People either love the looks and image of Honda Elements or they hate 'em with a passion. Ugly as Elements are, I've always been closer to the "love 'em" camp. At least until I actually had to drive one of 'em and try to use the beast in a typical family kind of driving scenario. Now I know they are totally impractical cars.

Granted, this is based on driving the vehicle for a mere 24 hours, but that was more than enough for me, thank you very much. I still think the Element is sort of cute, and I'm sure most folks will find it utterly dependable over the long term. I know it's been rated by NHTSA as a safe vehicle (5-star rating), and I know that a heck of a lot of folks love 'em to death. To each his own. Here's what I think about the Element...


Exterior Styling...
It's not as square and boxy as the Scion xB, which seems to be the car most often compared to the Element, but it's still not exactly a "sleek" or "stylish" looking thing. Still, the designers of the Element were obviously "A" students of the School of Box Design.

The greyish black plastic lower body panels look like a pickup truck bedliner was wrapped around the whole car, which again, looks either "durable" or "cheesy" depending on your perspective. Both viewpoints have some validity.

It's no beauty, but it looks okay. Aesthetics-wise, anyway.

As for practical aspects of the design, I have two contrary opinions: the tailgate is done right, the side doors are totally wrong.

I think the back tailgate is excellent because it drops flat --- unlike the CR-V (which swings open like a regular door, making it nearly impossible to carry any oversize loads) and unlike the Pilot (which swings up, allowing oversize cargo to maneuver in, but without any foundation if you want to carry anything oversize). Of all the possible rear-door configurations that an SUV can have, the best is the clam-shell approach incorporated in the Element --- window can swing up, door swings down: easy egress, good functional utility.

If there is a single "most stupid" design feature of cars produced in the last century, it must be suicide doors. (Maybe tail fins on old Cadillacs, but I really think suicide doors "win" the prize.) I don't know what kind of bonus the guy got who came up with suicide doors, but he should have got 20 to life! Suicide doors suck. The Honda Element has suicide doors. Ergo, the Honda Element sucks?

Well, not necessarily, because there are a lot of factors that go into suckitude, and the Element is actually a pretty decent vehicle on some counts. Let's slide inside and see what else is in store...


Interior Comfort and Practicality...
I love sitting in the driver's seat of the Element. I hate sitting in the driver's seat of the Element.

I love that the legroom is more than ample for my 6-foot frame. I hate the roughly slick feel of the all-weather "fabric" used in this car. It's plasticized so you can hose the sucker out. Goes with the plastic floor mat throughout the car. If you're one of those rugged outdoor twenty-something males featured in the Honda ads, it's good to know that you don't have to actually bathe if you buy an Element --- just roll down the windows when you go through the car wash. Put some dirty dishes in the cargo area and you can wash those free of charge too.

The plastic interior feels funky. It is not comfortable and its definitely not attractive. I'm not even convinced its "practical" since I can't ever remember the last time I wanted to hose out the interior of my car...and if you did wouldn't you really rather have a totally open body like on the Jeep Wrangler? I know I sure would!

As far as general usability, Honda has done a very good job on the instruments and controls. The round tunnel gauges look odd at first glance, but you quickly get used to them, and within a short time, they become second nature. My only complaint about the controls is that I don't like the placement and operation of the gear shifter, which is kind of on the surface of the dashboard, down low, beneath the heat and A/C controls. I'd much prefer either on the console or on the tree. On the dash feels odd and it interferes with my natural hand movements towards the climate control knobs.

The stereo system differs depending on whether you get the lower-priced LX trim package or the higher-priced EX trim package. The car I'm driving is the basic LX and its stereo is okay. Nothing to brag about, but if you're the kind of person who never turns the volume up anyway, it'll do. In my opinion, the upgraded stereo isn't worth the money --- better to go as cheap as possible, then rip the stereo out and replace it with a genuinely high-end after-market stereo --- that's what I usually do.

Now the family guy complaints: What the HECK were the idiots thinking who designed the back seat?!?! This is one of the worst back seats in the automotive world! Sure, you can flip 'em up quickly when you want to slide a surfboard in back, but I think there's a reason Honda ads don't show people trying to sit on 'em --- they're horribly uncomfortable. The things feel flimsy, thin, and totally insubstantial. No adult will want to sit in the back seat of an Element for very long. Sure, the rear seat leg room is totally awesome, but the seat comfort ain't!

