Head unit longevity?

[IDriveACivic]

How does everyone feel about the tablet/head unit on the new Civics? I haven't encountered (*knocks on wood*) any issue that a periodic reboot can't fix.

It's not the fastest unit out there, but it does feel old already (Android 4.2??). I'm just afraid that as the car ages, if the head unit goes down it would be an expensive and necessary repair (radio, system info, and AC are all connected to the unit).

Any tips on keeping the head unit "healthy"?

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[Alejoviejo]

95% of the time I'm using Android Auto so with that, this head unit has many years of updates ahead of it. As long as future updates don't need new hardware I'll be good

 

[IDriveACivic]

It is a pretty bad unit to be honest. My '17 CRV is much faster. I hope they update for the '19 refresh.

Very, very slow and feels old like you said.

The unit on the Civic is acceptable for general purposes - playing music, adjusting AC, and setting up navigation. I hope it doesn't slow down/crap out in the long run lol. Time will tell.

 

[IDriveACivic]

95% of the time I'm using Android Auto so with that, this head unit has many years of updates ahead of it. As long as future updates don't need new hardware I'll be good

True, AA sets it up for more potential in the future, but the hardware is rather limited.

Would dealerships contact you about fimrware/software updates?

 

[Alejoviejo]

True, AA sets it up for more potential in the future, but the hardware is rather limited.

Would dealerships contact you about fimrware/software updates?

No, AA is powered and updated thought the phone (I think). There's been several changes to AA since I got the car and I've never taken it to the dealer for updates

 

[verbalj]

In earlier threads, I've said I've had no issues with it other than a random reboot twice...

Yeah, not so much anymore. Now, I deal with random "previous screens" (previous screens = tapping the back button to go back to the previous screen) - mind you, I'm not actually tapping the button - and there are times the screen freezes, sounds like the speakers pop, and then it reboots itself. There are times Apple Carplay is blacked out (but there is still music/sound). All this while I disregard how slow and wonky the system is to begin with. It's quite bad.

 

[IDriveACivic]

No, AA is powered and updated thought the phone (I think). There's been several changes to AA since I got the car and I've never taken it to the dealer for updates

Unless the head unit merely acts as a monitor when AA is running, I'd assume it's a bottleneck processor.

 

[TouringGuy2017]

From my personal experience, it lags. From starting the car to finally being able to turn the ac on, it’s a good 30-45 seconds. Horrible. But once it starts up, it’s just ok. There’s always a moment of hesitation between screen transitions. Fortunately for me I don’t use it heavily. Just playing music off of my flash drive and ac. That’s it.

 

[batman900]

I had mannnnnny issues when I was using it for apple carplay. Black screens, frozen screen, restarts etc. Now that I'm just using my audio through bluetooth it's been fine. Pretty dumb, it will probably last a good many years but I hate it.

Edit: As for keeping it healthy, I toss my sunshade on the dash on sunny days, the way the tablet is facing up makes it cook in the sun.

 

[verbalj]

Someone in another thread posted about an aftermarket unit he installed for his LX. The UI looks entirely stock. If I get tired of this, and it's definitely trending in that direction, I might do that at some point.

 

[Luckyarmpit]

Someone in another thread posted about an aftermarket unit he installed for his LX. The UI looks entirely stock. If I get tired of this, and it's definitely trending in that direction, I might do that at some point.

Yeah I saw that post; I think he said it's also an Android-powered head unit (same as the stock Civic one) and everything works... climate controls, etc., and I think he even mentioned he gets car data too (although I may be wrong on that). I'm admittedly disappointed with the one in my Si; I have to disable Apple CarPlay to get the BT music to stop skipping. The animations have all kinds of lag and stutter to it and I'm thinking, "Damn if it's like this with only 3 weeks ownership, what's it going to be like in three months? Three years? I'm already eyeballing replacement head units.

 

[mathdydx]

From my personal experience, it lags. From starting the car to finally being able to turn the ac on, it’s a good 30-45 seconds. Horrible. But once it starts up, it’s just ok. There’s always a moment of hesitation between screen transitions. Fortunately for me I don’t use it heavily. Just playing music off of my flash drive and ac. That’s it.

I've learned in the summertime to put my AC on high before turning off the car...that way the AC will already be on when I get back to my car again.

Same thing with the flash drive.....leave the music on before turning off the car; otherwise I will sometimes see "no data" if the radio is off when starting the car.

 

[TouringGuy2017]

I may do that for the AC. But as for the flash drive, I hear it can drain the battery in the long run if you keep it plugged in all the time. So I got the habit of pulling it out when I know my cars going to be off for a long period of time such as work and at the end of the day.

 

[mathdydx]

I may do that for the AC. But as for the flash drive, I hear it can drain the battery in the long run if you keep it plugged in all the time. So I got the habit of pulling it out when I know my cars going to be off for a long period of time such as work and at the end of the day.

Just did some internet searching about a flash drive draining a car battery and it seems like it wouldn't have an effect on your battery if you leave it plugged in all the time as it draws very little power (if any )when the car is off. I know it's not the same thing, but here's a Lifehacker article about USB car chargers. A flash drive should have a similar effect of not drawing power.

https://lifehacker.com/a-12v-usb-charger-probably-wont-ever-kill-your-cars-bat-1758567184

 

[Rickmeister 48]

Mine lasted about 6 months before having too many issues to list here. Been back three times and they still aren't fixed.

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