Honda Element

ateixeira · February 2004

That's interesting, the Santa Fe is roomy but no more so than the CR-V.

I do think we'll see a new niche that's smaller in size. In Brazil the Ford EcoSport is a hit, it's a lot smaller than the Escape.

Mazda showed a boxy little crossover at NAIAS that could fit into that slot, too. Subaru is considering a tall Impreza-based wagon, if so I imagine the next Forester will get bigger. And I'd like the see the Honda Fit/Jazz make it over as well.

-juice

varmint · February 2004

Here's the new Hyundai. I've been reading about it for a while, but this is more info than I've seen in the past.

http://edmunds.com/news/autoshow/articles/101248/page009.html?

bigkahunafl · February 2004

ateixeira,

I want the 2.7 V-6. Decent gas milage and 173 horses.

elemint,

Overpriced? I can get a GLS with the above V-6, TCS and other options for the same price as an Element.

The Tucson is a smaller version of the Santa Fe due by year end.

So no one considered the Santa Fe when chosing the E?

meinrad · February 2004

but I felt cramped in it. I was uncomfortable in the back seat and just didn't seem to have enough room. It seemed like a big car with little interior space.

It didn't seem to offer near the utility of the E and in the end just crossed it off the list.

varmint · February 2004

Elemint - Depends on who you ask. Technically, because it has 106 cu.ft. of interior space, the CR-V is a mid-size vehicle. That's how the EPA clissifies vehicles. But when it comes to how the market "treats" a vehicle, that's another matter entirely.

footie · February 2004

I had my second test drive of an Element ( 2WD 5 sp MT EX ) yesterday.

It was warmer and we had the tire pressures pulled down to spec.

The salesman was busy when I arrived so I had a good chance to go over the car. Very nice set of features for the price.

I took the test drive and the ride was better, but still jouncy. I guess this what you get in a small truck.

The only thing that drove me nuts was a pesky, clicking rattle that sounded like it was coming out of the B pillar over my left shoulder.

So I left with no Element.

elledge · February 2004

Has anyone installed fogs in their Element? If so, what was the cost, source, and ease of installation?

elemint · February 2004

I have heard of people installing wallmart fogs for $20. If you get the honda ones they are over $200 uninstalled. Check out Hella Optilux 2500 Angel Eyes. They are smaller (no big housing box like the factory fogs), cheaper ($60), look better (halo), and are of better quality (german engineering, steel frame, glass lense). just have to figure out how to mount them.

ateixeira · February 2004

Side curtains are not exclusive to the Tucson, Vue offers them as an option.

Looks cute, though.

-juice

bobsmithy · February 2004

On vehicles with disc brakes on all four wheels, I'm used to the brakes feeling a certain way: the pedal travel is very minimal, and the feel is very solid.

However, on my Element, it's a different story. The pedal travels a great deal, and the brakes seem to engage with different levels of force at the same amount of pedal depression, depending on how FAST the pedal moves, instead of how HARD I press on the pedal.

Is anyone else experiencing anything similar?

On other vehicles I would suspect that the brake system needs bleeding, to remove air from the hydraulic lines... but based on some of the brake-related posts I've read here, I'm not sure.

joek9 · February 2004

After another restless night i have decided on the element. However when i read the posts i dont even come close to the prices i see posted. Cant do better than 23k awd - side airbags nothing else. Live up north Mich. Any help??

ateixeira · February 2004

I would bleed the brakes only because it is the #1 safety features on your car and any improvement will be felt immediately. Get a power bleeder, then you can even do it alone.

-juice

purduealum91 · February 2004

Cmon down to Elmhurst, Il. Grand Honda will definitely give you a better price. You are getting ripped.

rex4john · February 2004

2 Northwest Detroit Honda dealers have '03 Element EX AWD. One dealer (Suburban in Farmington Hills) has silver and Sunset Orange w/ side airbags at around $19,700.00 (not sure on exact price). The other (Tamaroff in Southfield) has silver and Sunset Orange EX AWDs without side airbags for around $19,600.00.

