It”s funny when the most valuable thing you own can also be the thing you take the most for granted.
I bought my Honda Element right off the lot in September 2004. It was my first new car.
My parents had given me the family van, a 1990 Plymouth Voyager, when I got my license. It gave me nothing but problems.
The Voyager”s engine blew up in 2003 and I had constant problems with the water pump. After borrowing my grandfather”s pickup truck to save up enough money to repair the water pump for the third time, the van ran for another month before dying.
I had enough. I wanted a new car, and I wasn”t going to settle for something used, as I felt I had inherited the van”s problems and didn”t want that again.
I very quickly settled on the Element. I needed to have some room because I am a drummer and needed to cart around my rather large seven-piece drum set.
The Element seemed to be able to solve that need while simultaneously be fairly affordable. The day after the van died, I was at San Leandro Honda signing papers. I drove it home with only 60 miles on it.
I don”t know if I”ve ever smiled bigger than I did on that drive home.
I fondly remember being stared at whenever I drove it around for the first few months, as Elements were still a novelty at the time.
Within a week, I had racked up more than 1,400 miles on the car.
That should have been an indication right there that I would be driving the hell out of this car.
Within a year, I put more than 24,000 miles on it, a trend that mostly continued.
What can I say? I was in love with my Element.
I fell for it pretty quickly. It drove like a dream, with the engine responding to the slightest touch of my foot.
I had enough room for two, even three in a pinch, with all my drum gear packed in it.
When I went to the snow in 2007, I found out the all-wheel-drive was absolutely fantastic.
The stereo was phenomenal and the height placement of the steering wheel and the view of the road seemed tailor-made for me.
I seemingly had picked the perfect car for me.
I swear I have not received any money from Honda in the writing of this column.
But it hasn”t all been good.
For starters, 2003 and 2004 Elements were rolled out with windshields that were very prone to cracking. As a result, I have several large cracks and chips all across my windshield.
Elements seat four people, so it can be problematic when I”m with four friends and we want to go do something.
I have been disappointed with the gas mileage. I can usually only drive it for about 250 miles or so before my gas tank indicator light comes on. It usually averages about 21 or 22 miles per gallon.
I had hoped to get a car capable of going 400 miles on a tank with 25 miles to the gallon.
But for the most part, it”s been nothing but good to me.
Now, as it enters its seventh year and approaches the 120,000 mile mark, I know a lot of maintenance issues might be in the future.
But I know my Element will be the champ that it”s been for me to the end.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly at 263-5636 ext. 14.
