[Tombo64]

Today we traded in our new E, 2600 miles on her, for a new 09 Toyota RAV4. After spending days and days at the dealership, Honda of Decatur, trying to get all of the problems on our new E fixed, we have given up. I love Honda Elements, just not the one we ended up buying. I miss her already, but man was she a lemon. I know that Toyota builds lemons too, but maybe the new RAV4 wont be one of them. I had more problems with the E in less than two months than I have had on my last two new cars in ten years. I'm not putting down Elements, my wife and I love them! We just decided to cut the E loose and start again with a Toyota this time. Time will tell.

 

[BLK BOX]

That's a shame you got a lemon, let's hope you come back to Honda soon

 

[AztecRol]

Well that just SUX!!

Good luck with the RAV4.

 

[Tombo64]

When, and if, our Del Sol dies, we will buy a five or six year-old Element. The dealer flat out refused to fix the brake problems. They could care less about the TSB issued for the 08 E's mushy brakes. Even Honda makes a few lemons out of every 50,000 cars made. We just got unlucky with this one.

 

[steamloco76]

Sorry you purchased a S&*##y E- and good luck with the RAV-4 -which is one of Toyota's best vehicles. I have mentioned many times before my huge number of issues with the '04 Camry I traded on my E. Damn Toyota dealers also ignored multiple TSB's -forcing me to pay for warranty repairs.

Honda really should do a RECALL on the '08 brake problem- but they have learned from GM- wait for the lawsuit- then settle with the owners under 100,000 miles.

 

[bh241]

That is just sad. I can't for the life of me understand why any dealer would take such a stupid position in regards to customer satisfaction...

Hope you enjoy the Rav4, I kinna like them but the E suits our needs better. Of course, not having 'mushy brakes' helps too... ;-)

Keep spreading the word about the dealership, maybe one day they will learn something about 'proper business practices'

 

[ORANGEE]

A sad day for sure................

 

[scorsone]

Sorry about your troubles.

My wife has an '07 Rav4. I like the style changes they have made to the '09. It looks much more aggressive. I like the Rav but it has some major short falls compared to the E in my opinion. I just feel cramped in the Rav4 and I am the average man and not overweight.

The Rav has been good to my wife and only had a few minor issues with the AC but at least the car still operated safely. Hopefully they have changed that part with the '09. We used to have a certified used Saab that was a lemon and we told the dealer that we don't mind having the problems fixed as long as the problems were minor inconvienience issues. Once we had problems with the direct ignition we said it was time for a new one.

Hope you enjoy the Rav4 and find a good E when the Del Sol passes on.

 

[hapyface]

not trying to add insult to injury....have u shop around dealers for repairs??? i had a similar situation like urs with my VW Jetta.... and ended up shopping @ 6-7 dealerships for repairs.... i totally understand how u feel.... the number of times i was at the dealer fixing the Jetta is more than both Es combined right now.

 

[2009 ELE]

That stinks! Customer service has gone down the drain in most industries as of late. It's like some companies are all about their bottom line and if they can get out of spending a small amount now they will. What they fail to realize is a small expense now will create a loyal customer for life and lots of revenue in the future!

 

[Tombo64]

My wife and I actually thought about trading in the 08 for a new 09 E. If the dealer would have even mentioned this to us we very well might have gone in that direction, but the Toyota dealership made us such a great deal that we went with a RAV4. I like it, not as much as I liked the E, but I can live with it and it looks great and I can still put my bicycle in the back. It is a tight fit, but it works. We have bought Two new cars from this dealership and we have never once had a problem with the service department. I hope that tradition stays the same with the RAV4.
We were more sick of dealing with Honda as a whole than we were with the E if that makes any sense.

 

[snowdreams1080]

Thats funny about trading the e for a rav4. I had a 06 rav4 that was horrible. transmission slipped all the time, drive by wire didn't always work, front struts kept blowing up and having them replaced under warranty constantly. much happier with the E. that rav4 was a huge nightmare.

 

[Tombo64]

It is funny how that works out. The vast majority of Hondas and Toyotas are great automobiles. It stinks when you get stuck with one of the few lemons made by either company. I have nothing bad to say about Elements in general, just the ONE example that I owned. In the future I am sure that another E will be parked in my driveway.

 

[EXwSCnose]

I had more problems with the E in less than two months than I have had on my last two new cars in ten years.....

Please post the VIN so none of our members get stuck with that POS.

 

[Tombo64]

Vin # 13697
2008 EX 2WD AT
I am probably overstating the "crappyness" of my former E.
My older brother's daily driver is an Accord with almost 300K miles and it still runs and look great. Honda makes great cars!

 

[Old Blue]

Maybe you should write to your state's AG office and send a copy of the TSB also cc Honda America. Just a thought - be interesting to hear the story they tell them about why they didn't try and preserve a customer's safety...

 

[hotrodder]

Congrats on your Rav----just for personal info, did you buy your E new or used and what other problems were you having

 

[Tombo64]

We bought it new with about 160 miles on it. Al of the problems we had with it have been fixed, except the brakes.. Maybe I was wrong and a little too anal retentive about the brakes being mushy, but I doubt it. The person who buys the E, might never have another problem with it, and think it is the greatest car in the world.
I just got so mad that they would not even consider fixing the brakes as per the TSB. I had to meet the regional rep again, the same one who said that the brakes were fine a month ago. I could have lived with the E, but I could not live with the dealer's service department and this same dealer owns the three Honda dealerships within 75 miles of my home.
All I know is if the person who buys my old E can live with the brakes as is, or is somehow able to get the dealership to fix them, you will have a nice car. It was broken in properly, never smoked in, and looked better than it did when my wife drove it off the lot. I take great care of my vehicles!
I may have overblown the problems with the E, I am only human. But, I will never say that the problems I had with the service dept were overblown. I had a real complaint with the brakes, paperwork to back up my complaint with the brakes, and still nothing happened. Many people have 08 Elements and will not think that the brakes are much of a problem. I am not one of those people.
My E was not a lemon, it was just a little sour, but the dealerships service department was rotten!!
BTW, I found some hail damage on my new RAV4 that I did not notice when we bought the car, the sun has to hit it just right to see the dents. I called the service department yesterday, stopped by the dealership this morning and saw their dent repair guy. He pointed out several dents that I had not noticed on the roof. A few hours later, everything was perfect, no dents. They went over the car with me to make sure there was nothing I thought was missed. No questions asked...they fixed the problem ASAP. THAT is the kind of service I like to be given. 1. problem is found 2. problem is fixed 3.customer is happy.

 

[Ribbit]

Did they ever fix that radio fog problem?
We are heading to the dealer next week to address the TSB. It looks like our radio has started to fog too. Also noticing little spots all over the black trim on the a pillars and top.
I know that our E's came off the same line. Can't recall if yours was ahead or behind ours.?? I hope we have better luck. Good choice on the RAV. That was our other choice. We went with the E because of the great floor and the price. Toyota was not as interested in making a deal.
Best of luck to you.

 

[EXwSCnose]

Can't recall if yours was ahead or behind ours.?? ....

A quick glance at the VIN will even give you an approximate idea how far appart it was....