Goodbye Element - Hello Odyssey

[Patrick M.]

Well, we traded in our beloved Element yesterday on a Honda Odyssey EX, moving from a 1,500# towing limit to 3,500#. Not only will the road cruising be a little (lot?) more pleasant, but should that Bigfoot or Burro or Casita 17,' that looks like a must have, become available, we'll be able to hook it up and drive away.

As the final deal breaker on the purchase, I'm having the Honda dealer install the Odyssey towing package for just over what the parts alone would have cost me from a Honda parts discounter (a breath-taking $625 for hitch, wiring harness, tranny cooler, power steering cooler, and air diverter. Honda is very proud of its parts.).

But the avatar picture will remain, a reminder of the good times had with the Element.

[Gina D.]

Now my heart is breaking for yours AND mine!

You will miss him. I couldn't watch as mine drove away with another person at the helm.

I know he hates me now. I betrayed him and all his fine pulling for me.

But... You'll like the bigger better.

What is in the air this week?

oh yeah, you'll have to recind your membership at the EOC

[Patrick M.]

Yes Gina, the poor baby was looking forlorn and empty as we drove out of the dealership yesterday. No GPS antenna, no brake controller harness, no indoor-outdoor thermometer, but it did have its back seats in again and hopefully will find a good foster parent.

I'll break the news over at the Element forum, where I've made 1,200+ posts, today. Already signed up at the little more stogy Odyssey forum. Probably won't have many anti-WalMart or where to hide your "cookies" discussions there.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

but new adventures begin!

[Taylor]

I am beginning to feel lonely am I the last of the Elements pulling a Burro? Who will point the new EOC members to the joys of fiberglass?
congratulations on your new ride may you have many year of pleasure with it.

[Gina D.]

Nope.. Lauren is the last Burro/E combo I think.

We still have a few scamps, and a boler and a Perris Pacer, I think.

[Gina D.]

but it did have its back seats in again

Ha Ha!

I had to get the buyer of mine to get the seats out of the closet! They have been jammed in there for years. It looked wierd to me to have them back in. I almost forgot how to fasten them down! Felt like a real dope when trying to show him how easy it was.

[Patrick M.]

I was reminded while wresling my seats back in how cumbersome that was. The Ody seats look like they will be easier to remove with no "walls" on either side to interfere, and the third-row folding down into cubby holes. Although we may try to unbolt the third-row to make use of the cubby holes for more important things, like a Honda generator!

My biggest complaint so far: no Auxilary input jack or MP3 capability on the CD player! Honda is so last century in the audio department!

[Frederick L. Simson]

I'm having the Honda dealer install the Odyssey towing package for just over what the parts alone would have cost me from a Honda parts discounter (a breath-taking [b]$625 for hitch, wiring harness, tranny cooler, power steering cooler, and air diverter. Honda is very proud of its parts.).

You got a good deal.
My Odyssey is the only automobile I have ever purchased new from a Dealer. Since I got it for less than MSRP, my Dealer was not going to conceed any profit on the accessories. I wound up getting only the coolers from the dealership, and buying the hitch and harness separately and installing them myself.

[Buck62]

I am beginning to feel lonely am I the last of the Elements pulling a Burro?

Who will point the new EOC members to the joys of fiberglass?

Ok, ok... get a grip on yourself.

I have a 13' U-Haul (sister to the Burro) and an Element EX AWD.

There's still a good many "E" owners here.

[Patrick M.]

You got a good deal.
My Odyssey is the only automobile I have ever purchased new from a Dealer. Since I got it for less than MSRP, my Dealer was not going to conceed any profit on the accessories. I wound up getting only the coolers from the dealership, and buying the hitch and harness separately and installing them myself.

They had a list price of $1,200 for the hitch package. I got it for $750, figuring $125 was a reasonable price for me to avoid installing it myself (using Honda parts).

It did make me yearn for my $175 Element hitch and wiring cost.

[Lauren]

I still have my Element and Burro combo. Just got all new brakes and rotors yesterday and next week new tires. (Any suggestions?) My Element has 36,000 miles, so I will have the cute little thing for a while yet.

Patrick, I guess it is both I'm sorry and congratulations to you!

[Nancy]

Patrick, Unless they have changed, or it is different in your area, your Honda will only have a 4 pin connection. This was quite a project for us to figure out. We got the 7 pin and took it to the dealer to install. He also did something under the hood from the battery to the brakes? Have to ask my husband, hope you all know what I mean. Maybe it is a fuse or something. We still have to unplug the unit so we don't drain our tow vehicle so it wasn't an isolator.

