I have been enjoying my Element since September. But the ultimate came tonight when I connected my new iPod with a Belkin cable to the aux/stereo. Wowie! What a magnificent sound, especially with the great music that I'd downloaded through iTunes. I connect a charger at the same time, so that the battery gets charged while the awesome sound is surrounding me.
I move large paintings around, and I was able to fit a 4.5 ft canvas in diagonally upright with both seats up on the sides. Not as roomy as my old Explorer, but this car has it beat by 100 miles.
When on a long trip, I connected a cooler to the 12 volt plug in the back as a mini fridge, it worked great. On this trip, I was a bit dismayed, however, to discover that the weight limit is only 675 lbs! With 2 adults, bikes on a rack (fold-up type on a hitch from U-haul, much cheaper than Honda's), loaded cooler, luggage and gear, etc. this was close to the limit. I increased the tire pressure a bit, and it didn't seem overloaded.

is that wieght limit true? i am a dj and i lug around about 800-1200 pounds on a regular basis with no problem whatsoever. you can feel a little struggle when getting on the highway but nothing major. i had no idea that there was a "weight limit" but the heaviest ive gone is probably around 13 or maybe even 1400 pounds without incident.

The engine seems to handle the above suggested weight limit just fine, but what I did find is that the brakes were severely affected. Be sure you brake early when hauling stuff in your E.

teeja2000: The owner's manual says 675 lbs total, but it also says that the car can pull a 1500 lb trailer. Go figure?

Luckily, you don't have to haul that trailer up on the roof rack!