Engineers and designers love coming up with nifty little features to improve a car or make it more useful in everyday life. Sometimes, these solutions are so neat and tidy and well-integrated that they fly almost entirely under the radar. The Honda CR-V and its secret undercover picnic table is one of those features. Hundreds of thousands of these vehicles are getting around, with most owners completely unaware that they’re hauling around the perfect accessory for an impromptu outdoor snack session.
If you caught the latest episode of The Smoking Tire podcast with Matt Farah and Doug DeMuro, you might have enjoyed the discussion of the CR-V’s obscure table feature. The picnic table was introduced on the first-generation Honda CR-V, which hit the Japanese market in 1995, and the US in 1997. The table itself served as the load floor in the back of the CR-V, behind the second row. It lived under the carpet, and also served as the topper for the spare wheel well. This cavity alternatively served as a waterproof storage cubby for models with the spare tire mounted on the rear door. Ultimately, serving as a plastic cover for this cubby effectively camouflaged the picnic table so well that a great many owners never realized they even had one. It was hiding in plain sight and was so banal, most people missed it entirely.
The table was, of course, noted in the owners manual for those that bothered to look. The manual noted that the table’s folding legs should be locked in place prior to use, and that it wasn’t fit for standing on. The table was rated to hold no more than 44 pounds, and hot items like pots, pans, and kettles were not to be placed on its plastic surface.
For its part, Honda could have done more to promote the feature. It casually mentioned the picnic table in some sales brochures, but it wasn’t a major headline feature. Indeed, in the 1998 pamphlet for the CR-V, the picnic table is shown in a tiny breakout image off to one side, and gets just two lines of copy. Based on a contemporary search of Honda archives, there are seldom few, if any, press era showing off the table, either.
It also bears noting that while the design of the table might seem nifty at first blush, it’s not perfect from a usability standpoint. On the one hand, yes, it’s neatly integrated into the vehicle, serving dual duty as the load floor and not taking up excessive space. However, to use it, you have to first empty out anything you might have in the cargo era, lift the carpet, and pull it out. If you’re hauling lots of gear on a camping trip, that could be a pain. Furthermore, it might seem useful to have a table on hand at all times, but that’s compromised by the fact that there are no chairs to go with it. Sure, if you find yourself at an impromptu tailgate party, a table could come in handy. But if you didn’t plan ahead and bring chairs, you’re out of luck anyway. You’re better off leaving the table in the car and sitting on the flat floor of the cargo area.
The picnic table lived on into the second generation of the CR-V, and was upgraded to boot. The new-for-2002 model gained a larger table top, measuring 29.9 inches by 33.5 inches, and standing 26.7 inches high. It was a sizable upgrade compared to the original, at 25″ x 30.5″ x 26″ respectively. For those playing along at home, the new version had a full 6.9 square feet of tabletop, versus just 5.29 square feet for the original. In fact, Honda was so proud of this new, improved table that it saw fit to photograph it with a handsome CR-V in Chianti Red Pearl. In the new model’s press kit, Honda also touted a special feature—a groove in the corner of the table which could be used “as a hanger for small items or a trash bag.”
Astute readers of The Autopian may have noted the table’s previous appearance in Rob Spiteri’s piece on the best vehicles to use for a tailgating party. Some were unaware the feature even existed, while one reader noted that they took the table out once, appreciated it, and never used it again.
Fundamentally, the table did too good a job of being a spare tire cover, and many owners never even realized they had a fully-fledged picnic table lurking under there. Reddit has tales of owners suddenly discovering the hidden table by accident. Meanwhile, one owner on YouTube was pleasantly surprised when he found the pushbutton in the cargo floor. “I didn’t know it done any of this until I started reading the owner’s manual,” said Don B, an American true-crime YouTuber. “You’ve got a table that you can take out of your CR-V and have a picnic with!”
You’ve got to feel for the team that designed the CR-V’s picnic solution. They did such a good job integrating it into the vehicle that it was all but invisible to its intended audience. You can print what you like in the owner’s manual, but you have to reckon with the fact that seldom few will ever read it.
