Yep, love my Element!

I love being able to almost stand up inside it and sleep inside it. I love that I can roll all the bikes right in. I love that I can put a hitch rack on.

I agree it would be a tad inconvenient to have kids always getting in and out of the back, but if they all get in and out the driver's side door, it's not a problem, really. It is really hard to close both doors from the back seat. But, it's just like getting in a VW Beetle, which I've had 4 of, and spent my childhood in, too. Mom would open the door, pull up the latch on the seat and we'd climb in.

You can pull a trailer with it. If you're in to a lot of sports with a lot of gear and people, it can get crowded really fast. The roof rack only holds 150 lbs, so you could put the bikes up there, a cargo tray on the back, and the kids inside.

The Pilot is too fru-fru for adventure. It has carpet and nice seats. Ditto the minivan--although that van has got some mighty fine features!

There are kits that turn the Element into a camper, with a pop up lid.

I never even give the weight limit on the Element a second thought (except the roof rack and the hitch). I figure if I can get it in there, it can carry it.

If you go over to elementownersclub.com, you can find threads about what people have stuffed in their Element. Also lots of actually useful information.

Karen