I’ve had the Honda for just over a week now, and the development in automobiles from 2001 to 2024 is astounding. When Fessick rolled off the assembly line, neither mobile phones nor USB were widespread technologies, streaming audio wasn’t even an option, and high end cars had CD changers. Now with wireless CarPlay, my phone and all its associated connectivity is integrated into the car, I’ve got USB-A and -C ports, but the CD player has found the end of it’s road.
When I sit down, press a button to start the engine without unclipping my keys from my belt, the audio I was streaming to my phone routes to the car speakers, and directions to my doctor’s appointment show up on the dashboard, I feel like I’ve stepped into the future. (Also, I know that these features aren’t really high end these days. I’m driving a Honda, not a Rolls.)
That being said, I’ve found a few flaws that really bug me.
The rearview mirrors are too small. I’ve been driving the Excursion with towing mirrors that let me see EVERYTHING behind me. The blind spot monitoring system on the Ridgeline works well, but I miss my giant mirrors. Given the Ridgeline’s small marketshare, I don’t imagine that I’ll be able to get larger aftermarket mirrors.
And speaking of rearview mirrors, it’s nice that one of them moves down when I put the transmission in reverse, BUT WHY NOT BOTH?? I realize that most people pull into parking stalls and only reverse into a parallel spot. I always back into parking stalls. I would like to see both rear tires when I’m backing into a spot. This could be remedied by Honda with software (in the settings menu) or hardware (use the middle position of the mirror control to lower both mirrors).
Auto high beam – another software issue. The high beams won’t automatically come on at speeds below 45 mph, but sometimes, the road is just so curvy that without the highbeams, getting that fast isn’t feasible. Also, if a roadsign reflects light back at you, the high beams turn off. But the most annoying bit it that there is not a way to turn off this feature on a long term basis. I can turn off the auto high beams by holding the stalk back for 40 seconds, but it resets to default behavior when I turn the engine off. Again, adding a setting menu for high beams could remedy this.
The wireless charging pad – great idea, terrible execution. And apparently my 2024 has a much better design that previous years. As it is, the pad almost but doesn’t quite charge the iPhone up as quickly as navigation & CarPlay discharge it. I think the plastic plate is too thick for the magnetic coils to effectively charge. I’m going to have to add a MagSafe charger to the truck. Honestly, this is a tough one to fix. If the plastic were thinner, it might not be durable enough to satisfy the quality team. Simply increasing the wattage is a bit risky – the coils can’t know if that’s a phone or a piece of metal. When the magnetic field is interrupted, electricity flows and makes heat. More watts equals more heat equals more risk to the vehicle and the occupants.
Modern Anachronist 