We drive and review Honda's bizarre boxy SUV: The Element. Merch: Hats: motoloot.com/p... Keytags : motoloot.com/c... Shirts, hoodies, stickers www.redbubble.c... Patreon / regularcarreviews How to submit a car • Video
I remember doing a motorcycle trackday about fifteen years ago. This guy parked an Element next to me, open the rear doors and pulled out a Yamaha R6. I was shocked!
I've had a 2005 Element AWD since 2010. 270,000 miles now and all I've ever done is oil, tire and wiper changes. Most utilitarian vehicle I've ever owned. Everything fits inside of it including my Ducati 1199 Panigale, standing up. No cop EVER stops you for speeding in it and I'm never under 80mph on the highway. You park it anywhere and you don't worry about people opening their doors up into yours because this is the best "I Don't Give A Fk" vehicle you've ever owned. I love this thing. Oh, and my other car is a 997.1 GT3 with PCCB's.
Never mind. Don't even try for a knowledgeable, balanced review. Just fuggetabout it. Did you, perhaps, hear faint rumors of bringing the car back? Or anything from customers? Doubtful, though; such data might imply the possibile development of a genuine cult following. God, you guys are so sophisticated.
You CAN hose out the interior without damaging it, as long as you don't stick the hose directly into the CD drive or spray straight up under the dash. However, it doesn't have any drain holes, so it isn't the greatest idea.
The thing is... I was looking at the floor tub and thinking, 'I could just drill a couple big holes in the footwells and put plugs in.' As long as you repaint the raw steel and make sure it drains completely every time you clean it, I bet it would work!
@@blackdragonxtra it wouldn't be a good idea. The floor material isn't sealed under the center console thing or the little plastic molding things at the rear base of the front seats. Water can run right under the plastic and then under the flooring material where it can sit and cause mildew
After working at a Honda dealership, I can say everyone I’ve met that owned one, loved their Element. Even so far as having multiples as they know they can’t get a new version yet. Not my favorite vehicle but I’ll acknowledge the cult like love it gets.
When I take my Element to the Honda Service Department for service, the salesmen always run up to me and ask if I'm trading it in because they have buyers available. Previous owners tell me they have "seller's remorse". Mine is promised to my daughter when I die or can't drive anymore. It is a family member and will never leave. Love my "Toaster" with the aerodynamics of a box-kite. Super Utility Vehicle!
Another car aimed at a demographic who couldn’t afford it. Ironically I know plenty of elderly folk who bought them because of the Element’s boxy spaciousness and ease of use.
About 10 years ago I was a DJ for weddings and events and clubs and shit. All the DJ's including me would lug around our equipment in our SUV's and trucks. This one dude had an Element. he was able to fit TWO 18" subs, 2 PA monitors, speaker stands, a massive rack mount CD deck/mixer combo WITH all the amps for the speakers, a huge case containing a facade and lights and a duffle full of cords. He STILL had room in the front for a passenger. Amazing.
@@cavemanvi you can put two 450 dirt bikes in the back of any Honda then take them down and have uncomfortable freshman sex in it too, it's the limp Bizkit vw bus
I was thinking about this while watching the review. What kind of dumb dumb off-roads an eco car and complains about suspension reliability? That had to be a joke.
“You can only fit 4 people in it” Me who been stuck with one for two years: you can fit atleast 3 fat guys in the trunk and and one sitting on top of the cup holder plus the regular 4.
It's the Volkswagen bus of today as well, anyone that has owned will tell you stories of the crazy shit they have stuffed in it or the crazy shit they have done in it
11:24 - 12:05 Damn it got philosophical at the end. Almost prophetic or transcendent. Because I did move away and lived abroad. I did get a good education & built a career for myself. I have returned years later to my hometown, as a "tourist" passing by. I did see the mutants, doing the same thing, like as if time remained frozen ever since I left. I have then returned back to my normal life and continued to ride in my Element. Still have no idea what you actually said half of the time or if you think the Element is/was a good car. But I have grown to love my toaster, with all it's quirks and no one is gonna change my mind by telling me that it's no good cos I can't accelerate from 0 to 60 within an acceptable amount of seconds. Or the fact that the backseat passenger can never escape the confines of the Element, until you let them. Relax and enjoy the ride, passenger. Life is not the destination, it's a journey. And you are gonna remain in the back seat of the Element until the driver decides that you have arrived, will unclip his seatbelt & open his driver side door to the world, at which point the passenger will finally be free to go.
