After 5000 miles my Element had a thumping noise coming from the driver's side rear after going over small bumps in the road such as sewer covers and expansion joints. The driver's side rear shock/strut was replced and it solved the problem. Has anyone else had a bad shock/strut in a new car, particularly the Element?

I have less than 1000 miles on my element and I am experiencing the exact same noise. I just started hearing it the other day and thought something was hitting against the bottom of the vehicle. I do know that ithe noise is coming from the drivers side, rear, whenever I hit a small bump or irregularity in the road surface.
Can you tell me if Honda recognised the problem right away or did you have to return a few times until the lightbulb went off in their heads and they found that the strut was the culpret? was the strut leaking oil?.

The strut was not leaking oil. It is my understnading that the techs went crazy trying to find the cause of the "thump". After 2 days they worked with American Honda to have the shock replaced. The dealer was Herb Chambers in Burlington Mass.

I called the Honda dealer that I bought my car from 3 weeks ago. I explained the THUMPING problem and asked him if I could stop by (50 miles from my home) today and have someone take a short ride with me to hear the noise. I was told that I would have to wait until 12/17, 10 days from now. At that time someone will be able to take a look at the problem. He would then order the new strut and I would have to return at a later date.
When I got that answer, I took a shot and I drove to another Honda dealer, I stopped in and told the service advisor of my problem. He immediately sent out his lead service tech, who took a short ride with me. He heard the noise, took the car into the shop and put the car up on the rack. Because the car was snow and ice covered, he said that he couldn't really get a good picture of the underbelly. he said that his perliminary inspection showed no leaks in the strut. He told me that he will order 2 rear struts and call me when they come in (approx 1 week) and assured me that he will find and fix the problem. he said that he believes that something is loose as opposed to a bad strut but at this time he can't be sure what it is. He said that when I come back he will clean the undercarrage and do a good inspection and if necessary, change one or both struts if he can't find anything else wrong.
Needless to say, I called the service manager of the dealer where I purchased my Element and informed him of the Prompt and courtious service that I recieved from a dealer who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall. I also told him that when I get the questioneer from Honda regarding my new car buying experience, I will be sure to make note on the fine service that can be expected when it comes time to service the vehicle that they sold you. One final note, I asked the service people of the dealer that I bought my car from about the windshield TSB and dashboard rattle TSB and I was told "we never heard of any problems". When I went to Burne Honda of Scranton Pennsylvania, the dealer that I will go back to for service, I posed the same TSB questions and was told that "We are aware of the problems and if they were to happen to any of our customers, they will be covered if they bought the car from us or not. (thats the kind of answer that I thought all Honda dealers would be giving out).
Do you know the name of the service person who handled your problem, so that I can have the person handling my strut problem call them if necessary?
Thank You for your help.

I was told by my Honda dealer to bring the car in today 12/16. When I got there, I saw the service coordinator whom I previously spoke to regarding my sturt problem. He told me that another customer was serviced recently for the same problem (thumping noise when hitting bumps). He told me that they changes the rear struts but it did not cure the problem. He went on to explain that upon further investigation, they found the upper control arm was cracked. They had to take whole rear suspension apart to fix the problem. He told me that my srtuts were in stock but I should prepare for the news that I may have the same upper control problem.

Anybody experience this before?

[quote:ead5e42bc2=" "]Anybody experience this before?[/quote:ead5e42bc2]

What, a service guy who diagnosed the problem, explained things in detail and set expectations realistically for a repair that will be covered under warranty?

Never! :) :) :)

But seriously, that sucks about the control arm. They said someone else recently had the same issue? Perhaps we'll be seeing a TSB in the coming months about this...

-brendan

Its 12/17 at 9:00a.m. and I just got a call from my Honda service advisor. I dropped off my car yesterday about 2:30 p.m.for service this morning. Anyway, he told me that my car was ready and I was right, the drivers side rear strut was the problem. :lol: I'm very happy that I have found a Honda dealer that doesnt seem to be full of himself and is open to my imput. I am sure that the $50.00 bill that I gave him to buy the boys lunch when I dropped off my car helped. I figure that the lunch money is a good investment for any future problems that I may come across (windshields, rattles, etc). I was also greatful for him giving me prompt attention even though I bought the car from his competor in the next town.

The first night I brought my new E home it was making a creaking noise from the front end. After 3 trips to the dealer and them telling me that the sound was normal and then I contacted American Honda, the dealer finally found the problem to be a bad front driver side strut which was replaced and everything is good once again with my E.