2008 Honda Element problems & reliability
110 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda Element, alongside 12 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
2 complaints report injuries (2 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2008 Honda Element vehicles were involved in 16 fatal crashes with 7 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 23 | 21% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 23 | 21% |
| Suspension | 23 | 21% |
| Structure | 14 | 13% |
| Service Brakes | 7 | 6% |
| Electrical System | 6 | 5% |
| Visibility | 6 | 5% |
| Power Train | 4 | 4% |
| Tires | 4 | 4% |
| Service Brakes, Air | 3 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 44,000 miles (middle 50% between 17,150 and 111,223 miles), based on 60 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2008 Honda Element. The contact stated that while reversing out of a parking spot, the driver’s side rear trailing arm fractured. There were no warning lights illuminated. Upon researching the failure, the contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V349000 (Suspension). The vehicle was…”
Suspension · filed Sep 17, 2025
“There is a massive rust spot under the driver side seating position where your feet would rest while driving. Seems as there isn't significant drainage holes in this area.”
Structure · filed Jun 17, 2025
“My mechanic informed me that this car will no longer pass NYS inspection due to body rust/corrosion holes where the rear trailing arms attach to the car's body. Honda has issued a recall for the same model year CR-V, which has a nearly identical trailing arm attachment design, due to the risk of losing control of the…”
Suspension · filed Nov 7, 2024
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · open
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA15001 · opened Feb 24, 2015 · open · led to recall 22V945
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Preliminary Evaluation PE14016 · opened Jun 11, 2014 · closed Mar 2, 2015 · led to recall 15V226000
- Air in brake system
Engineering Analysis EA09014 · opened Oct 19, 2009 · closed May 11, 2010 · led to recall 10V098000
Technical service bulletins
47 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda Element. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
A18-050 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-015 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 3, 2022
"Service Bulletin - There are several A/C leak detection tools available. -Refrigerant Gas Leak Detector -Ultrasonic Leak Detector -Leak Dye"
A07-030 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 23, 2021
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-015 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-010 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Tech line summary article - Is the MIL on with DTC P2271 (secondary HO2S [sensor 2] circuit signal stuck rich)? What's likely causing this is the PCM is misinterpreting the A/F sensor (sensor 1) signals, causing the PCM…
ATS 180604 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 14, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-053 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 7, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-050 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 1, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-047 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 24, 2018
Service bulletin - all of the listed vehicles have a type 4 immobilizer system that disables the vehicle unless a programmed ignition key is used. The type 4 system is different than previous systems in that the…
A02-053 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 20, 2016
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2008 Honda Element has 12 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2008 Honda Element?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 44,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.