19 ms·
Never hose out a Honda Element
- murderfs 4y ago
- byoung2 4y agoMy wife had a 2006 Element. The salesman at the dealer told that hose it out lie. A quick Google search back then debunked it, thankfully.
- jason_slack 4y agoI had a 2007 Element and loved it. I held on to it until it started having major problems. I never hosed mine out, but mine was from Canada and had a drain hole in the the front and rear. I never hosed it out though even when it really could have used it. We camped in it a lot.
- chrisseaton 4y agoI 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.
- Barrera 4y agoIt's in the video embedded at the bottom. What appears to be a representative of Honda says the following about the then-concept car (0:40): "It's got kind of a wash-and-wear interior. You can kind of completely hose out the interior if you wanted to."
- mmaunder 4y agoThis is why "kind of" is such a popular caveat.
- cookie_monsta 4y agoAnd why "if you wanted to" is such a brilliant disclaimer.
- KennyBlanken 4y agoHe was also talking about the concept car, not the production car.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- assttoasstmgr 4y ago"I hit a skunk, Karen"
- bstar77 4y agoI was looking at one of these at the dealership in the early 2000's and the sales guy told me I could just hose it out after a day at the beach. It seemed plausible considering there was no carpeting and the seats could be folded up.
- cowmix 4y agoYup, I heard the same thing. My buddy bought one and he would hose his out all the time.
- seanalltogether 4y agoMy roommate did the same. I remember him telling me that was one of the key reasons he bought it as he was an avid camper and would take the dog along and let everything get dirty then hose it out.
- uuyi 4y agoHaving 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.
- chrisseaton 4y agoI'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.
- uuyi 4y agoYou won’t find it until your foot goes through something or something falls off. I had a 1990 defender 90 which was 8 years old and the bulkhead was invisibly rotten in various places. That got very expensive very quickly. A friend has a more modern 110 that’s only 6 years old and has the same problem. This is not an issue in some areas and dry climates as a rule but in the UK it sucks owning one. I don’t own one now. I drive a little French go cart then I use my legs for off road. They last longer, don’t go rusty and run on dried fruit and sandwiches.
- KennyBlanken 4y agoThis is why I laugh when I see 90's era defenders selling for $80k in the states.
- richardfey 4y agoAre you Remi Gaillard?
- uuyi 4y agoI disclaim all responsibility for chucking bananas out of my French go cart
- drewzero1 4y agoIt 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.
- ungamedplayer 4y agoIt's barely a shed. Check out the cybertruck for something that looks like a backyard shed.
- drewzero1 4y agoIt's not a bad thing necessarily, a rolling shed would be great for hauling things around and the Element especially has an amazing cargo opening when the doors open up. I should qualify that I'm used to driving compact to midsized sedans and wagons, so most CUVs look like sheds to me, but the Element especially so. Don't get me started on the Cybertruck though, it really does look like a pole barn.
- mortenjorck 4y agoThe author references the "hose" comment in the 1998 unveiling of the concept car that would become the Element, but I think they greatly underplay the degree to which this idea caught on with the public and in the press, especially in non-automotive publications. I'm pretty sure it was an issue of Wired in the early 2000s where I read about this futuristic new SUV from Honda with, among other clever details, "a floor you could hose down." It became an unofficial selling point for the Element, and I would imagine most people exposed to the meme never knew the vehicle was not in fact designed for such a use until they saw this blog post.
- RajT88 4y agoTruth. I recommended a Honda Element to a friend of mine who wanted a cute car, but who had a tendency of destroying cars. Among our friends, somehow the "hose down" talking point was common knowledge. This was maybe 16 years back, so I do not recall how we came to this idea. They ended up buying a stickshift VW bug. Which they abused in many weird ways. Destroyed a couple Honda Fits since the bug.
- exikyut 4y agoI'm tentatively morbidity curious what happened to the VW bug, Fits and other cars this friend came in contact with.
