A 2018 model year will have a government-required rear camera, with a wide angle lens.
With the backup camera and fairly good side mirrors, backing up is acceptable. Not great, but ok.
Sorry, bad choice of words. I do mean it’s shorter in height than the Element. It’s definitely longer (front to back) by a bunch. As far as SUV/crossover? We want a SUVish vehicle. We live in the snow belt, with a steep driveway. An all wheel drive vehicle is a must for us. In addition, we want the ability to tow a small camper, so most cars are right out. AWD + towing + low step-in height + tall driver headroom left a very small pool of vehicles to chose from.
On the funnier side, during the vehicle search, my SO stumbled across a used lot that had a pair of Hummer H2s. We figured 'Why not, I’ve never seen the inside of one?" and went off to see about a test drive. We got the keys, sat in the seats, immediately got back out and returned the keys. My SO couldn’t sit in the driver’s seat without his head touching the ceiling.
For such a HUGE vehicle, it’s rubbish inside, for space. The front seats have about 40" of headroom, minus a couple of inches if it has a sun or moon roof. And they only seat 5 people, even with third row seating. Because the tires are so big, there was no way to stow a spare underneath or in a wheel well. If you carry a spare tire, it takes up 1/2 of the third row (which much make riding in the 1 remaining third row seat interesting, with a wall of rubber as your neighbor.)
If you get the Flex, I’ll be interested in your ongoing experience with it. It might make for an adequate replacement for my Scion.
Oh Ascenray. You deserve so much more than adequate.
Do you have an actual suggestion or is that just some bit of irony?
A joke about your phrasing. No offense intended.
My sister leased on a couple of years back and ended up returning it under the Lemon Law after far too many issues and repairs.