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Element or Accord...why should I be torn?

2227 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  JP
Commencing therapeutic rant:

I have owned a Tahoe for some time now and enjoyed it. However, I am ready to move on due to its increasing miles. I know one thing...I want a Honda. I just don't want to worry so much about problems and Honda seems to have the market cornered in this area.

So I looked at honda.com and lo' and behold I saw the Element. I saw a few on the road before and could not believe how ugly they were. What shocked me even more was the fact they were made by Honda. Honda's reputation has always been to leave no stone unturned and I just couldn't believe they would make something so ugly.

So then I decided to go look at one up close. I was shocked. It was like they took my Tahoe and a Civic and smashed them together. The drive, the usable space, the attention to a "no mess" sort of car were all things that really impressed me. To top it all of the price is right.

So now I'm stuck and I just can't decide. There are so many things about the element that I like but the Accord just feels like a better made vehicle to me. The road noise is noticable but not terrible. What concerns me is 3 years down the line after a ton of vibrations. Will the road noise sound unbearable? Will the removable seats start to clank around? Will those plastic quarter-panels start to fade or discolor? My point is this: dollar for dollar the accord feels like a quality step up to me. You can get an LX Accord for about the same price as an EX Element. The Accord feels very solid to me while the Element feels a bit more like a Civic level of quality...not sure if that makes sense.

Anyway, did anyone else out there have a similar situation? I realize the Accord and Element are very different and I like them both for completely different reasons. Does anyone have any advice on how they decided?
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Wow! Great replies. I find one thing very interesting here. There are Accord owners who still come to this forum thinking about the Element. Something tells me I might end up the same way.

I still find my own situation so strange. Two vehicles that are completely different and yet I can't make up my mind between the two.

In case anyone is interested here is sort of where I am at right now. I am leaning towards an Accord instead of an Element. I have to spend about an hour and a half in the car each day due to my commute. It is not often I need to haul anything and currently my wife and I have no kids. The Accord would give me better gas mileage and probably a better resell value eventhough I bet I will be in this thing at least five years.

Of course the perfect scenario would be for me to get an Accord and get my wife an Element but unfortunately we can't afford it right now.

Probably the biggest thing that attracts me to the Element is comfort. I'm 6'4" and about 250 pounds. I am shocked each and every time I sit in the Element. It is far and away the most comfortable vehicle I have ever sat in. I don't even fit in an Accord EX because the moonroof takes away too much room and my head hits the roof. I barely fit in an Accord LX because there is no sunroof. In an Element I have something like 6-8 inches of headroom and there is just tons of room for my very wide shoulders. I still think it is such a strange experience because sitting in a CRV I feel like it is a toy car. I sit in my Tahoe and I feel fairly comfortable. I sit in an Element and I feel like I have room for days...too weird when considering it from the outside it seems so small.

Geesh this is tough. Now I'm actually talking myself back into an Element again. This nightmare (or dream depending on how you look at it) will never end :)
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Again, thanks for the responses from everyone. I took another test drive comparing an accord EX sedan and the Element 2WD EX. The accord drove very nice but again, I don't fit very well in it. In the element I fit perfectly but on the interstate I felt it was a bit lacking. I had two problems. First, at 75 mph I felt the engine was sort of struggling. Part of this may have been due to the wind causing resistance. This was my second issue at high speeds. The wind was really tossing this vehicle around on the road. My Tahoe doesn't suffer from this at all I'm sure because of the sheer weight of the Tahoe.

So do I take the vehicle I fit in perfectly but not so comfortable with at high speeds or do I take the vehicle which handles high speeds great but I don't fit perfectly in? This is simply hypothetical and I know I am the only one who can answer this question. Just more pondering. :)
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