- zbrozek 4y agoI'm also interested! I know a few classes of car destroyers. Some of them get into serious crashes. Some of them are more persistently mildly abusive or inattentive and do a lot of cosmetic and cleanliness damage. One person I know does ultra marathoning and uses his car like a locker room, so it smells like a great multitude of new bacterial species. Another one does zero maintenance and runs things until they don't go, ignoring all the warning messages.
- RajT88 4y agoMy friend is for sure the inattentive type. This extends to road conditions. Getting stuck on medians, taking a corner in the rain too fast. Not noticing a tree while parking. Not noticing brakes making horrible screaming sounds. Not noticing after weeks of screaming sounds that the car starts diving for the left lane.
- kube-system 4y agoWranglers 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 4y ago[deleted]
- djrogers 4y agoThey do not advertise that (at least not in North America) - the carpet will get ruined.
- kube-system 4y agoThey do. I checked before I posted my comment. Page 32: > WASHABLE INTERIOR Not only is the carpet weather resistant, but it can be removed to reveal drain plugs that, when opened, allow the floor to be easily hosed out. Standard. https://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?co=US&pid=497&pc=J-JL-web&bt_field_name%5B%5D=source&bt_field_value%5B%5D=null https://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?co=US&pid=497&pc=J-JL...
- jupp0r 4y agoYou can order them with vinyl flooring for that very reason IIRC.
- yencabulator 4y agoThe carpet is specifically mold-resistant and even removable. I guess if you're in a humid climate, you need to make sure it dries fully as soon as possible; not as much of a concern in the Southwest.
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y agoThe drains I remember well. I spent a couple hours trying to get a friend's Wrangler extricated from a mudhole deep enough to where the floorboards were submerged in water that was just above freezing. Wasn't fun keeping a foot on the gas pedal to keep pressure on the now-underwater exhaust. After we finally got him winched out of the hole, all the water immediately drained out.
- yazboo 4y agoI don't know where the meme came from but I've heard it from two independent Honda Element owners, and it comes up on random SEO-spam blogs as a benefit of the Element if you're searching for "dog-friendly" cars. I never thought to question it myself - the trunk area does look like something you could hit with a hose. Glad this made #1 on Hacker News before I bought one!
- mmaunder 4y agoOnly 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 carpet and WIPED out all the nastiness and vacuumed up the bits etc. Got it down to the metal and really nice and clean. Then layered up on Dynamat in prep for installing a high-end sound system and got a great result. Unless you've destroyed the vehicle anyway by dipping it in sea-water, don't hose out your car. A really great check to do if you're buying used is to look under the driver's seat for rust. It indicates flooding. In the case of pickups, it means they either submerged it or used it as a mudder. Red flag. Walk away.
- irrational 4y agoHow do you see the metal under the drivers seat? Every car I have owned has had wall to wall carpet, including under the seats.
- tokai 4y agoyou remove the seats?
- irrational 4y agoLOL What? Do you seriously remove the driver's seat when you are car shopping?
- tokai 4y agoDon't you lol what me. You are making this about car shopping. mmaunder wrote about removing the carpet to clean. Ofc you don't remove the carpet of a car you want to buy. I would never had guessed that you meant 'see the metal' in a car shopping context, as it's as easy as breathing to flip some carpet over and get a sense of the floors state.
- Wistar 4y agoAbout 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.
- jupp0r 4y agoThat's funny because FJ cruisers are very sought after vehicles nowadays.
- Wistar 4y agoI have spent quality time with a couple different FJ Cruisers and it is a vehicle of which I am not very fond. The seating and interior, especially the headroom, is not comfortable for me and has poor outward visibility. More than those things, though, is that its driving feels coarse and unrefined on the street. It may be great offroad but it is not a rig I'd buy for my mostly street use.
- jupp0r 4y agoInteresting, I haven't had the opportunity to ever ride in one.
- stjohnswarts 4y agobecause 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.
- caymanjim 4y agoThe 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.
