Has anyone been able to find any statistics on the windshield problem? Before I decide to make the E my next vehicle I would like some stats on
the prevalence of this problem. For example, is it happening to 1 E in 10,
100, 500? The condition of the windshield is an issue here in Virginia as we
have annual car inspections and cracks that are too large will cause your car to fail.


I went to www.myCarStats.com and found 114 customer complaints related to windshield cracks.
I don't know what the source is for the data the site collects, whether it comes from the manufacturer or if they collect input
directly from registered members. If 114 windshields is all that have ever
cracked out of all the E's Honda has sold then no big deal, however if that is
a small fraction....


I like everything I have read about the E, but I don't feel like replacing
windshields every 6mos to a year as the likelihood of leaks goes way up.
Toss in the hassle from the dealership, insurance, time to install and this
could be a major factor in my decision. Thanks for any help.

What a cute baby!!!!

Thank you very much!
He's our first, and looks just like me I might add. :D

Consumer Complaints 320,849 of those 114 are for the Element windshield. The complaints on that site are from a minority of drivers, and is not there to show satisfaction just complaints.. which it is very good to review vehicle complaints before making a decision.

other factors to observe, is how the dealer handles things too. Dissatisfaction for many is how the dealer handles problems.

I recently experienced my first mystery crack, and my dealer replaced the windshield at no charge and no problem either.

So along with making a choice make sure the dealer you go with is an accomodating one, one who will give you good service.

Hondas by far are awesome vehicles with problems few and far between.. this is a completely new creation by honda and if the windshield is the biggest issue that is fine.. in time they will get it under control, but as far as it being so frequent as you are fearing like a windshield every other month, etc.. that is an extreme case.. sure you could be an extreme case too, but look at the other odds that you wont be.

so for you, you need to decide how big an issue a possible crack that may or may not happen in your windshield is.

Past that the Element is an awesome, wonderful vehicle.

I wish you luck in your choice, but again the fact that they windshield may crack can happen, but it happening frequently is unlikely,. as far as any other problems you will or would be getting a wonderful vehicle if you choose the Element, it is cute and fun too!

[quote:6ebd6c02d9=" "]Consumer Complaints 320,849 of those 114 are for the Element windshield. The complaints on that site are from a minority of drivers, and is not there to show satisfaction just complaints.. which it is very good to review vehicle complaints before making a decision.
[/quote:6ebd6c02d9]

I agree with everything else you said, except for the above. While 114 are a minority of owners, I would also caution that the vast majority of owners with cracked windshields are not reporting their cracks to that site.

I wouldn't be surprised if the number of cracked windshields within the first year is in the 5-10% of owners range.

-brendan

10%?? Are you saying that 6,000 E owners that bought '03 Elements had windshield cracks? I think that's a very high figure, especially considering no recall or NHTSA attention to the matter. I'd put the actual figure closer to 1%-3%.

This being said, I, too, would like hard data from Honda on this issue. I've not had any problems, and the 4 people I personally know who have Elements have had no problems, but I know some on this board have had real problems, so it is an issue, whether large or small none of us "really" know. We can only depend on reporting from various sources and anecdotal evidence from boards like this.

[quote:729a42730f=" "]10%?? Are you saying that 6,000 E owners that bought '03 Elements had windshield cracks? I think that's a very high figure, especially considering no recall or NHTSA attention to the matter. I'd put the actual figure closer to 1%-3%.

This being said, I, too, would like hard data from Honda on this issue. I've not had any problems, and the 4 people I personally know who have Elements have had no problems, but I know some on this board have had real problems, so it is an issue, whether large or small none of us "really" know. We can only depend on reporting from various sources and anecdotal evidence from boards like this.[/quote:729a42730f]

Here's my anecdotal evidence: a "goodly portion" of the regular posters, who didn't join because of windshield issues, later had one or more cracks. My gut feeling is that, of the regular posters/old timers mix that I'm thinking of, the %age is at least 5-10% of them.