I like your response. Totally agree. Furthermore I find that if your are not sitting in the front seats of any car then someone is doing you a favor, plus the front passenger and/or driver will have to give you the rare courtesy of opening up your door. What's wrong with that?
The closing thoughts hit me hard. There's a fragile beauty in Mr. Regular's voice - it's like cultivated authenticity - whenever he going into reflections. I'm recording these bits. They make for good walking music.
I had a buddy who got one of these senior year. It was an awesome road trip car for our group. Beach trips were great, easy to clean, tons of cargo room. The most distinctive thing I remember about it was how high up you sat in the rear seats. You were at least 6 inches above the front passengers.
This car is incredible. Our family passed it around to each other, except for me. We got it in 2011, replacing a XJ Cherokee (we used to have two). My mom drove it, then we got a Ford Flex and she passed it to my dad. My dad used it like a cargo van/pickup truck as Honda intended, but he was 20 years older than the target demographic. Then my sister, the target demographic of this car, got her license and she got it. Now it sits in her overpriced college apartment driveway, the gray plastic is battered from my father, the green paint is fading, the muffler is gone, and my sisters use of nicotine has coated the interior in grease. When she gets a car, my dad will take it back with loving arms, or maybe I will. Now I have a 2003 Honda Insight now that I can drive, all we need now is an S2000 and we finish out strange mid 2000s Honda bingo.
@@bernardschmitt6389 I drive one too, and I love it so much. The visibility is amazing, the cargo capacity is fabulous, and I like that I can mop it! Although the criticism in this video is really relatable lol. I have the 2010 automatic version, and it's just... fun? Idk. It's also incredibly easy to spot in parking lots, has a teeny tiny turning radius, and is super short so it's easy to parallel park
Was looking into it as a vehicle to use for fishing when have a gob of sand and not concerned about clean up much. Seems as if will be fair priced and get good mileage all things considered. Will definitely look in to getting a back up mirror.
@@Foxfloop Its funny because at the time this came out I remember the consensus being anything but "plain or clean and simple" looking. In fact it was seen as bold and stood out at the time of the mid 00s blob cars. The boxy body, sharp lines, unconventional materials are much more inline with todays designs. If anything the market has moved in that direction in the years since and consumer perception has followed suit.
I'm 6'4", and my sister's 03' Element was the only car where I barely ducked my head down to get in and out of. Which is REALLY nice for my neck and back. And when I was inside, I easily had 6" of headroom...that's how tall this box is. VERY reliable; the most expensive thing she had to replace on it were the tires; because its AWD, all the time, so every time you're in a parking lot, and you have to make tight turns, you hear/feel the tires slipping, so you're basically wearing the tires out faster. That being said, it didn't have an expensive tire size. Everything you said about it was true. Highways are not your friend; 40-60 acceleration is abysmal unless you smash the throttle in order to move this brick through the air. Likewise, even though it's very tall, it's not a heavy car; when you get to 65, you feel EVERY crosswind; highway speeds on windy days felt like driving in the jet wash of an airliner taking off. Remember the Top Gear episode where Jeremy makes that apartment block on a Citroen car, and they go on the freeway, and he started freaking out whenever he went over 40mph or whenever a box truck or a tractor trailer drove past him? Not as bad as that, obviously, but it ain't a picnic. It's a great car for puttering around at or under 55mph in some northeastern/midwestern town where you want a tall, roomy yet compact SUV to get you through those tough lake-effect winters. And the only off-roading your doing in this baby is if you've got over a dozen soccer balls in the back, and you drive it onto a muddy soccer field for little league practice because Karen guilt you into volunteering to coach that year, and you're plotting on how you're gonna get even with her because you found out she bailed out that year because she had tickets to see Adam Levine. Or if you drive it onto a beach; because your friends, with their LL. Bean/Eddie Bauer/North Face attire, knit beanie caps, and vegan sandals, have set up a firepit, and you drive onto the beach next to the campfire, and you've got the supply of s'mores. Rubicon trail-ready, this ain't. Edit: there are only 2 things that REALLY annoyed me about this car. 1st: if you're over 6' tall, you cannot see the top 1/3 of speedo because the steering wheel will NOT tilt higher to clear the instrument cluster profile. So you either have to lower the wheel into your crotch the see 40-80mph, or you crane your head/recline your seat into a awkward position. And #2: The seats are about as comfortable as a pallet of cinder blocks covered in cardboard...great for getting in and out of, terrible for long journeys. I dont know what it is with Honda and seats. It's like their idea of "regular" seats is; they take the same amount of padding of a racing seat...with all the support and bolstering of a metal folding chair. Might as well lay a thin quilt on top of a boulder. Other than that, great car. Just know these quirks before you buy one.
