I have owned four Honda's I will never own another. The Honda Element is a defective car and there is absolutely nothing any of us that purchased one can do about it. I am going to be on my 3rd windshield and Honda has/will not pay for any of it.

The problem is simple. The windshield is to vertical. It cracks easy and pits easy simple as that. I am averaging a new windshield every 7 months. Total crap and there is nothing to do about it except get rid of the car, which is exactly what I am trying to figure out how to do. PS: that damn windshield costs like $430!

defective car." Now splais, you must realize that Honda is experiencing "growing pains" with the Element. Be fair. The cracked windshield mob is "creating a hysteria amongst the Element community." And their numbers are insignificant statistically and clearly show that "it only seems that "everyone" is having windshield problems."

So, "come on...don't you think the petty complaining is getting out of hand?"..It's really "a minor issue not to lose sleep over." And I think you should heed the advice given to one of your fellow whinners, "get a life. Preferably somewhere else. Have you heard of france.?"

P.S. Nothing personal, splais. We are Honda Loyalists and we will be ever vigilante to respond harshlly to any attempt to besmooch Honda's reputation.

I agree with Windchill. We got a cracked windshield within a few days of ownership. But we LOVE our E.

We use it for work in the film and TV industry and can't believe how great it is. We can carry more stuff than most large SUV's. We shot a Toyota commercial and the agency people were checking out our E!

We are still fighting to get our windshield paid for but we don't lose sleep over it. Just relax and have fun.

One word..."INSURANCE".

got to agree with pimpn e; get your glass insured!

splais:

Seriously, go to another dealer, don't just take the diagnosis of one dealer on this. It's clearly a defect and clearly something that Honda should cover.

If you've already got non-honda glass/service on the windshield, then it might be too late to get honda to cover it. In that case, try to get insurance on the glass via your car insurance company.

-brendan

What in the world is wrong with you people. Are you so blinded by your "love" of the Element you can't see what is happening. Honda is not paying for these windows. The public and insurance companies are paying a fortune for this screw up. $400 may not be a lot to you; but to most of us having to fork out this kind of money once or twice a year is rediculous and a burden. I have one of the best insurance companies there is (USAA). I also have full glass coverage. But I know that continued use of my policy will result in increased rates that will last years. The public will also, in the end, pay for this Honda error. There is nothing that will solve this problem other than a redesign of the car in a couple years I would guess. You people need to look in the mirror and stop being apologist for Honda. If Honda was an honest broker in this issue they would warrenty all these windshields. Good luck on that ever happening.

PS: I even sent a very polite letter to Honda on this last year and never even had the courtesy of a reply.

[quote:51d61895ec=" "]You people need to look in the mirror and stop being apologist for Honda. If Honda was an honest broker in this issue they would warrenty all these windshields. Good luck on that ever happening.[/quote:51d61895ec]

Uh yeah, I never apologized for Honda. We're all going to have to fight to have windshields fixed by Honda. The purpose of fighting is to DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT. At some point, Honda will have to pay for all of the windshields replaced due to this engineering flaw.

Hence, MAKE SURE you get Honda to replace it by any (consumer) means necessary. Shop around for a dealer that will fix it under warranty.

-brendan

Honda won't be paying for pitted windshields. It's a fact of life for those of us who live in states that apply sand/gravel during the winter.

My Rodeo does it.

My Element does it.

My Eclipse does it.

If I drove my 71 Bronco in the winter...guess what? It would do it to.

See a pattern here guys? Get glass coverage for an additional $20 a year and move on.

[quote:aa2cc80ca8=" "]Honda won't be paying for pitted windshields. It's a fact of life for those of us who live in states that apply sand/gravel during the winter.

My Rodeo does it.

My Element does it.

My Eclipse does it.

If I drove my 71 Bronco in the winter...guess what? It would do it to.

See a pattern here guys? Get glass coverage for an additional $20 a year and move on.[/quote:aa2cc80ca8]

I also live in an area the has a lot of sand and gravel on the roads in the winter, but I don't buy the disign excuse. Both our elements and our CRV windshields look like sh*t. I have owned 23 cars and trucks in my live and before the element I only ever had two chips. I might be wrong, but I don't think I could ever be convinced that this problem was anything other than really bad glass.

Just a tip, get the nose bra, it really helps also try and keep 2 to 3 car lengths between you and the car in front.

[quote:4bbc22f9c3=" "]<snip>Uh yeah, I never apologized for Honda. <snip>-brendan[/quote:4bbc22f9c3]

I think the use of "apologist" that he was referring to is a sort of religious term meaning more like "defender" or "one who argues on behalf of something". It's kind of a strange usage when you aren't used to it. When I first heard of someone studying "apologetics" I was really baffled.

Bill

Don't give up the fight...if enough people note the problem, it will get taken care of.

(optimist) :lol:

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones with ZERO problems with their E.

*knocks on wood*

It seems to me that after replacing three windshields...which were not the fault of a rock or some other flying object...the car would qualify under the "Lemon Law".