Regardless, it seems as neat as a hidden table is on paper, it perhaps wasn’t actually as useful as the designers may have hoped. In any case, the feature was dropped for the third-generation CR-V, and has sadly never returned. Maybe we just don’t picnic as much as we should these days, or maybe a table without chairs is like a toy without batteries. In any case, the CR-V’s picnic table will go down as one of the more obscure, weird, and unappreciated accessories in automotive history.
Image credits: Honda, Google, The Autopian via screenshot
Not as cool as a tiny motorcycle. Sniff.
Can you imagine if Honda included the Motocompacto in the boot floor of its SUVs and nobody realized they had them for decades?
My wife had a Subaru for over a year before she accidentally discovered that it had a remote start feature. Apparently she was somewhat surprised.
Does the 2015 have this? my wife & I have a 2015 & we never knew about this!!!!!
I’ve actually used these so often! Take it to the beach, use as prep space, gaming table, etc etc. my cousin had a CRV in the same color as that header shot. It eventually died getting hit in the front, but we kept that table and he’s still got it!
Nice, it’d be perfect at the beach!
I’ve usually found it useful to read the owner’s manual for my cars. Am I a minority in this? (Are there really that many owners not aware of this?)
I do like a flip through but I seldom read it cover to cover.
Back in ‘01, my best friend was about to get his license. Before his Dad would take him to the DMV, he made him read the owners manual to the ‘98 Grand Marquis. “If you think I’m going to let you pilot 25K and two tons worth of steel at 65mph without understanding how to operate it, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Obviously you’re not a golfer.
We camp in our 2002 CRV about 50% of the time and use the table nearly every time. We have a plastic folding table we bring camping most of the time but for the times we don’t or just need more room, it’s fabulous.
I actually really feel seen here, I am absolutely not a golfer!
I want to see the next Bishop concept incorporate this, but with a shorter table and full tea ceremony kit.
Honda City with Moto-tea-co accessory!
If anyone can find a way to fit it all in there somehow, it’s gotta be “OrigamiSensei”.
I want folding chairs that stow in the rear bumper
I’m just surprised that it took Honda 2 generations to realize the cost to design and build the table was a complete waste. As for the lack of chairs, hack the legs down, stash a couple of pillows and take your lunch seiza-style.
The drawing of the woman at the table reading the manual is interesting. She is clearly annoyed by all the disclaimers.
It’s certainly more useful than the picnic tray on the Ford Taurus wagon:
https://www.taurusclub.com/attachments/150588-jpg.221417/
We used it exactly once on our ’89 because I insisted that instead of eating lunch in the lovely outdoor cafe at the local botanic garden, we eat on a bullshit picnic tray in a hot parking lot while I sat in the cargo area and my folks leaned awkwardly against the car.
I can still feel my father’s annoyance.
Knight Rider was such an awesome show to have available growing up for boy into all things cars and robots, props to your internet name.
Dang, my sister just wrecked her CRV (she’s fine), I should have told her to snag the table. Her stupid new one, though better in almost every way, doesn’t have one!
My brother bought an ’03 CR-V about a year ago, and I was so excited to reveal the folding table to him. He had no idea.
It was one of the rare instances that my obsession with car features was useful to someone.
YES! I’ve personally shown this to 2 CR-V owners, because neither had any idea.
One of them was particularly unhappy when I showed the table to her, because she had already put 280,000 miles on the CR-V, camped in it a million times, and even LIVED out of it for a while during a research project or something…. clearly she could have used this feature many times over…
Second-gen owner reporting in here: I’ve used it several times since we bought the car in 2009. I keep forgetting to raid the CR-V’s I see in the LKQ yard for a spare. They will take my manual CR-V when they pry the shift knob from my cold dead hands.
“Bonus points if you can identify the breed of dog in this image from the owner’s manual.”
It’s a HondaDoodle.
