Honda is back in focus — and not for the reason you think

Honda is back in focus in British driveways and WhatsApp chats, and the line “of course! please provide the text you would like me to translate.” keeps popping up in the oddest place: the in-car voice assistant. Not because people suddenly want language lessons on the M25, but because they’re noticing what their cars collect, record, and gently nudge them to share. If you own a relatively new car-or you’re about to finance one-this matters more than the next trim upgrade.

For years the story around Honda was simple: reliable, sensible, quietly good at the basics. Now the attention has shifted to something less visible, sitting behind the touchscreen and the “agree” button you tap without reading. The comeback isn’t about horsepower. It’s about data, software, and the new trade you’re making every time you connect your phone.

The new reason people are talking about Honda

You can feel it in the way conversations start. Not “what mpg do you get?” but “did yours ask you to accept the privacy thing again?” Drivers are comparing settings the way they used to compare alloys. The car still does car things-commutes, school runs, weekend IKEA missions-but it also behaves like a connected device that happens to have wheels.

What changed is not one dramatic scandal, but a slow accumulation of features: companion apps, over-the-air updates, cloud-based navigation, voice recognition, and integrations that make the cabin feel modern. Each one is useful. Each one also creates a new stream of information about how, where, and when you drive.

The moment that lands is usually mundane. You’re pairing Bluetooth in the driveway, you’re dictating a text, the assistant mishears you, and suddenly your dashboard is effectively asking for content: “of course! please provide the text you would like me to translate.” It’s funny until you realise how much of your day now passes through that interface.

The quiet trade-off inside the touchscreen

Most people don’t object to data collection in the abstract. They object when it feels surprising, when it’s hard to switch off, or when the benefits are vague and the permissions are broad. Cars are especially sensitive because they follow you physically: home, work, school, the hospital, the late-night petrol station you only use when life’s gone sideways.

Connected features typically touch a few predictable categories:

• Location and routes (for traffic, navigation, stolen vehicle assistance)
• Vehicle health and diagnostics (for maintenance reminders and service scheduling)
• Voice and infotainment usage (for assistants and hands-free controls)
• App connectivity (for remote lock, climate pre-conditioning, and alerts)

None of this is automatically sinister, and plenty of drivers want these conveniences. The problem is the blur between “necessary to provide the service” and “nice to have for optimisation” and “useful for marketing and product development”. In practice, it can be hard to tell what’s essential and what’s optional.

Why the spotlight now (and why it’s not just Honda)

There’s a wider shift happening across the industry: cars are becoming software platforms. Regulators are paying closer attention, journalists are asking sharper questions, and consumers are more aware because phones trained them to be. When people see car logins, subscription features, and recurring privacy prompts, they recognise the pattern.

Honda isn’t alone here, but it is a brand people associate with trust and understatement. That’s why the reaction feels sharper when the experience resembles big-tech design: long policies, layered menus, and consent screens that arrive when you just want to get home.

It’s also a timing issue. The UK has a growing used market for connected cars, meaning second and third owners inherit settings they didn’t choose. One person’s “yes, enable everything” becomes another person’s default reality.

A practical way to check what your Honda is sharing

You don’t need to become a cybersecurity expert to reduce your exposure. You just need ten calm minutes and the willingness to click through the boring parts once, rather than forever.

Start with these checks:

• In-car settings: look for Privacy, Data, Connectivity, Telematics, or Services. Turn off anything you don’t use.
• Companion app permissions: restrict location access to “while using”, disable background refresh if you don’t need it, and review notification types.
• Voice assistant controls: if voice capture makes you uneasy, disable wake words and use manual buttons instead.
• Connected services you never activated: trial periods can roll into defaults. Confirm what’s live, and what’s merely installed.
• User profiles and paired devices: delete old phones, wipe contacts if you’ve sold the car, and reset infotainment before handover.

A small rule helps: if a feature doesn’t solve a real problem for you, don’t feed it. Convenience is only a bargain when you’d knowingly pay for it.

The part nobody talks about: the second-hand handover

This is where things get messy, because cars outlive accounts. A used Honda can still “remember” phones, addresses, favourite destinations, call history, even garage-door locations depending on the system. It’s not dramatic, it’s just intimate in a way people don’t expect from a machine they bought from a forecourt.

If you’re selling, do the unglamorous work:

1. Sign out of any connected accounts in the infotainment system.
2. Delete paired devices and saved addresses.
3. Factory reset the head unit.
4. Remove the car from your mobile app account, not just your phone.
5. If the car supports it, create a fresh owner profile for the buyer.

If you’re buying used, assume none of this has been done until you’ve checked.

What this says about the next phase of “reliable”

Honda built its reputation on predictability: engines that start, buttons that work, parts that last. In 2025, “reliable” also means interfaces that behave, permissions that are clear, and systems that don’t badger you into choices you don’t understand.

People aren’t turning against connected cars. They’re just waking up to the fact that the cabin is now an ecosystem: microphones, maps, apps, logins, and updates. The focus on Honda isn’t really about Honda. It’s about what a car has become-and how much of yourself you leave inside it, without noticing.

Quick guide: keep the convenience, cut the creep

What to review	Why it matters	Low-effort fix
Voice features	Captures more than you intend	Disable wake word; use push-to-talk
Location services	Reveals routines and sensitive places	Turn off background location; use offline nav when possible
App connectivity	Expands access beyond the car	Remove unused permissions; delete old user profiles

FAQ:

• Can I use Bluetooth in my Honda without signing into everything? Usually, yes. You can pair a phone for calls and audio while declining optional connected services; the exact menu names vary by model and year.
• Is turning off connected services going to break my car? No. It may disable extras like remote start via app, live traffic, or stolen-vehicle features, but the core driving functions remain unaffected.
• What should I do before selling my Honda? Sign out of accounts, delete paired devices and saved addresses, then factory reset the infotainment system and remove the car from any companion app.
• Why does my car keep showing odd assistant prompts like “of course! please provide the text you would like me to translate.”? It’s often triggered by voice-assistant mishearing, language mode toggles, or app integrations. If it bothers you, reduce voice features or disable the assistant entirely.
• Is this problem unique to Honda? No. It’s industry-wide. Honda is just a useful case study because it sits at the intersection of mainstream popularity and growing software complexity.