Okay, I took posession of my new Element yesterday, I LOVE THIS THING

[ET Awful]

Yes, I know I shouldn't love an inanimate object, but that's just the way it is.

I'm even contemplating vanity plates for it. I was going to get BLKBOX but it was unavailable :P (Black Box is such a fitting description for my 4 wheeled toaster).

:bounce:

[Madrone]

1. Welcome to the club!

www.elementownersclub.com


You're now part of the ever-growing counter culture.



ps: I love mine too. :)

[ET Awful]

2. They are wonderful aren't they?

I've been looking at the forums on that site, and I'm thinking of ordering the custom mat set that one of their sponsors sells. Custom cut for front, rear and tail gate. Would probably be a great thing to have to preserve the original floors and would make cleaning even easier than it already is :)

[Heidi]

3. Lotsa cat-space in an Element!

:thumbsup: and congrats, ETA!

[ET Awful]

11. Thank you!!!!

Maybe I'll have some scratching posts and a heated kitty bed installed :P

[hfojvt]

4. which element is yours?

I would have tried to get carbon, just imagine the royalties you could collect. Oxygen and hydrogen would be good too, and molybdenum always struck me as a funny name. How much do elements cost? Maybe I will get one too. :silly:

[Catshrink]

6. Carbon allotropes for me...

diamonds and buckyballs. Of course, I've always had a thing for nitrogen.

[ET Awful]

10. I'll go with no. 110 on the Periodic Table, i.e.

Uun or Unununium just 'cause it sounds cool :P

[hfojvt]

19. that's an element?

It sounds to me like somebody ran out of ideas for element names. Ununununununununium? Maybe it is meant to honor the UN?

[DS1]

5. Looks like you'll get to test its snow handling tomorrow

dammit

[ET Awful]

12. WoooHooo!

:P

I'm lookin' forward to it. . . . kind of.

[eyepaddle]

7. How's the mileage on those things. and do you think

Honda might come out with a hybrid one in a few years?

My Cavalier is treating me quite nicely, and has several years oflife left, but I must admit it isn't really a dream car for kayaking. Can't change inside of it, the river gunk messes up the difficult to clean inside, limted room for gear (although once we did squeeze in three paddlers and and strapped FOUR(!) kayaks on to the roof) etc. I understand the Element gets in the mid twenties or so, and that isn't bad, but damn, if they come out with a hybrid-style in the next three years or so, I am THERE! :)

[ET Awful]

9. Mileage isn't the greatest . . . not bad but not the greatest

From what I read, Consumer Reports had it tied for 4th in gas efficiency for SUV's. (It was beat out by smaller vehicles like the RAV-4 and such).

I think it's actually rated at 21-24. (higher for the 2wd version).

A hybrid would kick some major booty :P

I tell ya, the Element is an ideal vehicle for a kayaker. SOoooooooe easy to maintain.

[eyepaddle]

13. Check out m New Year's pics (if you please!)

My car once again smells like soggy booties...(sigh) and I've vacuumed and emptied out the trunk. If only I had a car I could MOP!

[ET Awful]

14. LOL . . . I'm actually going to get some thick rubber floor mats that

cover the entire inside of the thing, that way it'll be even easier to clean, I just pull out the mats and hose them off :P

Where are the pics?

[eyepaddle]

16. Just one or two threads over

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4516361

[ET Awful]

21. DeeeeAMN that looks chilly

:scared:

Hehehe, I've surfed in cold water before, but nothing THAT cold.

[eyepaddle]

26. Actually, it wasn't that bad.

the air temp was above freezing, and so was the water's (obviously). Plus I had a couple layers of polypro on underneath my drysuit, a rubber hood and gloves. So when I was in the boat he only part that got wet al all was my face. All that exercise kept us warm!

Jumping out of the boat to carry out though, that was a bummer. It would seem I need to find water proof booties as well. Always one more thing....

[ET Awful]

27. Yup, once you get used to the temps, getting out of the water is the worst

I've surfed in water cold enough to require booties and a hood to go with a wetsuit so thick that you almost couldn't paddle into a wave with it :P

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

8. My niece now drives a Scion

My sister says she's driving a lunchbox! Congratulations on your new boxy transportation!

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. More than Quinn????

;) Congrats!!!! Hmmmmm....vanity plates.....

