2003 HONDA ELEMENT Complaints

THE DRIVER SIDE LOCK STOPPED WORKING FROM THE OUTSIDE. FIRST THE ALARM AND AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCK STOPPED WORKING. IT WOULD ARM AND UNARM THE ALARM AND UNLOCK THE BACK AND SIDE DOOR BUT NOT THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR. THAT WAS ANNOYING BUT I HAVE THE KEY AND WOULD THEN JUST UNLOCK THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR BUT THE LOCK WOULD STICK AND NOT ALLOW THE KEY TO TURN. I WOULD THEN HAVE TO TAKE THE KEY OUT AND TRY AGAIN. OVER A FEW WEEKS IT GOT WORSE AND WORSE EVENTUALLY NOT ALLOWING THE KEY TO EVEN COMPLETELY ENTER. IT WOULD ALSO GET STUCK IN THE LOCKED POSITION AND I WOULD HAVE TO MANUALLY UNLOCK IT TO GET OUT. EVENTUALLY IT STOPPED WORKING ALL TOGETHER. TO GET IN I WOULD HAVE TO UNARM THE ALARM AND FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE USE AN UMBRELLA TO REACH ACCESS THE SEATS TO MANUALLY UNLOCK THE DOOR. I WOULD THEN HAVE TO WALK AROUND THE CAR TO GET IN. I WOULD ALSO HAVE TO MANUALLY LOCK THE DOOR BEFORE DRIVING AS IT WOULD NOT LOCK ON ITS OWN. TO GET OUT I WOULD HAVE TO DO THE WHOLE PROCESS AGAIN BUT IN REVERSE ORDER. IF I LOCKED THE DOOR WITH THE DOOR OPEN IT WOULD NOT SHUT COMPLETELY. IT PROGRESSIVELY GOT WORSE OVER ABOUT A YEAR. I HAD IT REPAIRED ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO AND HAVE NOT HAD ISSUES SINCE. I DID NOT HAVE TO CHANGE KEYS, ELECTRONIC LOCKS, OR ALARMS. THIS WAS SOME TIME AGO SO I DO NOT REMEMBER WHAT THEY HAD TO DO TO FIX IT BUT I REMEMBER IT NOT BEING CHEAP AND TAKING MUCH OF THE DAY AS THEY HAD TO TAKE THE DOOR APART. I AM NOT SURE IF THE DEALER OR MY REGULAR REPAIR PLACE FIXED IT BUT MORE INFORMATION CAN BE REQUESTED FROM THEM IF NEEDED. THE REPAIR GUYS HAD NOT MENTIONED THIS BEING AN ISSUE WITH 2003 HONDA ELEMENTS BUT AFTER SEEING MULTIPLE REPORTS ON HERE I DECIDED TO ADD MY INFORMATION FOR MORE CONTEXT AND DETAILS IN HOW THE PROBLEM STARTED AND ADVANCED. *TR

THE DRIVER'S-SIDE KEY LOCK ROUTINELY DOES NOT ACCEPT THE KEY WITHOUT MULTIPLE EFFORTS. SOMETIMES THESE EFFORTS FAIL, AND I MUST TRY THE BACK HATCH OR PASSENGER SIDE DOOR. AS A SINGLE FEMALE, I FIND THIS DISTURBINGLY DANGEROUS. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT I CAN'T GET INTO THE CAR, MARKING ME AS VULNERABLE. THIS BASICALLY SETS ME AFOOT, OFTEN AT NIGHT, OFTEN IN UNCERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. SHOULD I FIND MYSELF NEEDING TO MOVE THE CAR FOR ANY EMERGENCY WHATSOEVER, A GREAT DEAL OF TIME WILL BE LOST AS I STRUGGLE WITH ENTRY. UNTIL I CHECKED FOR THE AIRBAG RECALL, I HAD NOT KNOWN ABOUT THIS SITE. I AM APPALLED TO FIND THAT THIS KEY FAILURE IS A COMMON ISSUE. MY NEXT CAR WILL BE A TOYOTA, THE BRAND I DROVE FOR MANY, MANY MILES AND YEARS WITHOUT TROUBLE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA ELEMENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 162,000.

