Three problems related to door 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.
Windshield leaked water, dealership refused to fix. Windshield cracked and was cited by police officer for not fixing, dealership refused to fix. Upon replacement the repair guys just laughed and said that that glass was seated improperly and asked who had replaced it. I responded that it was the original, they told me not to buy any more Hondas. Key would no longer work in the driver side door. Replaced something at dealership for $800 as well as the driver side window as it stopped moving due to the motor dying at around 60,000 miles. Now the keys don't work in the passenger side of vehicle nor does the window. In another incident the vehicle failed to stop after fully depressing the brake when traveling about 5-10 mph and drifting into another vehicle causing moderate damage. Honda has not responded to any inquires made by consumer. Nor has dealership. I still owe 10,000 dollars on this car, have spent over 3000 in repairs and at this point want to drive it into a tree at a high speed.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Element. The contact stated that the vehicle would not recognize the key remote unlock feature. In addition, the key would not unlock the driver side door even when it was manually inserted. In order to unlock the driver's door, the passenger door had to be unlocked to get to the driver's door inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing, but the results were not provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 185,000.
Driver's side door has about a half an inch opening between the rubber and the door. This lets air and debris in.