[ET Awful]

24. Hell no. Quinn's my buddy and Althea is my little princess.

They're my family fer chrissakes :P

[NNadir]

17. Meitnerium?

http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Mt/key.html

[ET Awful]

23. Before Friday, I would've called it Unobtainium, but my credit

isn't as bad as I thought :P :P

[pokerfan]

36. Named after Lise Meitner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner

I saw a documentary about her on Nova or History Channel. She should have shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944, but she was just a woman. :(

[leftofthedial]

18. any idea what the longest possible cargo dimension is?

I routinely need to transport an object that measures 9 inches by 29 inches by 72 inches. Would it fit inside? Do seats fold down?

[ET Awful]

22. The seats fold down flat, fold up to the sides and clip to the walls or

remove completely.

You chould be able to carry that with NO issues at all.

[leftofthedial]

37. thanks!

:-)

[FLSurfer]

20. I'll also welcome you to the club.

I got one of the first elements made. Actually number 98. It has been a good car. Mine is 2wd and gets around 25-27 mpg.
I bought it to replace my Volks Vanagon, which hasn't happened. The vanagon is much roomier.
Anybody want to buy a 2003? I'll sell it below book.

LeftofTheDial an object of that size will definitely fit. No problem.
The seats fold down, up, sideways.

I hope you enjoy you Element ET Awful. Best wishes.

[ET Awful]

25. Roomier? Damn, you must need a lot of space :P

I mean, the Element is ROOOOMY.

[FLSurfer]

28. I like to stand up to change in and out of a wetsuit.

I also typically have at least one surfboard, guitar, and sleeping bag in the van at all times.
Yeah, I need lots of room.
The vanagon is also easier to move from the drivers seat to the back of the van.
All things I didn't think before my purchase.

But you are right the E has lots of room. Especially with the back seats up against the sides of the car. Plenty of room for 2 bikes and a few surfboards but you have to give up the extra seating.

I do miss the comfort of the E's ride when I'm in my Vanagon. And the wipers, my Vanagon's wipers haven't worked for years.

[ET Awful]

29. That's what's cool about the EX, if you wanna stand up to change

just pop the sun roof :P

[FLSurfer]

32. Doh, didn't get the EX.

Might have made all the difference. I went cheap and got the DX.
I'm not sure if they make mine any more (no sun roof).

[ET Awful]

33. In '05 it was just the LX and the EX, for '06 they added the EX-P

which basically adds painted fenders and trim (all the plastic is painted basically).

[kedrys]

30. Congratulations!

We've had ours for almost 2 years now, and it SO ROCKS!!!! :bounce:

[ET Awful]

35. Cool, I like hearing the good reports from folks that have had them

a while.

I've heard stories of problems with fragile windshields, have you had any issues with it chipping or anything?

[kedrys]

42. We've had one small chink on the driver's side

which has not spread at all in over a year. Driving through a heavy construction area did it.

We wouldn't have been able to move without the thing. We had to spend 2 weeks in temp housing, so we were carrying our closet and our office, basically - the dolly sticking out of the sun roof was pretty hilarious!

Not to mention getting 7 cats out of boarding and getting them home the day after the move.

Sometimes we take it to the park, put the front and back seats down, and snooze in the breeze with the back door open. It even has a spot for iPod. :) Perfect for those lazy afternoon picnics.

Enjoy!

[a kennedy]

31. my husband loves his too......

I bought the new 2006 Honda 4 cylinder accord coupe, and I love mine too. :)

[ET Awful]

34. If I'm not mistaken the engine from the Accord is the same as they

put in the Element, with a few minor changes.

[spinbaby]

38. Saw a great bumper sticker on one...

"Screw Aerodynamics"

[tigereye]

39. I love the way those look

like a Legomobile. My son liked it when we were looking at CRVs one time. But the husband wants an Odyssey.

Plus they seem ready-made for people who like to move a lot of stuff. Congrats!

[erinlough]

40. Congratulations, I love mine too and it sounds

like we have the same one! I have the black with alloy wheels and I absolutly love this car!!! I read about you getting the rubber floor mats and I did the same thing and found the matts at LOWES. They are used for working in a garage on a cement floor but I cut them to fit in the element and they work great! At the car wash I pull them out and spray them off and by the time I'm done with the car they are dry. I have had mine three years and gone through a great deal of snow here in Michigan and I have never had any problems getting around.

Enjoy the car, I have no doubt you will.

Again Congrats!

[XemaSab]

41. I took our Element birding this morning

and showed it off to all the other birders!!!!!

They thought it was really cool and they all want one too!!!!!!