Once my wife and I started a family, we replaced her aging Honda with my 2004 Honda Civic, and I went shopping again. I ended up with the most unusual vehicle I’ve owned, but one that I loved dearly: the iconic Honda Element.
In Kermit green.
The now-discontinued Element is a vehicle full of colliding ideas. Famously, the inside lacked any carpeting; Honda instead lined the floor and lower panels with a tough rubber material. This led to many thinking the thing could just be hosed out, [but doing so could lead to trouble.](http://www.cartalk.com/content/i-recently-heard-you-recommend-honda-element-someone)
Likewise, the back seats were dubbed “stadium seating,” as they were higher than the front seats. This allowed for great visibility for passengers out the front, but the small windows on the back doors limited visibility there. These back seats could fold flat and then be “hung” against the walls, opening up the back of the Element in a truck-like fashion, which was great, but the process was difficult to do smoothly without practice, and the seats were heavy for some owners to hang them comfortably.
Then there were the doors.
With the Element, Honda eliminated the B-pillars with its rear-swinging back doors. When the front and back doors were both open, it made for a *huge* opening for kids, pets and cargo to enter and exit. However, the back doors couldn’t be opened without the front ones opening first, and the front seat belt was anchored to the back door. To let out a back seat passenger, the driver had to not only open their door first, but unbuckle or risk being squeezed rather harshly by their restraint.
(Mercifully, this was changed in 2007, when Honda incorporated the seat belt into the front seat.)
But for me, all of these headaches were worth it. The Element, for all of its quirks and oddities was an extremely flexible vehicle. While the backwards-opening rear doors were heavy and difficult to deal with in tight parking spots, it made getting a car seat in and out easier than in any other car we’ve owned except for our minivan. If I wanted to go biking or needed to move items, I could fold up the seats or pull them out altogether, turning the Element into a mini cargo van:
Of course, all of this space meant the Element looked a little bit like a work van, but I still like the looks, especially on models where the quarter panels were painted to match the sheet metal. It was comfortable — albeit a little noisy — on long drives and offered great visibility and a nice vantage point for the driver.
Under the boxy body, the Element was more or less a bigger CR-V, the crossover that vastly outsold the Element every year it was on the market. The i-VTEC four-cylinder engine found under the hood managed the weight of the Element without much fuss, and owners could opt for two-wheel or all-wheel drive.
Honda infused the Element with some funk, and as such, high-end models got exaggerated trim options and the upgraded sound system with optional sub-woofer was pretty crazy for something used by many as a family car. I still miss it.
I owned the Element for just a couple of years. My wife drove it some, and we ended up trading it in when we got her Odyssey after the 2004 Honda Civic met its demise. The multi-car dance left me shopping with a little cash in my pocket, but every time I see one of Honda’s little boxes on the road, I smile and wave.
Stephen, Nice write up on a great car/truck/van. My girl friend Debbie has a 2005 Element in silver over blue plastic panels. She loves it and hopes it lasts forever (or until Honda introduces the new Element – more of a rumor than a plan). But with less than 85,000 miles we expect the Element to be around many more years.
As you noted, the rear seat leg room is measured in feet, not inches, and the floor is very easy to keep clean. When I wash it, I Armor All the exterior plastic panels and it looks like new.
Whenever she drives to a Honda dealer to pick up her son or daughter (both have Hondas) sales people always ask her if she wants to sell it. Apparently any Element that comes in on a trade only lasts on the lot a day or two, even the manual shift models.
The camper version was very interesting.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k194/indianclimber/640RedOpenBeach.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k194/indianclimber/reading.jpg
Oh my
I remember the first time I saw a Honda Element. A friend of mine bought a red and gray Element. At the time, I didn’t find the overall shape very attractive. In fact, at the time, I thought it looked hideous.
I wholeheartedly agree. My brother and I were at the auto show many years ago and he INSISTED on getting a beer before we walked over to it. I think the plastic off-color panels are what did it; I’m prone to like boxy vehicles.
While the interior was rudimentary, it certainly served it’s purpose. Except for subpar gas mileage due to it’s shape, Honda could have updated and continued production for quite some time.
It’s interesting that this story is on CC today as I recently sold my Element (EX 4WD). It had low miles on it and was well maintained.
Shopping for it was quite interesting. One dealer wanted to do a credit check before they called one in to test drive (I said forget it) and another dealer looked at me and said “Are you sure you want an Element?” I thought it was really strange that they were treating potential sales of this vehicle like this. I later spoke to a guy who used to work in sales at Honda who said the dealers didn’t like having them because they were hard to sell. It was by chance that I drove by another dealer and decided to pop in to see if they had one. They had one in the middle of the showroom floor with a “Make an offer!” sign on the windshield. The price had been reduced from what I had expected so I bought it.
