The windshield in my Element cracked last week right about the middle of the driver side wiper blade. I was driving it at the time. I was surprised when I noticed it because I didn't recall getting hit by anything. I was just down the road from my dealer so I pulled in. The salesman I dealt with just happened to be out in the lot so I showed him the crack. We both ran our finger over it and didn't see or feel any impact points. I mentioned that I'd read (here) that it was a bit of an issue with Elements. He wasn't aware of it but mentioned that some Civics had problems with windshields cracking.

I then took it into the service department. The guy there wiped the windshield off (had some water on it). Surprise, surprise, there was a small (size of a pin head) chip missing. He tells me it was an impact. Sounding familiar?

I left and called Honda Canada customer support. I asked if there were any service bulletins for the Element's windshield. I was told there weren't. I said that I'd seen a U.S. service bulletin. He starts telling me that Canadian Elements are spec'd different than U.S. Elements and their service bulletins don't apply. I could see I wasn't going to get anywhere with this idiot either.

I called and talked to the salesman about it. He faxed me a copy of the service bulletin. The number of it is X-4-03. It's the same as the U.S. bulletin except the serial number range is different. He stated that because it there was an impact and because my crack wasn't in either lower corner I was out of luck. Also, my Element falls just outside of the serial numbers listed.

I faxed him back 5 pages of similar experiences from here. He showed it to the service manager and suggested I'd likely get it fixed under warranty. Unfortunately in the mean time the service manager left for the holidays. I took it in again and the salesman took some pictures to send to the regional service manager. At this point I suspect I’m in for some more some more run-around.[/b]

I just had the EXACT same experience at my dealer regarding a crack on the passenger side in exactly the same spot under the wiper.

They claimed a pit and showed me a TINY chunk out of the molding at the start of the crack. They also tried to convince me there was a pit in the glass at the crack. I didn't see it myself.

I pointed out that even so, a grain of sand should not cause this type of major damage in the glass and thier refusal to fix it was un acceptable.

I was given the district manager line too, and I do believe they will have him call, but now that I see TWO posts with the same story, I too will print it out ans bring it to him.

Seems Honda has maybe another quirk on these windshields to deal with.

I will look for more posts to print out, this was amazingly the first one in my search.

Thanks! And good luck!

I'm not a happy camper! I had the windshield replaced 2 weeks ago and its cracked again! I went to the Honda dealership both times telling them that no rock had hit my windshield it just scracked. They said of course they could see the point of impact. The first time I was out in the middle of a highway early in the morning with no cars in sight! So I guess the rock fell out of the sky! I went to the director over the service dept and requested that Honda do something to help me. He said that they would request it but don't expect any help. I was encouraged to buy the bug deflector and that would help detour some of the rocks. I find it very strange that my windshield cracked in the very same spots that everyone elses has. No one can convince me that rocks hit all Element windshields at the very same spot! Come on, give me a break HONDA CORP! This is crazy! Anyway I bought the deflector and I am having another windshield installed today. I bought my Element in June. I wanted to know if anyone here can give me the list of VIN numbers so I can see if mine is on the list or maybe the url to the website concerning these VIN numbers? I saw the url here yesterday but it does not work. Someone please help me as I am going crazy in North Carolina!

I'm not a happy camper! I had the windshield replaced 2 weeks ago and its cracked again! I went to the Honda dealership both times telling them that no rock had hit my windshield it just cracked. They said of course they could see the point of impact. The first time I was out in the middle of a highway early in the morning with no cars in sight! So I guess the rock fell out of the sky! I went to the director over the service dept and requested that Honda do something to help me. He said that they would request it but don't expect any help. I was encouraged to buy the bug deflector and that would help detour some of the rocks. I find it very strange that my windshield cracked in the very same spots that everyone elses has. No one can convince me that rocks hit all Element windshields at the very same spot! Come on, give me a break HONDA CORP! This is crazy! Anyway I bought the deflector and I am having another windshield installed today. I bought my Element in June. I wanted to know if anyone here can give me the list of VIN numbers so I can see if mine is on the list or maybe the url to the website concerning these VIN numbers? I saw the url here yesterday but it does not work. Someone please help me as I am going crazy in North Carolina!

As you might have noted in another posting, we just got back from a 3000-mile road trip. We took one "rock hit" from a passing truck that we heard (and it, of course, was an "Ahhhh, $#!+!!!").

However, on close examination of the windshield just a few minutes ago, I found three small pits on the driver's side that were definitely from gravel strikes. None have resulted in a crack (so far) but my parts shop is right now rustling-up a repair kit for me to hopefully keep the pits from turning into runs.

IOW, if our experience is any indication, you can apparently get "hits" without knowing about it. Now it is definitely wrong that minor strikes turn into cracks so readily, but until Honda's engineers weigh-in on the issue we're stuck to duking it out with our insurance companies. Good thing I have $0 comprehensive.

:?

