I'm looking for Kid1's first car, and a rust free 2005 AWD Honda Element with an auto trans is available locally. It has 239k miles.
It drives straight, shifts well and, as noted, has no rust. There does seem to be a valve cover leak on the passenger side of the engine, and the tires aren't worn evenly, but there are no signs of crash damage that I can see so far. The diver's seat seems to have a broken weld or something- there is a bit of wiggle in the back. I think it's an absolute dog in terms of power off the line, but that's compared to my cars, but I still worry the engine is just down on power. I kind of forget what an auto trans 160 HP vehicle is supposed to feel like, though. It still seemed good enough to take a closer look at tomorrow in the daylight with cash in hand.
Should I be looking for anything specific with this thing? It seems to share quite a bit with the CRV in terms of drivetrain components. Are there any unique pitfalls to the Elements?
My wife had 2 FWD elements, the first was trouble free up to around 250k when it was totaled. The replacement had issues from the time we got it a 150k. I think most of the issues were due to lack of maintenance, though the valve cover leak suggests that the valve adjustment was not performed. A vtec issue led us to selling it after relacing all of the cheap components.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Kick ass, thank you, Tom.
Make sure it shifts smooth back to 1st at stop. I just replaces a switch and a solenoid on Tom's old Element this weekend because of that. Not expensive or hard but if the PO drove it for a while like that, then it could be damage internal.
Lucky for me, it wasn't and now ready to tackle the snow.
Also, They are slow. 10+ second 0-60 times. So compared to everything you may own, it's not a rocket by any means.
They come up on bat every week. Nice AT and MT for sale now.
Buy a good example for the kid - she can have it till 35 years of age
*Don't buy that one. Go ask BMW88rider about how his AT Element blew up**
