The fact is their are so many small SUV's on the market now, that it can sometimes become overwhelming. It seems as if every manufacturer builds one or more. So the real question is which one to buy. This really depends on what you want out of a car. If you want something traditional, some basic transportation that will be reliable look at a Toyota RAV 4 or a Honda CRV, which are both greats cars if that’s all you want out them. But if your looking for an SUV that is just plain "different" from the rest I seriously recommend looking into the Honda Element.


What an Awesome/Horrible looking Automobile!

The most obvious lure of the Honda Element is the way it looks. Is it a car, an SUV or even a van? Call it whatever you want, but their is no doubt the design is very unique. To me the Honda Element is either a love or hate deal. You either think it looks awesome and want to get one immediately, or think it looks just horrible and never want to look at one again. Well I take the former opinion, but unfortunately theirs more to buying a car than just looks (Despite popular opinion!)


A Roomy Love Mobile

The Interior of the Element is very different from most other small SUV's. The first thing you will notice is the way the doors open. They open in a clamshell design in which you must first open the front door which is hinged normally, and then can proceed to open up the back door which is hinged in the opposite direction. Besides looking pretty cool when both door are open, this design is also practical when loading up large items into the back. The first thing I noticed when sitting in the drivers seat of the Element is how roomy this SUV actually is. From the outside the SUV looks small but in the inside its anything but. There's plenty of headroom and leg room even for a larger person. The dashboard is laid out in a very practical fashion in which everything is very readable and simple to adjust. A cool touch was putting the shifter on the dash instead of the floor which leaves more room for other nick knacks. Proceeding to the back seats, I noticed that it was almost just as roomy as he front. Although Honda went a little to far in my opinion n the unique way that the back seats fold. They split in the middle and then fold up against the sides of the back. In theory this seems like a great way of improving storage capacity. Although this theory proves to be wrong. First of all because of this design the back seat only seats 2 instead of 3 people. Also when the seats are folded on the side of the SUV visibility is greatly reduced. Also the Element is rated at only 675 pounds of payload (Don't quote me) So why do you need so much space? What are u planning on putting in their, packing peanuts?? Oh, well, some people might find the design functional, although I think its stupid.

So How Does It Drive?

The Honda Element drives very similar to the more mainstream Honda CRV. The 2.4 DOHC 4 -cylinder seems to be a great engine with enough power, and Honda's well known reliability. Putting a 6 into the Element would provide for a more powerful vehicle although to keep prices down, Honda chose the next best thing. Oh and by the way, this is a car based SUV designed for on-road driving. If your looking for a vehicle that can off-road look elsewhere ( Jeep Liberty)

Conclusion

The Honda Element is no more expensive than a "normal" compact SUV. It doesn't really offer anything more than your "normal" SUV would besides its very creative styling. If your looking for a an a reasonably priced SUV that’s different from the rest, I highly recommend taking the Honda Element for a test drive!

Also on a side note, this is my first review on Epinions and I hope it helped you out, also I would appreciate any input.
Thanks!

Amount Paid (US$): 16-21 K
Model Year: 2003