Can anyone tell me why an Element would be a poor choice for a fishing vehicle. Poor clearence, poor stability, poor visibility ect.
I know it is not the most beautiful design but…
What would be a good alternative?? I have to do something about my 15 year old, 9 MPG truck.
Thanks
Tom
I have a 13year old Jeep Cherokee ,and a 2006 Toyota Tundra, the jeep is my fishing veh, lots of km’s on it and still going strong.
I suggest gettingsomething between the Jeep and the Toyota, which is for sale BTW, It is too big for Ann and I. we bought a house instead of a Travel trailer, and the boys have their own veh, or don’t want to travel with us now…
Last winter I bought a Toyota FJ cruiser specifically as a dog/fishing/hunting truck. It’s been fantastic. Plenty of room, rubber/plastic/neoprene interior that cleans well and doesn’t hold water. The interior is long enough to hold a strung-up 9’ fly rod with no problems.
I love the fact that I can get out of the river, dump my nasty wading boots and waders in the back, and wipe it out when I get home with no ill effects.
I looked at the element, but wanted a “real” 4wd truck. Plus my wife has a 4Runner that we love, and the FJ shares much of the frame and powertrain with that vehicle.
I get 20MPG with primarily highway driving. Know in advance that you have to burn premium to get decent mileage.
Plus, Filson the WonderDog loves it to death:
fly
My son has an Element and he told me this.
The ammount of crap you can fit in the back is really quite impressive. Especially when you take out the rear seats (which isn’t that hard at all). One of the best things about the cargo space is that it is flat. No tunnel bumps.
You aren’t going to take it off roading. But, with 4 wheel drive, getting to most normal fishing locations shouldn’t be an issue.
He didn’t like the tires that it had when he got it used. He put on a wider, lower profile Continental Conti Pro Contact (European touring sedan tire) which lowered the ride height about an inch and helped the handling. It is by no means a sports car, but it does just fine for him.
Now that he keeps the tire pressure to 36 cold, he gets almost 24 mpg on the freeway and around 21 or so around town. His is a 5 speed manual. It takes some getting used to as the shifter is in a strange location, but after a while, it feels totally natural.
There is a large following of people. Before he purchased his 2003 EX Manual, he thought they were a bit ugly and would never buy one. Now, he loves it and uses it for trips to Home Depot and for moving his two dogs around.
It doesn’t tow a whole lot (2100 pounds) but the general consesus is that it can tow more with its 2.4 liter, 160 hp iVtec engine. So, for moving smallish trailors around, it is more than adequate.
Any more questions, just let me know and I will ask him.
Don’t personally know much about the Element but have looked at them. Seems like it would be a pretty good fishing vehicle and I knew one fly fisherman who had one and liked it. The mileage is OK but you’d think it would be better given the size.
I bought a Mazda Tribute specifically for fishing/camping. Key items were the ability to pull a trailer of 3500 lb if needed (still looking at pop up campers), decent size inside with fold down seats, and somewhat reasonable mileage (I get 23 mixed driving - can get 25-26 if I slow down and don’t use the AC). I bought leather seats and was a little worried about that, but they’ve held up better than cloth to my fishing. I throw a tarp on the floor when I get in with my waders when chaning locations and have had no problem.
Sorry for the rambling…hope this helps.
TxEngr
I have a Jeep Wrangler setup for off road. Any less wouldn’t get me to where I fish, and as winter comes i’m wondering if it will. I use the cheapest 85 octane gas and get 18 mpg. I can live with that.
Haven’t heard anyone mention clearance???
The more the better. 
I always buy my fish truck before they go on clearance…better selection.
Here is the yahoo group for the Honda Element if you don’t belong to it already, I’m sure you’ll get more answers pertaining to it:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/HondaElement/
Edit: I think this is more relevant - than my long winded ancedote.
I got the Chrysler Sebring convertible (bright red one). It doesn’t hold as much crap as you’se guys rigs but I hardly get to go, mostly don’t ketch nuthin’ and this way I look real kewl going both ways and in general have a grand trip.
A guy at work has a Honda CRV and loves it, it’s great in the snow, has as much interior space as a Grand Cherokee, the dog fits in the back, gets good mpg.
Just doing some ‘math’ here:
Old truck you already own= 9 miles per gallon.
New 'Element= 23 miles per gallon (probably more like 20, but we’ll be generous).
Figure gas at $3/gallon just to make it easy.
15,000 miles/year at 9 miles per gallon = 1667 gallons of gas = about $5,000
15,000 miles/year at 23 miles per gallon = 652 gallons of gas= about $2000
Savings = $3000/year in gas (give or take a couple of hundred).
Cost of new Element is what, $20,000?
That means you could drive your ‘old’ truck for at least 6 or 7 years before you’d save even a dime, and that is if you use the old truck 15,000 miles a year. Longer if you don’t drive as mcuh. Much longer if you have to finance the Element, which would increase the actual ‘cost’ significantly. Subtract one whole year if you need to put and engine and tranny in it, but THAT would likely up the mileage and then you’d need to recalculate…
I don’t really know what the Element ‘costs’ but even it’s $12,000 you still have to drive it 15,000 miles a year for 4 years before you are ahead. Again, this assumes that you pay cash for it and don’t have to figure in finance charges.
