Both Toyota and Honda are fearful they will become associated with middle-aged boomers and fail to attract younger buyers.

Toyota’s preventive strategy is in its second-generation. A first attempt with the Toyota Echo flopped. The Echo has not sold well, I strongly suspect because it looks ungainly and handled like it looks. (I posted a highly critical review of the car here soon after it was introduced. I received many scathing comments from Toyota lovers, but once the magazines got around to backing me up the criticism died down.) Those Echos that did sell tended to sell to aesthetically-challenged middle-aged people in search of a cheap, reliable car. More recently Toyota began a roll-out of two “Scions” based on the Echo chassis: the innocuous xA hatchback and the brick-like xB, um, I’m not sure what it is. Whatever the Matrix is, it’s one of those two, just squarer and smaller. This strategy might be working better; at least no one older than the target audience who I’ve queried has failed to draw back in disgust upon seeing the xB. So if they’re selling (they’re not officially for sale in my part of the country yet, but there are a few around), they’re probably selling to young people.

Honda is in a less precarious position than Toyota. Its Civic, unlike Toyota’s Corolla, is popular among the young and hip. But then the Civic is hardly suited for the active lifesytles these people supposedly have. It’s just a regular old car, after all. Active people need something with more room inside to stow all of their stuff. Honda sells the CR-V SUV, but its styling falls somewhere between bland and wimpy. In other words, it looks like a vehicle for Honda’s core clientelle. To create a compact SUV specifically for young active folk, Honda started with the CR-V, then:

*chopped the wheelbase a couple inches and the length by a foot
*raised the roof a whopping eight inches (making it the tallest compact SUV by a *substantial margin)
*stood the windshield upright
*exchanged the conventional rear doors for pickup-like rear-hinged half-doors (with no B-pillar)
*installed a water-resistant, rubber-floored interior (but Honda warns not to try to hose it out)
*named the result the Element

The powertrains remain the same.

So, is this a winning formula? (Sure, the vehicle has been out a year, and I’m very late with this review, but better late than never.)

Honda Element Reliability

Want better reliability information? Want to really know what difference it will make if you buy a Honda Element rather than something else? It's coming in the form of "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats. From these you might learn that your first choice, compared to your second choice, is likely to make 2.7 extra trips to the shop in its first five years. You might decide its advantages compensate for this, or you might not. Either way, you'll be able to make a much better informed decision.

To gain access to this information you have a choice: sign up to help provide the data now or pay $24.95 later. For the details, visit my website, www.truedelta.com.

Styling

Much like the Pontiac Aztek it resembles in many ways, the styling of the Element is controversial. The fenders and roof are plastic, flat gray on the base DX, metallic gray on the EX. The only painted surfaces are the doors, hood, the largely invisible center of the roof, and a thin strip along the top of the fenders. Maybe they should have just made the whole thing gray plastic. After all, the most likely parts to get dinged are the doors. Unlike the Aztek, the Element makes no pretense of being a performance vehicle: much like the Scion xB, it is very boxy. In this sense it is more Hummer H2 than Aztek. For a sharp contrast with the plastic bright orange paint is available. The EX I drove was painted an easier-on-the-eyes metallic green.

Despite the heavy use of plastic, the Element is not nearly as widely reviled as the Aztek. I suspect a combination of reasons. First, it’s a Honda, and both Honda and Toyota regularly get excused for styling miscues that would bury other brands. Second, it makes no pretense of being about racy styling. There is no raked backlight or spoiler. On a box gray plastic seems more appropriate.

Third, and perhaps most important, the wheels are sized right for the vehicle. The Aztek was initially available only with 15-inch wheels. It later became available which 17s. Together with a reduction in gray plastic these greatly improved its appearance, but by then its public image was damaged beyond repair. To look its best the Aztek could use larger wheels still; when shown as a concept car it was fitted with 18s (and much less gray plastic, for that matter; someone in GM knew the 2001 treatment was far off course). American cars are far too often styled for larger wheels than they end up being sold with. In contrast, the Element is fitted with 16s and looks as if it was styled with 16s in mind.

The Element’s interior is similarly styled to reflect use by people with active, outdoorsy lifestyles. The seats are upholstered in a water-resistant fabric. The floor is covered with a rubberlike material. The dash and doors appear designed for function under extreme conditions, like a ruggedized notebook computer (or a commercial van). These materials suggest that the interior can be hosed out, like classic Jeeps, but I’ve read that Honda warns against this. Well, the materials at least look indestructible. Cool even.

