Honda Problems

Your electrician has done the right things so far, Ken, starting with making sure that the battery is charged and being charged by the alternator and that the car is earthed (grounded) properly. Those are traditionally major causes of this type of problem, but unfortunately there are many more possibilities in a modern car with its electronics. My first thought is that the functions you’re having trouble with are all controlled by the car’s body computer. So I think that’s where your electrician should start looking next. These computers can develop software and hardware faults that allow for these random and intermittent problems. So maybe borrowing a body computer from the same make and model and seeing if that fixes your problems (and at least ruling out the computer) is a cost-effective way forward.

I’d also be having a chat to the workshop that replaced the steering rack to see if there’s any way that a connection or sensor related to the on-board computer could have been bumped or damaged during the rack-replacement process. It would certainly be a coincidence (and it’s possible that this is exactly what this is) if these problems started straight after the repairs, no?

You’ve layed out some challenging requirements here. You’d like a small SUV with a bit of ride comfort and clearly a bit of performance too, given your question about the i30 N.
I think you’ll find the ride harsh on the i30 N, especially since you found the ride on the Kona harsh already. Keep in mind the i30 N is a hot hatch and has the suspension to match.
I find the Subaru XV has very nice ride comfort for the small SUV segment, but I also feel that you will be disappointed with the performance from its 2.0-litre engine. You may also want to consider the new Hybrid Toyota C-HR. The Hybrid drive gives it a smidge of extra kick and it’s a fuel consumption hero, too.
For a better blend of performance and ride, really only the Volkswagen T-Roc and Skoda Karoq are going to excel in the small SUV crowd. In terms of ownership both now have five year warranties, and you can (and should) pre-package five years of servicing on top at a discount.

One of the gripes with the Honda HR-V (I’ll assume that’s the model you’re talking about; there is no Honda HR-C) is that you need to pay for the very top-shelf model before you get the full safety package. In the HR-V’s case, that includes full forward-collision warning, autonomous braking and lane-departure warning. The catch is, you can’t even pay extra and option this package of the lower sped models.

In any case, it’s academic from your point of view, Noel, because even the range-topping VTi-LX misses out on rear-cross traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring and the active cruise-control you’re looking for. Plenty of the competition has these features and no doubt when Honda replaces the current model HR-V, those features will get a look in.

The US market Honda Pilot dimensions reflect the fact that this is, in some configurations, an eight-seater vehicle. The Pilot has a length of 4991mm, a height of 1793mm, width of 1996mm and a wheelbase of 2819mm.

The Honda Ridgeline towing capacity depends on the layout of its driveline. Front-wheel-drive models can tow a braked trailer of 1600kg, while the all-wheel-drive Ridgeline can legally tow (in the US where it’s sold) 2270kg.

It’s a fact that the top-rung version of a particular make and model will not only get all the luxury and convenience items, it’ll also usually be the first to score new safety tech, too. That’s why CarsGuide gives car-makers a pat on the back when they make new safety gear standard across the whole range. However, that’s the exception rather than the rule here, and most car-makers, including the ones you’ve mentioned have the same policy of loading up the more expensive variants in their line-up.

But before you dismiss all-wheel-drive as something you have to pay for to get better safety gear, understand that AWD itself is a safety boost. The extra grip given by driving all four wheels makes a car safer in all conditions, but especially in low-friction conditions. So, if safety is a concern (and it obviously is for you, Mark) then I reckon AWD is for you anyway.

Besides which, even though you’ve said you only driver to the snow every now and then, when those times arrive, you’ll be very pleased you paid for AWD.

The problem sounds like a fairly major melt-down of some of the car’s computer systems which is leading it to think there’s a range of major issues that have all occurred at once. Modern cars use lots and lots of sensors that all feed information back to the computer that controls the driveline (the ECU) and everything else (the body computer) and if any of these sensors are kaput, the car can issue you with headlines like the one you’re seeing.

The good news is that it shouldn’t cost you anything to fix, a 2019 Honda is well and truly still within the factory warranty period, so it’s the dealer’s problem to fix, not yours. Even if you bought the car second-hand, the new-car warranty transfers to subsequent owners (you) so don’t be afraid to phone your nearest dealership and book the car in to be inspected, diagnosed and fixed.

The only catch in all of this is if the car hasn’t been serviced correctly. It doesn’t need a Honda-dealership service history, but it does need service-handbook proof that it has been maintained according to the manufacturer’s schedule by an accredited workshop. If it hasn’t, Honda (or any other manufacturer) can sometimes use that neglect as an out when it comes to fixing problems under warranty. If, for instance, you turned up with a three-year-old car that had covered 60,000km but had never had an oil change or service, you’d probably find the manufacturer would simply tear up the warranty on the spot, even if it was technically a five-year warranty.

It doesn’t sound right to me that simply having the navigation turned on would preclude listening to the radio as well. The navigation will certainly cut across the radio when it needs to deliver the next direction, but beyond that it should just work away in the background. If that’s not the case, I’d say you have a problem within the system.

My insiders at Honda tell me that the MY2021 HR-V (released last month) has an upgraded entertainment system that has been developed in response to customer input and is said to be a better all-round device with greater connectivity. At this stage, there’s no word on whether the system will be able to be retro-fitted to your model Honda, but there’s a chance that it might be. A chat with your dealer sounds in order.