- KennyBlanken 4y agoIn most cars it's okay to get the carpet pretty wet for cleaning, but you need to suck it dry with a wet/dry vac or proper carpet extractor and b)immediately dry it out as much as possible, like leaving it in hot sun with the windows and sunroof all cracked a bit and a fan or two circulating air around. Letting the car get pretty hot and then driving it around for a bunch with the A/C on will help, too. Car AC systems are very powerful. However, some car companies put control modules in the passenger footwell (like engine control modules, sometimes ABS or airbag controllers), so it's worth looking at a parts diagram or googling around first.
- maxerickson 4y agoApparently lots of people? 2009: https://www.elementownersclub.com/threads/forbes-article-perpetuates-hose-out-myth.59722/ https://www.elementownersclub.com/threads/forbes-article-per...
- throwaway0a5e 4y agoBecause most work vehicles (which the element more or less is) can be hosed out if you know where the stupid little rubber grommets you have to pull are. I clean my van with a 5gal bucket of water and a mop.
- ryandrake 4y agoHonestly, with the terrible manufacturing quality these days, plus the fact that everything has unexpected electronics crammed everywhere, I wouldn't "hose out" any product and expect it to work again, unless the only purpose of the product was to hold water.
- treesknees 4y agoJeep Wranglers have drain plugs in the floor, they're totally OK to hose out if you want to.
- notatoad 4y agoi 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.
- insaneirish 4y agoI have never owned an Element. I have never considered buying an Element. I would say I have above average awareness of the car market and am a competent DIY mechanic. With that preface, I have recommended an Element to multiple acquaintances on account of (seemingly) being able to hose out the inside! Whatever the root of this perceived 'capability', the dissemination of it was remarkably effective. If you asked me why I thought this, I would say that my recollection was that the official marketing campaign highlighted it as a feature.
- cplusplusfellow 4y agoIn 2003/2004, when the Element was initially marketed to the US market, I specifically recall seeing ads that indicated I could do such. Nearly bought one for that reason. Bought a Civic SI instead.
- tlavoie 4y agoWell, and it's hard to beat a Civic Si for fun driving, if that's your thing. (2009 here!)
- cplusplusfellow 4y agoMine was an 03, hatchback model. Very fun to drive and the stick shift was on the dashboard basically. I only wish I had spent more time driving it more interesting places, instead of to work in that wretched city.
- tlavoie 4y agoYeah, when I started looking at them, the sales guy at a dealership directed me to where I could find an on-ramp to bomb around. (After going very slowly to get there, past the usual speed traps.) Since then, I've moved to an island on the west coast. Roads are where the terrain allows, and nothing is straight or on a grid. Perfect!
- relaxing 4y ago
- iambateman 4y agoIt is a very common myth that you can hose out a Honda Element. I know people who owned them and specifically told me you could hose it off. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- medion 4y agoJust pressure washed out my 30 year old Land Rover today, outside AND in. Goes like a charm!
- wil421 4y agoDesigned for wading usually means it keeps water out. It doesn’t always mean water proof. If the windshield is removable I would think the inside would be more water proof than a vehicle that can wade, like a Wranger (water resistant inside) vs my Grand Cherokee (multiple seals to keep water out).
- Dork1234 4y agoBack in the early 2000s car dealers were trying to sell it on the fact you could hose it out. No rational car person would actually considered it since under the rubber-maid flooring was normal padding. If the padding wasn't there the car would be just too loud.
- tannedNerd 4y agoI had one and remember hearing the rumor but seeing how run off from snow would pool I never believed it. Still one of the best and most utilitarian cars I ever owned. Beach day, snow day, moving it did it all. Especially with the fold up seats!
- dole 4y agoLoved ours until it got in a wreck, still consider picking a used one up. My only complaint ever was the 4-cyl being underpowered. Folded the seats up to the sides, moved a full-sized clothes washer and dryer upright in the back, a lot roomier than it looks. (Edit: I luckily was not dumb enough to hose it out.)