EXs have two-tone interiors. The most interesting is probably the gray/green interior fitted to green EXs like the one I drove. As with the exterior the shade of green is a subdued light spruce, not some garish neon. Think the shade of green often used in hiking gear and you won’t be far off. Silver and blue EXs have gray/blue interiors. The other exterior colors have black/gray interiors, definitely less interesting. If I was buying an Element it would be green.

To find such a rugged flavor in another vehicle you pretty much have to spring for a $50,000 H2. And the Element thankfully avoids the cartoon-like flourishes and too obviously plastic materials of the more expensive SUV. There is no gear shift here superficially styled to look like it was lifted from a fighter jet, for example. Both designs have a ton of character, but the Element somehow seems the more honest design. A Jeep Liberty provides some of the same character, but makes more concessions to luxury.

Ultimately, while the Element doesn’t excite me overly much I appreciate its coherent and distinctive character.

Accommodations

As one might expect from a box, the Element is roomy inside. All seats are mounted high off the floor, providing both good thigh support and generous legroom—large sedan levels in the rear. Headroom is of course also generous—a huge 43 inches in the front seat. Shoulder room is not much of an issue as the 50/50 split second row is designed for only two people, not three as in most other SUVs.

All seats are moderately firm and felt reasonably comfortable. They provide no lateral support, though. Perhaps this was to enable them to serve as a bed, as all four seats can be fully reclines to form a continous surface. Make that a continuous lumpy surface, as the transitions from seat cushions to backrests to the next seat cushion and so on are not especially clean. I suspect it would be more comfortable to fold up the rear seats—they fold to the walls—and sleep on the floor.

One strange omission: nor left armrest is provided for the front seat passenger.

The view from the driver’s seat is unique in the current age of heavily raked windshields. As in the H2, the upright windshield yields a relatively shallow instrument panel and an A-pillar that is unusually far away from ones face. While I dislike overly close pillars, when the A-pillar is this far away it creates a degree of tunnel vision. The thickness of the pillars in this case can be a bit bothersome in traffic as well. But these niggles only slightly detract from the distinctive character the distant windshield lends the vehicle. You know you are driving something out of the ordinary, something tough.

The doors to the Element are unusual for an SUV. The rear doors are rear-hinged and, like similar half-doors on many pickups, cannot be opened independently of the front ones. No B-pillar separates the front and rear doors, so with both open the entry is very large.

With all seats in place there is a usable amount of room behind the second row, much like other compact SUVs. For serious cargo capacity the rear seats can either be folded up to the walls (where they cover the windows) or removed. With the seats removed cargo volume is 77 cubic feet, second only to the Hyundai Santa Fe by a slight margin and about ten percent more than the class average. Keep in mind, though that much of this advantage is obtained through an unusually high ceiling, which can be good or bad depending on the sort of thing you plan to carry. Upright bicycles, I suspect it can easily do that. The all-wheel-drive EX includes a manual sunroof over the rear cargo area. I guess it’s there to allow especially tall items to be carried.

Update, courtesy of a tip form pvreditor: The maximum load capacity of the vehicle I drove is 675 pounds. This includes all passengers and cargo. Put two men in the front seats, and cargo capacity could easily be under 300 pounds. This seems insufficient given the cargo volume. Most compact SUVs, including Honda's own CR-V, have a load capacity of around 900 pounds.

Storage compartments are provided under the rear floor. For $59 Honda will sell you four legs to convert the removable load floor into a table. Nifty, but the CR-V comes with a table.

In many aspects a very functional interior.

On the Road

The Element is a couple hundred pounds heavier than a CR-V, but shares its 160-horsepower engine. Car & Driver report a zero to sixty time in the high 8s, but they tested a front-wheel-drive manual. The all-wheel-drive automatic I tested felt far more sluggish. It would be lucky to hit 60 in eleven seconds. The engine did not feel responsive, and once it did respond it sounded strained. Still, it should be able to waste a classic VW Microbus, which possessed a somewhat similar character. Neither vehicle suggests aggressive driving, so just relax and take your time. Enjoy the scenery.

As in other Honda all-wheel-drive vehicles, the front wheels get all the engine’s power until they slip, when the rears are automatically engaged. I did not take the Element off-road, but its car-like ground clearance suggests its not meant for serious rock hopping, or even leaving the road. Maybe it can go out on the beach if the sand is packed fairly well. Just leave it at the trailhead and hike in.

