10k Seller Submission: Elementary Canal Cruiser: 2004 Honda Element 5spd AWD
Our long time reader, onetime COW winner and regular contributor AbnMike has been prowling the comments section threatening to buy some hooptie Suburban or engine swapped Volvo and he even mentioned that his current reliable daily driver is for sale…and well…since we are 100% in favor of this plan and won’t feel the wrath of his wife/girlfriend/mom/sister for having to push a turbine engine powered BMW 2002 through the streets of Imperial Beach we are proud to feature his car. It is also a surprisingly sweet beige box shaped daily driver. Find this 2004 Honda Element with 5-speed manual transmission and all-wheel-drive for sale in Imperial Beach, CA for $10,500 via craigslist. Thanks to seller submission from AbnMike.
The Element isn’t a likely candidate to show up on the Daily Turismo, but this particular example has all the things necessary for our needs. The Element is a large and useful vehicle with funky styling that is destined to be a future classic or at least a cult following.
This particular Element is equipped with the rarely selected 5-speed manual transmission. The engine is a 2.4 liter inline-4 cylinder DOHC alloy unit that puts out a conservative 160 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 160 ft-lbs of torque. Having never used a late model Honda shifter that wasn’t fantastic, we’d be surprised if the Element’s odd console based shifter wasn’t snick-slick smooth.
We’d be remiss to not mention that AbnMike’s ad text is quite amusing and features gems such as “You can’t do donuts in this car! Well you probably can but I have the feeling it would be horribly unsatisfying.” and “It’s green! It has 2 real doors and two half doors and a rear opening thingy.”
See a better Carbon based transport for cheap? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com
i like the Sugarloaf golf sticker!..on a car in CA.
His ad is definitely worth reading!
My two yeller labs, Camille and Laura, own an '07 Element AWD. They kindly let me drive them to the beach at O800 each day. They also allow me to use it for trash runs, appliance hauling and general grunt work. It has been very reliable and they love the sunroof in the back.
My two yeller labs, Camille and Laura, own an '07 Element AWD. They kindly let me drive them to the beach at O800 each day. They also allow me to use it for trash runs, appliance hauling and general grunt work. It has been very reliable and they love the sunroof in the back.
Very entertaining ad, AbnMike. It needs lots of detail pictures though. And stock wheels maybe. GLWTS!
My last car was just like this one, but an EX-P with the paint-matched lower molding, AWD with 5 speed natch. It wasn't ideal for baby-hauling due to the wide-opening front doors.
Still, this is probably the ideal candidate for three mods: 1) add a sixth gear, from a TSX if I remember right. 2) lift kit, about 2.5 inch body lift. Expedition Forum's bikerjosh has the lift detailed on that site. and 3) E-camper.
That's what that sticker is? I found it in a box of stickers and patches I have and thought it looked cool so stuck it on there. Golf? Damnit. I hate golf.
Thanks for featuring it DT!
I have heard a 6th gear can be added but it's only worth the effort when you need to tear into the drivetrain (unless you have lots of money, which I don't). Since it only has 67,000 miles it will be a long, long wait before anything goes wrong with the drivetrain.
It did have a broke sway bar in the front which I had replaced.
I can take detailed pictures for anyone who wants them but man, it's an Element….
sugarloaf.com/index.html Best skiing in the east! cool honda, glwts!
I think Elements are pretty cool vehicles. Here is a company that installs camper kits on the roof:
ursaminorvehicles.com/
They are spendy, but so are any purpose-built vehicle that might be comparable.