Just picked up an '05 Element on Tuesday, I had the priviledge of driving home from the dealership, since then my wife has had it in Toronto. Can’t wait to see both tomorrow!!
Here’s how I’m planning to use it this year:
December trip to Bikesport Michigan to buy a new two wheeler
Throw in some winter/spring running races
June 3-9, mega training week consisting of Mooseman Half, a few days training around LP and finish up with Devashish Paul’s EpicMan
June 18, race Muskoka and hopefully qualify for IM Lake Placid
July 23, race IMLP
Rest of the summer, spend time with my wife and dog, do some camping, race some sprints, drink some (lots) beers and relax.
Up here in the Great White North we call it the “Y package”, I think that means “EX” in American, colour is Orange, wasn’t my first choice but it grew on me and is now my favorite.
I can’t wait for the first road trip, it really is the perfect car for us.
Here’s my confession of the day: I’ve read all the Element posts with a great deal of curiosity, mostly professional. I work at an advertising agency, and as luck would have it, Honda Canda is my Client and the Element is one of the vehicles in my portfolio. I work very closely with Honda – so much so that I sometimes accidentally tell people I work for Honda. It’s an amazing company, with great product.
The Element is a terrific vehicle, you’ll really enjoy the versatility. The Y package is excellent, particularly with 4WD. As for XM, it isn’t offered here in Canada yet, as XM only just received a license from Canadian Radio and Telecommunciations to sell their product in Canada.
If anyone ever has any Honda or Element questions, let me know. If I don’t know the answer, I can track it down.
Exactly the same as my ride. The orange Y pkg model. Anxious to see how it handles in the snow, etc over the next few months. My six year old calls it my “Pumpkin car” so we plan to decorate it for Hallowe’en. Enjoy it.
That’s funny, my wife likes to name our cars (well we’ve only ever had one other car, a green Ford Escort named Greener…creative!) anyway, driving it back from the dealership she asked if I had thought of a name. Obviously I hadn’t, she said “What about Pumpkin?” My reply was that there was no way I was calling my vehicle Pumpkin. Maybe if I had a six year old…
So the Element is still nameless as far as I know.
I have been looking at the Element - my 89 Grand Wagoneer is just getting a little old - I hate to give it up but thiking the Element wold be a good replacement.
Any downside? I am married with no kids - my wife and I both do tris so we would use it for transport to trianing and races. And it would be my dail commute auto.
Sounds like you should definately take a look at an Element. Like I said, it is THE PERFECT vehicle for us. We have no kids, one dog with another likely in the near future, and we like to get out in the great outdoors.
We just outgrew the '95 Ford Escort. That being said, it didn’t owe us anything after 225,000 fairly inexpensive kms.
Congratulatios! our next door neighbour has a green one (he is in the Military) My wife and I are wondering about a 2006 vs a 2005 (Kingston) We have not seen any 2006’s yet and are wondering when they will apear. At this point the decision has been made it is only which year. Are there better deals than we can get in Kingston as there are no used low milage ones around? 2wd/version is all we are after.
We too were only interested in the FWD as we don’t get much snow in the Niagara Penninsula. We were able to get a good deal on an '05. Plus the financing was locked at 2.9% The dealer told us the '06 were due in December or January. Not many differences except for coloured panels in the “Y” trim level and steering wheel audio controls I believe.
Not enough to justify waiting especially considering the dealers flexibility with price and the financing on the '05. Resale was not a consideration for us as we will drive this thing till it dies!
My problem with the Element was the cracked windshield issue. I finally found a dealer who fixed mine under warranty but it was a hassle. The other problem is the restricted view on the driver side when changing lanes. I also would not recommend the car for families with children. I hate riding in the backseat. Otherwise the Element is great for my purpose; lugging around dogs, bikes and other stuff.
A little off topic here, but you would be the guy to tell that the “Honda Ridgeline’s” trunk holds 45 bags of ice. Which is more than a med. sized freezer can hold. As an advertising incentive. Did this for our wedding. Yes the Ridgeline is another great vehicle that Honda has!
Keep in mind that when you put bikes in, there are no rear seats. It is not ideal for a family truckster. Having said that, it is amazing how much room there is in the back of that thing when the seats are folded up and I actually think riding in the back seat is pretty comfy-lots of leg room.
Downsides: Not a super smooth or quiet ride (it won’t be confused with a Lexus), adequate but not neck snapping acceleration, gas mileage good but not outstanding, needs more storage around the driver (I don’t like the open bins) and rear seat area dome light.
Advantages: Plastic floor mats, water-proof seats, good ergonomics, good leg and head room, easy access to rear seats, outstanding sound system, 2 bikes in back with no wheels off, tailgate to sit on to change shoes, a lot of after-market stuff. Seems to be a sturdy little beast. I got run off the road last weekend and had to make evasive manuevers over a curb and up an embankment. No damage.
Nice comment. I’ll actually mention that to our client. It’d be good for icing pretty much anything, as the drain plug makes it easy to clean.
As for Element downsides, not many. They only ones I could think of (and I’m a tough critic) are seating for four (not five), limited towing capacity, and fuel economy that is not as high as one would expect.
I’ve been told that if you remove one of the rear seats, you can fit two bike facing in opposite directions with wheels on, and one with the front wheel on. I haven’t tried it.
