While driving down a city street, heard a very loud crack/bang, and lost control of the vehicle. Fortunately I was going slow, 20-30mph and was able to safely stop. Upon exiting the vehicle, the rear driver side wheel was hanging at a weird angle. Looking under the car, the entire trailing arm and wheel assembly has broken off of the frame. If I was going faster, or had been on the highway, this would have caused an accident/rollover and injury for sure. Looking online for more information, I see that this is a known issue, and Honda has already issued a recall, but only for Canada. Vehicle was towed to and inspected by a AAA certified auto shop; they have written it off as a total loss, and suggest to sell the vehicle for parts. I contacted Honda, and they have told me to take it to a dealership for additional inspection by them.

- Saint Paul, MN, USA

I took my Honda Element to the dealer complaining of a vibration in the right front of the car. I was told that my compliance bushings needed replaced but axles were fine. I picked up my car only to have the same problem. Upon further examination, the mechanic came to the conclusion that the right axle was bad. I had that replaced still have a vibration. I have now been told to replace the left axle. I came upon an interesting thread on a forum stating that Honda held education meetings about the frame causing the axles to wear incorrectly. Inner joint bearings rolling out of joint, abnormal wear. Not outside of the surface of the bearings but actual inside bearings octagoned. My vehicle has only 68, 000 miles on it and I have been told by a Honda service manager that it is extremely rare for one axle to go bad and unheard of for 2 to go bad. I am wondering if anything can be done if Honda is covering up a faulty axle problem and possibly faulty design of the vehicle being that the frame is too heavy for the components. I have also been told that my rear struts as well as rear compliance bushings will need to be replaced as well but are not bad enough yet. I also have a driver's seat that rocks back and forth and Honda claims to know nothing about this problem as well. This is also my 4th set of tires on this car. It literally eats the tires until they are bald. I am not the only person with these problems as they are on forums on the internet. Can anything be done about this?

- Mcdonough, GA, USA

While driving down expressway, steering wheel tilt lock came loose allowing steering wheel to move up & down. After stopping & raising tilt lever to upward position (lock), I continued on and it did it again (lever falling down). Now lever will not remain in "up" or "locked" position. Very un-nerving when braking or turning. Awaiting return call from out of town Honda dealer. Local Honda dealer said they wanted $90 up front as a "diagnostic fee" before they would even look at it........

- Harlingen, TX, USA

While driving, the vehicle's steering locked. The vehicle's tire valve was faulty and resulted in a flat tire. When the steering locked for the second time, the vehicle shut down. The consumer was able to pull over to the shoulder and the vehicle restarted without incident. The dealer was unable to find any malfunction.

- Baltimore, MD, USA