In the end our dealership left our 7 pin dangling. Left it in the back area expecting us to let it go through the tailgate while traveling. My husband and his cousin rewired the stuff through the back end and installed a thing to hook all up to next to the hitch.

Everyone is more experienced than we at this wiring stuff, but I thought maybe you will be delivered a 4 pin connection without your knowing. Did the Element come that way? You will love the Odyssey. Better mileage and more space than the Element. I have to admit that I would prefer to drive an Element in the city than the Honda.

Nancy

[Patrick M.]

Nancy, I fully expect the Honda dealer to install the minimum configuration possible for the most amount of money! So I will need to run the charge wire and brake controller wire myself, and install the seven pin plug required by Scamp. So I don't get to avoid all the work, but thanks for reminding me! I wired the Element myself so somewhat familar with the plastic popping - crawling around - cursing process!

The Element is a great urban car, but the Odyssey isn't bad in the 21 miles we've driven it so far.

Lauren, I got Michelins at Costco to replace the original Goodyears on the Element that were worn out at 21,000 miles. The Michelins were so much better and showed no wear when, sniff, traded in along with the car at 45,000 miles!

[Brian B-P]

I find it strange to be sticking up for a dealer, but they probably only have a lights-only (four-pin) wiring harness available as a OEM (original equipment from the manufacturer) part. Vehicles without factory-prewiring for a brake controller normally don't have any 7-pin OEM parts available, and the Odyssey is in that category.

A dealer around here would likely not install non-OEM towing parts, but would happily send it out to the same hitch shop you could go to directly, to install the same stuff you could do yourself. I chose to take the OEM hitch and light wiring - dealer installed when I picked up the new vehicle - and added battery-charging and brake controller wiring myself.

[Brian B-P]

...I wired the Element myself so somewhat familar with the plastic popping - crawling around - cursing process!

I ran both charge and brake wires from the trailer connector to under the hood entirely underneath my Sienna (outside, not through the interior), so I didn't need to pop a single plastic panel. Of course the brake controller is wired under the dash, but even that didn't require popping any panels out. It's an option to consider, especially on a van with so many readily available recesses places to route wires under the floor.

[DonInChatt]

Patrick: Though I've had my Element just a few months I feel separation anxiety at the thought of parting with it. Finally I found a vehicle with real headroom! But, if I wanted to tow something larger than a 13 I would have to get a pickup, probably a Ridgeline to stick with Honda. It would hurt getting rid of the Element.

[Patrick M.]

I ran both charge and brake wires from the trailer connector to under the hood entirely underneath my Sienna (outside, not through the interior), so I didn't need to pop a single plastic panel. Of course the brake controller is wired under the dash, but even that didn't require popping any panels out. It's an option to consider, especially on a van with so many readily available recesses places to route wires under the floor.

I will investgate doing it that way. It was actually very easy to pop panels on the Element, but the Odyssey might be a different animal so underneath might be the ticket to an easy install.

[Gina D.]

My Element had the 4 pin, and I ran the others underneath.

The Jeep is SUPPOSED to have a 7 pin plug and play. Well, it plugged easily enough, but did not play well with others.

Eric, Liz and I pulled our hair out trying to figure out where the factory brake line was installed, only to find out they "forgot" to put it in the loom, along with the charge line. The back up lights were there tho.. THATS useful

I had it run underneath, along with charge line at a trailer place on friday just to get it over with.

It works great.

[Palmer M]

My biggest complaint so far: no Auxilary input jack or MP3 capability on the CD player! Honda is so last century in the audio department!

Mom's got an Odyssey...radio has a logo on it "XM Ready"...which means ready for a $700 upgrade from the dealer. Honda customer service agreed that "XM ready" should mean what it means but could offer no solution or explanation. $80 add-on tuner gives OK service.
Also no compass, no trip computer, no temperature reading...and this is a pretty loaded van! Hard pressed to get 22-24 MPG even though it has cylinder shutdown (runs on 3 cylinders when it can). Suspension members are stamped steel.

Dad's got an Aztek...OnStar assistance and satellite phone, XM built in, and steering wheel controls, AWD, 3500 towing cap., trip computer, cast aluminum subframes, and the car even emails every month with a diagnostic check! Avg MPG about 22.

The Odyssey will go this year, and will be replaced by an Outlook/Acadia/Enclave with the superior telematics.

P

[Patrick M.]

I'd have to go with Honda engineering over American bling every day, but my Ody does have outside temp in the odometer area and steering wheel radio controls.