@@jeffkeni I'm not sure what you mean. It was definitely AWD, because it had a driveshaft connected to a transfer case. It didn't have a switch on the dash to pop in/out of 4WD. Maybe later models had that option.
I have a 2006 Element and love it. Bought it off the showroom. It’s been on the shores of the Outer Banks to the Rockies. The only thing the Element can’t do is haul a full sheet of plywood. This is the most utilitarian vehicle ever manufactured.
i loved my element. i even had 3 of them. i lived in it and traveled 25k miles across all 4 corners of america. it's not a sports car to drive, but it has charisma and it's utilitarian and a great unique car for those who enjoy outdoor stuff.
TLDR from a previous owner: Genuine 10 sec 0-60. Topped out around around 110 and got less than 20mpg combined. Loud and rode like a tractor. Buuttttt....it's roomy!
I owned a 5spd element for 5 years and 165k miles. It was extremely reliable as in it only required wear and tear items with one exception, the bushings. The suspension was borrowed from the CR-V and was never really up to task with the added weight and size of the Element. I loved that car and regret selling it. I would always surprise people with doing tight donuts in the snow with the slip n grip AWD and a 5 spd manual. It was such a great vehicle for the 22-28yr old me.
@@bt7482 I owned my Element till 180k mi. Had to replace suspension bushings, engine and trans mounts, starter, few sensors, A/C stopped working and I could never find out what the issue was, and a steering rack. All shocks were leaking and there was an engine oil leak that was never fixed. I didn't find it to be any more reliable than your average car.
I can tell you why... Its got no insulation. No sound deadening. No noise cancelling anything. The doors are 6" thick, including sheetmetal and window motors. LOUD... Go get into a current vehicle.. you couldnt hear yourself die from the outside. You cant hear the engine, you cant hear anything.
Your ending monologue is spot on. I’m currently working abroad and making a name for myself. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned going back to the old gym and seeing the same people doing the same thing, then going to your element and going your way! Bravo Zulu bro!
i had a 2010. it was the best car i ever owned. slept in it comfortably many times, and was just so versatile. it even saved my sisters life when she got clipped on the highway and flipped a few times. came out without a scratch. miss this car, wish honda continued it...
I’ve been awaiting for this review for years! I’m on my 3rd Element and absolutely love it. I’m 6’4” so the space is the best part about it. But threw a TSX k24a4 into it, swapped out the 5 speed gears for the TSX 6 speed gears and got ktuner for the ecu. It’s now a toaster with some actual balls
It's my Element in the video, and I have all the bits now to go 6 speed. But I'm waiting till either the clutch fails or the warranty runs up for the the install. Hopefully by then I have a TSX k24 to put in it. Really though, I'd just like a lower 1s gear for off road. :)
@@mikeyridesit8562 Have you seen Aerogenics products for the element? They have lift blocks and subframe drop kits so you dont kill your CV's if you ever put that 3 inch lift on. IMHO I wouldn't lift it just because it introduces so much more wear on components. The RT4WD that honda markets is honestly only good for snow and gravel. I know this because I have a 04 CRV so we share the same drivetrain and I take my car in the woods of PA. Also theres a real old youtube video on the Hoonigan channel where Bisimoto makes a civic wagovan and he uses a crv/element rear diff but he found a product for it that helps it engage quicker if you're looking to put more pep into the awd.
@@MrP1NEAPPLE I got the HRG kit with the subframe drops. Now I just need a nice warm day during this quarantine time to get it on. I do understand the wear, but this isn't my daily driver so, it's the appropriate vehicle to do something like this with, and there has been a few times a few more inches of clearance would have been handy.
