MELEMENT!

So after I completed my thesis, Dave got his Prius... Well, now that he's won an award, I get my Element!

Meet Melement (Mel's Element)

My friend Paul knew I was looking for one and called me Melement in an email recently. I thought it would be a fitting name for my new car!

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So throughout our recent car buying experiences, I've learned it can be a pretty painful process, but if you do your research, and do as much of the negotiating you can via the internet, it can be relatively painLESS (except for the part that your wallet will be empty afterwards).

As my friends can attest, I had spent many months babbling about how I wanted an Element. The response I usually got was, "Ugh, that ugly thing??" But I've grown to love it's unique boxy shape. And for people who know me well, and know how much of a tomboy I am at heart, know it's a pretty good fit for me.

Also I wanted it for many practical purposes. We needed a bigger car to haul things (for example, bikes, surfboard, snowboards, furniture, boxes, going on camping trips), and I loved the fact that you can fit bikes INSIDE the car instead of strapping to the top of the car (which I hate because I'm so freakin' short, and I have a weird phobia of bikes flying off the tops of cars and crashing into other cars on the highway) OR the back of the car (my brother has one of those, and it always throws me off when I'm parallel parking because you lose a few inches of bumper space. i like being able to gently tap other cars with my bumper in tight spaces.). I also liked the amount of space IN it. It's lower than your usual compact SUV, so there's actually much more interior space inside of it. Quite roomy. Granted, I would have to be careful if I decide to drive over some curbs since I'll shear off the bottom of the car, but I think I can handle that sacrifice. And I also loved the fact that it has "weatherproof fabric" and "urethane coated utility floor". To interpret, easy to clean! There was a rumor that you could just hose down the floor which is false, but I hear if you need to, you can take a bucket and sponge it down. Sweeet...

Love the tailgate. Someplace to sit if you need to change out of your wetsuit, put shoes/rollerblades on/off, veg while waiting, etc.

Oh, and the backseats flip up! So cool when you need to put bikes in the car.... This is me testing it out. Heeeeee
I love my Melement.

On Day Two (today), we managed to make full use of it by buying several dirty pots of large plants and some 6' long trellises. I was also ready if my brother got stuck riding his bike through the hills of Rancho Santa Fe. But he made it through the exhausting ride.... But dang, I can't wait to make Dave pick me up in the Melement when I get stuck there in the future!

To answer a question that may crop up: The Kiwi Green Metallic Element (bright shiny green!) was my first choice, but unfortunately, there were ZERO available in San Diego at this time (and I checked ALL the dealerships in the area). I was sad, but orange was my second choice. I got so lucky! Only ONE dealer had it in the trim I wanted, AND I managed to knock off a little more than 2K off the MSRP....

What next? Time to plan a road trip!