I've already ordered my 06 HCH and its production date is this Tuesday. So I need to be ready for the dealer-installed accessories sales push.

I keep hearing that it's IPOD-compatible. All I see on the Accessories Brouchure is MP3 Player and Auxiliary Jack. Are one of these what's used for the IPOD?

Hi moosh,

the auxiliary input is what is refered by Honda as IPod compatible. Actually, it's a way of connecting any external audio devices (such as IPods, XM radios, external GPS units, etc...) to the audio system of the Civic.

Thanks,
Stephane.

You CAN use the aux. jack if you want to, but there's an extra accessory that comes out this month (not sure if it's to the dealers yet) called the Honda Music Link, that operates the ipod via the radio controls on the car.

You end up with a connecting cable that comes out into the glove compartment, and you connect the ipod to that. It's a radio link + charging cable. And then, you can control your playlists, folders etc. etc. via the steering wheel controls. On the Nav cars, you get voice too.

I think the MSRP for the thing was $200-ish, plus labor (it's not an EASY install, but certainly not as major a piece of surgery as the XM radio intall.) They disassemble most of the dash/radio/glove compartment to run the cabling from the radio and the fuse box into the glove compartment.

Unfortunately (since I just bought an Accord Hybrid yesterday) the accessory is Civic-Only (or so the press release sez.)

IIRC, the HCH is also XM-compatible.

Whatever else you've ordered, be sure to get the full front end cover. It will protect against bugs & rocks, and looks great to boot!

The HCH is compatible with both XM and Sirius; you just buy the appropriate device and plug it into the AUX jack. But if you want integrated satellite radio, where there are no visible wires and you control it via the regular radio controls, then you have to go with XM and pay somewhere around $1000 for it including labor.