I am wondering what use Splais makes of his Element...work, lots of highway, or what? Is he careless with the car? Does he live on gravel drive or road? Are there other ... perhaps younger drivers? Is the same person replacing the glass each time? Maybe it is not being replasced properly...to correct the flange problem???

Check it out thoroughly...and maybe it is a lemon...and should be exchanged.?? But, stop knocking our Element!

I'm 60 years old. Drive my element back and forth from work (20 miles) four days a week. Never drive it on dirt. I do drive a lot because of the distance to work. There is only one Honda dealer within 100 miles. There are 3 element owners I know of in town. Two have had broken windshields in less than a year. Honda WILL NOT warrenty these windows. If ANY kind of small pebble hits the window it will crack, period. It is rediculous. I try to drive 50-100 feet behind ANYTHING. My last crack came when a pickup passed me and pulled in front of me before I could back off. Gee it is so enjoying to drive this car, yeah right. I have decided to just not fix it until a Highway Patrol makes me. It has one crack and three stars in it right now.

PS: I have owned probably 35-40 cars/trucks in my life and not one of them has had a problem like this.

[quote:e3db3d7abc=" "]I'm 60 years old. Drive my element back and forth from work (20 miles) four days a week. Never drive it on dirt. I do drive a lot because of the distance to work. There is only one Honda dealer within 100 miles. There are 3 element owners I know of in town. Two have had broken windshields in less than a year. Honda WILL NOT warrenty these windows. If ANY kind of small pebble hits the window it will crack, period. It is rediculous. I try to drive 50-100 feet behind ANYTHING. My last crack came when a pickup passed me and pulled in front of me before I could back off. Gee it is so enjoying to drive this car, yeah right. I have decided to just not fix it until a Highway Patrol makes me. It has one crack and three stars in it right now.

PS: I have owned probably 35-40 cars/trucks in my life and not one of them has had a problem like this.[/quote:e3db3d7abc]

Wow...I hope I get to own 35-40 vehicles by the time im your age. It sucks that your windshield is fragile. Maybe if you started a petition (www.petitiononline.com) or written one to get Honda to fix it, it may work. Maybe if you brought it to the attention of your local newscasters or newspapers it would start something.

I posted previously trying to be sarcastic but someone agreed with me which I thought might happen. Why doesn't someone with a cracked windshield form a group and make Honda squirm a bit-if that's possible. Exploit the media-they love this stuff. Registering complaints with the feds ain't going to get it. Remember the movie Network? "I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore." Honda is hard core and will continue to balance public/govt opinion vs cost of recall. It's all business. They are so arrogant that they haven't even bothered to issue to dealers a uniform plan of action. So it's up to the dealership as to what action to take. It's a crapshoot. Just hope you're lucky enough to live in the right location.

I took the liberty to repost from another thread. I know it's a b**** to work all day and commute and keep up with everything, especially the older you get. Good luck.

Repost: Cracked Windshields-Big Deal?


You bet. (1) I'm an Element owner and (2) Stock price. Honda's stonewalling once again betrays their arrogance. Remember the mid nineties? Routine inquiries led to an FBI probe indicating Honda execs were shaking down their own dealers. It became the worst case of corporate corruption in U.S. history. So what? Investors have become even more cynical of corporate America and as a group they can be quite irrational. My point being, why risk bad press and alienated customers over a a few windshields? Hell, Honda has paid out over $400 million to former dealers who were shafted in the '90's, and it isn't over yet. $400 million-divided by the number of stockholders =forget it. Insurance will probably cover it. Really?

And Honda is going to need all the customers it can get. See Business Week/Online: BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 5, 1999 ISSUE
INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
Honda: Can the Company Go It Alone? (int'l edition)

I haven't had this happen yet, but with as much highway driving as I do (500 mi a weekend) it should happen to me.

All in all I'm not sure if there are enough element owners with this problem right now. On my volvo everyone would have to replace the main engine mount every 20k miles. No recall... The ABS module fails at 80k, no recall. The 2001 Volvo electronic throtle control fails at 60k in huge numbers (1100 cost) and no recall.

At least honda knows of the problem and some dealers may fix the wind shield. That's better than what I got from volvo!! They didn't even make TSBs for the repeated issus with the S70/V70. :?

Cheers,

I AGREE WITH SPLAIS...ELEMENT WINDSHIELDS CONTAIN LOW GRADE GLASS TO REDUCE COST COUPLED WITH A POOR ENGINEERING DESIGN AND WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE PITTING AND CRACKING PROBLEMS UNTIL BOTH THE DESIGN AND QUALITY OF THE WINDSHIELD GLASS IS IMPROVED IN FUTURE RELEASES.

END OF STORY!

I AGREE WITH SPLAIS...ELEMENT WINDSHIELDS CONTAIN LOW GRADE GLASS TO REDUCE COST COUPLED WITH A POOR ENGINEERING DESIGN AND WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE PITTING AND CRACKING PROBLEMS UNTIL BOTH THE DESIGN AND QUALITY OF THE WINDSHIELD GLASS IS IMPROVED IN FUTURE RELEASES.

END OF STORY!