Three problems related to door latch have been reported for the 2003 Honda Element. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Honda Element based on all problems reported for the 2003 Element.
We initially had problems opening the driver's side door with the key and for a long time had to open the car from the passenger side and reach over to unlock the driver's door. This continued to get worse when we were unable to unlock the car from the passenger's side door also and so had to start leaving the car unlocked from fear of not being able to get back in. We had to pay to get wireless entry installed in the car since this seems to be a habitual problem with the Element and we would just end up in the same situation again down the road if we had chosen to get the car re keyed. So far we are still able to use the original key for the ignition but have had problems with one of the keys working and now only have one.
Driver side door lock is inoperable. Lock pins are jammed for no apparent reason and key will only go in half way.
Consumer is unable to unlock and open the back doors, unless the front doors are unlocked and opened which could cause a safety issue if vehicle is in an accident.
| Latches/locks/linkage problems | |
| Door Latch problems |