- frankus 4y agoThe engine was perfectly adequate with a 5-speed and front-wheel drive, but I can see how a 2000s automatic and the extra weight of AWD could make it sluggish.
- gotaquestion 4y agoI 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.
- ourmandave 4y agoThere'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.
- caycep 4y agothat'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...
- jacquesm 4y agoThat's not that simple, actually. Drain holes by themselves are going to allow moisture in to the car as well, and being holes the edges will need to be protected, usually drain holes will have some rubber insert for that. But then they are no longer flush, so some water will pool. I've welded plenty of car bottoms where moisture had done a very thorough job of rusting things out, drain holes are typically a fantastic way to get a problem, rarely a way to solve a problem. Some convertibles have this done the right way, but there the whole car is designed from the ground up for this, and that includes the upholstery, the electronics placement, the way the cables are routed and so on. If that isn't the case your best bet is to keep moisture and fluids on the other side of the bodywork.
- kyleee 4y agoaren't there drain/weep holes in most/all door assemblies with roll down windows? seems like it could be a solved problem for auto makers
- jacquesm 4y agoYes, but doors have a very nicely defined lower point without a whole lot of variation in the profile of the bottom bit. Even so, they rust out frequently, as the sibling comment to yours mentions, in part because they tend to be too small and get clogged, in part because the moisture running down the inside of the door can still sit on the level parts for a surprisingly long time, and soak into the sound proofing and between the sound proofing and the various metal door panels. Depending on how porous the paint is and how good the adhesive is it could get problematic (there was a time when car manufacturers switched to water based paints and cars from that early period after the switch tend to rust like mad because the paint was more porous). Finally, keep the door rubbers at the top maintained well, the best way to deal with water is not to get it in there in the first place (but moisture from condensation is impossible to avoid).
- luma 4y agoI'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?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Douger 4y agoAnd yet we've clicked on it!
- everly 4y agoIt’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.
- function_seven 4y agoYeah 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.
- numbsafari 4y ago> 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.
- 4y ago
- devy 4y agoIt 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...
- cpsns 4y agoFloor panels rust if they end up in constant contact with dampness, it's not a design flaw so much as the expected result. You should never let the floor inside the car stay damp/wet. In places where salt is heavily used on roads new floor pans are something you'll see regularly completely rusted out.
- kllrnohj 4y agoUnless Honda advertised or recommended hosing it out, what would lawyers go after? As far as I know Honda themselves didn't advertise this, it was some odd public myth that spread rapidly
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- qbasic_forever 4y agoIt's steel, it will rust. No one would want to spend the huge increase in cost for a fully stainless steel car. DeLorean tried!
- TaylorAlexander 4y agoHah it’s funny that you say that because Tesla is about to release their stainless bodied Cybertruck. I was just watching a video by Sandy Munro about how this is not exactly a terrible idea: https://youtu.be/YQSQYQ44Qco https://youtu.be/YQSQYQ44Qco
- Aloha 4y agoThat's not even really severe rust - most of it is just surface, easy to treat it with naval jelly/rust neutralizer.
- kube-system 4y agoThe 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.
- jacquesm 4y agoIt 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.
- kube-system 4y agoI've done one myself. In my experience, the worst part is removing sound deadening and factory undercoat.
- jacquesm 4y agoYes that can be quite tricky. For sound deadening: the method I use: first try a couple of different ways on a small test patch, then do the whole thing. Methods to try: chisel, applying a bit of heat, cold spray and then hitting it with a hammer (surprisingly effective!), large diameter rotating steel brush (not very good for detail work due to the large diameter but it eats through that stuff in a hurry), pushing 'up' from below to deform the floorpan a bit to see if the stuff delaminates (sometimes you get lucky). Pick the one that works best for the initial removal, then do the remainder with the next slower method until it's done. Tedious. Factory undercoat: rotating steel brushes are the only effective way afaik and it takes forever unless you have access to a large size sand blaster.