@@MrP1NEAPPLE also the difference between the Element and Crv is, the Element has bigger clutches on the differential to allow more power transfer. I know a few off road CRV folks who use the Element rear diff unit for that reason.
MikeyRidesIt you’re going to love it. I’m upgrading to a duel core radiator from ebay and using the aerogenics hub spacer to do the TL front brembo conversion since I have a set of 17” RPF1s for it. The tsx k24 just feels so much smoother than the elements k24. She’s awesome through the mud with the right tires and just a very comfortable cruiser for longer road trips. But off-roading definitely destroys the suspension. Went through some mud a couple weeks ago and messed up a lower balljoint like nothing.
It's crazy how well the exterior design on these late-model Elements has aged. It looks great. Honda should, unironically, resurrect this vehicle as an EV.
My 05 Element ex 4wd Replaced 1.leaky oil pan 2.starter (twice) 3.alternator 4.front suspension 5.radiator 6.throttle body 7.iacv 8.maf sensor 9.catylitic converter 10. Both o2 sensors ....as far as reliability im torn...engine and transmission are going strong with 170k miles but i feel like ive basically replaced everything. I give it a 5 out of 10.
I put 4 Bmw m50’s inside my element with 0 issues, call it a gimmick all you want but the cargo capability you get out of these things is absolutely insane
Love my E. While you point out some serious flaws with it, you really don't even think about them because of the utility of it. I had a 20 ft ladder, full size gas mower, tools, a weedeater, and probably more, all without removing the seats. I almost never need my truck when I have this thing around. Also use it to tow a small utility trailer and it pulls great.
I've found that is it's biggest downfall though. It punches way too above its own weight on the cargo capacity which leads you to putting a ton of stress on the running gear. I've put more than 500 pounds in my ele and didn't even blink. Someone needs to make a cargo suspension for it so it can become the van it was meant to be
On a meta level, I love how this channel always features cars driving through the cramped small-city / big-town roads of the Mid Atlantic. I moved from the Hudson Valley about a year and a half ago, just east of Pennsylvania, and watching the cars on this channel whiz by 1870s row homes in various states of repair, with front doors that open right up to poorly maintained sidewalks in pre-zoning neighborhoods makes me seriously homesick. Then the cuts to the wooded back roads which barely have enough width to allow two Honda Fits to squeeze by one another hits it home even more. I miss those types communities. Outside of major cities, it's very rare in the midwest.
Well put ! It was the "grow up" car for me. I used to get shit from my friends untill we had to tailgate! Everything you said was true. The engine didnt actually "wake up untill after 4000 rpm, then you got some speed. Since the element I bought a 2013 charger se and hated it. Far too expensive to run and drove like a crown Victoria. I have a family of 5 so I've since graduated to a grand caravan. All the strengths of the element , and 300 horse power (almost with a k &n ) . With the stow away seats, I've put sofas in my caravan As a dad car guy . I cant wait to actually get something I WANT to drive.
Houston's Hustle Hobbies ...I’m still driving my Element. 150k on it and no issues. I drove it across the country earlier this year even. I’ll be sad when it wears out.
I love my Honda Element. It was a multipurpose car. It was good in all weather, on the road and in the city. It is also very useful with moving things bc it is very roomie.
Many 90's Japanese minivans had 3rd row seats that folded like that. But many also had power sliding side curtains, middle row swivel chairs, front and rear TV (yes with antennae) and other luxuries. Our vans here were way behind the times back then.
That was the family car for years, drove it from Regina and back to Victoria a couple times. The thing hated going up the mountainous hills in the Rockies though.
I love these things now. I always thought they were ugly and I never got to work on any at the shop, but once my friend bought one and I checked it out....yeah man, I like it.
Actually expected it to be Yuri's Element, which was also a 5 speed manual. Since RCR was with them in Canada a while back. But it's not lol. (Yuri's Element was Red, with aftermarket wheels.)
I’ve had an ‘08 2wd auto for 2 years for the wife and kids. #1 - get quiet brand name tires: what an improvement!!!!!! Best money spent #2 - with your good tires enjoy 28 hwy mpg #3 - I love that little square box that fits anywhere, turns radius is like a small hatchback, but yet it feels like a castle inside. #4 - lots and lots of space for the car seats
As someone who has worked abroad, moved away from home, and has friends (who I still love ya'll) who have stayed in the same state/city...that outtro hit me right in the feels
Dude same! I'm from a small town in the south and have been out for 16 years now and some of the guys, like we are in our mid 30's, y'all still doing this?