I was less impressed with the Element’s handling than most reviewers have been. Sure, it leans less in turns than you’d expect a 74-inch-tall vehicle to, but it still leans quite a bit. The steering feels heavy and numb, and the vehicle as a whole feels ponderous and unwilling to engage in quick turns. Then again, such a tall vehicle should not be taking turns quickly. Chill, man. What’s the hurry?

Like the CR-V, the Element rides well for a small SUV--for those in the front row. The rear seat is mounted nearly over the rear axle. Its occupants will find themselves in nearly constant vertical motion on all but the smoothest surfaces. Noise levels are moderately low, with the exception of the engine when accelerating. I did not drive the Element much over 60. At higher speeds the blocky greenhouse might start generating wind noise and the engine will undoubtedly become more vocal. The Element’s gearing is fairly short in an attempt to compensate for its marginal power-to-weight ratio.

The brakes, anti-lock on the EX, stop the Element well enough, but do not feel strong. Again I sensed the mass of the vehicle.

Ultimately the most fun aspect of driving the Element is the interior ambiance and unique view forward. For driving thrills look elsewhere. For a box with ambiance sign right up.

Pricing

For quick, up-to-date pricing, and especially user-specified price comparisons, check out the website I created: www.truedelta.com. Why yet another vehicle pricing website? Well, I personally lacked the patience to keep using the others. They were too slow and required too much effort, especially when trying to compare prices. So I taught myself some programming and created a site where there is no need to dig through option packages, prerequisites, and the like one by one -- the TrueDelta algorithm figures these out for you in one swift pass.

The following is from when the review was originally written:

I neglected to study the sticker of the Element I drove, figuring I’d pick pricing info up online like I usually do. Well, I cannot find 2004 prices online. In 2003 a vehicle like I drove would have listed for $21,560. This was and remains the most expensive model.

A stripped DX front-drive manual listed for five grand less. All-wheel-drive accounts for $1,400 of the difference, the automatic transmission for $800, the side airbags for $250, and the A/C for perhaps a grand. This leaves $1,550 for the alloys, stereo, ABS, cruise control, and nicer trim. (The DX comes with steel wheels and no stereo to create a blank slate for the tuner crowd.) Prices throughout the range seem justified.

After rebates and discounting a Scion xB costs much less, a Pontiac Vibe, Jeep Liberty, or Pontiac Aztek costs less, a Pontiac Aztek costs about the same, and a Subaru Forester or Nissan Xterra costs more. A Honda CR-V costs about $1,300 more.

Bottom line: the Element is no steal, but if the exterior and sluggish acceleration don’t scare you away then neither should the price.

Last Words

The Element has character, always a good thing given the popularity of Camrys and Accords. However, while I have a soft spot for vehicles with character, whatever that character might be, the Element’s general ponderousness limits my enthusiasm. I might be a bit more satisfied with the manual, but those tend to be hard to come by.

Based on Honda’s target market I’m too old to “get it,” but I don’t think this is the problem. As so often happens, the people actually buying Elements fall outside the intended target of twentysomething males more often than not. The male bit has proven accurate. But buyers are often the fathers of the intended targets, men in their fifties. I’ve read this, have a close friend whose father would like one, and the dealer confirmed that this is the profile of their typical Element buyer.

I can only venture a guess as to why this has been the case. First off, the target customers often lack even the funds to buy a $16,000 vehicle. But this doesn’t explain why middle-aged men find it appealing. I suspect the reason for this is they’ve gotten the kids out of the house and they’re engaging in various hobbies and home improvements that they lacked the time and/or funds for earlier. The Element seems an excellent vehicle for runs to Home Depot.

Then there’s my own father. I took him along for the test drive because I was interested in his reaction. He’s been making noises about actually finding the Aztek appealing earlier. He’s also been a long-time fan of Hondas, for my sister if not for himself. Putting the two together, I thought he might like the Element. But he did not. Too boxy for his tastes, and perhaps because he’s used to driving a Lexus GS 400 and Nissan 350Z he was even less satisfied with the Element’s performance. There’s just no predicting these things.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, visit www.truedelta.com.

My reviews of related vehicles:
Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo
Ford Escape
Honda CR-V
Hyundai Santa Fe
Jeep Liberty
Pontiac Vibe
Saturn VUE
Subaru Forester
Toyota Matrix

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 21,800 est

Write a Review