The Honda Civic is one of the top-selling compact sedans in the United States, and for plenty of good reasons. When drivers want a dependable vehicle that they can count on to be comfortable for passengers, to handle smoothly, to be easy to park, and be fuel efficient, the Civic is one of the first cars that comes to mind. Honda has really cornered the compact sedan market with this vehicle. They simply got the formula right from the start, and have just continued to fine tune it from there. Add the fact that it is so reasonably priced, and getting a Civic is kind of a no brainer. Even the 2023 Honda Civic starts at $23,750, a remarkable MSRP feat in the current market.
Honda has always done a good job of delivering quality technology to its drivers, and this is no different with the 2023 Civic. However, many people don’t know about all of the great ways they can use the new Civic’s navigation system. When taking a test drive, many people are overwhelmed with all of the features there are to learn about. Even if you have a great sales person who tries to show you every bell and whistle, you might just be overloaded with information the day you buy your Civic and not catch some of the details. Knowing about these fun features that the navigation system can do can save you a lot of time and spare you headaches down the line. Here are five useful features of your 2023 Honda Civic’s navigation system.
Establish a Home Base
No matter where you are, it’s comforting to know that your car always knows how to get you home. Since you probably end most days there, it would be nice to not manually type your home address every single time you go home. That’s what the Set Home feature is for. It lets you establish your home address with the navigation system. After that, all you have to do is use the hands-free voice feature to ask your navigation to “go home,” and the directions will automatically show up on the screen.
In order to set your home address, go to Options on the touchscreen’s home screen. Select Manage Places, then press Home. Select Choose Address. If you are at home when you do this, you can choose Select from a Map, and your location should show up immediately. Select it and hit Save.
If you are not at home when you set this, after selecting Choose Address a keyboard will appear, and you can begin typing in your address from there. The system should populate a drop-down menu of addresses that might be yours.. Select yours when it shows up, and hit Save.
Set Destination
You don’t even need to use your smartphone to look up directions. If your phone battery is dead, or you have no cellular service, it’s no problem. You can use the Civic’s built-in navigation system to set your destination.
When you’re parked, go to your maps and click the Search icon. Then, use the keyboard to begin typing in your destination. Again, the system should start showing you options of your possible destination before you’re finished typing it. Select the correct one, and hit Go. Your navigation will begin and you’ll be on your way.
If you are driving, the system will not allow you to type for safety reasons. Instead, you can set your destination by using the hands-free voice control. Say “Navigation,” and then “Enter address.” Speak the address, as if you were putting it on an envelope, and then say “Go.”
Find Recommendations
Not sure where you want to go today? The Civic’s navigation system can help you with that, too. Or, maybe you do have a destination in mind, and you’d like to find places to stop along the way. Using voice control, say “Navigation.” Then say, “Find coffee shop,” or “Find fast food.” The system will show you several options in your area or along your pre-set navigation route. Just say the line number of the one that works best for you, and say “Go.”
This is a great feature when you think of those last-minute errands while you’re already on the go, like picking up dog food or getting your vehicle washed. You don’t need to pull over and look up options on your phone. Let your Civic’s built-in navigation work with your voice recognition system to find something on your way. That way, you don’t need to skip a beat. It’s especially useful when you’re in an area with which you’re unfamiliar.
Stay on Route, Offline
There are several reasons that not relying on your phone for navigation is a major bonus, such as when your phone battery is low, or if you’ve ended up somewhere without a cellular signal. That last one is a big one. When you rely on your phone for navigation, you’re at the mercy of good cellular service. Depending on where you live or where you like to explore, you could lose your connection to your Internet, and your directions, just when you need them the most. Windy, unmarked backroads in rustic areas don’t tend to have the best cellular service. You can pretty much forget about it in National Parks.
Avoid those scary “I’m lost and my map isn’t working” moments with the Civic. Its built-in navigation doesn’t rely on having an internet connection. Instead, it uses offline maps, which are built into the navigation system itself. By having these maps on board and communicating with GPS satellites, it knows where you are and where you need to go, even when you don’t have Internet. That’s a major perk for road trippers and explorers who love trekking down unbeaten paths.
If you do want to use your favorite smartphone navigation app, you always have the option to, with support for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Keeping it powered up is simple thanks to the Civic’s wireless charger. However, it’s nice to know that you won’t be stranded when you stray far from Internet towers.
Don’t Ditch Built-In Navigation
While Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are all the rage, and the 2023 Honda Civic does support them, there’s a lot to be said for the Civic’s built-in navigation system as well. Every day, we get in our cars and go to new places, or return to places we just can’t seem to memorize the directions to. Having quick, streamlined ways to pull up directions can save you minutes every day, and a built-in navigation system can spare you from typing your destination on your tiny phone keyboard.
With great features like saving a home address, recommendations along your route, and offline maps, the Civic’s built-in navigation takes the stress out of getting where you’re going. It can’t prevent rush hour traffic, but it can advise you on a great taco place to pull over at and eat carnitas until the roads clear. It can’t change the fact that the “cute” and isolated motel your cousin recommended looks more like the Bates Motel than the Ritz, but it can help you get out of there fast, even if there’s no internet. These are perks you can’t put a price on but, Honda did, and it’s a really low price.