My dream car and I bought a 2010 used after these where discontinued. It was great for snowboarding, mountain biking and taking naps in the back. Speaking backseats, initiation to new riders was the person sitting next to you in the back would pull the reclining latch as the driver accelerated. The biggest downside was it only sat four. So many times I needed a fifth seat. Also, I dared not go more then 85 mph because it got terribly squirrelly. In some ways, the Element felt like the old VW van I never got to own.
Jesus Christ, I came for the "2007 Element review" search result and ended up in nostalgic philosophy class, mixed with creative writing poetics. Nice job. The art of communication is not completely lost. Thinking about helping my daughter buy one of these as she needs something cheap and relatively durable and easy to maintain.
I have an orange 2007, only mine is automatic. I find the steering is actually very nimble. I love this vehicle in winter conditions for driving and cleanup. It is SHOCKING how much you can fit in it.
“They chose their path and I chose mine.” Honda Element. Then kinda of Hamiltonesque gospel acapella. Me, I’ll go where I want to go too. Honda Accord Sport.
Id like to STRIKE the word SPORT from any auto nameplate. The car isnt better, livlier or more engaging... with the word SPORT on it. Also, if ya ever wondering what SPORT means... its LIGHT and FAST. Accord isnt light nor is it fast.
God, one of my favorite things about RCR reviews are Mr. Regular's poignant final words immediately followed by a sweet and savory tune from the Roman that always feels so genuine. Godspeed, boys. I'll be a fan until the end.
You won't regret it. I never even really looked at them twice until I got one. Now I am obsessed with it. Everyone who rides in it becomes obsessed with it too.
It's a great winter car or spare car. Its boring to drive and will need some work as these all have a good amount of miles because people drove them a lot.
I had a 2006 Element for 6 years. Of all the vehicles I've owned, this was the one I was most fond of. I was big into mountain bike racing and I could drive to the trail-head with my bike standing in the back without having to remove wheels, and sleep in the car the night before the race, get up and ride in the morning. I had two 80-lb dogs who could jump in easily. The inside of that car was so often covered in mud, blood and dog slobber, the lack of porous material was perfect. I couldn't hose it out, but a bucket of soapy water and a sponge was all I needed to get the interior looking like new again. The Manual transmission made the lack of power more tolerable. If I could get another one in reasonably good condition, I would... well at least for weekend adventures, I'd want a second vehicle for highway commutes though.
The crab commercials were some of my favorite ones put out by Honda. I weirdly wanted an Element just because it was so quirky and functional for someone without a family. There was so much leg room in the rear seats and the cargo area was enormous even with the back seats in use.
I can fit three bikes in the back of my element without having to take any wheels off...and only one of the seats out. I've gotten so used to the pure functionality of it that I can't imagine getting another car, there would be too many compromises.
In Los Angeles Honda set up tiny radio broadcasts from billboards where you could hear Gil talk to his friends. I pinch is a pretty good catchphrase too.
I remember the ads. My mind went to them immediately when I saw that you were reviewing an Element, and one from 2007 no less. At the time, there was a slot car track in my hometown with six soda machines. No, I’m not making that up: six! It might have even been seven. The owner bought a bunch of old can vendors so that he could have a good variety of drinks for people to guzzle while they used the tables. He even managed to find inserts for the fronts with pictures of NASCAR drivers on then. If you go to my channel, you’ll find a video of me there with the machines in the background. Anyway, people would drink their soda while using the tables, and the owner would collect the cans so that he could cash them in. He had a can crusher mounted on the back wall that he encouraged people to use to crush their cans when they were done with them. You had to pinch the can before crushing it or else the machine could get damaged, so he put a little hand-written sign next to the crusher telling folks what to do. I told him that I ought to print one out for him that referenced those ads, “Peench your can!”. XD
I bought a 2004 Element new and kept it for about 100k miles. It was the most fun little box ever to hoon around in the snow with the manual transmission, but...the cavernous interior wrote checks the suspension and brakes could. not. cash. I loaded it up like a pickup & stuck a hitch on it for a little camper, and...ran half-a-dozen sets of pads through on the rear discs, and did about $1k of suspension work the year before I gave up and got an F-150. But oh, do I miss being able to squeeze nimbly into tight spaces in that Element. It was such a good little urban trouper.
