Hate to start a new thread for this, but I thought maybe I'd be the record holder for most cracks in an Element Windshield from a single winter storm.

Crack #1 came January 3rd. Definitely caused by road gravel, but it was a relatively light hit just near the right edge about 5 inches from the bottom. Ran to the right edge and also down.

Crack #2 came about a week later. It's right in the middle, and if there's any speck of an impact it's teency - at about a half inch up from the bottom edge right above the tip of the driver wiper.

Crack #3 came two days later. Can't find any sign of impact at all. Growing up from the bottom edge right about at the drivers side windshield wiper post.

Took it to the dealer tonight. Service mgr at least didn't play dumb about the TSB - though he was picking at the cracks pretty good. He said he hadn't seen a reported stress crack yet, but would have to agree that 3 cracks is a little much. The District service guy is in tomorrow and I'll bring it by for him to see. Hopefully he won't hassle me much; I don't intend to pay for this windshield.

I bought "E" back in April, so I had been feeling good about my crack-free windshield till now...

So do I win for most cracks/shortest time?
How did the other NW Element owners do during the recent storm?

p.s. E worked fabulously in the snow/ice with his Michelin Cross Terrains. The traffic is never so light here in the burbs, so we headed for every hill we could find.

Followup on the service...

Went back to the dealer to talk with the Regional Service Mgr. He did some more picking at the two cracks that had no obvious impact signs.

They suddenly forgot about the TSB. When I mentioned it, the man I spoke with yesterday said he was looking into it, but wasn't sure if there was one... "I believe there is one for the Pilot, but I don't think there's one for the Element". At that point I was straining to maintain my cool while I explained that there most definitely was. When he mentioned that the stress cracks come from right out of the corners, I asked if I were to bring a square piece of glass to him, could he break it right in the corner? I don't think so; glass doesn't break that predictably.

By the end of our discussion, they were interestingly much more familiar with the TSB (though someone had to print it out for them :roll: ) than you'd think - considering they were reading it for the first time.

In the end, they agreed to replace it under their goodwill policy.

The outcome worked out for me, but the playing-me-for-an-idiot thing still has me a little annoyed.

Well, while waiting for my replacement windshield I noticed yesterday annother crack this time on the drivers side,lower. Once again there is a small 1/16" pit there. But then again, after driving in Montana on some (not many) sanded roads, i notice that there is several hundred to thousad small pits in the windshiels, thus assureing Honda never has to warentee windshields. I am convinved that the grasde of glass Honda is using is incredually poor and brittle. I have never seen or owned a car with this low of grade of glass. I am getting more and more upset, and feel quite frankly like I have been duped by a pretty "face", with no substance.

Are the aforementioned elements within the VIN range noted on the TSB? What I'm trying to figure out is whether the '04s are having windshield problems as well.

:?:

I've been following the windshield crack issue as well, and haven't heard anyone mention the '04 models. Of course, they're all new enough that we might just not have seen the problem hit the board yet, but I'd prefer to think (hope) that Honda has rectified the problem. They've certainly known about it long enough, and it would be a serious ding on them if they could have incorporated a fix for '04 and didn't. That would be very un-Honda-like!

I drove from Ontario to British Columbia in early January and got about five stone chips (one which turned into a crack heading straight accross the window). The roads were clear of sand and gravel most of the way, all the damage happened in about four hours of driving. My previously crystal clear two month old window is also sand pitted from this trip. It seems to me that any stone which hits the window will damage it. This means if I want to drive on any highway in the B.C. Interior during the winter I am going to have to get a new window. Even with insurance the deductible for a new window here is $200. I've never heard of windows chipping so easily. Honda has to do something to toughen up these windows (after all they do market them as being ideal for trips to the ski hill). Also a hood deflector to deflect stones away from the window would be good, (I think the current one is for protecting the hood). Apart from this it's a great car, so Honda please do something about the window.