Well, this topic has sure been beaten to death, so I might as well whack the dead horse too.
Honda has likely addressed the problem with the supplier - we'll see as the 04's, 05's and 06's come of age.
No matter who OEMs the part in question - radio, seat belt, shock absorber - they have to answer to Honda, who has to answer to us - their customer. If Honda gets bad press for something as silly as busted lights on the radio and they do nothing to fix it shame on them. Consider that to the average Honda driver sitting behing the wheel of a nice riding, mechanically reliable car that the radio can't be operated since a bulb burned out!
It's all about perception. You get in the car and stare at a dark screen - you are reminded of this annoyance whenever you get in and start 'er up. That would get me pretty p!ssed off.
Now you find out that it will cost you 1/20th the cost of the vehicle to replace the radio?!? I suppose someone down in marketing has figured what the average joe/jane doe will fork over these days, and sadly it appears they have done their homework well. $1200 for this stereo? Come on, you can buy a killer Alpine unit in Best Buy for $300 with alot more features. This Alpine OEM unit isn't anything special, they integrate a few of the car's systems into the head and mass produce thousands for Honda. Probably costs less to build than a typical model they sell through the retail channel.
While I agree that there is much more being crammed into these things for the "gee-whiz" value, I remind you that it is not one of these George Jetson features that is failing. Nor is it a mechanicalproblem - I have not seen anyone writing about the CD drive/transport system.
For my part, if this ever happens in my baby, I will be on the phone with my buddy at Alpine in a hurry. I'm tempted to call him just for grins and giggles and threaten him with a supplier audit (I used to work at a lab that tested Alpine's OEM units). Beyond that, out comes the ESD wrist strap, tool kit and soldering iron. Maybe a sledgehammer (just for dramatic effect, of course
