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Never hose out a Honda Element

fifthelementcamping.com

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Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#121

Post by vlunkr »

agrippanux wrote: post #117

Back in the day when I bought my Element, upon delivery the dealer told me to never wash it out with a hose. I asked why they gave that advice, and the dealer said there was an ad (I think print?) by Honda that showed a dude hosing out an Element and they had all these cases of people bricking their cars as a result. I loved that car, it got totaled when a van badly rear ended it, and I ended up getting $22k back on…

I definitely remember a TV ad where someone hoses out their car after going to the beach. Unfortunately I don't remember the make/model and Google isn't turning anything up. I wonder if people incorrectly associated that with the Element.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#123

Post by peteradio »

Aeolun wrote: post #110
ugl wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old TopGear trio put a hilux threw hell, ocean, on top of an imploded building, and more. It "ran" still at the end of it. https://topgear.fandom.com/wiki/Toyota_Hilux#Indestructible_...

Engine starts, car moves. Good enough for me.

I had a Jeep Cherokee where the only thing separating my feet from the road was the carpet. Would that satisfy your standards?

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#124

Post by jlkuester7 »

ungamedplayer wrote: post #47
uuyi wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This. I don't get the tendency to want an ultra-capable off-road vehicle and then kit it out like a luxury roadster with a bunch of "tech" that is going to break in the first water crossing.

Worked on a farm one time where one of the work trucks was literally a Ford F350 King Ranch edition. Super powerful vehicle, but the wood trim and leather seats were no help when you had just been on your hands and knees in mud and diesel fuel...

Creature comforts are great for family/touring cars, but they are a liability in extreme terrain.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#125

Post by duxup »

bombcar wrote: post #109
duxup wrote: post #58

I would love if I could hose out my car or , house, but I would be pretty skeptical if someone told me I could.

It's not hard to design a kitchen or mud room to be hosable; commercial ones are. Main thing is tiling and draining.

I’m remodeling my main floor.

The mud room and kitchen will be tiled enough to mop liberally.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#126

Post by notatoad »

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.

i have never owned or even ridden in a honda element, but the fact that you can hose it out is distinctly lodged in my memory. if it's not true i assume it wasn't claimed in an actual ad, but it was definitely a widely circulated fact at some point.

in general i'd assuming hosing out a car is an awful idea, but if for some reason i had a dirty honda element, i'd probably hose it out.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#127

Post by dtgriscom »

markdown wrote: post #84
mmaunder wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only time I hosed out a car is my uncle's car when it ended up in the ocean. Was low-tide and tons of seagrass on the boat launch. Lost traction and just slowly slid all the way into the ocean. Actually turned out OK after a serious fresh-water bath and carefully drying out everything. Hosing out a car under normal circumstances is insane. I recently worked on a Dodge 12V diesel 1994 truck. Removed all interior carpe…

My dads Toyota Hilux was a rustbucket when he bought it 20 years ago. Still runs "fine", despite lots of use in the intervening years carrying highly corrosive NPK fertilizer on the farm. A bit of rust isn't anything to be scared of so long as you know it's there.

I had an MR-2 for seventeen years. Near the end of its life, the passenger floorboard rusted through, so that if I hit a deep puddle the rug would be pushed up by the water, and you could watch the rug slosh back and forth. Big fun.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#128

Post by iancmceachern »

chrisseaton wrote: post #13
uuyi wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having driven Land Rovers in the form of series, defender and discovery, I wouldn’t hose one out either. The upholstery rots and stinks and the fittings go rusty too. If you’re doing wading and off road stuff you need to tear the entire guts out and start again. And then the bulkhead equipped vehicles will fall to bits within a few years as well.

I've been hosing out my Defenders and wading them above the door seals for years and there's no significant rust yet. They have rubber floor mats instead of upholstery. But they are maintained professionally.

Aren't most parts of land rover bodies aluminum?

https://www.thrillist.com/cars/9-things-you-didn-t-know-abou...

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#129

Post by bombcar »

duxup wrote: post #125
bombcar wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not hard to design a kitchen or mud room to be hosable; commercial ones are. Main thing is tiling and draining.

I’m remodeling my main floor. The mud room and kitchen will be tiled enough to mop liberally.

The key in my opinion is a well designed and placed floor drain.

They now make ones that keep wet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=864WzLG1w2Q for example.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#130

Post by jupp0r »

Wistar wrote: post #45
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.

That's funny because FJ cruisers are very sought after vehicles nowadays.
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