Completely unscientific, I know (esp with phrases like "goodly portion" and "at least 5-10%", heh).

It's unlikely Honda would publically release any hard data unless they had already decided to issue a recall. I assume to do otherwise would just open themselves wide to litigation.

-brendan

Hello, I am new to this board but I bought my '03 E in January of this year. I haven't had any glass problems and I hope I don't but have a lot of you guys had problems? I wasn't really aware of the problem until I started reading these boards (this and hondaelement.org, though I only belong to this one) but now I'm worried. I use my E daily as my commuter car and I'm the highway a lot, so I'd sure hate to realize there's a glass breakage problem.

Welcome! I hope you don't have any problems, too! You'll find a great crowd here with people like Brendan and Paulj and many others. We all like to debate stuff but in the end we're all E owners and enjoy our rides and the things we can do with them.

[quote:34a6b31160=" "] I wasn't really aware of the problem until I started reading these boards (this and hondaelement.org, though I only belong to this one) but now I'm worried.[/quote:34a6b31160]

Stop worrying! Semi-scientific research has shown that a goodly portion of E windshield cracks are a direct result of first becoming aware of the problem and then worrying about it! heh, heh

I don't think even Honda knows the extent of the problem, as not everyone whose windshield has cracked lets corporate Honda know about it. Their engineers are probably debating the cause(s) and the extent of the problem as much as we are. I wouldn't be surprised if they read these sites and argue amongst themselves whether or not a miniscule pit is glass flaking off or evidence of a rock hit!

I'm sure Honda keeps the windshield stats close to the vest to avoid a potential recall situation - My windshield cracked after 2300 miles and after fighting with the dealer and the corporate office, I finally got it replaced - mostly this can be attributed to the many similar reports of windshield cracks I printed off of this site. And I'm sure the actual people who have taken the time to report it somewhere is a SMALL fraction of the overall total.

But aside from the windshield cracking problem, which is a manufacturing defect on the flange where the windshield rests, there are other problems with the windshield. The angle and design of the windshield lends itself to multiple rock hits - and the glass itself doesn't appear to be resistant to this high frequency of hits. I am on my second windshield after the first one cracked, but the second one has multiple, maybe hundreds of microscopic rock hits after only 6 weeks of use, primarily on the highway. If you happen to drive your E a lot on the highway you will see what I mean - for mostly city driving it should be fine.

I genuinely love this car, but don't know if I'm going to be as in love with it after the NEXT windshield.

Keep in mind that there is a TSB for windshield cracks in the lower corners. We have a TSB's category on our Message Board with information as it become available. Here's a link to the windshield posting (rather old too):

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2212

Though the relevance of that TSB is hard to determine. It specifically covers cars with limited VIN range, cars that are a year old now. Should it be viewed as an admission by Honda that there could be problems in Elements not in that VIN range? Is it an admission that there could be problems with other parts of the windshield and its mounting? Issuing a TSB can be a tricky proposition for a manfacturer. On one hand they want to correct a problem, or notify the dealer of some thing to watch out for. But on the other hand, they don't want to give consumers and lawyers a tool to attack them with on unrelated, or marginally related, issues.

In the poll on this forum that asked where the crack occurred only one person said a TSB location; admittedly barely a dozen people answered that poll.

paulj

Five months and no crack.

Any crack would be less a bother than my Ford Explorer which had a habit of complete ignition failure during turns at traffic lights.

My opinion is that it is a non-issue in the buying decision.

I'm not an E owner and this issue concerns me too before buying. I've approached 5 E owners in parking lots to ask them how they like the E. All love it, no problems.

I usually ask about any windshield issues and haven't had anyone report cracking.

Still, with this much talk on a discussion board, you have to wonder. Hate to be one of the 1% - 3% that experience this, never mind multiple times.

I have a Ford Ranger now and have 3 spider cracks in my windshield after 7 years. Nopne of them splintered out into long cracks like the pics I've seen here.