My Beetle has a hitch mounted rack. I don't want to lift mountain bikes to the roof. I can barely reach to the middle of the sunroof by putting my body against the car. Too much of a hassle, and I got enough of putting stuff on the roof when I had the Explorer. I see a lot of Beetles with roof racks, though.

My friend has an Element and she puts her bikes inside, but she also has a rack that attaches to the back door. Those aren't as expensive as putting a hitch on. If the Element will be packed, you're probably not going to need to open it in transit anyway, so that'd be my choice.

If you go with the hitch, try etrailer.com to find the right hitch for your car. We've had bag luck with so-called "universal" hitches.

Karen