DRIVER SIDE EXTERIOR DOOR LOCK DOES NOT ACCEPT A KEY. THIS IS EXTREMELY PROBLEMATIC DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE ELEMENT DID NOT INCLUDE AUTO LOCKS. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN IN A PARALLEL PARKING SITUATION WHERE MY DRIVER DOOR WAS FACING A BUSY STREET. I WAS TRYING TO GET INTO THE CAR WHEN THE LIGHT BEHIND ME TURNED GREEN AND THE CARS CAME WHIPPING BY. IT IS ALSO SCARY AT NIGHT WALKING TO MY CAR IN A PARKING LOT AS I DON'T KNOW IF MY LOCK WILL WORK AND SOMEONE COULD EASILY FOLLOW ME OUT TO MY CAR AND HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO ATTACK ME. I HAVE A DAUGHTER AND HER SAFETY IS MOST IMPORTANT. THIS ISSUE NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOT ONLY FOR CONVENIENCE BUT ALSO PEACE OF MIND. *TR

I STOPPED TO CHECK MY MAIL AND TURNED OFF MY VEHICLE TO USE THE MAIL BOX KEY AND WHEN I TRIED TO START MY CAR AGAIN, IT WOULD NOT START. ALL I GOT WAS A BUZZING NOISE FROM UNDER THE STEERING COLUMN. PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT OVER THE LAST WEEK THERE WERE TIMES MY CAR WOULD NOT START. I WOULD MAKE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AND IT WOULD FINALLY START. THE BATTERY AND STARTER WERE CHECKED AND IN WORKING CONDITION. *TR

THE LOCK ON DRIVER SIDE DOOR NO LONGER ACCEPTS THE KEY. I HAVE TO UNLOCK FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE. WHEN TRYING TO LOCK OR UNLOCK FROM THE DRIVER SIDE, MY KEY GETS STUCK IN THE LOCK AND DOES NOT TURN. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA ELEMENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ELECTRONIC DOOR SYSTEM FAILED TO OPEN OR LOCK THE DOORS, AND THE DOORS COULD NOT BE OPENED WITH THE KEY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 98,000.

FRONT DOOR LOCK WILL NOT WORK. IT IS JAMMED AND WILL NOT ACCEPT THE KEY GOING IN. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED AND FIXED. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE. *TR

BOTH DOOR LOCKS (DRIVER AND PASSENGER) ARE JAMMED. AT TIMES THE KEY GOES IN AND OTHERS IT DOESN'T BUT DO NOT TURN. I HAVE TWO KEYS AND NEITHER OF THEM OPEN EITHER DOOR. I HAVE TO ENTER THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, CLIMB OVER THE BACK SEATS TO GET TO THE DRIVER'S SEAT. THIS APPEARS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH MANY HONDA ELEMENTS MADE IN 2003. I HAVE READ MANY REVIEWS AND SEE THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE THIS SAME ISSUE. I HAVE BACK PROBLEMS AND CANNOT BE CLIMBING IN THROUGH THE BACK OF MY CAR TO OPEN THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR TO ENTER MY CAR. I THINK HONDA SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPLACING THESE LOCKS. *TR

DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR LOCK BEGAN TO NOT UNLOCK THE DOOR ON FIRST ATTEMPT. AFTER APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR THE LOCK BECAME STUCK AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE AND WOULD NOT RELEASE THE KEY. FORCED THE KEY OUT OF THE LOCK BY PLACING MY KNEE AGAINST THE DOOR AND PULLING ON THE KEY UNTIL THE KEY FINALLY CAME OUT. LOCK CONTINUES TO BE AT ABOUT 20 DEGREES AND WILL NOT ALLOW THE KEY TO ENTER AND/OR TURN. HAVE TRIED LIQUID WRENCH, BUT NO IMPROVEMENT. HAVE TO UNLOCK THE DRIVER'S DOOR BY ENTERING THROUGH THE PASSENGER DOOR. *TR