Honda Element - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Honda Element owners have reported a total of 1,513 problems for their cars built in the 9 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Honda Element. The 2003 Honda Element cars have the most problems reported (479 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Honda Element

Model Year Number of Problems
  2011 Element
14
  2010 Element
39
  2009 Element
38
  2008 Element
127
  2007 Element
144
  2006 Element
149
  2005 Element
197
  2004 Element
326
  2003 Element
479

🔍 Common problems of Honda Element

The following chart shows the 26 most common problems for Honda Element cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's visibility (372 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's air bags (320 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Honda Element

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Visibility
372
  Air Bag
320
  Suspension
112
  Electrical System
102
  Structure
88
  Service Brakes
81
  Equipment
70
  Seats
56
  Power Train
48
  Engine And Engine Cooling
46
   
  Seat Belt
35
  Vehicle Speed Control
28
  Steering
27
  Exterior Lighting
24
  Latches/locks/linkage
22
  Unknown Or Other
20
  Tire
16
  Wheel
12
  Electronic Stability Control
9
  Other Fuel System
9
  Air Brake
7
  Gasoline Fuel System
4
  Parking Brake
2
  Interior Lighting
1
  Child Seat
1
  Forward Collision Avoidance
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Honda Element of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Element model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Honda Element model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Element Model Years

Element
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2011 1411,46015    
0.08
  2010 3916,56116    
0.15
  2009 3811,12917    
0.20
  2008 12737,98418    
0.19
  2007 14433,68919    
0.22
  2006 14945,14020    
0.17
  2005 19752,45921    
0.18
  2004 32656,40222    
0.26
  2003 47976,28623    
0.27

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Honda Element is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2011 Element
1
  2010 Element
4
  2009 Element
3
  2008 Element
10
  2007 Element
9
  2006 Element
16
  2005 Element
18
  2004 Element
70
  2003 Element
84


Element Service Bulletins
Element Safety Recalls
Element Defect Investigations
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