It’s a Pomeranian with F*ing papers, dude! (Big Lebowski)
I didn’t rent it shoes. I’m not buying it a f***ing beer. He’s not taking your f***ing turn, Dude.
My wife and I had a picnic after getting engaged using the table from my 2001 CRV! When I told my Mom I was going to propose she sewed a custom table cloth for to fancy up the table. I still have the table, sadly the CRV was totalled but I kept the table for old times sake before the insurance company took the car away.
A toy without batteries is still a toy. Imagination is self powering.
Some real “Sorry for the inconvenience, escalator is temporarily stairs” energy at the end there.
Or for convenience?
(Just HAD to comment)
“An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.”
Mitch Hedberg (Rest In Peace)
Ahh, the old ‘manual leg use override’ function.
I prefer stairs over the escalator.
On stairs you never have to deal with the people that can’t seem to comprehend the stand on the right, walk on the left concept.
Gotta watch out for them. They’ll be the ones standing there looking confused, in everybody’s way at the end of the escalator or moving sidewalk.
“Something changed?”
“I was moving now I’m just standing.”
“Something changed?”
Yup, plus might as well get the little bit of exercise using stairs, people sit around enough as it is
You can still walk on the escalator (whether moving or not). Assuming other people aren’t already being lazy.
The ability to “surprise and delight” with quirky little features like this is sadly missing from modern cars. The engineers saying “Hey, let’s put legs on this thing. Boom, it’s a table!” counts for more than the actual utility of said table.
Yeah, all I can think of are the little “easter eggs” in the new (overpriced) VW Bus…yes, it’s sad because if it started being done again I think a lot of people would love unique features
And many such Easter eggs now just seem to be design things, not something usable. Like the new Prius has several little things like that.
I guess the digital instrument cluster in the new Mustang having the option of an older Fox body-looking view might count though.
Recent VWs surprised you by emitting a lot more pollutants than you expected!
I have a friend with an older CR-V, and I’ve noticed the pull-out tray under the passenger seat and thought it was nifty, but I’ve never heard of the picnic table. I’m definitely going to go borrow her keys and check it out at lunchtime though!
Edit: She knows about the table and says they actually use it sometimes! :-O
I always pointed out the table feature to prospects as it was such a cool design and was impressive when demonstrated. Shame on those salespeople who either didn’t know about it or didn’t take the time to pull it out of the car and flip down the legs.
You know how many times in nearly 40 years of driving (including tailgating, off-roading and camping) I’ve thought to myself – man I could really use a table right now. I think that number would be 4. I managed to overcome each time, so while it sounds great in theory, most people simply don’t care.
No tables even at your tailgate?
You people never backyard wrestle out of your CR-V? I think you may be doing the ownership wrong….
The tailgating was the 4 times. But usually it’s just drinking beer, so a table isn’t really necessary.
The owner’s manual is pre designer-dog era, so it’s not a turd-doodle. I vote
cocker spanielbichon frise.Reminds me of the fold out picnic table available on the original Taurus wagon. Wonder how many of those existed without anyone ever knowing about them.
I had an ancient Volvo 145E with a Swedish nap pod in back…
I remember as an 8 yr old kid in 2003 thinking this was such a cool feature of my moms brand new CR-V. Sadly we never used the table. I’d love one of these for my “collection” or random stuff.
Heck, I might seek one of these out during my next Pick n Pull run.
I’ve been meaning to get to a junk yard to find one of these. My friend has one from his old CR-V that we use all the time overlanding. What makes these great is that they have the hole in the middle which makes them relatively easy to store underneath a rack. He has a bed rack on his Frontier that he made a channel for and uses the hole to screw it in. Keeps it from rattling around and they are surprisingly robust.
I was selling Hondas in the early 2000’s and would demonstrate this table to customers. Also interesting was the first-gen CR-V’s (maybe not the base models), had a mechanism to raise the rear seat bottoms to come into line with the front seats when fully reclined with their headrests removed, to create two full sleeper seats!
Interesting. My niece picked up a 2001 or 2002 CR-V not too long ago. I’ll have to mention this to her.