[reedkantor]

well, at 52 thou the starter goes out, and a month later , now the throttle system goes out. my car was racing and surging and locking in Park, etc. twice in two weeks. two $500 fixes in one month. Honda customer relations wouldnt help me with the starter, after a phone call and letter, i didnt expect them to but worth a try. doubt they will help me out now. i have had 3 hondas, this will be my last one for sure...all other hondas i had problems with other hondas but not until well past 100,000 miles. whats wrong with hondas now????

 

[slimerdogs]

What year is yours? At almost 90000 miles on mine and its been great other then a screwup I did last week. Was your throttle sticking or just not idling good. Both can be remedied by some throttle body cleaner. As for the starter that happens on every make. I have had some last for ever and others last for only a few days.

 

[Jackson49]

Early Trouble

I agree with slimerdogs. You are talking about wear and tear stuff here. My E has over 100K on it now and I have had no major problems with it. The electrical stufff is unpredictable sometimes. As was mentioned starters do not last forever some just longer than others. Did you buy your E new? I half way expect something on mine will wear out soon i.e. starter / alternator...something.... but I am taking it a day at a time and she is still running strong. This is the best vehicle I ever owned. Sorry you had your trouble.

 

[Twilightzero]

I kind of agree, those are wear parts that need maintenance (throttle) or will fail after so much wear (starter). Mine's a 07 closing in on 60,000 miles with zero problems so far. Generally the Elements are an almost bullet-proof reliable vehicle.

 

[dparrothead1]

Mine's an '04 and I haven't been in the shop yet (knock on wood). I have replaced one windshield (insurance after 6 days of ownership) and one battery. And at 87,000 miles I still have the original brakes, which my dealer assures me, still have a couple thousand miles left!

 

[Dom.five]

well, at 52 thou the starter goes out, and a month later , now the throttle system goes out. my car was racing and surging and locking in Park, etc. twice in two weeks. two $500 fixes in one month. Honda customer relations wouldnt help me with the starter, after a phone call and letter, i didnt expect them to but worth a try. doubt they will help me out now. i have had 3 hondas, this will be my last one for sure...all other hondas i had problems with other hondas but not until well past 100,000 miles. whats wrong with hondas now????

What your describing is just normal wear and tear items. Not abnormal for any car. I have had starter trouble with other brands, as well. Our 2 Elements have been good so far. An 05, and an 06.

We have not seen a rash of this kind of thing here. If you think your E is bad, take a look at the Mini site. Or the G.M. sights. Those people have real trouble.

I should have looked at the other responses to your post first !

Sorry


Dom

 

[reedkantor]

problems at 52,000

i have 04 SOP ex............i guess the starter might have been a wear and tear item, but not at that low mileage!! the throttle body system just went out and it had to be replaced. the dealer here in pompano beach florida has always given me good service and all on my hondas............becasue im such a good paying customer i will get a free synthetic oil change this week before my road trip to new york! ha!! i have had two other hondas, both ultra reliable, but wear and tear parts didnt need replacing till well over 100ks. i really luv my element and just hope no more unusual problems like this. right, better than owning a bmw or benz, thats for sure!! thanks to all for your replies.

 

[reedkantor]

problems at 52,000

What year is yours? At almost 90000 miles on mine and its been great other then a screwup I did last week. Was your throttle sticking or just not idling good. Both can be remedied by some throttle body cleaner. As for the starter that happens on every make. I have had some last for ever and others last for only a few days.

its a 04 sop ex model. most excellent car too. all of a sudden some weird problems, thats all. not like hondas usually are....maybe a hyundai with longer warranty next time will help out, maybe not....the throttle just kicked out and the engine surged and raced three times when i was out on the road. brakes were ok...had to pull into parking lots, turn off engine but couldnt get shift lever out of park without pulling off that little tab on the shift column and sticking a screwdriver in there to pop the thing in there, then i could pull the shift lever out of park. just annoying stuff that shouldnt have happened.

 

[reedkantor]

problems at 52,000

I agree with slimerdogs. You are talking about wear and tear stuff here. My E has over 100K on it now and I have had no major problems with it. The electrical stufff is unpredictable sometimes. As was mentioned starters do not last forever some just longer than others. Did you buy your E new? I half way expect something on mine will wear out soon i.e. starter / alternator...something.... but I am taking it a day at a time and she is still running strong. This is the best vehicle I ever owned. Sorry you had your trouble.

yes, i bought in new in oct. 04....just a great car for me, but dont like these weird problems at only 52 ks. should not have happened. and parts are expensive, the starter and the throttle body replacement, with labor, was 500 each...........i hope to keep the car five more years or longer too, and hope for good reliability too.

 

[reedkantor]

problems at 52,000

Mine's an '04 and I haven't been in the shop yet (knock on wood). I have replaced one windshield (insurance after 6 days of ownership) and one battery. And at 87,000 miles I still have the original brakes, which my dealer assures me, still have a couple thousand miles left!

amazing no new brakes yet. i was told i will need new fronts after i come back from my road trip to nyc. of course that is a wear and tear item to be expected...........so no surprise there......im wary of all these brake shops and what they really charge in the end so i will take it to the dealer instead. they have always been good with me....i can see why too......whats one to do? thanks for your help and info on this matter.

 

[Twilightzero]

amazing no new brakes yet. i was told i will need new fronts after i come back from my road trip to nyc. of course that is a wear and tear item to be expected...........so no surprise there......im wary of all these brake shops and what they really charge in the end so i will take it to the dealer instead. they have always been good with me....i can see why too......whats one to do? thanks for your help and info on this matter.

IMHO I'd say do the brakes yourself, they're pretty easy and there's several fantastic writeups on here to walk you through it. :grin:

 

[ramblerdan]

Did you try cleaning the throttle body before replacing it?

 

[MikeQBF]

53K is pretty low mileage for a six-year-old vehicle. Is it possible that some of the problems are induced by it sitting idle for long periods of time...

or...

is it possible that your use has been a constant diet of short trips, "short trip" defined as five miles or less? Nothing ages a vehicle prematurely like short trips where the engine never has the opportunity to reach operating temperature.

 

[hotrodder]

its a 04 sop ex model. most excellent car too. all of a sudden some weird problems, thats all. not like hondas usually are....maybe a hyundai with longer warranty next time will help out

Read the fine print on that 100K Hyundai warranty. It's a con job. My mother bought into that one against my advice.

A lot of starters get replaced when it actually only needs a good electrical connection cleaning, especially in salt road and/or salt air country. So far, knock on wood, I've never had to replace a starter on any Honda, but have cleaned a lot of connections.

 

[reedkantor]

troubles at 53,000

message to Mike....yes, i have done a lot of real short trips, only long trips in five years was to nyc twice, one by way of illiinios east to nyc from south fla. here where i live.......maybe too many short trips of 2-6 miles to tennis courts, wallymart, walgreens, etc. i know thats not good for a car. maybe,maybe that was part of the problems....then again, maybe not. thanks for your reply....

 

[ramblerdan]

I like Mike's theory. It does suck to have to replace low-mileage parts. Have fluid changes and such been done by miles?

 

[nacranym]

maybe w/ the minimal maintenance required on your previous Hondas, you were just due to have to put some bucks into maintenance.

i thought of this a little after i had my first office computer failure, after 16 years w/ the same vendor. fortunately, i think i have backups, but you never know 'til you complete the restore. i don't get the computer back 'til next month. (tuesday)