Reader Review of the Week: 2008 Honda Element

This week's reviewer had to dig to find the downside to the 2008 Honda Element, but as with all cars, there were glitches and features that needed a tweak. Still, our reader reviewer gave the Element high marks on all the important, ahem, elements. As always, you can submit your own car review here.

"I absolutely love my Element. I am through my third tank of gas, and I am averaging 21 mpg with about 70% of my driving in town. It is a very fun-to-drive vehicle and gets a lot of attention — curious people poke their heads in, and a lot of skepticism turns to envy once they view the inside.

"The heater gets very hot very quickly, and it rides beautifully in cruise control. I took a drive on the interstate with some pretty good winds and, surprisingly, I didn't get muscled around like I thought I would. My previous vehicle was a minivan (Chevy Venture), and it was brutal in the wind.

"I really love the view, lots of window space, comfortable seats. Mine came with 90 days of XM radio, and I think I will keep it — great selection of music, and the sound system is excellent. Now, a few drawbacks:

"I don't like the location of the drink holders. They are all of the way on the floor, so reaching down from the seat is far, and you almost have to take your eyes off the road. Next, there are no automatic lights in the car or daytime running lights. I owned an '04 with these, and I thought it was mandated, but it isn't. Also, if you leave the lights on in the car the bell beeps but there's no shutoff, so you have to worry about the battery running down. I already left them on once, but only for about an hour."

Comments

[Almost Bought]

I *almost* bought an Element (SC) before I bought my Scion (xB) about 13,000 miles ago. Three things drove my decision. 1) The Element seats 4, the Scion seats 5. 2) The Scion has rear doors with windows that roll down, the Element has "suicide" doors with windows that pop out. 3) The stock xB (with XM added) was about $8K less than the Element (SC) I liked.

[ziggy]

The Element could be on it's way out. Either a complete model re-design or a replacement is expected. Sales have made a drastic slide over the last 2 years. With competition from the xB and the future Nissan Cube we could see something around 09 or 2010. The Crossroad has been rumored.

[Dave T.]

Almost Bought,
How do you like the Scion?
I would think $8K would be a big reason to not buy one!!!

[Almost Bought]

Dave,

The only thing I'd change about the xB would be to add manually adjustable lumbar support. Otherwise, I like everything about it.

[Rob]

I hope no one ever has to sit in the back seat of an Element for a long trip. Very uncomfortable. The design is getting a little "long in the tooth".

[Infosaur]

"There are no automatic lights in the car or daytime running lights. I owned an '04 with these, and I thought it was mandated, but it isn't. Also, if you leave the lights on in the car the bell beeps but there's no shutoff, so you have to worry about the battery running down. I already left them on once, but only for about an hour."

*sigh*

[PhilUSAFRet]

been looking at the Element...mileage not much better than the Pilot? What the hey....... Will probably hold out for something that gets better mileage.