Wish me luck.

[Three Valves]

Does it have a bloke-approved anti-theft device??

(Manual transmission)

[iiipopes]

OK. Luck.

[tofu]

Honda's original market for those things was young people. They didn't really buy them, but old people were snapping them up. They were really easy to get into, roomy, cheap, you could haul a ton of stuff (especially big and boxy) and old people didn't care about it being a slug bug - so Honda promptly stopped making them. I guess they figured they could just push the old people up market to the higher margin CR-X (and you do see a lot of geezers as well as young families driving those), but I've always thought Honda made a mistake in dropping the Element. I think with just a bit more oomph in the engine they could sell a lot of them to folks who need a hauler of big and boxy, want it enclosed and don't want an expensive pickup truck or Tahoe.

[Three Valves]

They also make for good urban livery vehicles.

[tofu]

yeah - mice love that soy wiring - and you are talking big money to redo the wiring. It is amazing the damage they can do in short order. I took a pass on a 12 cyl. 1933 Packard a couple years ago that the mice did a number on. The guy had stored it in his boat barn up on Lake Geneva, WI and the mice over the winter had decimated the entire wiring system, as well as the seats, headliner etc. - I figured close to 20K in damage. What a mess.

[NCSUSousa]

Re: reliability -
'the elephant' already touched on soy wiring in Hondas and you knew about the auto-transmission reliability.

Three other possible issue to check:
1 - Degradation of the coolant hoses and rubber vacuum lines.
2 - Rust in the exhaust system
3 - Is the airbag recalled?
4 - Does it use a timing belt or chain? IF belt, it's probably worth getting that replaced ASAP due to age.
For item 1 - When a car sits without being started for a long while, rubber things like the vacuum lines and the upper radiator hose do the same thing those tires were doing - dry out and bake to a crisp.
For item 2 - The exhaust system typically will allow a small amount of water to collect in/around the pipes and mounting surfaces just from rain/splashing when it's sitting still. With occasional driving, that water is evaporated off before it can do any real damage. When allowed to sit for a while, things like the bottom of the muffler or the tailpipe mounts can rust away.

Good luck!

[roughrider]

Let us know the result!