If the Scion XB is the offspring of a mini van and a sedan, the Honda Element is the child of an SUV and a small truck. Until this evening, I wasn't very impressed. I don't much like the styling on the Element
and I think our Scion has more window. But, if you're the right kind of person, the Element has some very enticing features!
The one we saw this evening was parked in the handicapped access spot outside the restaurant where we had dinner. Rich wandered over to look at it. Our friend Gene and I followed. While we were making comparisons, the owner came out so we asked him how he likes it. He loves it.
The owner is a man with one leg. He gets around in a wheel chair. He told us one of the great things about the Element is that it's got 4-wheel drive. (We'd already noticed the good sized tires). The owner said he likes it that he can drive right up onto the beach, across the sand and down to the edge of the water.
Then he opened the rear passenger door. The rear doors open "backwards" (opposite to the way most car doors open, opposite to the way the front doors open). So when both doors are open on the side of the car, there's a huge (5 feet wide) space.
And lots of room behind the front seats. The rear seats have even more room between them and the front seats than our Scion. There's certainly plenty of room to stow a wheel chair (and no complicated maneuvering around door jams to do it!)
It's not our kind of car; we don't need a big door opening or 4-wheel drive and we don't have any use for a mini-SUV. But I walked away feeling mightily impressed.
I still don't like the looks of the Element. But, as Rich pointed out the other day, if we had been shopping strictly for looks, we probably wouldn't have bought a Tonka Toy 😉 We bought our car based on several practical points (leg room, visibility, comfort, ease of use and handling) and this driver did too. I think he got a great deal. (And so, of course, did we 🙂
Slightly Off KIlter 