Of course, older vehicles cost more in maintenance, but not THAT much more…
I’d stick with the old truck, realize that you are really SAVING money, and buy a new battery of pricey fly rods and reels to celebrate…
But, I can add and I don’t take into the account that whole ‘I got a new car’ thing that many folks find so appealing…
Just a different approach…
Buddy
I have owned full size trucks for the last 10 years and drive an average of 45-55K miles annually for work. I purchased an 06 Toyota RAV4 with all the bells and whistles last July. I currently have 49K on it and am very pleased. I looked seriously at the Element, VUE, Scion, and a number of other all purpose vehicles before buying the RAV. 26 average on the highway, 22 in town. Much better clearance than the Element, plenty of room, better towing, 4 wd etc. GREAT fishing vehicle! Excellent storage, seat configurations, etc. I do not endorse products readily, but this car has been great. JIM C
I’m with Buddy on this one. I drive a 2003 3/4 ton Chevy van for my business, and it’s also my fishing truck on the weekends. At 14mpg it’s better than TomW’s mileage, but it’s A REAL , FULL SIZE TRUCK, and most importantly, IT’S PAID FOR. We have an abundance of fully improved roads here in Ohio that get us very near to the rivers/streams, so the 4WD issues does not come into play for me. I understand its quite different in other states. For me, 4WD means I could get stuck in places farther away than I could with 2WD, not to mention the further mileage degradation thingy.
I have run scenarios like Buddy did whenever I’ve been tempted to “save money by buying a better mileage vehicle,” and every time I’ve come away being satisfied with what I have. Of course, I could care less about the “I got a new car” thingy. I like to chant “I got a paid off car” thingy right back at 'em.
To each his own, but it is important to do a complete evaluation before making a buying decision. That is, unless money is not an object for you.
Just more drivel for thought from:
Joseph the Thrify.
(anyone want to see my First Communion money??Huh, huh??? Yep, I’m thrifty!)
well if im alone im in my ram, if the wife goes we usually take the liberty.
i havent heard anything bad about the element. but most pf the ones i see are city drivers. if your on pavement im sure its fine. if you wanna go on dirt get something built for it. everyone has their preference. if you wanna keep on a budget, look for an alder cherokee w/ the 4.0, those things are solid, and you can pick one up for a couple of grand. if your truck is running good, keep it. its paid for.
My fishing vehicle is the same as my regular vehicle, a Honda Civic. I drive it all over the forest roads in PA. When I pull into Slate Run tackle it’s often the only car in the parking lot. Nearly every other vehicle is a pickup or SUV.
And those are fine. But I just want people to know that you don’t need a truck or SUV for fishing. I do a lot of backcountry fishing. And the Civic is fine. Gets 36 mpg average and 40 on long highway trips. I wrecked a muffler once, and have banged and scraped bottom a few times, but nothing serious. You’d be surprised the places you can go in a little economy car.
I’ve talked to real old timers from upstate who remember the time before 4wd vehicles were even available. So they just drove CARS out in the woods. It’s before my time, but if I understood them correctly, 4wd vehicles weren’t widely available until after WWII, when army surplus jeeps became available.
I thought about Rav 4s, Element, Jeep Liberty etc. But they don’t get enough gas mileage. I don’t consider 23-24 mpg to be good gas mileage.
Imagine Rav 4s, Element, Jeep Liberty and small pickups with diesel engines that get really good fuel economy. Small diesel engines are the wave of the future. That’s happening all over the world. But the US is, once again, way behind the curve. The big SUVS that get 9 mpg are dinosaurs. They will go the way of the Pontiac GTO in short order.
Exactly why i’d never sell my Jeep. It’s paid for and gets 18 mpg. I’m lucky to put 5000 miles a year on it. It only has 45,000 on it and it’s a 98. I’d lose money by buying a new one. Plus mine is more off road capable than any new one.
Besides, new Jeeps are butt ugly.
I do not know why you are trying to get talked out of the Element (you are looking to buy a vehicle to replace your 9mpg “guzzler”, right? I doubt that a HE uses THAT much gas) but I really liked the Subaru Forrester that I had for 6 months (it was totalled when some lady went through a red light and hit me). I still find I wish I had it, it was a fun little SUV, however, it cannot compare, in size, to the Element, but it got good gas mileage and was highly rated by Consumer Reports. It all depends on what you’re looking for, if you’re looking for a high mpg vehicle, then you have to go small, perhaps the Toy. Matrix or Scion “mini-Matrix’s”, if you want the most room and still decent gas mileage, then the Element is hard to beat, IMHO. If you want 4wd, the Subarus are good choices (any model, all are highly rated by CR, or at least were when I bought my Forrester), the Matrix comes in 4wd (I think), Honda CRV or Toy. Rav4, all provide the 4wd and still get decent gas mileage and all are highly rated in CR.
Paul
I went with a ford escape. the element doesn’t have as much room as you’d think–same with the Jeep liberty. Rather than go with a hybrid (technology still isn’t quite baked enough for me) I went with the 4 cylinder. It gets great mileage for a small suv (27-28mpg… I got 30 once on a long trip) and it is Awd. The hybrid gets slightly better mileage (not much better), but it has more power. Even though its built on a “car” frame, it doesn’t look out of place streamside – not that there is anything wrong with jc’s ragtop:)