Save your money, buy the new '03 and purchase the keyless entry ($200) and put it in yourself...that's the only diff between '03s and '04s.

imaveggie · February 2004

Edmunds doesn't list the invoice. Sticker is 21,600. I live on Long Island in NY.

Anyone know the invoice price?

grammazanne · February 2004

We purchased a 2003 Element in December from a Burnsville, MN dealer. Our daytime temps have been around zero and below zero. This is the explanation we received for only getting 17 mpg. They also told us it needs heat to break in properly and will take almost 20,000 miles before it is broken in. Our gas mileage is now down to 14.5mpg. Help! We love this vehicle, but we are starting to freak out. Any suggestions?

ateixeira · February 2004

You may have to wait until it warms up to see if yours is out of the regular range. That kind of cold does wreak havoc with fuel efficiency.

-juice

purduealum91 · February 2004

Makes me appreciate my 45+ mpg TDI, cold weather or not....

grammazanne · February 2004

We bought our '03 Element automatic 4wd EX (no options)in Dec of '03 in MN for $19,300. I haggled with dealers over the internet until they came down to the price we felt we could afford. I hope we got a good deal. I do wonder if we should have tried to get an '04, but I'm not sure they could have come down to that price.

I really wish we had the keyless entry and an armrest on the front passenger side. I saw another Element with a driver's side armrest that looked like a glove box. She said it's wide enough for the front passenger to share it. How come my dealer didn't suggest it when he knew the armrest was definitely an issue for me?

2004_element · February 2004

I paid
20844
this included $490 destination
and the following (about $400 for this stuff):
Skylight shade screen
Cargo Cover
Carpeted Floor Mats
PLUS:
50 service fee (don't know for what)
1044 tax
21 baseball stadium
105 registration and title

22065 bottom line

Hope you feel better about that arm rest and keyless entry.
I'm sure you can add both to your car somehow.
I have the stick shift. Love the arm rest.
Can't live without keyless entry.
Two big Honda boners on the 2003 Element. What were they thinking?
Inform your dealer your dissatisfaction, and give them a chance to help out.
Pay for the upgrade, it's worth it.

Mileage:
Delivery at 10 miles on odometer
First Fill up at 77 miles (to make the start point)
Fill up at 337 miles 12.354 gallons: 21.05 mpg
Fill up at 542 miles 9.127 gallons: 22.46 mpg
Fill up at 756 miles 9.094 gallons: 23.53 mpg

City driving plus three freeway round trips of 90, 136 and 190 miles, in that order.
It's cold 0 to 10 here in Milwaukee too during the period.

If you calculated 14.5 mpg, you made a mistake or something else is going on, recheck again. Take a 200 mile freeway ride and check again. I would freak out too at 14.5..., but is that just city bumper to bumper grid lock or are you letting it idle for half an hour to warm it up before you leave the house or driving with the parking brake on or what? As you can see, it's really cold here too, car is just breaking in and I'm at 23 mpg and going up!

ateixeira · February 2004

If your mileage keeps improving at that pace, pretty soon you'll never need gas!

)

-juice

bkly · February 2004

2003 Element EX 4WD Auto
25,000 miles
23.5-mpg 50/50 city/highway – winter
25.0-mpg 50/50 city/highway – summer

ateixeira · February 2004

So oxygenated winter fuel plus extreme cold actually taxes the efficiency more than the A/C does. Same here, on my Forester.

-juice

cjolly · February 2004

Hi,

I'm considering purchasing a 2004 Element and was trying to find out if there is much performance difference between the a 5 speed FWD and AWD. According the the sales person at the dealership no. Can anyone confirm this?

thanks
Chris

151ranch · February 2004

it is impossible to find an EX AWD 5spd in Texas. I have not yet picked up our new car - it's in Wisconsin!

varmint · February 2004

The AWD model weighs something like 130lbs more than the FWD model. That will have some negative impact on handing and acceleration, but I'm guessing you'd have to be a racer to notice.

ateixeira · February 2004

It's like having a super model next to you as ballast.

