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Comments
For instance, the Odyssey demanded MSRP forever, even with a wait, but now you'll find 1-2k off MSRP without even trying hard.
-juice
I kinda like the green one, it's grown on me the most, maybe because it sorta looks like a paramilitary camouflage thing-a-ma-jig.
-juice
There is a black one just down the road from me now. Making it harder to wait till fall.
I just hope she doesn't change her mind before then, it's her car, but the Element is what I want her to get.
-juice
Mine will be Silver unless I change my mind by the end of the month.
Anyone have any ideas if there is a long waiting period for EX 4WD w/front side airbags?
Personally, I think the blue fits well with the styling of the vehicle. It is a bit unconventional, but yet I think is attractive. The black exterior with the dark grey/grey interior works just as well though.
The green one reminds of an old International Scout a buddy of mine's dad had years ago.
Yeah, my guess is that eejit wouldn't have seen a Yellow H2.
fsv: so I take it you're not getting the optional gun rack? ;-)
-juice
And definitely H2/1 would have had less damage.
No, I don't need the gun rack - I have my lawyer.
Jokes or not, but being into MA for years, I am not in roadrage or anything like that - there are 100,000 wqays to kill a man, but there are no way to bring one back...
I'd love to see an Element in bright red or yellow, or even a brighter green or blue.
Enough with the conservative colors on such a cool vehicle!
LOL, the weapon of choice.
I bet if they made yellow ones they'd be popular. Then again, maybe not, the yellow Bajas have not sold well compared to other toned down colors.
-juice
Subaru botched the Baja launch badly. They didn't even have full brochures ready when they came out. Standard leather and moonroof made it too expensive at first, even now the Sport model still have a moonroof standard. What if you're tall or don't want one?
And yes, they showed the yellow one in just about every ad, TV and print. The monotone silver sold the best.
Once the Element establishes itself as a hit, far from the crash the Aztec was, we'll see wilder colors.
-juice
I have no idea why they're dealing like this on this car, it's pretty surprising. Every dealer I contacted was willing to start negotiations at invoice (around $19,200) plus freight ($460). At the end of May it was at that price minus the 3% holdback but the side airbags were just being shipped so we decided to wait. We could've waited until the end of June but we're happy with the deal we got.
-juice
Re colors: if Honda would have painted Element in slightly glowing colors, it would look very cool. ANd that's not because of my night accident; I simply think that contrast of dark plastic panels and lighted body will look new, and attractive for younger folks, and cool in general.
-juice
I dragged my husband (OK, he was somewhat willing) to look at the inside of an Element. Our salesman showed him about how the seats work, and the next thing we end up test driving a 5 speed. I was very surprised at how it was geared - the low end is so much better than our Tacoma! Now I'm back to thinking about new cars and the Element is definitely on the list.
About the only colors I've seen around here are black, silver and orange. Won't buy another black vehicle, no matter how good looking it is. While I haven't seen them yet, I'm leaning toward either the green or blue.
-juice
What I like about the Vibe is the fact that it has the height of a car which makes me feel safer driving it (particularly here in the DC are) because of the constant opportunities for sudden braking or swerving to avoid an accident.
I consider myself to be a good driver and have avoided a few accidents by being able to brake and make a quick lane change when necessary/able. I think this is part of the reason why I don't like anti-lock brakes. I've become very good at pumping the brakes so anti-locks would just screw me up.
Anywho back to my point: I'm afraid that if I were to make that type of sudden brake and lane change in an Element that it might roll. My fears a probably unfounded particularly since my Tracker never behaved badly in that type of situation and it was rated fare more likely to roll.
I just don't know what to do. I really like both vehicles and would buy them both if I could but im not sure if I want to be driving an Element in 5 years at 37 yrs old.
Any current owners have any advice or comments they'd like to share?
I wasn't going to consider the Element, because I didn't like the look from the outside, but I made the mistake of asking a neighbor of mine to let me see theirs. The interior is the most practical of any vehicle I've seen for what I would like. They love their 4x4 auto and say it doesn't have any problems with our commute (he works "down the hill" also - just in a different city). I'll still prefer the 5 speed, though (such a short clutch and short throw shift - at least compared to my usual vehicles).
Just my personal opinion - while I'm not crazy about the looks of the Element, I prefer it over the Vibe. I went to look at them when they first came out and didn't bother test driving one.
As far as the Element goes, I was surprised at how it didn't lean much and felt so solid. Has any one driven one on a windy day? Since it is so boxy, is it as bad as a Wrangler? Since part of my commute is usually windy, that is a big consideration for me.
You might want to take a look at the Scion (toyota) xB as well.
On the other hand, he turned up his nose at the Element in a very strong and vocal way at first, but after looking at the inside and then test driving it, it is quite high on his list of priorities. So maybe I could get him to at least look at it, if for no other reason than comparison.
I haven't seen any Scions on my way to and from work, but I have seen quite a few Elements, for such a new car.
For what it's worth, from a review on another web site...
"As severe as the xB's outside is, it delivers on its promise of a roomy inside. Next to the two cars Toyota expects the Scion to go head to head with, the Honda Civic and the VW Golf, the xB leads in virtually every passenger compartment measurement, and generally not by small amounts. Remarkably, the xB offers more passenger room than the larger and taller Honda Element.
Scion xB delivers about 6 inches more front and rear headroom and 3 to 5 inches more legroom than Civic and Golf offer. Amazingly, the xB boasts nearly 3 inches more front-seat headroom and 7 inches more rear-seat headroom than the Element, despite the Element being 6 inches taller. The Element does offer a lot more front-seat hip room, however, and slightly more rear-seat legroom.
For hauling booty away from the local flea market and garage sales, the xB offers a smidgen more space than the Civic and the Golf. The Element tops the xB, however, offering 74.6 cubic feet of cargo space versus the xB's 43.4 cubic feet. And be forewarned, ordering the subwoofer speaker requires forfeiting about 2 square feet of the cargo area's floor space.
Cubby space is about normal for the class. There are the usual map pockets in the doors, cupholders front and rear and so on. There's a nook in the lower half of the dash to the left of the steering column, a cranny to the right of the column and a visually symmetrical, but taller and wider, shelf-like opening above the glove box.
"
Now I actually like the Elemnt VERY much, I'm just throwing out alternatives.
Steve, Host
Advantage to Element.
One thing I noted is that the 4-speed auto in the Element is one of the best Honda automatics I have ever driven. I had a 2001 EX V6 Accord and loved everything except the tranny. So an auto in the Element wouldn't be that bad. But still gotta at least drive the stick.
Will still shop around but this seems decent. Very, very fun to drive.
My salesman said that the auto tranny won't hunt on hills, like older trannys do. Was he right or was he just trying to sell a car to a little old lady? If so, I might revisit my decision not to ever get another auto if I can help it.
I wouldn't shy away from an auto for this reason.
- Mark
As for those Scions, I checked them out this weekend while my dealer was installing my foglights. I don't see anyway that the xB can have nearly the legroom of the E and didn't like the xB styling close up at all. The xA, however, was a surprise: I thought it was better looking than the larger Matrix (less "swoopy" design) and seemed nicer than the xB to me. Cool little sporty hatchback.
The only difference might be the V6 in the Ody vs the 4-banger in the Element. The Ody has a good deal of torque and might not need to downshift as much as the Element. I dunno - you might want to ask an Element (or CRV?) owner in your area how their truck performs on the hills.
-jim
Basically, buy the Element if you need the extra cargo space, but buy the xB if you just want to enjoy the drive and pocket the $4,000.