Family guys also need to be able to do practical things like put a kid's car seat in back. I tried putting a basic Graco toddler seat in the back and found that almost half the base was sticking out over the front of the seat --- it just did not fit --- the back seats are inadequately narrow. Even once strapped down properly, the seat did not feel safely anchored --- it shifted and seemed like it was going to tilt forward.

Couple the sadistic feeling back seat with the presence of the idiotic suicide doors (a royal pain in the tookus to swing open and get kids in and out of), and you've got a recipe for total family hostility.


Cargo Carrying...
Honda makes a big deal about this car's utility when it comes to ability to carry "stuff". I'll admit, if your primary purpose in a vehicle is to carry a lot of "stuff" around with you, and you don't want a pickup truck, then the Element is the car for you!

Those back seats may be useless for carrying folks in comfort, but they do fold down to nothing, they do fold off to the side, and they are totally removable. With the high roof space, and the well-implemented tailgate, you can carry more stuff (which I interpret to be "many, many case of chilly beer") than in just about any vehicle other than a pickup truck.

There are tie-down clips in the back cargo area, but there's only two of 'em, and I don't really like their small, flat-lying design --- it's hard to get a full-size bungee cord to grip the small opening without doing contortions and forcing the suckers, plus, I think you'd usually want at least clips in all four corners of the potential cargo space, with maybe two more mid-way for carrying with or without the seats folded.


Power, Performance, and Handling Factors...
These days, 160 horsepower doesn't sound like a very big herd, but the Element isn't really a very big vehicle, and it is not really the kind of truck-like SUV that folks are going to want to use to pull boats or horse trailers or anything like that. For what it is, the power seems adequate to me. Richard Petty probably scoffs at the thought of having a mere 160 horses, but I had no trouble at all doing a quick acceleration merge into highway traffic and stopping too seemed quick and well-controlled. (ABS is standard on the Element).

For me, one of the best things about the Element is its nimble handling. That squat appearance translates into a fairly short end-to-end vehicle length, so getting into tight city parking spots is a breeze. The Element also turns very tightly, in fact, I don't think my Scion xA does too much tighter, and it's dinky compared to the Element.

EPA mileage rating is 21 city on this. I didn't have it long enough to do any kind of meaningful logging, but it did seem to be getting close to that for my fairly average kind of driving in a mix of city traffic and highway conditions. With its 15.9 gallon (60 litre) fuel tank (about the same size as a typical half-barrel keg of beer), you should expect at least 300 miles between fill-ups --- you'll probably want to buy a beer a little more often.


Competitive Issues...
Price-wise, the 2005 Element starts with sticker prices in the high $17K range on up into the lower 20s. That makes it about $3K higher than a base Scion xB and about $3K lower than a base CR-V. (Ballpark figures only --- use mkaresh's TrueDelta web site for more precise price comparisons).

In my opinion, the pricing on the Element is just about right. The Scion is noticeably smaller with significantly less power than the Element and isn't quite as practical, but it is a more attractive package for budget car buyers looking for a trendy looking ride. The CR-V is, in my opinion, the better choice for families and for anyone who is likely to be hauling passengers more often than crates and canoes.

Honda backs their cars with a 3-year, 36,000 mile warranty --- below average in today's auto world. Unlike other manufacturers, they also offer no routine roadside assistance plan and include no maintenance services.


Bottom Line...
I might buy an Element if I was a trendy young single guy, and not a suburban family guy who worries about things like whether there's a comfortable, safe, usable passenger area for carrying kids, neighbors, dogs, co-workers, etc. For my purposes the Honda Element is an utterly impractical vehicle.

All things considered, most people would be far better served buying Honda's more comfortable, more economical, more practical CR-V. That's my bottom line recommendation, and I'm sticking to it!

Until next time, see you on the road. (I just hope I'm driving something nicer than an Element...)


Closely Related Reviews...
Before heading out to your friendly local Honda dealer, you might also be interested in these reviews of 2005 model-year Hondas:

* 2005 Honda Pilot
* 2005 Honda Civic




Amount Paid (US$): 18500
Condition: New