Anyone hardwire a radar detector in their Element yet :?:

I did last night. I mounted the detector just under the rearview mirror, and then ran the wire up to the ceiling, and over to the driver's side pillar. I popped off the piller and hid the wire behind it. Then ran the wire under the dash over to the power/ground wires that the radio is using. Seems to be working pretty good. I did this same setup in my last car too. It's really nice not having unsightly cords running all over the place, and having the detector turn on/off with the car.

Did you buy a special cord to do that :?: The cord for my radar detector is too short to run that far and has the cigarette plug. Did you hook it up to the main radio power or another cable :?:

I bought a straight power wire and plug adapter from Radio Shack. You just bring in your radar detector and they will find the right size plug adapter for you. The adapter snaps into the straight power wire. My power wire wasn't long enough so I lengthened it by soldering on an additional 10ft of speaker wire (just need the cheap stuff... I think it's 16 gauge) Make sure you put electrical tape over the soldered connections for insulation. I have an aftermarket stereo installed so my wiring harness has standardized colors, whereas the OEM wiring harness may not be the same, but traditionally connect the ground wire to the black wire, and the power wire to the red wire. You may want to consider using an inline fuse on the power wire for additional protection for your radio, and detector.

Another option is just to run the wire to your fuse box. You'll need to twist the thumb screws under the steering wheel and remove that panel, and then stand on your head to get at the inside fuse box.

I installed a tach in the car I owned before I purchased my Element and ran the power to the radio...the tach only worked when the radio was on. Is this the same for your radar :?: Oh yeah, thank you for the info!

Nope, it's on when the car is on regardless of the radio.

There are three different wires that supply power at different stages:
Red - Power available when the car is turned ON
Yellow - Power available all the time
Blue - Power available when the radio is turned ON

Your welcome :D

I would think that you could run a wire to the front dome light. I might be wrong, but I would think that there would be a constant hot wire there. I will get my meter out to check. I know that is the way I have done it before.

The same here BB & Freaky-E. The dome light tap is the way to go.

I am thinking about doing this, but I have not found a way to take off the ceiling storage compartment. I have pulled, pryed, and looked for screws no luck.
Anyone know how to take this out to get to the dome lights?

I will try to find out or us and will post ASAP