They could also prevent you from crashing the car by not allowing you to start it. :-) How much over-engineering does a car need?

 

I kind of agree with the feature that you have to hold the handle up or do other magic to lock your door. Before cars started doing this I had a few instances where I was shutting the door and as it was closing realizing the keys were on the seat. Not having to live through that half a second or so where you know you just did something stupid is worth the extra hastle. Most people have a remote now and don't mind carrying it. The cars that have the lock buttons on they key are a step up still and I'm sure it won't be too long before it becomes more standard.

 

I have a HCH 2003, which was bought slightly used a year ago, and have noticed:

1) within a year of owning the car, it had developed rust spots on the trunk, near the key hole

2) it takes very little to mess up the paint work, just a gentle tap from a door on the next car, or barly brushing my toolkit against the car is enough to leave a scratch. I'll have to pick up one of those touchup pens the next time I'm at the dealer.

3) I'd love to have a slider control to adjust the sensitivity of the IMA. When driving on fat ground it really could kick in a little easier and in hilly country it would be nice to tone it down a little so that you don't end up burning more gas trying to charge the batteries while sill climbing the hill!

4) the floor mats are pathetic. I still have them in, but I have some rubber mats that I picked up at Canadian Tire on top since I tend to track in a lot of mud.

5) the gas mileage display is always off by at least 0.4 l/100k (might be fixed when I go in for the update...)

 

I bought clear floor mats to put on top of my mats when I bought my '03 HCH new. Well over 2 years later and they are still like new.

 

i myself, got the all season floor mats (front and rear) and think they look and perform great! unfortunately, i paid full price at my dealer for them, but for a better deal try: http://www.hondapartsdeals.com/index...ybrid-interior

 

1. No lumbar support - though some cars with lumbar support are useless, it may help my back during my 2 hr. commute.

2. No audio control in the steering - not a big deal but it's cool to have.

3. No rear cup holder - this is pain, cause 2 front cup holders are not enough when 4 ppl are in the car.

4. Seats can be more comfy - OK, at the very least it can hug my back a bit when I corner too fast, but the seats can be thicker/more supportive.

I lowered my car right after I got it though, so my opinion about the comfort may be a bit bias. I love this car though, the more I drive it the more I appreciate it.

 

I solved that problem easily. THere are a few companies like Garmin that sell 3rd party GPS solutions that are easy to implement using a simple suction cup on the windshield. I bought a streetpilot i3 and am very happy with it, small, doesn't get in the way when mounted in the lower left corner of the windshield, easy to see at a glance, voice prompts for navigation... Only problem is the power cord going the the lighter socket is annoying, but I'll probably add in an extra socket in front of the driver door at some point, as well as an extra on for my CB radio so that I don't have to use a bulky splitter... Too many electronics in the car...


Guess that would be another comoplaint, not enough power sockets. I have my phone charge, CB radio, GPS, and then an AC adaptor that can run my laptop and a printer when I need a decent office while on the road.

 

More would be better, but I would settle for better placement of the power socket. Right behind the cupholder means longer plugs interfere with the coffee cup right in front of it. Not a smart placement, though the cup holder isn't very convenient either. Buried in that cave, it's quite a maneuver to get a cup in and out of that spot. There's plenty of room there, why not move them back a little so the heater/stereo console wasn't right above the cup.

 

Add me to the list of people wondering why no thermometer on this car. Considering that my AC shuts off all the time it would be nice to know how hot it is when I complain.

Loss of window power with the key off is kind of silly too. I have cars from 02 that have had this feature. It's nice to have ~20 mins (on my Suburban) to be able to roll up/down the windows and listen to the radio with the key out.

 

These low rolling resistance tires suck. Last week I had to stop really quick (would have made the light but didn't want to chance gettin pulled over by the cop that was looking) and the tires barely gripped the road. You need to drive slow in these things because of the not so grippy tires. Anyone else had this issue yet?