- gedy 4y agoRandom 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 http://masterseriesct.com No affiliation, just learned the hard way with my 1960s VW Beetle.
- kcb 4y agoReminded me where I have seen POR-15 before. Seems to be good stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag46YUovPUc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag46YUovPUc
- jacquesm 4y agoI use a single component moisture cure coating made for the maritime applications and it is awesome.
- jimmaswell 4y agoNasty how? I had no trouble using it the same way on my Z31.
- gedy 4y agoIt's really smelly, thick, shiney, and can peel off. The Masterseries is more like normal paint, looks better, and can be painted over as well. I found it a lot easier to work with.
- anamax 4y agoI remember being told that hosing out an Element would ruin the electrics, that they aren't sealed. Rust too eh.
- frosted-flakes 4y agoIt would take a while for rust to develop. My car (2003 VW Jetta) had the floor completely saturated for well over a year, but when I finally found the leak (sunroof drains) and removed the carpet to dry it out, there was very minimal rust.
- sgt 4y agoI know it's HN, but please don't bring Rust into this. Every... single.. thread...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- kipchak 4y agoHonda described the element as having an easy to wipe down utility floor, and waterproof seat fabric. I think somewhere along the line that merged into waterproof floor in peoples minds. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5505836ae4b015246aa27215/t/5fc3e6a12dd96f5918660f44/1606691250345/Honda_US+Element_2003.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5505836ae4b015246aa27...
- kyleee 4y ago"somewhere along the lines" probably largely meaning via lieing salespeople and i'd guess some early clickbait articles by enterprising outlets who figured the "just hose it out" line could get some clicks/money
- bloomingeek 4y agoEarly 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.
- frosted-flakes 4y agoThey probably didn't have any floor soundproofing either, or even carpet, which simplifies things significantly. I was amazed at how effectively the mass-loaded vinyl soundproofing and carpet deadens road noise when I drove my car with bare metal floors recently. I would never buy a car without it. (The sunroof drains got disconnected and the floor was completely flooded. With the sound deadening mat under the carpet there's no way it would have dried out on its own, and it took me a few days to get it all dried out, so I drove it in the meantime with no carpet.)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- danchoe 4y agoI was curious so I looked up what the floor of an Element looks like: https://i.imgur.com/Q3zlB6M.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Q3zlB6M.jpg Looks like it's meant to catch all the spills from the rear passenger section but applying any water to the front is no bueno. Note to self: don't buy a used Element.
- smm11 4y agoTest-drove one when they came out, and I was told you could hose them out. We said it would be an ideal vehicle to carry bicycles, and the sales guy said "I can do you one better. You can not only carry bicycles, but you can hose out the inside when you get home!"
- duxup 4y agoI would love if I could hose out my car or , house, but I would be pretty skeptical if someone told me I could.
- bombcar 4y agoIt's not hard to design a kitchen or mud room to be hosable; commercial ones are. Main thing is tiling and draining.
- duxup 4y agoI’m remodeling my main floor. The mud room and kitchen will be tiled enough to mop liberally.
- bombcar 4y agoThe 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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=864WzLG1w2Q for example.
- duxup 4y agoI like the idea but it seems like a sorta random use case for a home.
- bombcar 4y agoThere’s a reason lots of places require leak pans for washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, and so on. It will eventually happen so it’s often best to prepare for it, especially if on a wood floor. Water damage is very bas for a structure.
- duxup 4y agoI think a water alarm and auto shut off for things like that are better. If you're building new I guess it is nice to have a drain, but I'm not sure it is worthwhile / the likelihood / utility is THAT high.
- bendbro 4y agoIf you hose it out and it rusts, the problem of no drain holes is fixed, right?
- trickjarrett 4y agoWow, I've had one since 2007. I've even quoted that exact line. And yet I've never actually done it and am glad I haven't.
