Honda Element - It MUST Be Said

[Jag_Warrior]

I never thought any car company would beat the Pontiac Aztec in the Butt Ugly department, but Honda has done it with this creature of a car... van... SUV.... thing!

I saw one last week and was amazed that someone would buy this dog... cause it's a Honda and anything they make is supposed to be cool (for kids). It's targeted toward the college road-trip market. But when I was in school, you tried to get a car (used or not) that was cool to be seen in (or one that girls thought it cool to be seen in). The only school I can imagine you'd get a date in this thing is the Ray Charles School For The Blind. And drive it to a frat party? At Phi Psi, they'd pants you and throw you out in the snow on Rugby Road. Daaaamn, that's ooogly! :shakehead

End of rant. Had to say it...

[Cam]

You mean the shoebox on wheels??? :saywhat: I give it a BIG :thumdown:

[Turn7]

I like it because I get a good laugh every time I see one on the road. It reminds me that there are people that make dumber decisions than I do.

[Cam]

And not to be outdone... Toyota (http://autos.msn.com/advice/standardart.aspx?contentid=4021974&src=News) unveil their version!!! :eek:

[devilmaster]

I said it before and i'll say it again.

This just proves that Chrysler was light years ahead of the competition when they came out with the K car. :laugh:

Steve

[Napoleon]

Two funny mini stories on the Element.

I am sitting on the front porch with my wife when one comes by and she says to me "what is that? It looks like a Brinks truck".

The only people who live any where near me that have one are the Russians (and I don't mean Russian-American, I mean they were born and raised back in the USSR) bought one. To F-ing funny. They grew up with butt ugly cars made in the worker's paradise and so what do they do when they move here? Buy a butt ugly SUV.

[devilmaster]

Originally posted by Napoleon
They grew up with butt ugly cars made in the worker's paradise and so what do they do when they move here? Buy a butt ugly SUV.

What??? No Lada dealers anywhere near you? ;) :D

Steve

[Dave99]

Another vote for the Scion xB. :gomer: :thumdown:

http://compactcars.about.com/library/graphics/scion_xB.jpg

[rocket]

Butt Ugly is a good place to start to describe it...just a start though:thumdown:

[cart7]

The first one I saw was a two tone green, sorta military coloring. I first thought it might be something new Honda was testing to sell to the military and then I realized that even the military wouldn't by anything that Fugly. :laugh:

[FTG]

One thing young kids want is lots of room for shagging.

I understand. My back still hurts due to the small back seat of my parent's Honda Accord.

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by Jag_Warrior
I never thought any car company would beat the Pontiac Aztec in the Butt Ugly department, but Honda has done it with this creature of a car... van... SUV.... thing!

I saw one last week and was amazed that someone would buy this dog... cause it's a Honda and anything they make is supposed to be cool (for kids). It's targeted toward the college road-trip market. But when I was in school, you tried to get a car (used or not) that was cool to be seen in (or one that girls thought it cool to be seen in). The only school I can imagine you'd get a date in this thing is the Ray Charles School For The Blind. And drive it to a frat party? At Phi Psi, they'd pants you and throw you out in the snow on Rugby Road. Daaaamn, that's ooogly! :shakehead

End of rant. Had to say it...

preach it brotha man.

[IlliniRacer]

Every time I see it, I expect to see 20 clowns come waltzing out.

[Jag_Warrior]

Originally posted by FTG
One thing young kids want is lots of room for shagging.

I understand. My back still hurts due to the small back seat of my parent's Honda Accord.

Yeah, but what sort of girl would want to be seen getting in the front (or climbing out the back) of that thing? I know I'm probably out of touch and getting long in the tooth now, but the only teen/20-something girl I can see gettin' her freak on in that monstrosity is one who is either real, real desperate... or real, real drunk. And even then, when she sobers up and sees where she was... BOY, will she be p!ssed! :laugh:

In high school, I drove a street-rod pickup (with a center console!). So the key to "success" was to save my money and make friends with the night clerks at local motels. ;) But whatever... never drive an ooogly car (not that ugly, anyway) - life is too short to suffer that sort of shame and ridicule.

[JT265]

Getting deeper into it, J_W, (good to seeya, BTW ;) ), What is the motivation behind the designers of not only this abortion, but Aztecs, Land Rovers, (any minivan :D), and to my mind, the mother of all abortions, the freakin' Hummer.