That doesn't sound so bad, does it? ;-)

-juice

footie · February 2004

We took delivery of a FWD 5 speed 2004 EX in Galapogas Green on Feb 9th. Living in New England would make you think that AWD is necessary, but having been here for 20+ years with a variety of FWD cars, makes us think otherwise ( we aren't ski buffs so we don't trek north to get outside to even be colder ).

We like it. It's peppy, handles well for a truck - car, whatever it is, is funky and is very versatile and utilitarian.

The price was right - a few hundred over invoice at the dealership in Norwood, MA. We got a lease at a good residual and MF too!

Good shopping!

varmint · February 2004

Footie - I saw a GG Element parked out front at Boch just the other day. Obviously not your's, but I don't see many in that color. Odd that they'd have two of them.

If you'd like to head north during warmer months, I'm organizing the second Honda SUV Olympics for July 31st and August 1st. We're holding the event at Cannon Mt in Franconia Notch State Park, NH. Plans are only tentative until I get word from the folks on site, but I've been contacted by the owners of about 20 vehicles (CR-Vs, Elements, and Pilots) who are interested.

footie · February 2004

I think that is a used one - a 2003. I also think that it's Auto AWD. I wasn't interested in a used 2003, auto or AWD so I never even looked at it.

I found the one I got by watching Boch's inventory. They had it for about a month before I got it.

jmess · March 2004

Has anyone done any extended sleeping in the E with all the seat backs folded flat? What is it like for comfort?

elchuco · March 2004

I bought an '03 5-speed EX AWD about 2 months ago. While the car's doing fine (getting about 24-25 MPG, by the way), I've had an odd problem with the CD player.

I travel a lot for my work, and when I've been on the road I've enjoyed playing CDs. But when the temperature dipped and I put the heater on, the CD player started playing with lots of static. I told the dealer, who supposedly contacted Honda's tech support about the problem. The dealer then told me that because the dash is "weather resistant," it holds a lot of heat, which gets transferred to the CD player, especially when the heater's on.

In other words, he said it's just a defect I'd have to get used to. He suggested not using the panel heat while playing the CD player, but just using the feet/heat. In other words, I should modify my behavior, because there's no fix for the CD player.

This sounds kind of screwy to me. You'd think Honda would've gotten a CD player for their cars that can play while the heater is on.

Anyone else have this problem?

footie · March 2004

If you are using CDR's instead of commercially purchased CD's there could be some problems. I believe that sometimes CD's recorded on PC's don't always play well in car units.

Also, if you look on page 102-3 in the Element manual, there is an Error message that the CD will display when it's too hot to play. If you are getting the error message, then the dealer may have a good point.

On the other hand, if you aren't getting the error message, then I think the dealer is just tap dancing. He just doesn't want to deal with it.

Last time I checked, the Dash is actually totally INISDE your car and has only minimal insulation duties.

I'd call the dealer and ask him to reconsider. What is going to happen when it get's HOT outside. Are you supposed to run the A/C in the Dash to keep it cool and not on your feet which might be hot.

Duh?

I'd call Honda Customer Support and request a Zone contact if the dealer doesn't come up with a good answer.

ateixeira · March 2004

If you are using a CD-R make sure you format it as an audio CD and close the session when you're done. Most CD-RWs will not play in a plain CD drive if you don't wrap it up like that.

If that's confusing keep in mind DVDs are worse, you have the whole DVD-R vs. DVD+R, and then RWs for both of those!

-juice

ateixeira · March 2004

They wrap up their long-term Element in the latest issue. 25mpg, not bad. They did have a couple of problems, though.