When I told people I knew that I bought an Element they reacted with comments like “You bought an Element??,” “It looks like a toaster!”
It was only recently that it started needing more repairs than usual. I used to get everything done at the dealer and strictly followed their maintenance schedule (and associated outrageous pricing). Then early this year someone introduced to me to a local garage who specialized in fixing Hondas at a much cheaper price. The mechanic told me that car was in excellent shape and that there is now a lot of interest in them. I took advantage of that interest and sold it before repairs got worse (money is tight right now). I put an ad in the local online classifieds and had 8 inquiries on it within 24 hours. The guy who bought it loves it (he’s currently owns another Element).
One thing about these vehicles. They seem to be magnets for dents. It’s the very flat sides with no side molding. I went to a PDR (Paintless Dent Removal) guy three times to get dings removed from my doors because of people who are not careful in parking lots.
I miss my Element but I’m glad that the new owner really likes it.
Colleague of mine has an early Element in this green.
And it has a stick!
And it has only 78,000 miles on it, thanks in large part to her one-mile commute.
Does he want to sell it? Mine just got totaled in a hail storm. I’m in mourning.
So you were in your Element when driving it.
I see what you did there.
I commend Honda for producing such a vehicle, though it’s fuel consumption eliminated it from my consideration–I have a 52 mile daily commute. I had hoped that it’s 4-pot would have provided high 20s on the highway, but most owners I spoke to regularly saw 23-24. Not good enough.–The same reason I have steered clear of small pickups.
Friend has an ’04 2wd stick DX Element bought new. Only has around 60k miles on it now. Gets around 23 around town but will get close to 30 on a long highway drive. She really likes it, it is amazing how roomy it is. I have noticed the ride is choppy in the back seat, but much smoother riding in the front. Been very trouble free for her.
They are pretty heavy, hers is as light as they come, listed at 3330 lbs and the 4wd auto DX is 3525, later models and/or higher trim levels are about 100 to 200 lbs heavier yet. It’s also in this shade of green.
Another thing about the Element is it’s quite noisy on the highway. I looked into replacing the radio with a combo GPS/Bluetooth/Rear view camera unit – unfortunately, even with Bluetooth, having a telephone conversation would be quite a challenge.
The vehicle is heavy (those suicide doors hold the cars equivalent of the B pillar) but the front doors are quite thin (although it did fairly well in side impact tests.
The fuel economy was what crossed it off my list back in ’11. The ’12 models had come out so I figured there might be an ’11 sitting around on some dealer’s lot that they’d like to rid themselves of, but I had set a hard limit of 30 MPG highway–if I was selling my beloved Marauder for something more fuel efficient, it better be a significant increase.
We never had this Honda model here. But the concept is the same as the MPV-versions of the compact monospace panel vans, like the Renault Kangoo below. Practicality and space above all.
Our similar. 2016 Peugeot Partner HDI right now uses less than 5 l/100 km if we are gentle with it. 🙂
Yep, the Peugeot Partner / Citroën Berlingo is another one.
Not exactly the same, the Element has more of an SUV-ish flavour to it, including decent ground clearance (175 mm)
I remember seeing James May review it with a bunch of older bowling club members on Top Gear, I think he concluded that because the senior citizens liked the funky, young-persons Honda it was doomed!
If you like SUV-ish flavour and decent ground clearance then the answer is the 4×4 versions of the boxy and roomy monospaces.
Boch Toyota/Honda gave my mom an Element as a loaner one time she had the Highlander in for service. As she described it, she felt like she was driving a clown car.
For a “rugged” vehicle, I was impressed with the interior materials and ride quality, but the seating position was awkward and the rear suicide doors made it very annoying for rear-seat access.
I always felt these were a great car for me. Really don’t know why I didn’t buy one. I guess because we were driving saturn vues during the time these were being sold new. Bad choice there. Stick shift buys you Honda reliability compared to the misadventures with their automatics during the 90s. I thought the front opening back doors were intelligent and following some chevy truck/saturn sc models.
Looking back, the element would probably have been an intelligent buy for the needs I had. Of curiosity, what was the fuel economy and tow rating on these things. My saturn vue got about 28-30 highway when it wasn’t broken. (feels flashbacks coming on).
Honda has some funky stuff in Japan. I’ve always thought something the size of the N Box would do better than the Element did.
http://jalopnik.com/2015-honda-n-box-slash-what-its-like-to-drive-a-funky-1681525254
I’ve heard that the Element was bought for use by some people in the trades as a compact work vehicle. Perhaps not as versatile as a van but in some cases where you don’t need the big capacity but go into dense urban areas with constrained parking, it could do the job well.