I saw an Element coming outta Toronto today, and this thing looked for all the world like the owner covered the fenders and rear 1/4 panels in corrugated cardboard, hastily painted in a dull gull-sh** grey primer.

And the strange thing is, as I passed him the goofball looks over at me like he's stylin' a 360 Modena down Sunset Blvd! :eek:

A freakin' UPS "Buster Brown" truck has more style and ambiance than this collection of kife.

Conspiracy theory # 368-02: Every design studio on earth has banded together to out-ugly one another, sort of a lack of pride pissing contest, if you will. Maybe they realize that one day, everyone that owns one of these prizes will wake up and say "OHMYGOD!!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE???", thereby shortening their trading cycle.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Has anyone else driven one of these things yet? The Inside of the car (aside from the seats) is ALL plastic, including the floors. Its like driving a cooler, but without the ice and beverages.

[JT265]

Originally posted by SOG35
Has anyone else driven one of these things yet? The Inside of the car (aside from the seats) is ALL plastic, including the floors. Its like driving a cooler, but without the ice and beverages.

THAT'S what it reminds me of! It should say Coleman on it somewhere.

Edit: Just an FYI, driving one of those lumps would be like advertising you had clap, and as long as you have two perfectly good legs and a bus pass, I couldn't think of a reason to do so. ;)

[fourrunner]

Honda & Toyota MUST have an approval process before they reach production.... What were they thinking!!

[FRANKY]

Looks better with brighter colors.

http://world.honda.com/news/2002/image/4021105_1d.jpg

[Turn7]

A pig with lipstick is still a pig.

[devilmaster]

Originally posted by Turn7
A pig with lipstick is still a pig.
http://www.muppets.com/profiles/graphics/Piggy_s.jpg

Steve

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by devilmaster
http://www.muppets.com/profiles/graphics/Piggy_s.jpg

Steve
your version of pronography sickens me.

[chop456]

The Element looks like a Ferrari compared to the Scion.

That thing looks like a VW bus with a huge underbite.

[JoeBob]

Originally posted by FRANKY
Looks better with brighter colors.

http://world.honda.com/news/2002/image/4021105_1d.jpg

I actually think it looks better in darker colors - like black. The black bodywork doesn't look nearly as ridiculous.

If they painted that black stuff, it wouldn't be half bad.

[Hink]

On the Element: I'm still waiting to see what the car looks like once they take it out of the box.

[FTG]

Originally posted by Jag_Warrior
the only teen/20-something girl I can see gettin' her freak on in that monstrosity is one who is either real, real desperate... or real, real drunk.

Back in the day, this was all I could get. Same thing probably goes from the average Honda element buyer.

[Jag_Warrior]

Originally posted by FTG
Back in the day, this was all I could get. Same thing probably goes from the average Honda element buyer.

I've always looked older than I actually was. By 16 I could buy Jack Daniels, etc. And that is ALL I'm admitting to.

What's the saying? The older I get, the faster I was? :D

[RichK]

Although I don't like the Element's looks, I'm very happy that car companies are taking chances with their designs. It wasn't so long ago that every car looked like an egg on wheels.

[Hink]

True. Ever since the Taurus came out with a body style modeled after the Pacer everyone was copying it.

[mapguy]

Originally posted by RichK
It wasn't so long ago that every car looked like an egg on wheels.

You dissin my Escort? Eh, nancy boy?

:D

[RichK]

Originally posted by mapguy
You dissin my Escort? Eh, nancy boy?

:D

Yes! :p
I spent a couple of bike racing seasons on long trips in a 'scort (the Pony version, which I think was base stock) with 4 people inside and 4 bikes on top. We always made fun of it, but it always got us where we were going without a hitch. Viva Escort!!!!

[JT265]

Originally posted by mapguy
You dissin my Escort? Eh, nancy boy?

:D

How much did you have to pay her? :D

[mapguy]

Originally posted by JT265
How much did you have to pay her? :D

Four vodka coolers. But that's not the point!

[datachicane]

Originally posted by Hink
On the Element: I'm still waiting to see what the car looks like once they take it out of the box.

The Element is the box.
Honda just found a way to unload the shipping crates that the CRV comes in.

SUVs (and pseuod-SUVs) are the late 20th/early 21st century equivalent of all of those elaborate 18th century hairdos featuring live birds in cages and miniature naval battles. History will justly ridicule all the consumerist sheep who bought these rolling duncecaps.

I hereby predict the vehicular fad to eclipse the SUV will be the never-taken-offroad Soccer Mom SnoCat.

