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It's supply and demand folks. Two month wait, unless you want the one with the "bumper garnish" and think it's worth the $800 or so they charge for it.
Drove nice but I noticed more than a flew assembly flaws, making me wonder if they are rushing production. The jack cover was loose and rattled, the windshield wiper on one of them reached up on to the A-pillar (the other didn't, so it was mis-assembled), and a few interior latches were very stiff, not at all smooth.
So watch out for those Version 1.0 models, consider waiting until they iron out the glitches, and enjoy the price drops, too.
Just my perspective and 2 cents'.
-juice
Is your name Joe McCarthy or something?
;^)
Guess when you build in greater numbers, something's gotta give. Mercedes is finding that out the hard way, too.
Probably more of a price-point/gross-profit thing, which is unfortunate. I'm one of those people who would pay extra for higher-quality interior materials, which, when spread across all the units built, might add only $200-300 to the window sticker.
My 1998 Accord has hard plastic on top of the dash, but my 2000 Civic has 'soft top'. IMO, it is tough to tell that the Accord has hard plastic because of its texture. OTOH, you can get in a Pontiac Grand AM and look at the plastic. Not quite the same thing.
I also take care of not scratching the Civic's 'soft touch dash' during cleaning, but I don't have to be as careful in the Accord. So, I for one, doesn't mind the material, but the look, feel, and possibly, the durability of the material.
Both 1998 and 2003 Accords have soft touch front of the dash, but for 2003, the new version is a little harder (perhaps sturdier) than the 1998.
they had a short review of element in their car keys segment it was around 2 minutes or so with some nice driving video.
the orange(red) is looking better. you can definitely tell its more red than orange though since they also displayed the original model x in all its orange glory, maby we shouldn't gripe so much about the cladding the model x cladding was definetly much lighter than the final version used on element
here's a link to the website with the transscript but the video is much better. it also has regional station info and some show times
http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/carkeys/02.shtml
not much new info other than a few mixed comments :
"Driving the Element is more like riding on a train than motoring. Not that the Element isn't very drive able. Even though Honda makes no pretense about handling, the Element is quite competent, if stiff."
Over time I don't know how people will take the lower fuel mileage and pep against the CRV. The Element may quietly morph into a regular 4 door or 2 door lighter vehicle for the goats.
Tom Elliot of Honda mentioned this lately:
"For the last five years, we've focused on light trucks -- sport-utilities and minivans. Ten years ago, we didn't sell any sport-utes or minivans and last year we sold 360,000 and this year we'll sell 425,000. We could use a couple more sport-utility vehicles and maybe a minivan,"
So there's more to come and I think the other designs are ready to go and waiting. A R&D organization must prepare ahead of time even it means that many cars will be shelved.
ps: I am betting the minivan is the Latitude.
That's the point I was trying to make. The plastic inside my 99 Civic is dull and smooth, and they just feel higher in quality, whereas the one on the newer Civics are chintzy seem as if they're quite brittle. The plastic on my RAV4 does a really good trick of fooling you into think that it's not hard plastic, but it is.
We also have a 98 Accord in our family, and I know you can tell that the quality of the plastic is far superior than the plastic in, say, a Kia.
Nissan Pulsar NX with the removable back.
Nissan Axxess
Isuzu??? with the removable back.
Isuzu Vehicross (which did not reach Canada) but looked cool IMO.
Subaru Brat
Hmmmm......
Nissan Axxess: A neat design, but a bit too cramped for the money
Isuzu Amigo: See today's Rodeo Sport
Isuzu VehiCross: Too weird for this planet, now history
Subaru Brat: See today's Baja
My cousin has an Odyssey and the interior is fine so far, but his paint is chipping. You'd think the kids were on the outside! LOL
ropedart: Nissan figured it could make more money off a Murano vs. a new NX "shooting brake" (2 door wagon).
-juice
It is really irritating, though. Same thing happened with the 2000 when it came out. A handful of suckers will pay it, but doubt there are 50,000 of them.
The manufacturers are almost helpless to stop it. Some changed the allocation of cars to reflect the customer sales satisfaction, trying to address that. Crooked dealers get fewer desirable cars now.
-juice
a full pager on the left of element crossing a bridge with a waterfall in the back
and a second page with 5 pics and a description calling it a "mega-functional adventure tool"
it has an over head shot of the skylight with the 2 passenger seats below
and another shot with a kayak inside on the passenger side
and then just pics most of us have already seen
You can't argue with the interior space and versatility the Odyssey offers, period. No wonder there are wait lists. People will deal with whatever issue comes up and still love their vans. Reliability is just one factor, and to some owners not even the most important one.
The Spocket looks too impractical. The Del Sol never caught on, why would this, minus the Targa? Scissors doors weight a ton, and combined with the weight of the battery pack it would handle like a dog.
-juice
Aren't they basically the same, only hinged vertically instead of horizontally?
Honda uses small electric motors to keep weight dowm (unlike Toyota's system), so the battery pack isn't too heavy either. And in Spocket, it is placed under the bed, close to the wheels that it drives. It could make for a good handling car.
That the type of concept feature that never makes production on down-to-earth priced cars.
I prefer the Chevy Borrego concept, basically a WRX with a pickup bed, and 250hp to boot.
-juice
I just love unusual doors like gull wings and scissors, and nobody bothers with them except $800,000,000,000,000,000 supercars.
*sulk*
-juice
Concepts rarely get into production as is, but I liked the concept behind Spocket. Different, but not any more though. Think of it as a mini-version of Avalanche.
The Rear
ps Autoweek was a great magazine subscription for me until Canada Post turned it into AutoLastMonth.
The interior is a bit Buck Rogers, but I like the rear view. Thanks for the links.
-juice
The Spike is positioned as a "hobby" vehicle, similar in concept to the Element. I don't care much for the Element because of the suicide doors but would buy the Spike for its sliding doors and compact width.
Size is about 161" long, 67" wide (same as Civic), 67" tall, with a 106" wheelbase. Any opinions? Would you buy it if it was in the price range of the Civic sedan?
www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/mobiliospike/style
www.honda.co.jp/factbook/auto/spike/200209/05.html
I have no idea what that reason might be. Were you using html tags?
tidester
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SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
Your link has too many characters, so you can fix that going to http://makeashorterlink.com
Your link has too many characters, so you can fix that going to http://makeashorterlink.com
enter the long link into the box and it will spit out a shorter link you can paste into edmunds.
tidester
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SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Steve
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First clear photo of the rear seats. Now I know why it seats only four. The center area has plastic cup holders. Was that really necessary?
They also remarked that the rear seats were a bit low to the floor.
I imagine that would only sell as a cargo van, and in small numbers.
-juice
-juice
Chinatown in NY expanded so much, it's swallowed most of Little Italy. There's only about a block left where you can get a gelato and have it in a nice sidewalk cafe.
Haven't been to NY since the NY Auto Show, which is where I saw the Element (to bring this back on topic).
-juice