- riffic 4y agostick it in a bag of rice
- rektide 4y agothe future had personal jetpacks... and power washable interiors.
- abxytg 4y agoWhy is this car beloved? It's so terribly ugly, and it doesn't have any redeeming features you'd expect from a 4x4 (space, cargo room, clearance)
- aabajian 4y agoIt has enormous cargo space for its size. It has more interior space than an FJ Cruiser, despite being 80% of the size. The stock rear seats of an Element fold flat across the windows: https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/585272_81_61976_raLZLaYnP.jpg https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/585272_81_61976_raLZL... Also, there was factory-optioned camper model called the Honda Element ECamper. Like the FJ, the Element has suicide doors allowing you to load things like wheelchairs and surfboards. I think a big reason it has the false misconception of being washable is that there is no carpeting (except on the SC) models. It was also rated as the #1 dog-owner vehicle, which means it tends to get muddy. Honda even had a dog-utility ramp for it: https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~pet~ramp~kit~08l36-scv-100d.html https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~pet~ramp~kit~08l...
- frankus 4y agoI bought one new in 2003 and this is spot on. I sold it in 2018 and still miss it (but wanted to tow more than 1500 lbs). The styling is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but if it's ugly at least it's cute ugly rather than the "I'm going to murder anyone who gets in my way"-ugly that seems to be trendy right now. One of the things I miss the most was the lack of a giant center console/tunnel between the front seats, and the dash-mounted shifter. You could easily drive with e.g. a backpack/messenger bag/etc. between the seats, and the whole interior felt much less cramped (a huge contrast to my current Escape/Kuga). The rear seats had a great view over the heads of the front-seat passengers and tons of leg room and headroom. Also the steep windshield and restrained amount of visual clutter on top of the dash was pretty great, especially in contrast to what's available nowadays, where you usually have a bunch of pointless shapes and textures constantly superimposed on your view of the world thanks to the reflection in the windshield.
- 4y ago
- aabajian 4y agoIf you want a hoseable vehicle, buy an FJ Cruiser. I take my dogs to the car wash (it has heated water), and hose them off without taking them out of the back.
- blamazon 4y agoThere's a fun fact about the FJ cruiser and I know a lot of folks on here will enjoy pointing it out to others just as I do: Three windshield wipers!!
- Tade0 4y agoNo discussion about the FJ Cruiser is complete without mentioning how it's a perfect example of a Simulacra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA23qLvl79k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA23qLvl79k
- kamranjon 4y agoIs it possible that your FJ Cruiser could get rusted out in exactly the same way as the Honda Element from doing this?
- joshe 4y agoThis was such a perfect camping/surfing/biking car, I used to rent them off Getaround. The seats actually folded up and to the side, to make a huge amount of room on the back floor. We also slept in that back a few times when it was cold out, just threw down a pad. Check out the awesome: https://www.core77.com/posts/61976/The-Honda-Elements-Unsung-Interior-Design-Brilliance https://www.core77.com/posts/61976/The-Honda-Elements-Unsung... And not hose able, but the whole back was one continuous flat rubber mat, so it was absurdly easy to clean after you put your 2 un-disassembled bikes in the back. It was actually a sports / active oriented car, instead of couch on wheels that all the other SUVs are. And it might not have been for everyone, but it's a shame that a different type of car like this didn't find a market. This would have been a great design to steal for the new but boring bronco. (I had hopes :-)).
- hyperbovine 4y agoI hate this car so much. My parents owned one, I mostly rode in back: - nausea inducing rear seating. For several reasons: no ventilation in back (can’t roll the windows down); weird elevated rear bench; overall effect is of being in a dark tunnel, horrible if you are prone to car sickness. - you have to open the front door to open the rear door. Great for when it’s raining! - giant box of a car that seats … 4. - surprisingly little cargo space for what a giant box it is. - ugly.
- joshe 4y agoYeah I get it, I think it's a better car for a couple with stuff vs. a family. Also very much not a one size fits all car. Most people never camp or go to the beach at all.
