Reader Review of the Week: 2008 Honda Element

“I absolutely love my Element. I am through my third tank of gas, and I am averaging 21 mpg with about 70% of my driving in town. It is a very fun-to-drive vehicle and gets a lot of attention — curious people poke their heads in, and a lot of skepticism turns to envy once they view the inside.

“The heater gets very hot very quickly, and it rides beautifully in cruise control. I took a drive on the interstate with some pretty good winds and, surprisingly, I didn’t get muscled around like I thought I would. My previous vehicle was a minivan (Chevy Venture), and it was brutal in the wind.

“I really love the view, lots of window space, comfortable seats. Mine came with 90 days of XM radio, and I think I will keep it — great selection of music, and the sound system is excellent. Now, a few drawbacks:

“I don’t like the location of the drink holders. They are all of the way on the floor, so reaching down from the seat is far, and you almost have to take your eyes off the road. Next, there are no automatic lights in the car or daytime running lights. I owned an ’04 with these, and I thought it was mandated, but it isn’t. Also, if you leave the lights on in the car the bell beeps but there’s no shutoff, so you have to worry about the battery running down. I already left them on once, but only for about an hour.”