I just brought my xB home tuesday night. Yesterday I finally got the hubcaps on. Now my neighbors down the block who have owned an element for about 5 mounths are out there cleaning the thing inside and out. Think they may be jealous that there is a newer, prettier box on the block?

 

I've seen a few really nice Elements on CarDomain.com. And soon they'll release a version called SC that will be more car like and sporty. Still, I like the box more. Now you gotta spiff it up and make them really cringe!

Edited with 100% more links:

http://automobiles.honda.com/element-sc/index.aspx

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2277281

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2137881

 

Considering that the xB and Element satisfy different niches in the marketplace, I'd say they probably don't care. It's like saying someone who bought a Camry should be jealous that their new neightbor owns a Tundra - they're two different cars with different buyers.

The element is a good car - there's no need to create animosity.

 

i think whats crummy on the elements are the black plastic panels all around the exterior, they are bound to fade to gray in a matter of time and just look cheap! XB Owns the element

 

the new elements dont have the plastic panels anymore, its all color matched regular bumpers etc i believe.

and yeah i agree, they are different cars with different buyers.

 

They finally came out with color matched panels to correct that ugly part of the Element. It helps a little. Very little.

I do think that Honda is taking a few pages out of the Scion advertising book though with the Fit campaign.

 

I would trade my xB in for an Element SC in a heartbeat if the gas mileage didn't suck

 

On Thursday of last week, my husband dropped me off at a local shopping center to ride my bike with the bike club. Then he went off (in my xB) to deposit my paycheck at the bank. Here's the story he told me:

So I was getting on the interstate by the shopping center, and there was this Element behind me. He was honking and flashing his lights at me as we went up the entrance ramp. I figured he just didn't like the way I was driving or something, and would pass me at the top of the ramp. Well, the kid pulled around me and passed me on the shoulder! As he got even with me, he honked again and flipped me off! Then he sped ahead and took off down the interstate. (Me: What did you do?) Nothing. I was so taken aback and shocked, I didn't have time to do anything. What did I do to him? (Me: You were driving a Scion.) So? (Me: I've read on some Scion forums that Honda owners are haters.) Why? (Me: I don't know. I guess they're just jealous.) I'm not a hater, and I own a Honda. (Me: I don't know. I'll ask.)

So I'm asking. Why are there haters? And is it just Honda owners, or is it others, too? By the way, the hater flipped off a 68 year old man, for crying out loud!

Or was the kid jealous of my box, since he didn't get as good a deal?

(This was also posted on Team ScioNRG's forum, with lots of good answers. Thanks to those guys.)

 

You can now get the Element without the colored panels and with colored panels. That's just childish ^ they better be jealous of your new box!

 

I love Hondas. I owned a Honda Civic (traded for the box) and now own a CB600F. I think they make some of the best small displacment motors. But between the two cars (xB and Element), I think Scion did it better. But like rbloedow said, they're two different cars for different people.

 

i'm amazed at their horrible gas mileage for such a small , slow car.

 

I drive my xB, my wife drives an 06 element (all black with the matching fenders). I like them both. The element (auto) is much better for highway riding than my xB (stick) also the rear seats fold up against the side walls for easy quick carrying of stuff. If you need more space you can pull out the rear seats in under 30 seconds. The back is HUGE without the seats and has a flat floor so moving stuff is easy. We just had to return a piece of furniture that was 60" long it fit in there fine (I am 6'2" and drive with the seat as far back as it goes, still had space). The element has a smoother engine, and is as fast or faster than my xB. I get about 32 mpg in my xb, she gets about 25 mpg in her element. Also hers is AWD so it does much better in the snow than my xB. Not that the xB is bad, but it is hard to get rolling without the traction control kicking in. Her car you just point the nose and goose the throttle and you are off.



Every few weeks there is a thread comparing, or bashing, or in some other way discussing element vs xb, and I can say with first hand experience they are both great vehicles. But with a 15k price tag vs a 23k sticker they are simply not meant for the same niche.


Of course the overwhelming response here will be "Elements suck, Scion's rock" but if you go over to www.elementownersclub.com I assure you, you will find the opposite.


If the scion was the greatest and best car around.....why would there be any other options? Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

 

 

the element is definately not faster than a scion with a good driver.

 

As stated here: http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...-scion-xb.html


The xb had a stick, the element an auto (same as mine/wifes and more favorable for the 5 speed scion).


They tested stock for stock in a controlled environment. Not much more to say there, 160 hp vs 108, sure there are different weights, but having driven 18k miles in my xB and recently spending a 2800 mile trip behind the wheel of the element, it definitely has more get up and go. I would also be willing to bet that the honda can do a better top speed as well. As it is not spinning 4000rpm at 80 like the xB.



Don't get me wrong I love the xB, but there are some things I like better about the element. Overall I like the xB better, that is why it is my car, and I have yet to find anything that I would even consider swapping it out for (I looked long and hard at the new GTI, but going to 25 mpg on premium was a deal breaker)

 

when my car was stock i killed many old friends that had them . and i definately kill them now.

 

btw the xb did defeat the Elemant and HHR head to head

 

I rode in my sister in laws boyfriends element, and I was unimpressed, the way the doors open is lame and there is not nearly as much head room in the back seat or leg room for that matter.

 

Leg room in the back of the element kills the xB headroom is another story. I think the element has another 4-6" or so of knee room compared to the xB. However it has about 3" less headroom (big difference). I do not like riding in the back of the element for that reason, plus the back seat sits up so high that you can hardly see what is going on up the road.

The way the doors open has its advantages and disadvantages. It is a pain when rear seat people need to get out without the front seat moving, but when loading stuff into the car it was VERY helpful.

Also when we moved we had a bottle of dish soap spill in the back of the element, emptied pretty much a full bottle onto the floor, in the xB I would have been replacing the carpet, but in the element with the rubber/plastic floor it was an easy clean up.


I am not here to sing the praises of the element OVER the xB, only to defend the element in saying it is a great car, just for different reasons than the xB. If people on here were that impressed with them they would have bought one, I do not think that I will convince anyone to switch from one to the other as I would not either, but for different purposes it is a great vehicle. Just trying to get it credit where it is due.

 

The only thing that sucks about an Element is the milage.

but then again, I'm not looking for a 22k car right now anywho. I'm capping it out at about 16, so they are 6k away from where I want to be. If I was looking for a 22k car, I'd probably go with a RAV. but that's just me. they don't suck, just their milage.

And again, that's why they make 31 flavors.