-juice

pluckyew · March 2004

to replace our second car '00 Wrangler Sahara (6cyl) we're considering a black
'04 ex CRV or a
'04 ex Element, either in manual awd. [our other car is a nissan titan kc 4x4 pickup

]

I. what i'd like to know from any Element owners is that would the extra trouble of going to Reno, NV, to buy would get me the Honda without the catelyic converter that may (i've heard) sap the mpg mileage? what ya'll's actual mpg on the stick shift awd?

II. since i'm used to a Jeep ride i'm figuring teh funky Element is more my "element" than the cute CRV, but does any ElemenT owners have any comments about Element build quality and reliability. would the CRV be more reliable?

thanks... Chris

ateixeira · March 2004

They all have catalytic converters. Are you referring to a non-CA car vs. one with CA emissions? I don't think Honda makes 2 seperate versions.

-juice

elchuco · March 2004

To answer the CDR question above: no, I'm just using regular CDs out of the box (plastic wrap) that we bought at the Wherehouse or Walmart or wherver.

snowshoe427 · March 2004

I test drove a 5speed last Saturday and it rev's much higher at speed than my 5speed 02 Accord. I believe the Element was at 3,750 @75 while the Accord does about 3,000 @75. Does the automatic Element rev lower at speed and for those with 5speeds do you find the high revs tolerable on longer trips?

Thanks

varmint · March 2004

Yes, the automatic will rev a bit lower than the 5 speed. Whether or not it's tolerable is a question only you can answer. Different people have different tolerances.

ateixeira · March 2004

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040308/ap- _on_bi_ge/consumer_reports_glance_1

Element made their list for top ranked and most satisfying.

-juice

micweb · March 2004

than the comparable Accord, in order to provide good responsiveness despite the weight penalty of the Element vs. the Accord.

Don't forget the reinforcement required for the "suicide doors" adds a weight penalty vs. the CRV too.

High revving engines aren't a problem if the car takes that into account in terms of motor mounts, engine counterbalancers, and soundproofing.

When I test drove an automatic Element, it didn't seem "busy" in the engine compartment at all on the freeway.

hdowdy · March 2004

I was quoted $19895 for a "no extras" manual tranny 04 EX Element including destination charge. Tax in VA is 3% and $250 for processing and $50 for TTL. Is this a decent price and how much lower can I reasonably go.

Thanks
Future Element Owner

lalagimp · March 2004

Which part of VA are you trying to buy in? You can look up my info under here, and note the date
lalagimp "Honda Element: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" Jan 2, 2004 3:24pm

goinstag · March 2004

I've had a 5-speed EX fr about an E now and have completed a few long haul highway trips--the higher revs were never really noticeable. The E isn't as quiet as the Accord, but it's always a lot more quiet than the Saturn it replaced, so my sense of "quiet" may differ from yours.

mam262 · March 2004

Does anyone know what changes there will be for the 2005 Element?

smsuvundecided · March 2004

Lets hope it's the looks. To me the Element is the 2d Ugliest new vehicle out there.

When I see a pontiac aztec I want to hurl. God help me if I'm at a stop light and an element and an aztec are on each side of me. I may have a seizure. LOL

-> lighten up... just my opinion!

ateixeira · March 2004

Buyers ignore the Pontiac yet they keep lining up for Elements. Sales are close to double the projections.

Scion xB also sells well. So does Avalanche. So odd balls can succeed. I wouldn't necessarily group the Element with that Pontiac, though.

-juice

varmint · March 2004

Yeah, I can certainly with the opinion that the Element is "odd", but there's little to suggest that it's "ugly".

Historicaly, American's don't buy ugly cars. But they are buying the Element. People in the business of design like the Element. (I know of one in particular who is driving around the world in an E.) For every person who hates it (like my wife), there is another who adores it.

"Polarizing", "odd", "controversial"... sure any of those fit. But ugly just isn't in the cards.

footie · March 2004

I like mine (needless to say). Galapogas Green.

Very funky. Surpringly large ... I pulled up behind an RX330 this morning and boy did it look small.

Our E is nicknamed Stubby.

Honda Element

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