speaking of clunks...
Hi folks. Here's one for the books. Sit back and soak this story in. I just bought a gently used 06 Element from a very reputable auto broker here in town. When I test drove it, I heard this clunk behind the dash when braking, and also making a left hand turn. My guy said "yeah I noticed that too, I'll have my mechanic check it out and I'll make it right for you."
Well his mechanic could find nothing wrong, so they took it to Honda and paid $175 for a diagnostic. Honda said the steering rack was bad. My guy ordered one from Meyers and replaced it (no charge to me.) The clunk still persisted. Back to Honda again. Now Honda says "It's still the rack, you need to buy a Honda rack." So my guy ordered a Honda factory rack and put it in. (Still no charge to me.) The clunk was still there. By now my guy and his mechanic are tearing their hair out. They popped the hood and guess what it was?? The mechanic happened to lean on the battery. The battery tie down was loose and it was tilting and bumping to make that noise!!! After all that crap, I love my Honda. But I'm wary of the local dealership. By the way, they refused to reimburse my auto broker for the cost of their crappy diagnosis. I bought both my broker and his mechanic a bottle of Moet Chandon for their troubles. And shame on the Honda West dealership here in Las Vegas NV.