If you hose it out and it rusts, the problem of no drain holes is fixed, right?
Never hose out a Honda Element
61–70 of 275 posts
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#62that's sad...it would be the perfect vehicle from a form factor standpoint to do this. Would that they could just spend the extra production bux to put extra rustproofing and drain holes in it for this...
I agree. Wranglers have drain holes and it seems to me there would be a market for a less offroad capable, more practical car with similar water resistance.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#63I'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.
I'd buy an updated Element in a minute. Meanwhile I'm holding on to the one I have. And I'd never hose it down.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#64stick it in a bag of rice
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#65I 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.
The whole floor is covered by a plastic sheet. It looks like it's safe to hose out, and unless it's damaged, it will hold pools of water. I never intentionally hosed out the whole interior of mine, but I did spray a lot of water around the front seats when I first got the car from someone who never cleaned it. The water pooled up to the point that I had to scoop it out and towel the rest. I suspect it was a bad idea, but if you saw it you'd think it's the best way to clean it.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
I put 250k miles on an '08 before, very reluctantly, selling it to a kid for his first vehicle.
The '08 had been "updated".
But they never offered it with factory installed nav, despite having a very "ahead of its times" sound system. It also had terrible gas mileage.
Sure, it was less aerodynamic than a Mac truck, but Honda could have revisited it.
Much like my dearly departed Vanagon, there's nothing new like it on the market.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#67I'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?
> A now-discontinued and otherwise entirely unremarkable family vehicle
The Honda Element was a very special car. I never understood it until I spent time with a friend who has owned one for years. They have a cult following for good reason. You can fit full size furniture in the cargo bay, while still parking in a compact spot. With people piled in the back, you can easily carry 6 passengers at double the MPG of a full size SUV or van. The handling is tight and smooth; nothing like an SUV or truck. The clearance is equivalent to a Wrangler. And Honda reliability means these things are still on the road in perfect condition at 300k+ miles. I could go on and on, but suffice to say the Element was not "just" an unremarkable family vehicle. It absolutely nailed a utilitarian niche that no other vehicle has come close to before or since.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#68I 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.
because you wouldn't hose it out with everything in it, only after you removed the seats and such. personally I never would, as it doesn't take that much extra elbow grease to just use a pail and wash cloth/dry cloth.
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#69It looks like this is a Honda Element fan site. But I wonder if floor panel rusting is a design flaw, how come the lawyers haven't all jump on the class action suit bandwagon...
It's steel, it will rust. No one would want to spend the huge increase in cost for a fully stainless steel car. DeLorean tried!
Re: Never hose out a Honda Element
#70I don't know how many times I promoted this myth, and I never even owned one. Ironically, I really want one now because conversion vans are way too expensive, and Elements had great clearance, space, and 4WD. I hope they make a comeback.
There's a Element group on Facebook where people post ones for sale.
The admins insist on pics from every angle and ton of details so there's nothing sketchy. Of course high miles are the norm because the last model year was 10 years ago.