained the vehicle exactly according to the manual, etc. Just a bad design.

Will never buy another Dodge as long as I live. I spoke to everyone in that company in an attempt to get some $$ to repair the engine with no success.