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.

> 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.

I currently have an '06 and would love to upgrade to an '07 or later.

Except the cult following (of which I am a member) and current used car prices means I'll be driving it for the foreseeable future.

It is 20 inches shorter than a minivan. But, it's also basically a minivan with the rear cut off.

The Element is actually kind of interesting because you would think it and the similarly boxy Scion xB would have been popular cars for young folks. They're utilitarian and oozed hip marketing directly at active younger kids--load it up with mountain bikes, camping gear, etc. and go have fun.

But in reality these cars were incredibly popular with senior citizens and older folks. It turns out they had amazing visibility with the boxy upright design and seniors felt safer driving them, plus they were spacious inside and easy to enter and exit. The marketing was kind of misplaced and younger folks didn't care for them at all.

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.

And yet we've clicked on it!

> 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.

I’ve always assumed the Element was a victim of tightening CAFE standards. The design was incompatible with the computer-optimized slipstream profile manufacturers use to tack on a few fractional MPG, and its market positioning was incompatible with the price level required for inefficient vehicles to offset the discount on cheap econo-lozenges.

You could probably revive it as an BEV, although with shitty range due to its aerodynamics.

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.

I have a VW Transporter that started life as a taxi cab. 9 seater, rubberized floor. I put a longer 5th gear in it and removed the LNG system (ridiculous taxes otherwise), it's pretty economic and can haul a ton of stuff. The whole neighborhood here uses it :)

It being an ex taxi bi-fuel I bought it super cheap with low mileage.

I agree, the Element was a great vehicle, I think it was a little overpriced, but it is a Honda. I would love an updated version now that I can afford one.

> vehicles designed by Boomers for millennials

As I recall, they were designed by Boomers for younger versions of themselves, and priced for Boomers wanting to feel young again. That, of course, necessitated ads theoretically aimed at millennials