Studying and swapping...

 

I spent much of the evening last night reading the owners manual for the Equinox; it has so many safety and info features on it that are new to us.  Our CR-V is an EX-L... so, it has a nice leather interior and that sunroof (that I am less fond of these days).  The owners manual for that was pretty simple: "You go; you go now.  Put gas in car and drive it.  If your ass gets cold, turn on the seat warmers."  That's pretty much it.

The lawyers are more involved now.  The owners manual for the Equinox is over 400 pages; well, that's the PDF file for it, as I'm reading it on my computer.  About 1/3 of those pages are warnings: "Do not exit the car while driving.  Do not drink the battery acid.  Do not allow anyone to ride on the roof rack while the vehicle is in motion.  Do not drive while you are asleep."  Good to know.

Another 1/3 is typical car manual stuff.  The last 1/3 is all about how to use all the tech stuff: there is a "Driver Information Center" in between the speedometer and tach that appears to have about 40 pages of info and control.  Some of it is pretty cool, like tire pressure sensors that actually tell you the PSI reading of each tire.  You can scroll through this DIC (insert your own DIC joke here) to turn on/off things like: traction control, lane keeping assist, pedestrian warning, following distance warning and braking, parking assist, trip computer, and a bunch of other things that I'm probably forgetting.  (Really, I have read most of it.)  Not sure why you'd want to turn off any of those safety features.

Then there is the Infotainment Center, a screen in the middle of the dash that controls your audio selections and EQ, favorites, phone connections, Apple CarPlay (puts your phone screen up on that screen), duplicate controls for the climate control, navigation system, apps, rear vision camera, a "Report Card" (if you have a teen driver, you can set it up so the car narcs on the kid, giving all the driving statistics), an available hot spot with OnStar, and, again, more stuff that I'm probably forgetting.

We have an infotainment center in the motorhome, so we have some exposure; this has more stuff on it.  The CR-V had bluetooth phone connection for making and receiving phone calls hands free, but we didn't use it.  The backup camera in the Honda was useful, but this bigger brighter screen in the Equinox (along with the parking sensors and side mirrors that lower the angle when you put the car in reverse) makes it even easier.

We've only taken it for a short drive since they delivered it, so there will be a learning curve.

Early this afternoon, we went out to move stuff from the Honda to the Equinox.  Not like we have that much stuff to move, but the neighbors came over wanting to visit while we were in the middle of the swap.  And by then, it was getting hot.  There are some things we had in the Honda that we won't need in the Equinox (like a stand-alone GPS).

 What I really notice is the difference in the paint: the Honda has a pearl white paint that almost looks a bit yellow when you see it right next to the Arctic White of the Equinox.  This should match the motorhome and cargo trailer even better.  Although I have to say that Joan was quite taken with a dark blue color available on the Equinox, but we couldn't find anything in that color with the options we wanted.

Interior: both vehicles have leather seats.  Both are comfortable.  The front seats in the Equinox are more "bucket" than the Honda.  The Equinox has some sound reduction technology, so it seems quieter.

Until the hail storm, we didn't have plans on getting a different vehicle.  We definitely considered keeping the Honda, and just doing some selective repairs (like replacing the hood).  When you see the Honda now, it doesn't look bad from a distance.  Plus, we know the condition and history.  We felt that Progressive offered us a decent evaluation for the Honda, but a much less so offering if we were to keep the Honda.  The decision was easy for us, considering their numbers.  The Honda earned our trust and respect over the years of ownership - I hope we'll be able to say the same about the Equinox.