Received a call from local dealer yesterday Dec 9/19. Honda engineers and designers will be in town Friday for inspections on Honda Elements. Inspecting the same issue as the CRVs - frame corrosion issues. I was told this is the testing and inspections that could, I repeat could, result in a recall (NO RECALL active as of now though). After asking some questions, I decided to volunteer mine. Somewhat nervous to be honest. They keep the vehicle all day give me rental for day. I've never started a thread on this forum so don't know the rules but thought I should post one. Didn't see any related to this in the threadlist for TSB-RECALL-NOTICES.
Frame Corrosion Inspections - for Element
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jake2004
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Central OH
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Very interested to see how this turns out
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I had heard about the toyota truck frame recall and was amazed they actually gave people a new frame for their toyota, that must have cost toyota a fortune.
But I guess they want to show people how much longevity their vehicles have even if it costs them a pretty penny for those specific vehicles affected.
I assume they needed some good PR after some of the safety problems that were well published.
Maybe Honda will want to get some good PR since they had quite a bit of bad PR after engine blocks started cracking on their Civics and they extended their warranty to cover that problem.
Anyone ever heard of someone fabbing up a new unibody section in the rear where Elements tend to fail? I'm not in danger but I guess thinking years into the future to a point where I might want to be proactive about it. The rear where the trailing arms mount certainly has a healthy coating of rust. Cut, measure, fab, weld in new section.
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I would try to find a rust free shell to cut those sections from. It is a lot of work either way. I replaced the rear quarter panels on my 90 Accord eight years ago; unfortunately she needs it again.
Rescuing Ruby, Extensive Quarter Panel Rust Repair - CB7Tuner Forums
Majestic still shows prices for the left and right rear frame parts (#21 and #27) if you have $1600 to spare.
![207278]( "207278")
Rescuing Ruby, Extensive Quarter Panel Rust Repair - CB7Tuner Forums
Majestic still shows prices for the left and right rear frame parts (#21 and #27) if you have $1600 to spare.
I just found another thread where you were talking about this. Nice to know that is an option, actually! Definitely seems like a junkyard adventure, right? Makes me more confident in fixing up the car I have, as I think this is about the only thing that could kill it in the long term considering how cheap and ubiquitous most parts are.
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I wonder if those parts are really still available. Maybe I'll call my local parts guy and ask; not that I have $1600 laying around either. When I did my Accord, I got the donor quarters from a rust free shell for $100 per side. At the time, just the outer skins were about $800 per side from Honda. I also needed part of the inner wheel housings. I think the first time (I've cut about eight quarter panels off in the past) it took me about 4 hours to do all the disassembly and cutting to remove them from the donor car.
What did you use for cuttin'?
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At the salvage yards, I use a sawzall. At home (two wrecked Accords that I cut repair panels from) I use the sawzall or a cutoff wheel. It helps to have two batteries. The last time I cut quarters from an Accord, one battery got me through about one and a half quarters, then had to take the battery and charger to the office to juice it up (my second battery wouldn't hold a charge). One of the cars after a "quarterectomy"
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I am in at 1030 tomorrow, 03 March 2021, with my ‘07 E. I am preceding that with an inspection by my ”go to” shop today at 1400. I fully trust the local dealership but, forewarned is forearmed, they say...
Like you, I will hold out for a repair.
I will keep you all posted.
Cheers,
Bill
North Bay, ON
Like you, I will hold out for a repair.
I will keep you all posted.
Cheers,
Bill
North Bay, ON
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Thanks for keeping us posted. I asked the service guy here what happens if it fails. I got a very vague answer. He said Honda would buy the car. I asked for how much and he refused to answer stating legal issues. TBH, my E is on its way out so if they give me a good buy out I’ll take it. Then see if I can buy it back as scrap, lol...
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Let us know what happens and if you can get pictures of the underside where they are saying it is potentially a problem, would love to see that as well, I am also in Canada
Rust out is in front of where trailing arms bolt on. You can check by sticking your head down in front of the rear wheels.
As the letter says they plug the VIN in and it spits out a number based on km’s trim year. The goodwill amt is the variable. Maybe 10%? Ask and we will see if we can leverage it higher, but likely we are only talking about a couple hundred dollars different. I think if you put the money towards a trade-in then you will be saving that much more in the tax 7%
As the letter says they plug the VIN in and it spits out a number based on km’s trim year. The goodwill amt is the variable. Maybe 10%? Ask and we will see if we can leverage it higher, but likely we are only talking about a couple hundred dollars different. I think if you put the money towards a trade-in then you will be saving that much more in the tax 7%
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I just got back from the local dealer who did the inspection. The issue is the bolt that attaches the trailing arm to the frame in front of the rear wheels (this is the view from in front of the rear wheel, looking aft:
![207816]( "207816")
Apparently there have been incidences of the bolt failing due to corrosion of the frame bracket to which the bolt attaches. Thankfully, mine was in good shape with very little corrosion
As such, they added a “stiffener” as a safety measure. The arrow in the pic below points to the bolt, and the stiffener is circled:
![207817]( "207817")
The inspection and the repair took 1.5 hours total.
My hat is off to the folks at Northern Honda for a nice job. They said that mine is the first Element that they have had in at their dealership for the recall, but they have had lots of CRV’s in for the same recall and that a number of them had failed. 😳
I hope everyone has as good luck with this recall as I did!
Stay safe and healthy all y’all.
Cheers,
Bill
Apparently there have been incidences of the bolt failing due to corrosion of the frame bracket to which the bolt attaches. Thankfully, mine was in good shape with very little corrosion
As such, they added a “stiffener” as a safety measure. The arrow in the pic below points to the bolt, and the stiffener is circled:
The inspection and the repair took 1.5 hours total.
My hat is off to the folks at Northern Honda for a nice job. They said that mine is the first Element that they have had in at their dealership for the recall, but they have had lots of CRV’s in for the same recall and that a number of them had failed. 😳
I hope everyone has as good luck with this recall as I did!
Stay safe and healthy all y’all.
Cheers,
Bill
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Interesting stuff here. There is another very similar thread going on here right now. You can read my experience so far, here:
www.elementownersclub.com
Rear Suspension Fell Off
Lost it all. Made it home tho. It didnt seem all that rust till this happened.
www.elementownersclub.com
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Bill can I ask what part of Canada you are in? Do they use a lot of road salt where you are? Always great to get in touch with a fellow Canadian Element owner too
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North Bay, Ontario (330 Km North of Toronto. Yes, salt and some kind of liquid chemical treatment depending on the temperature.
Mine is an ‘07 with 200,100 Km and I have owned it for 4 years. The previous owner lived in Southern Ontario and I there is evidence that they had the vehicle under coated.
This is my third Element. I imported #2 (‘05) to the USA to use at our place in AZ. I’ll have to get them to do this when we get there in the Fall.
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