OK, so I'll admit that there's little one can do to work on a modern car. Dust the engine, perhaps change the oil; that's about it. I'm far past the times where I'd take the carburetor-- a mechanical device for mixing fuel with air-- apart, remove the jets, and drill them out to increase the richness of the mixture.

But still. One would expect on a $50K car that there'd be a light on the underside of the hood to illuminate the engine bay, if only to make finding the dipstick and windshield washer filler cap a little easier in the dark.

Not only is there no light, but Acura mocks us by installing a hood insulator with an obvious cut-out for one.

Sigh.

 

How many cars in the price range have one? This will allow us to judge the RL as "Lacking" or not...

 

How many cars in any price range still have one of these in this age of lighted gas stations?

 

How many owners really want to fiddle with all that crap under the hood, anyway? Doesn't the dealer have nice lighting for checking things under the hood?

 

Actually, a better question might be "How many much less expensive cars have one?"

 

If you have to work on the car at night, then you can't afford it.

 

How about in your garage... which has a roof, and you dont want to drag in a work light just to see better...

 

If you have to work on a 2005 or 2006 RL, then you can't afford it. Play Monster Garage on the '79 Civic in the backyard.

 

Some of us like to work on our cars, regardless of whether or not we can afford them.

 

Well well I wil take my liquid 7+ figure net worth and go buy me a Maybach, and dump this rice car.
Seeing as how its just so uncouth to want to do any tinkering under the hood... like fill up the washer fluid, check the oil, or $hit... heaven forbid change an air filter.
Its anal orafices like you with no status that take the fun out of owning a fine automobile.

 

Well, i'm asking you to answer this question.

What other cars have a lighted engine bay?

 

I'm willing to bet that if you have a garage with a roof, it probably also has a light.

And still, nobody has answered the question, what other cars have lights under the hood?

 

but you still have a hood..... which blocks the light from above; unless YOU like to take off the hood.
And does it matter which other car has them... why follow; lead.

 

I thought the cutout had some relation to one of the engine components...I wonder if the car is pre-wired for a light at that location.

About 40 years ago, I found an unused harness wire in my 1965 Volvo 122S and connected either a hood light or trunk light to that...maybe both...I haven't looked at the old car lately...I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I successfully figured that out studying the wiring diagram in the owner's manual...wasn't much of a mechanic although I could tune the SU's better than the dealer...always had to reset the jets after servicing...heh.

If it's wired, a light would be a nice touch...I park in a pasture (no kidding!)...no garage here...and noooooo city lights...ahhhh.

 

All this because you're too lazy to get a utility light? I mean really...

 

Yep... pay 50 big ones (I have the tech model) and yeah, an itsy bitsy little light is worth the effort to be placed there by the manufacturer.
Even if it aint practical... even it its barely usable... still they thought to make the door handles lighted-but only if you use the fob to unlock the car... why not the engine bay?

 

 

Hard to say, since this feature isn't something generally called out in automotive brochures.

Still, the is the first car I've owned in a while without an underhood light. Working backwards:

2000 Volkswagen Passat
1994 Cadillac STS
1990 Taurus SHO
1986 Mustang GT
1984 Mustang SVO

All, as I recall, had underhood lights.

 

If the M35, GS and Honda civic had engine lights, i'd understand your complaint. But for now, use a flashlight like the rest of us...

 

The little cutout on the insulating material underneath my hood don't appear to be for an engine light...the cutout is directly over the Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) Sensor...

 

I think back in the day when people actually knew about cars and stuff, not to mention unreliability compared to today's cars, putting a light under the hood is a big thing.

But if they don't put a light under a modern car these days, there'll probably be 1 out of 1000 who actually complain, and of that 1, he'll buy the car anyway.

If they lost many buyers due to exclusion of a certain feature, then that feature would be important enough to put in. but for an underhood light, i don't think so.

 

You know how to hurt a guy. My butthole has plenty of status.

 

Wait my car has a hood insulator? Is that on the bottom of the hood? Yeah I've never looked there.

And isn't it called a bonnet or something...

 

Well, don't get too excited...it's not electric.

 

No offense.
But how many people are going to give a ...... about a hood light on a $50k car? Any focus group is going to report back that the vast majority of people interested in this car are never even going to open the hood! This car has an entire section of the cpu devoted to telling the owner when to take it in for service! If I am designing this car why bother with a hood light?

What's next a hand crank for starting the car?

 

wholly crap, I have not seen one of those in years, they still do that?

 

Only if you're from Britain or a country that still accepts the Queen as its ruler.

 

im pretty sure the reason they dont put one is the engine bay is to save money.. company can save money by not putting one in, especially on a 50k car, were maybe 1% of the owners will look under the hood. gm decided not to paint the insides of ash trays, saving like 2 cents per car, but if u consider all the ash trays, they saved millions. it just goes back to wether or not they believe you actually need it. if ya like to work under your hood, you could purchase a battery powered drop light.