Never hose out a Honda Element • Hacker News Board

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#41

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:19 PM UTC

numbsafari wrote: post #38

luma wrote: post #10

I'm curious how this is currently the top story on HN. A now-discontinued and otherwise entirely unremarkable family vehicle is not able to be inundated with water without serious consequences, much like the overwhelming majority of passenger vehicles made before or since. Who is the audience for this?

> entirely unremarkable family vehicle That’s blasphemy right there. It’s the best of a group Of vehicles designed by Boomers for millennials that ended up only being bought by Boomers, since discontinued for no good reason. Honda’s major sin here was not updating it with modern electronics or a more efficient engine. It is smaller than the current CR-V. Such a shame.

They did in fact update the engine (at least once). I tried finding one here in Europe but they are pretty much impossible to come by unless you want to import one from the USA which has a ton of problems for a car that is not officially carried here.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#42

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:20 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #24

Aloha wrote: post #15

That's not even really severe rust - most of it is just surface, easy to treat it with naval jelly/rust neutralizer.

The second photo shows two large holes in the driver footwell and one in the passenger side. The last 4 photos show where it was cut out and patched. It's not difficult to patch with some sheet metal and a welder, but it's labor intensive.

It can get difficult in a hurry if the rusted out spots are near where wiring is sandwiched between the various metal parts. I've done my share of repairs like these and if you only end up doing what you think you'll be doing when you start the job then consider yourself lucky.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#43

Post by freetime2 » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

luma wrote: post #10

I'm curious how this is currently the top story on HN. A now-discontinued and otherwise entirely unremarkable family vehicle is not able to be inundated with water without serious consequences, much like the overwhelming majority of passenger vehicles made before or since. Who is the audience for this?

I have never owned, or even considered buying a Honda Element. But I have heard the rumor that they can be hosed out, and I know they have a bit of a cult following, so that was enough to arouse my curiosity. I clicked the link, had some previously held misconception dispelled, and saw some images of a rusted out element. All in all I was not disappointed.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#44

Post by bloomingeek » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

Early 70's and before pickup trucks could be hosed out, but when you were finished you needed to "broom" out the excess water. These were the trucks which had regular floor mats, just leave the two doors open for a little while to air out the cab.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#45

Post by Wistar » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:27 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

About 2005 or so a co-worker bought a new Toyota FJ Cruiser, kept it for a week and then showed up with a Honda Element. When I asked him why he said, "The FJ is just too fussy. I go hiking and fishing with the dogs and, with this Element, I can just hose it out."

Apparently not.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#46

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:27 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #19

chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

Wranglers have fabric and plastic trim, and they specifically advertise that the floor can be hosed out. The difference is that it has drains (and floor != seat).

[deleted]

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#47

Post by ungamedplayer » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:28 PM UTC

uuyi wrote: post #28

shubb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of Landrovers used in off roady places around the world are ex-army models. Maybe they were more water tolerantly trimmed. E.g. at one point you could buy Landrover Rover Wolf fairly cheap I think

Not really. The wolfs suck. 24v electrics and stripped bare of everything even remotely nice. And yes they go rusty too. They mostly tend to survive in desert climates longer as they are surrounded by desiccants and clever engineers who can weld things that fell off back on again.

Stripped bare is a feature. Less shit that can go wrong.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#48

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:29 PM UTC

gedy wrote: post #16

Random FYI, but the article shows repairs using POR15 paint. It's pretty nasty to work with, and I highly recommend MasterSeries paint as an alternative: http://masterseriesct.com No affiliation, just learned the hard way with my 1960s VW Beetle.

I use a single component moisture cure coating made for the maritime applications and it is awesome.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#49

Post by function_seven » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:29 PM UTC

everly wrote: post #32

luma wrote: post #10

I'm curious how this is currently the top story on HN. A now-discontinued and otherwise entirely unremarkable family vehicle is not able to be inundated with water without serious consequences, much like the overwhelming majority of passenger vehicles made before or since. Who is the audience for this?

It’s mostly the Mandela-esque effect of everyone seeming to remember it being a supposedly washable interior. Plus the Element sort of has an outsized place in American popular car culture, not unlike the Pontiac Aztek. That’s my best guess anyway. Hard to explain but it makes sense to me seeing it here.

Yeah you nailed it. Until just now I thought you could hose these things out. I thought that was the entire point of the plastic interior: hoseability.

Like public bathrooms with central drain and continuous tile from the floor and up the wall.

I've never owned an Element—I hope that if I did, I'd figure out the truth of this myth—but it's definitely a very common one.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#50

Post by ungamedplayer » Tue, Apr 12, 2022, 10:30 PM UTC

drewzero1 wrote: post #11

chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

It was very widely reported that the car interior was designed to be washed with a hose. That would have been a big selling point for me except that it only had four seats, and it looked like a shed.

It's barely a shed. Check out the cybertruck for something that looks like a backyard shed.