Welcome back! Well, as far as I can tell, the sun came back after the eclipse, and the world didn’t end, so let’s check out some more cars. Today we’re looking at vehicles with small but loyal followings, both capable of efficiently hauling a bunch of stuff.
It appears you all are even less fans of the later-generation Mitsubishi Eclipses than I thought. The response from yesterday’s matchup was underwhelming at best. I get it; it’s like when someone says they’re going to play a Van Halen record and they put this on. But what can I do? If I picked good Eclipses, you’d all complain about the prices.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’d take the red GT between these two. That white one just has too many questions. The only thing that makes me consider it is that it’s a four-cylinder; I am not a fan of working on transverse V6s.
So let’s see what you think of today’s choices. One is Volkswagen’s attempt at undercutting the Japanese and Korean economy cars of the late ’80s, and the other is Honda’s attempt to be hip and modern. And you’ll be happy to hear that, today, there isn’t an automatic transmission in sight.
1989 Volkswagen Fox GL wagon – $5,200
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter overhead cam inline 4, four- or five-speed manual, FWD
Location: McKeesport, PA
Odometer reading: 160,000 miles
Operational status: “Would not hesitate to drive anywhere”
With all the small inexpensive cars dying off these days, it’s hard to remember a time when automakers were actually fighting over the bottom of the market, so much so that they would introduce new models below the vehicles already in their lineups. Sometimes these cars were just de-contented versions of the old model sold alongside the new one, as was the case with Chrysler’s “America” versions of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. But in the case of Volkswagen, a global company with different models sold all over the world, it meant bringing a new cheaper car to the US from somewhere else.
The Volkswagen Fox, introduced in 1987, was meant as a bargain-basement competitor to subcompacts like the Toyota Tercel and Nissan Sentra, as well as the dirt-cheap Hyundai Excel. The Fox was built in Brazil, and was a modified version of the VW Gol. In the grand tradition of weird-ass Brazilian VWs, the Gol was sold with both the Beetle-style air-cooled flat-four, and the Passat-style water-cooled inline four, both mounted in the extreme front of the car and driving the front wheels.
The US-model Fox only received the water-cooled engine, the same 1.8 liter unit that was standard in the Golf and Jetta, but mounted longitudinally. Possibly to its detriment in the sales race, the Fox was never available with an automatic; you could get a manual with four forward gears, or five. We don’t know which gearbox this Fox GL wagon has, but we are told that its owner has eschewed the finicky Bosch CIS fuel injection system for a carburetor. They say it runs beautifully and has made many successful road trips.
The seller has made some modifications that aren’t to my taste, like the white gauge faces, though I do like the aftermarket steering wheel. The outside is like Old European Car Bingo: round driving lights – check. Roof rack – check. German license plate in front – check, which makes me wonder if the seller knows this car isn’t really German. Oh well; at least it isn’t “stanced.”
2005 Honda Element EX – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Monroe, WA
Odometer reading: 242,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Beloved of dog owners everywhere, the Honda Element was one of a few different “weird lifestyley cars” introduced in the late 90s/early 2000s, along with the Pontiac Aztek and Isuzu VehiCROSS. Like those, the Element was based on a more ordinary car’s platform, in this case the Honda CR-V. It features clamshell-style doors on both sides, water-resistant interior materials, and oddball gray plastic fenders and fascias. At least, most of them had gray; some silver Elements, like this one, had the plastic panels in blue.
The Element was available with either front-wheel-drive or Honda’s “Real Time” all-wheel-drive, and either a manual or an automatic transmission. This one happens to be the best combination: AWD with a manual. The shifter on manual Elements is weird; it comes out of a protrusion on the center stack of the dashboard, and kind of looks like a video game joystick, or something used to control a forklift.
This one has a lot of miles on it – 242,000 – but I also think I see a tow-bar mount, so not all those miles may have been under its own power. Regardless, it runs well, and has a new clutch. It’s nice and clean both outside and in, and importantly for a Honda, rust-free.
I’ve always liked the Element. A good friend of mine bought one when they first came out, and it served him well for many years. There are two things I remember from riding around in it: First, the rear seat sits really high, much higher than the front seats, and it makes it feel tippy around corners, and second, you have to plan your egress carefully and wait for the front-seat occupants to clear the side of the car before you open the rear door, or else you’ll both get trapped in the space between the doors.
Both of these cars did OK in sales, but not great, and these days they’re both looked after by a small (very small, in the case of the Fox) but loyal group of fans. But unlike some other forgotten oddballs, these are both useful, practical cars. Which one is your choice?
(Image credits: Fox – Facebook Marketplace seller, Element – Craigslist seller)
Kind of OT. You know how some people, when selling luxury cars, photograph them in tony neighbourhoods or at country clubs? I like how the Fox is nicely staged in front of good old honest salt box houses. Very prole!
Used Elements in this kind of condition can go for strong money. This seems like a great deal. If it wasn’t on the other side of the country, I’d be tempted.
Rust free & cheaper wins the day.
my neighbor had an orange Element for years. The license plate was ORNG CR8
I wasn’t mature enough to realize how much I wanted the Honda Element when it was new. I regret not buying one.
Since I could bike over to the VW, throw my bike on the rack, and drive it home, it gets my vote. Bonus points of the kayak rack. In fact, I could paddle upriver to McKeesport if I had enough time.
I do like the Fox, but it can’t compete with the less expensive and more useful Element. Honda it is.
