How many miles will a 2004 Honda Element last?
Half of the 177 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2004 Honda Element that list mileage came after 46,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 165,000 miles. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 282 complaints on this model year; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 177 complaints on the 2004 Honda Element that list mileage, the middle half came between 10,000 and 108,000 miles; 50 (28%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (12%) after 150,000 and 7 (4%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2004 Element last?
The 177 mileages owners gave run from 5 to 293,800 miles. A quarter are at or under 10,000 miles, half at or under 47,000, three quarters at or under 108,000 and nine in ten at or under 165,872; 50 (28%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (12%) after 150,000 and 7 (4%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2004 Element wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 5 miles |
| 25th percentile | 10,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 47,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 108,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 165,872 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 293,800 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 50 (28%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 22 (12%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 7 (4%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 821 NHTSA owner complaints on the Honda Element that list mileage came after 43,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Honda Element last? →
Common problems with the 2004 Element
NHTSA's file holds 282 owner complaints on the 2004 Honda Element. Owners named visibility most often: 106 complaints, and half of the 69 that list a mileage came after 9,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility | 106 | 69 | 10,000 |
| Air Bags | 74 | 46 | 108,000 |
| Seats | 26 | 18 | 60,000 |
| Electrical System | 18 | 15 | 90,000 |
| Suspension | 16 | 4 | Under 5 mileages |
Of the 282 complaints, 17 report a crash, 3 report a fire and 17 report an injury (19 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2004 Element a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2004 is a good or a bad Element: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2004 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 282 complaints, the 2004 ranks 2nd of the 9 Honda Element model years from 2003 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2003 (424). The fewest: the 2011 (11).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Element | 424 | 277 | 24,000 |
| 2004 (this page) | 282 | 177 | 47,000 |
| 2005 Element | 159 | 111 | 70,000 |
| 2006 Element | 122 | 81 | 69,786 |
| 2007 Element | 112 | 69 | 71,400 |
| 2008 Element | 113 | 66 | 24,000 |
| 2009 Element | 31 | 17 | 40,000 |
| 2010 Element | 30 | 16 | 44,458 |
| 2011 Element | 11 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
2004 Honda Element recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 11 recall campaigns that name the 2004 Honda Element (9 vehicle campaigns and 2 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 19V501000 | Jun 27, 2019 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| 19V499000 | Jun 27, 2019 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| 19V182000 | Mar 6, 2019 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| 18V268000 | Apr 26, 2018 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| 16V344000 | May 23, 2016 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2004 Element lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2004 Element.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 105 of the 282 complaints on the 2004 Honda Element give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: ELEMENT. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: ELEMENT.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2004 Honda Element questions
How many miles will a 2004 Honda Element last?
Half of the 177 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2004 Honda Element that list mileage came after 46,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 165,000 miles. Of the 177 complaints on the 2004 Honda Element that list mileage, the middle half came between 10,000 and 108,000 miles; 50 (28%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (12%) after 150,000 and 7 (4%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2004 Element that never had one.
What are the most common 2004 Honda Element problems?
NHTSA's file holds 282 owner complaints on the 2004 Honda Element. Owners named visibility most often: 106 complaints, and half of the 69 that list a mileage came after 9,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 282 complaints, 17 report a crash, 3 report a fire and 17 report an injury (19 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2004 Honda Element a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2004 is a good or a bad Element: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2004 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 282 complaints, the 2004 ranks 2nd of the 9 Honda Element model years from 2003 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2003 (424). The fewest: the 2011 (11).
How many recalls does the 2004 Honda Element have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 11 recall campaigns that name the 2004 Honda Element (9 vehicle campaigns and 2 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2004 Honda Element before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2004 Honda Element.