Music Poor Radio Reception in Sussex

[geoff]

Unable to listen to radio 2 or any other rds radio station in Sussex without retunning manually.
The Radio just fades away you swoop to another station a few more miles and the same thing happens again.
Honda say they will do nothing as the problem is poor signal in some areas

apart from that a cracking car to own

ES 2.2i

[basegreen]

Radio reception is poor where I live too, but I do think the aerial gain is pretty poor on the civic.

Fortunately, I hate radio, so makes very little difference to me.

[Copycat]

Originally Posted by basegreen

Radio reception is poor where I live too, but I do think the aerial gain is pretty poor on the civic.

The aerial has been embedded into the rear window has it not? I'm glad there's no external antenna, since they mostly look really daft. Have you seen the one on the new XK?

Originally Posted by basegreen

Fortunately, I hate radio, so makes very little difference to me.

MP3 CDs it will be for me too. No need for a radio really.

[basegreen]

Thing is, iTrip seems to work pretty well, so I am guessing it's more suited to strong signals.

I'd much rather have poor reception of crappy FM stations, and no external aerial any day!

[geoff]

I think the areial in the screen is a good idea but only if it works
All previous cars did not suffer this problem it is no good having a radio you cannot listen to

The mp3 cd player is first class once i found how to record in right format

Any other commets about radio would be handy as local dealer is trying to sort it out

[Hartside]

I find radio reception spot on in mine. Nice and clear all the time.

[Topcat]

I had the same problem on mine, sometimes the radio reception was so bad it sounded like it had been submerged in water, it was impossible to listen to it on some journeys even though I had crystal clear reception for the first 3 weeks of owning it.

Every time it went back to the dealer it was ok (typical) the fault was intermittent but extremely annoying.

I am still driving the 1.4 Civic (courtesy car) while waiting my replacement and the reception on that sometimes has intereference but not any where near as bad as my car had.

If my replacement car has the same problem believe me Honda will know about it I do not see the point of having a radio if cant be enjoyed. I have many friends with concealed aerials and they have perfect reception. If this is another Civic fault then Honda must acknowledge it.

[geoff]

Honda Customer Service have told me they know about this problem in

some areas and have no intention of doing anything about it

I have told them this is not good enough it is a design fault

they told me to contact local dealer

But he has another customer with same problem but no solution

[elfa7]

Radio is fine around here. Classic f.m is a bit iffy in parts of the Peak

District.
Its to be expected , "int thills".

[Topcat]

If Honda admit they know about it they should rectify it, clearly the aerials they are using can not be of the greatest of quality, I really will kick off if I have the same radio problem again, as I previously said I know enough people with concealed aerials who do not have problems with their reception

Grrrr it makes me angry - I would keep going on at them until they rectify it quote the Sale of Goods Act at them, the radio is not of satisfactory quality and the car is not free from minor defects, Also if there is a known fault with a product the seller MUST point that fault out to you prior to sale!!

What is the point of having a radio you can not listen to!!!

[Topcat]

and tell them you are prepared to take it further if they can not rectify it you are within your rights!

[Pottsy]

For the record, my radio reception seems OK (pretty good for a window antenna, but not quite as good as a roof mounted). You have got "AF" switched on, haven't you?

When we drove off in the car, we "accepted" the car. However, we have a warranty to fall back on. My advice would be to book it into the dealer for "radio not working". If it comes out of the dealer unfixed, politely but firmly book it in again. Repeat until something happens - normally the dealer says no, and then contact Honda and tell them that your car is broken and the dealer refuses to book it in. That should warm things up a bit!

[Topcat]

When I had problems with my civic I was told to contact Honda UK myself by the dealer as they said it was out of their hands

I think the dealer I was using would have been happy to go on replacing parts on my car indefinately until I said enough is enough. When we buy any product we do accept it at the time of sale but we accept it as being perfect, if the product is not perfect then we are within out rights to have it fixed/replaced and fixed within a reasonable time period, if they can not fix it then a customer is within their rights to reject it.

A known fault MUST be pointed at time of sale, in this instance Honda have admitted that there is a known fault which clearly is being kept back from us customers at time of sale.

[geoff]

I thank you all for you replys etc
I have now read the book again and have switched of the auto select on the radio and there is a marked improvement
Still not 100% but better
Will keep you all informed

[rja1980]

Geoff...I live near Eastbourne and I've had no problems. In fact, the opposite is true for me - when I'm over near Stone Cross on the A27 my radio will retune to Heart 106.2 Fm for the traffic report (London station - very useful!!! ). Can also pick up various london stations too.

Eastbourne I find varies in radio reception, possibly because of the South Downs. Sometimes I can't pick up any BBC stations but to be honest I don't like them so never bother listerning.

Geoff...did you get your civic from a certain honda dealer near Hailsham?

[Honda100]

Just to ressurect this link, I have also suffered from poor reception whilst doing a long journey.
In and around Manchester the radio seems to be fine. However I went to Somerset this weekend and as soon as I hit Cheshire the reception became poor. I had to manually retune using the 'seek' button as the RDS did not appear to be kicking in a number occasions during the 200ml trip.
AF in the radio set up is ON so RDS should be enabled.
Am now waiting for my dealer to contact me re checking the radio out.
My Accord had an ariel in the rear screen and never suffered from this at all.

[Topcat]

I wrote to Honda UK several weeks ago about the radio without any response which did not amuse me but last week I had a meeting with a Customer Relations Manager from Honda UK together with a gearbox technician from Swindon to discuss the problems with my gearbox.

While I was there I mentioned the radio and demonstrated the problem of the poor reception and my radio also cuts out on radio 1 every few minutes. The Manager made some enquiries for me, Honda UK are aware of the problems that are being experienced by many of us and are trying to find a long term solution but apparently this wont happen over night. Hopefully they will come up with an answer sooner rather than later.

[Pottsy]

Interesting...

geoff, Topcat, Honda100 - you all have the ES and have the problem.

Me, Hartside, elfa7 - all have an EX with no problem.

The difference between the EX and the ES is the radio itself, not the aerial. So the radio in the ES (or I assume the non-EX cars) is the faulty bit. Sounds like they need to get a fixed radio and replace it. But are they all rubbish?

Anyone here with an ES or a non-EX who gets really good reception, with frequency following (AF) that works well?

[basegreen]

The radio is crap in the SE; it's the same HU.

Fortunately, I only listen to my own music, not the music of a media organisation who want to force something down my throat, along with adverts, stupid "DJs" and text-in competitions.

</rant>

[Pottsy]

bg, I thought your radio was stuck on R4?