- elxr 4y agoStill looks better than most of the compact crossovers nowadays which look neither here nor there. At least the element looks unique and utilitarian. And considering the short length (it's shorter than the current corolla hatch), the cargo volume is great. I hate modern car design. Traditional non-lifted station wagons and purposeful off road short-wheelbase SUVs are getting rarer by the day. Instead we get awkward looking "sporty" SUVs with giant grilles and high beltlines.
- agrippanux 4y agoBack 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 a 4 year old car that cost $23k new.
- vlunkr 4y agoI 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.
- ChuckMcM 4y agoRelated, don't buy a car with a salvage title that had been in a flood. Car makers really really don't expect a car to be full of water, ever.
- WalterBright 4y agoJust turn it upside down after hosing it.
- _vdpp 4y agoThe “you can hose it out” meme took hold in my brain too for whatever reason. It’s the only thing I could have told you about it after “it’s boxy and probably has a Honda I-4 under the hood.”
- SmallBets 4y agoFunny seeing this as an Element owner, who is just dealing with the hell of having the catalytic converter stolen. With the relatively high ground clearance, these are absolute magnets for catalytic converter theft. Estimate to fix it with OEM parts ~$6k! Waiting to see if insurance totals it.
- guynamedloren 4y agoWhat? $6k? How much damage did the thieves do?
- SmallBets 4y agoI know, it's unreal - the Cat itself is 2500, then 02 sensors, the frame harness, and labor are the rest
- tbran 4y agoThat's crazy! If you're inclined to keep it, Rockauto [0] is a cheap place to get auto parts, and often cheaper than the local stores for the same stuff. $368 for a Walker cat for an '08 Element [1]. I know that some repair jobs can be a lot because of how modern cars are designed, but if the labor is a couple grand (sounds like it is), that sounds extreme. [0]: https://www.rockauto.com https://www.rockauto.com [1]: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/honda,2008,element,2.4l+l4,1440499,exhaust+&+emission https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/honda,2008,element,2.4l+...
- SmallBets 4y agoThank you, I will look into this. I am worried about it happening again lol
- a2tech 4y agoIf you live in a civilized state where there isn't mandated annual vehicle inspections, you can just go to a shop in a poorer part of time and most of the time they'll weld in a straight pipe so you can hook up the muffler again. Quick, cheap, and good enough.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Andrew_nenakhov 4y agoNon-native english speaker here. Can someone please explain what does 'hose a car' mean? (Quick ddg search didn't quite clear it up.)
- mastazi 4y agoIt means washing the car using a garden hose, in other words it means cleaning the car using a large quantity of water
- joelhaasnoot 4y agoUsing a garden hose to clean the inside of your car with a lot of water
- toxicFork 4y agoTo clean it with a water hose https://api.calcarcover.com/data/default/images/catalog/1000/Turnkey/1/4309-2320.jpg https://api.calcarcover.com/data/default/images/catalog/1000...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mosselman 4y agoWow really, who would have thought? I guess I should use the microwave in the bathtub either?
- numlock86 4y agoMy thought exactly, but the amount of people hosing (or even pressure washing!) the insides of their cars are probably much higher than one might guess ...
- davidkuennen 4y agoI didn't even know hosing out cars was a thing. I've never seen anyone here in Germany do that.
- trey-jones 4y agoA friend told me this was her dream car maybe 7 or 8 years ago for this reason ("hose it out"). I do know she eventually got one. My response at the time was, "who cares, still ugly."
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tezza 4y agoIs this a cautionary note for Hans Reiser ? “Don’t attempt to wash your wife’s blood out of a Honda Element… it will rust !!”
- peanut_worm 4y agoWhat lunatic would think you could do that in the first place
- pketh 4y agoDespite never having owned one, all these years I also thought the element floor was hose-able. I wonder why I thought that and how I learned and kept this, apparently untrue, tidbit around with me all these years