Think away the rear side windows and you’ve got a modern compact panel van.
I know many have expressed fondness for the Scion xB, but for me, I prefer the Element. There’s just something really funky and cool about it that appeals to me, especially the earlier versions with the rubber padding on the exterior, it’s a bit cheesy and odd, but think it works with the car. Not many Japanese products are appealing to me for one reason or another, but the Element is one of a few exceptions. I’m glad this Element worked out well for you.
When I worked for an auto service center a decade ago, these were the only CUVs that were used as SUVs had been back when I was a kid. They came in filthy, inside and out, with mud instead of empty juice boxes and old french fries. I would have loved to have bought a one new with a 5-speed manual and 4-wheel drive, but the highway mileage wasn’t good enough for what I had in mind for my next car. I went from thinking they looked like Rubbermaid dumpsters when they were released, to wanting one in a pretty bad way by 2006. Too bad Honda doesn’t make a new one, but I’m guessing that the shape precluded a real 30+ MPG highway for the AWD one, which is what our 2012 CR-V does.
We had to go to about 5 dealers before we found our “Rootbeer” Sc. And its proven to be a durable, versatile, economical ride. And have plans on keeping it for a long time.
Factoid: the Element Sc was the 1st Honda W/ factory 18’s !
I owned two Elements…A 2004 EX AWD was the first one…Perfect Buffalo car. AWD was good in the snow and the rubber interior was great for cleaning out the salt, dirt and crud from the winter. It could carry anything but was surprisingly compact. When I heard they were discontinuing them in 2011 I bought one of the last ones. Some nice improvements…seat mounted seat belts, nicer fabric on the seats, 10 more HP and a 5 speed automatic instead of the 4 speed. This was the biggest improvent. Quieter, better mileage and quicker due to better shift points.
This past January I traded it in on a 2011 BMW X3 CPO with only 18,000 miles. The price was only $31,000, but the no brainer was offering me $17,000 for my 5 year old Element with 40,000….Talk about great resale
Please tell me that someone, somewhere, has one of these with a license plate that says PRDC TBL.
Kind of looks like a Scion xB that was stung by bees.
Element was out years before Xb.
I went and checked, they were both introduced to the US market in 2003. Although the Scion was introduced in 2000 in Japan. The design of the Element was introduced at the 2001 North American auto show, so they are roughly the same age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scion_xB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Element
We considered one of these twice. In 06 before settling on an 07 Fit, we drove one and liked it a lot. Problem was that with the seat folding in half, there was no middle rear seat belt, restricting the car to four passengers. I needed a setup for five, so we passed.
Then before we bought the Sedona in 2011, we drove the last one the dealer had on its lot after they were discontinued. Four seats would have worked 95% of the time by then, but 95% ain’t 100%. And the 7 seat Sedona has come in quite handy in ways that the Element would not have.
I still pine for one of these, especially in a 5 speed.
I owned a red and black two tone job for a few years. LOVED everything about an element except one thing: gas mileage, and driving range. For a smallish 4 cylinder job, it hovered around 20-21 mpg on highway, which is actually norm according to folks on Honda Element owner’s forum (www.elementownersclub.com/forums/), most gotten 1-2 mpg more than I did due to my bike rack on roof.
Other than the gas mileage, it was a stylish small run around that pioneered the new boxy look. Love it. I used mine for couple of years and sold it or more or less the same as I paid.
I hated these when they came out. Fast forward to late in the model run and my hate had done a 180–I really quite liked them. Especially the SC model with the larger wheels, but really all of them. I do think the contrasting plastic body panels being made optional rather than mandatory did wonders for the looks as well. As I commented above, in 2011 I probably would have bought one, were it not for the subpar gas mileage, a casualty I assume of the upright, blocky shape and large frontal area.
Nowadays I think one could be a compelling used purchase. Honda reliability, great utility and space without massive external dimensions, and a quirky charm. But the darn things hold their value like crazy! Great for the sellers…not so hot for a prospective buyer. It remains, however, on the radar.
This “kermit green” was my favorite color for them.
I have the SAME Honda Element that the author of the article used to own and I love it! It now has around 240,000 miles on it and is still running very well. I haven’t had any huge problems with my Element (yet). The starter, alternator, brakes and radiator have all had to be replaced over the years, along with a couple tune-ups. I love the versatility of my Element! In the back, the removable and super adjustable back seats have been awesome! I had a job once delivering huge catering orders for a restaurant and my Element saved the day many times. I’m glad to know that there’s a new demand for Elements. I don’t think I’ll ever sell mine, but I’m happy more people see what a wonderful vehicle the Element is!