I wonder if there is some sort of government site that can give specifics on hit/impact/object size & vilocity (sp?) to crack ratio. There has to be a standard for safety glass.

ummmm....I thought that I was going to be the "only" person here who could say...it wont happen to mine...right.....on Saturday morning I was sitting in the Element waiting for my wife to get in and I saw a crack directly in front of me and as I stepped out of the vehicle to get a better view it started to travel to about 4 inches upward right in front of the driver side.... :roll:

So this morning I drove to the dealer and the Service Mngr. agreed that it was a stress crack so being off this week I wasn't too worried about when we can have this taken care of...3 o'clock sounded good so I made a 2nd trip back to the dealer hoping to get the windshield replaced... :? ...but I was greeted by a service advisor saying that the windshield they got from the warehouse had a scratch and a chip on the edge.... :roll: ....

Hopefully by this Wednesday I can come back and post the results.....did I mention that now the crack is almost 9 inches long....but they have garanteed me that even if it makes it accross the entire windshield it wont shatter....lol....I'm not worried.....I have a very good lawyer, ask my ex wife.... :wink:

In case anyone is adding up numbers, here is one more. 2003 EX, VIN is outside the range of TSB re crcked windshields. Crack of about 3-4 inches from bottom under passenger windshield wiper was "just there" in the morning after heavy snowfall and of course major defroster use. In two days, berfore I got to dealer to have it inspected, it had extended upwards about 6 more inches, in two more days, all the way across windshield to within 2 inched of windshield edge on driver's side. Cold weather through out.
Dealer Asistant Service manager did "pen trace" and found miniscule pit below passenger windshield wiper, said not covered under warranty because cause by rock chip, etc. There may have been an impact there, who is to say, but the "evidence" nearly requires manifying glass to see. My belief is that a piece of grit/tiny gravel may have impacted, but should never have casued damage that ensued...a defect in either design/manufacture of glass, or a design defect in how windshield is installed. While My EX VIN is outside Honda's admitted defect VIN range, and there "may" have been a very slight impact involved, there are enough instances of this within and outside of VIN range that it seems obvious there is a problem. You may ask the service manager of your dealership to ask Honda for a "goodwill exception" if they initially say it is outside warranty, but Honda has to OK it before the dealer proceeds. To soleve this probelem for everyone, not just yourself, try that first, post to this and other sites; Contact Honda Customer Service (By Phone
Monday through Friday, 6:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Standard time at the toll-free phone number (800) 999-1009;
By Fax (310) 783-3023;
By Mail
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Honda Automobile Customer Service
Mail Stop 500-2N-7A
1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501-2746)—
and post complaint to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/ (National Highway Traffic Safety Admisitration)

Eventually, Honda will have to issue another TSB and or a recall if EVERYONE follows through. We love our Element, and believe this issue needs to be resolved by Honda to do justice not only to owners, but to the Element itself.

Has anyone wondered if the pitting on the cracked windshields could have been caused by the crack itself? If you think about it when you crack a piece of unlaminated glass there will be a tiny fragment of glass bound to fall out.

I would think that the crack could have caused the small pit to occur. Any toughts?

I had exactly the same thought - is the 1/16" "chip" a result of the crack, or is the crack a result of a chip??

[quote:e9d2eb595f=" "]I had exactly the same thought - is the 1/16" "chip" a result of the crack, or is the crack a result of a chip??[/quote:e9d2eb595f]

I went to a couple auto glass places and both said that tempered glass doesn't chip, meaning the crack didn't cause the chip.

I have a new windshield! The salesman called me one day to tell me the regional service manager was at the dealership and he wanted to arrange for him to look at my windshield.

I took it in and he couldn't see the small chip that the service manager had spotted when I first took it in. I'm not sure if he honestly didn't see it or just didn't want to see it. It was funny when he asked the service manager if he saw the chip....he couldn't see it this time!

I have my salesman to thank for the new windshield. Everyone else at the dealership were absolutely no help, something I won't forget when it comes time to replace my Element.

I wonder how long this windshield will last.

Alan

BTW. My Element was just outside the range of serial numbers on the service bulletin.

"I wonder how long this windshield will last."

The answer, not even two weeks!!!

Friday night I was driving on a freeway that had been sanded because it had snowed a little. Along the way I had a few hits to the windshield. I kept wondering if one would crack my windshield again. I checked the windshield after I had stopped. There were no cracks but I could see a small pit about 1/16" in diameter right about in front of the passenger. By Sunday night a crack about 1/4" had developed.

I'm going to take it back to the place where my windshield was installed and see what they say. At the least I'm hoping they can seal it so that the crack doesn't get any bigger. Hopefully that will last until close to the end of my lease.

Since my dealership was no help to me last time I'm going to see if I can get somewhere with Honda Canada but based on the call I made last time to their customer support line, I'm not holding out much hope there either.

I'm so fed up with my Element at this point that I'm also considering finding a lawyer that specializes in dealing with lemon cars to see if I have a chance of getting my money back.

Unless Honda has an answer to this problem soon, this will be the last Honda I ever own.

Alan