I bought a Honda Element brand new almost ten years ago and it still runs great today. It's had a few repairs over the years but really nothing major. Honda definitely makes cars to last. It's actually been a pretty good family car. We have two kids so we didn't absolutely need anything as big as a mini van and the Element has worked just fine for our purposes. It has tons of leg room in the back and lots of space in the trunk. The seats fold up for larger stuff and we've even managed to fit a Christmas tree back there before.

The Honda Element fits into compact parking spaces yet feels so roomy on the inside. It has plenty of head room and easily accommodates my 6'5" spouse. He has even commented that the leg room is better than most other vehicles. The interior is also pretty rugged with limited fabrics. The only downside to the interior is there are 4 seats, so for groups of 5 they are out of luck. The two back seats can be folded up or even removed if additional cargo room is needed. We have a 4 wheel drive version and have taken this little thing out into gravel and dirt roads, including pretty steep ones. The only downside to adventuring is it has pretty low clearance. I wouldn't call myself well versed in car performance but I know this car has ran well for me with minor maintenance issues. I have over 200,000 miles on it and it keeps on running strong.