I also own an 03 Element and use synthetic oil in all my vehicles. Synthetic has a few more advantages over other oils including, better fuel economy and engine efficiency by reducing friction. As mentioned by other people, synthetics cost more. However, if you have your vehicle serviced at a garage or dealership, you can bring your own oil. I recommend buying Mobil 1 5w20 synthetic in a 5 quart jug from Wal-Mart or any other retailer (cheaper than quarts). Advise the service writer that you have your own oil and you want it used instead of theirs. They should comply with this request. If they don't, you don't want them working on your car anyways. Last thing, if your Element has a lot of miles on it, I don't recommend switching at this time. Less than 50,000, okay switch...More than that, stay with what you are doing. Your engine has become accustomed to certain tolerances with petroleum based oils and should not be changed. If you switch, stay with synthetic, don't go back. Your service intervals for oil change should be every 10,000 miles with synthetic. So, it costs more, but you don't need to change it as much. The costs balance themselves. I hope this helps you.