[tllips]

I was near San Francisco last weekend and I saw a car that I thought was an Element, but it had the Mercedes logo on the back. Do they really have a versin of this thing too! :saywhat:

[Turn7]

The G500 has been around for awhile.

http://www.elepent.com/photos/mercedes/G500.jpg

[JoeBob]

Here's the Soccer mom/SUV thing. It is a rather viscous cycle, based mostly on feeling young. Most "new mothers" are between 20 and 30. They don't want to be driving what the 31-40 year old women are driving.

In the mid 1970s, the new mothers all drove station wagons.
When the mid 1980s rolled around, the 31-40 year old mothers kept buying station wagons, but the "new moms" didn't want to be seen in one. Thus, the minivan came to be popular among the women who first had kids from the mid-80s until the mid-90s.

Of course, the next batch of new mothers, didn't want to be seen in the minivans that those they viewed as "old mothers" drove, so they all flocked to SUVs. (And, in the mean time, station wagons faded into oblivion.)

These days, the SUV is falling out of grace with the new mother set, and the station wagon is coming back. 5 years ago, hardly anybody made station wagons anymore. (Even Honda, Toyota and Ford dropped the Accord, Camry and Taurus wagons.) There's the influx of Subarus, the Toyota Matrix, that new Mazda wagon. Everyone seems to be coming up with a "sport wagon" and the new mom's are starting to switch over from SUVs to wagons. (And, just like happened to the station wagon 10 years ago, sales of mini-vans are plummeting.)

Unless somehow the shoeboxes like the passports become all the rage with the new mom set, I'd look to see a lot more station wagons over the next decade, while the minivan becomes almost invisible. At least we can look forward to 10 years from now, when the minivan makes a comeback, and it is the SUV's turn to take a 10 year hiatus.

[JLMannin]

Oh, well, at least Element drivers won;t have to face the shame of driving a station wagon or a minivan.

Speaking of which, Chrysler no longer makes "minivans", they make "sport wagons". They look like station wagons with lift kits, which is precicely what most SUVs on the road are.

end of my rant.

[JLMannin]

JoeBob,

The next new thing for affluent soccer-moms to drive in suburbia is huge ass pick-ups, four doors, dually, the full works.

No joke.

[Joe in LA]

Originally posted by RichK
Although I don't like the Element's looks, I'm very happy that car companies are taking chances with their designs. It wasn't so long ago that every car looked like an egg on wheels.

Absolutely--the Element is not really to my liking, but I am very pleased to see Honda and others create something a bit odd. I feel much the same about the Chevy SSR and Plymouth Prowler--I can't image buying one myself, but I'm glad they exist. Far too many similar cars with different labels on them.

[Napoleon]

There was a very intersting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday on vehicles like these. I guess the Scion and Element have been very sucessful in meeting their makers goals.

[TedN]

I currently own a 1991 Maxima SE and will be looking to purchase a new vehicle within the next 2 years. I liked the Element the minute I saw it. Practical shape, decent engine, decent mileage, lots of room. Something a little different. Honda reliability should be a given. And the price is right.

I'm a baby boomer (not quite over the hill) and I have a few friends my age and younger who also like it. I think Honda should be marketing this vehicle more aggressively to my age group, not just to the younger crowd.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Ted

:cool:

[manic mechanic]

I read the whole thread, and I agree with most of you...TedN, we are probably about the same age and I hope that when I die the funeral home doesn't have an Element in their fleet..I don't even wanna be caught DEAD in one!

Vehicles like this have forced me to create dialouge between myself (or my co-worker) and the driver of the "rolling excrement" vehicle (whether it be an Aztek, Element, Scion, or Chevy Avalanche for that matter)

ME: "What was the second prize?"
R.E.O: "Why do you say that?"
ME: "'cause that thing is sooo ugly, I figured you WON it in a contest..." :rofl:

BTW,I LOVE the SSR, I just can't justify owning one...It's not enough truck to use for Home Depot runs, too valuable a car to drive to work, and I don't have the desire to own a "trailer queen". Affordability is the last criteria that might be a problem...$42k is a bit much for me (I hate car payments..especially ones that are bigger than my house payment).


manic

[dando]

The Element reminds of some experimental Matchbox car gone awry. However, while on ride a few weeks ago on National Ride to Work Day I spotted a great personalized plate on an Element: POMNHMR. :cool:

-Kevin