As a former Element owner, Element all the way. I’d still be driving mine if it hadn’t gotten totaled. Shit happens!
This was really difficult, I went w/ the Fox since I like it more and used to have an Audi Fox wagon that I got for $100 total…also had an 84 VW Jetta which was fun to drive. I was never really into the Element but this is a nice example
The Element by a country mile. The styling on those things has aged like fine wine and anytime I’m able to get a Honda manual transmission on this column, I tend to go for it.
These aren’t shitboxes. They are both cool in their own way. The Element wins out for a couple reasons, but the big one is it’s from Washington so it’s likely to have a lot less rust than anything from PA.
Much like “holy grail,” the term “shitbox” does a lot of heavy lifting around here. Generally for my purposes, it means any car I could buy for cash with what’s typically in my savings account. It’s meant as a term of endearment, since I genuinely love cheap cars.
Hooray, the good-car drought is over, the NOPE-car onslaught has ended!
An AWD manual Element in my neck of the woods? YES PLEASE. I’ll bet it’d haul a motorcycle or a good half ton of hay.
I always thought the Fox was a perfect combination of compact and useful, but not VW, not at this age, not with a carb swap that won’t pass smog.
This one is really tough and either would likely be a winner against most other cars. I had to give the slightest edge to the Element mainly due to my affinity for cars unapologetically designed for function over form. That Fox is/could be so damn cool though…
Generally, the Element is too “funky” for me (or I’m just not cool enough for the Element, which is probably closer to the truth). But it’s more practical, more reliable, newer, and cheaper than the Fox. The argument for the Honda is too overwhelming.
Who paints their brake booster RED. Was it rusty like some other things under the hood of the Fox? Asking for a friend…
That Element is too much good car for $4500 to say no to.
I really like the Fox, and I’d probably vote for it if the prices were reversed. But the Element is a pretty good deal and a decent car to get around in.
A girlfriend had a Fox that I did all the work on so hell no to that. Everything would break. Everything!
The Element was always a funky car. A friend had one that he would take into the field for all his work. He would hose down the interior to get the dirt and red clay off of it and you could fold all the seats flat to sleep in. He probably put nearly 300k on his. So gimme the Element.
When I met her, my wife drove a fox. She swears every single part on it was replaced at least once.
I can believe it. As soon as i would fix one thing, another would break. The fuel injection was a challenge but the worst was the electrical. It would have shorts all over. Replacing harnesses just seemed to make it worse. I would spend hours with my multimeter battling that thing. And then for fun, the aftermarket alarm would go off in the middle of the night. Finally, I just pulled a terminal cable off and showed her how to do it and put it back on.
This makes me want the Honda even more. I probably should have mentioned that at some point my mother in law decided to help my wife fix up her fox by painting over the rust spots with house paint and a 2″ brush. Not sad to leave that time in the rear view mirror.
Holy cow, the Fox’s rear side windows are massive! The Fox is indeed a lovely design. As fond as I am of 80s and 90s VWs (one of my all-time favorites was a Mk2 Jetta 1.6D that I DD’d for many years until it was totalled by a red-light-runner last summer. RIP Jetta) I reluctantly voted for the Element after seeing the recklessly exposed timing belt on the Fox; the various mods (white face gauges? Really?) & the absurdly high asking price just tipped the scales further in favor of the Element.
The Element is a better deal. I had a 2008 AWD EX new, and sold it in 2021 while it was still running great, but rust was beginning to show inside the door frames. I used to not fold up the seats, but take them completely out and lug a huge PA system for various sound gigs. People were shocked with what I was able to cram in there, but a square vehicle makes more efficient use of space! Now, I have an SUV and technically more interior space, but it’s not all usable space and more prone to being damaged by road cases.
We find removing the seats turns the back of our Element into the perfect camper for 2 people for a 2-night trip. The rear sunroof is awesome for stargazing on a clear night.
I can picture that VW slammed on a set of decent wheels..oh yeah, definitely gimme the wagon
The blue/gray is very nice, but I’ve ridden in an Element and it’s on stilts. No Thank You Ma’am.
The Fox is uber-practical, there is a ton of space with the rear seats folded. And this is long before VW went nuts and lost the aura of simplicity. VeeDub all day and twice on Sunday.
If you’ve spent an appreciable amount of butt time in an Element, you’ll quickly choose decide in favor of the Fox. Plus, just look at those lines. Look.
Today’s dub is the vee-dub.
Yeah, my parent’s had a contemporary CRV, and the rear sears were hard and flat. Honda hadn’t quite figured out the formula that makes the current model as comfy to spend time in.
That said, it only look me ten minutes in a Fox to realize it was a POS.
Element. While visually I think the SC trims look the best, the grey and bluish cladding does look very nice. This one is also likely rust-free, unlike the Fox.
As for the Fox, one of my good friends in high school had one that he shared with his sister. It was the most amazing mix of unreliable and dead reliable I have ever experienced. The fuel injection system was a nightmare, but if you did a special sequence of unplugging things in a certain order, it would start up perfectly each and every time. My friend and his sister didn’t even bother locking the doors or taking the keys out of the ignition when they parked it, as it made it easier for them to share, and the odds were so low that anyone would know the magic to start the thing that they considered the convenience worth more. Then again, why anyone would want to steal a Fox is beyond me…
I loved those little vw wagon? shooting brake? whatever fox things when I was in high school and college. I would not pay that price for one now. I would love that one as a 3rd car beater grocery getter and I would drive the hell out of it for $1200.