Fun story: Around first grade, I jammed my finger pretty badly on a jungle gym, and so I started to hold pencils that way to alleviate the pain. And then I just never really switched back, despite countless teachers trying to correct it. But from then on, holding it the normal way always felt weird and uncomfortable. So I just kept writing that way. Okay, so it wasn't a fun story, but it IS a true one.
You should - it's very likeable, if quirky. If you take the rear seats out and treat it as a mini cargo van it works best. Owners of big dogs with bad hips loved them. Open the half-door and they'd get right in. Or out.
I drive a 2005 Element with the same 5 speed and all wheel drive. I bought it used with 185k miles, it wandered too, just like this one. My rack and pinion was worn out, and the cheap Chinese tires the previous owner had installed just to sell weren't helping either. At first I replaced the rack and pinion, inner and outer tie rods, and it improved. After I replaced the cheap rubber with a quality set of tires the car completely stopped wandering. Now the car has 215k and is the best car I've owned, I truly love the Element, love its cavernous and utilitarian interior. It is also the most reliable car I have ever owned with over 200k miles, and I have owned quite a few.
The ending hit the nail on the head. I left Chillicothe OH in 1981 for the Air Force. I was that goofy kid that got thrown into lockers by the "Alphas" of the school. Returned to visit in 2003. I had traveled the world, was the new Director of IT for Medical Research at a major university. Happened to bump into a few of these former Alphas in a local restaurant. They didn't recognize me. Which was fine. Every one of them looked 10 to 15 years older than me, 250 to 300 pounds. Missing teeth, that I later learned was because of Meth addiction. Most had been in prison at least once. All they could only talk about how awesome high-school was. They made it a living hell for me. I looked at them with pity. This was all they had. Memories in a dying town. And I can leave whenever I want. I bought them their lunch as I finished mine and walked out. They never knew who did it.
I really enjoyed this review. This is the first video I've seen of yours and I'm subscribing. You put a lot of work into the writing. Funny and smart. I'll stop the smoke blowing. I always thought the Element was a huge missed opportunity for Honda. They couched it in a youthful marketing campaign and when it sold slug like they never thought about working on it's weaknesses. Like the overall build quality. Not the drivetrain but things like the cheap plastic. I like the profile but the engine needed to push a big box and a 4 cylinder engine doesn't do the job well enough or at least the way this one is tuned. You can't just hose it down thinking it'll dry out fine the way they advertised it. Mine has rust in parts from a previous owner trying that. What Honda could have done is beef up the suspension, put a bigger engine in, refine and tighten up the details and made a play for a segment of the Jeep market. Create a genuine"soft" off roader. A car that can actually handle some rough terrain instead of posturing as one. I've had my 2005 for about 10 years. It drives great and it serves as a very light duty truck when I need it. I'm happy with it but I admit this review really nails the characteristic flaws of it.
Screw electric... Take a section out of the center.. and stretch it about a foot. Put in a Ford 9", a solid rear axle.. a JAG XJ220 motor V12 motor... and this RWD BEAST.. would be a THRILL!
I remember this coming out just as I was graduating high school. I was head over heals in love with it. Considering the apocalypse we are currently experiencing, I wonder how much they go for.
Mr500sheetsofpaper Elements have excellent resale value. I have an ‘03 E I got cheap from a family member...but it’s pretty crazy, I’m in 2 FB element groups with easily 30k people in them....even with well over 100k miles they’re around $4k. The fact they don’t make them anymore and there aren’t many small SUV’s with this much space, and the following they have drives the price up. Love mine
A well maintained element like this one with under 100k would still sell for $7k to $10k at a dealer lot. Honda still takes them in on trade in and immediately puts them out on their lots for sale.
Fun fact: the Element burned up the right rear brake a lot because the exhaust ran close enough to it to transfer heat to it. My buddy went through several right rear calipers as a result. It’s just routine maintenance on this car.
I had an 05 Element.. my first vehicle. Had some good times, and some bad times in it. I could list all the negatives, but I’m not going to do that. My Honda Element got me through some interesting times in my life. I gave her hell at times! But even though I parted ways with her about 2 years ago, I’ll never forget the memories I had in my ole green Element!
