Hey All,

New to the forum, Ive been a Honda Owner for 10 years but am looking at getting a 2015 Honda Fit. From what I've read on here, it seems like there are less issues with cars made with VIN numbers over 15000 right?

My local dealer has this one: 2015 New Honda Fit 5dr Hatchback CVT EX at Honda of Mentor Serving Cleveland,Akron,Mentor, OH, IID 12599063

VIN #: 3HGGK5H84FM701485

Am I correct in saying that I should be looking at the last 5 digits of this number and would this be one of the vehicles that might have been sitting around awhile in Mexico/all the other issues I've seen?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Dave

 

It's possible it has been sitting but my vin is 701832 and I picked mine up june 12th so I have had it for over 3 months.

 

when looking at the inside of the drivers door, what does the little sticker say the build date is? Ideally, you want July 2014 or later. June 2014 could be ok, providing the actual day (which is not identified), is after the 9th, which is when the production changes were made to the front bumper weld. Even before that June date is ok, but may involve a recall so the dealer can reinforce the front bumper weld. No big deal in my book.

 

No big deal. Right. Body shops weld new front bumper supports onto vehicles on a regular basis following a collision that takes out the original. We should all have this level of faith on your average Honda technician, many of whom do not even have Master Tech designation. And after the removing and replacing this welded support, I'm sure every service tech will carefully re-install the original bumper cover with the same care they used to remove it. I'm sure there's no chance of damaging the original bumper cover to the point that the owner may have to settle for a repaint. Most weld work is done in a body shop and not a service shop, so at least the vehicle won't have far to travel for a bumper refinish that would likely be unnecessary. Or the dealer could just do the bumper at the same time they repair that one in a million Celaya paint defect coming out of their paint department.

It would be foolish to purchase unit with a VIN lower than 13000, unless one is a betting man or woman. Personally I would be looking at builds of 25000 or higher. Of course, that's for my money. Everybody has a right to do whatever they want with theirs.

 

I should have been clearer when I said "no big deal". Personally, I don't think the weld failing was an indication that all welds will fail. I think just "that" weld failed, and I suspect Honda was just as surprised as anyone else. I'm sure Honda crashed many Fit's prior to the actual test. As a precautionary measure, Honda is offering the people who purchased the Fit before the production change to reinforce the bumper weld, the piece of mind knowing their bumper has also been reinforced. Myself, should our Fit be one of the 12,000, I will be passing on the opportunity because, as I said, I think the fail was a fluke and the chances of it repeating itself are slim to none.

Having said that, for those who are concerned about a new purchase, I would look at the date of manufacture, knowing that the production change was made June 9, 2014.

 

In my experience, anything that involves the dealer doing work for the factory involves three visits to the dealer.

The first is to take the car in so that that they can ascertain that your car is affected by the "update." Sometimes that involves showing the service manager that you *know* that it is and that he cannot convince you that it isn't no matter what BS he tells you. At this point they will promise to "order the parts."

Then you get to play the waiting game. You have to check back with them to see if the parts are in. Eventually, with luck, they will be and then you need to schedule the appointment to have the part installed.

Of course, they will need the car for at least a day. You dutifully schlep yourself around without your car and hope that things go well. If you're lucky the car will be done by the end of the day. If not, continue schelpping.

Once you get the car back, if you are very lucky the job is done. If not, you'll find that something was left undone. Some of the parts that should have been replaced might not have been, or some of the trim wasn't replaced right. Yep, that's visit number three!

In my mind, if one can avoid this kind of hassle simply by getting a post-repair serial number one would be crazy not to do so.

 

@Vanguard (and this will be my final direct response to anything you post): Honda welded the first nearly 13,000 units in the same inferior fashion, and when the NHTSA performed the offset front crash test, the welds on the passenger side gave way, thereby exerting the greatest force of the crash onto the driver side (thus earning the car a rating of "Unacceptable"). The NHTSA allowed Honda to reconfigure their weld pattern and number of welds, and then retest. The retest yielded a test result of "Acceptable". All cars built after the running line change for the front bumper weld support earn that designation of "Acceptable". None of the units built before the running line change earn an acceptable rating, even after Honda rewelds these units outside of the factory after September. End of story. Period. I don't believe any manufacturer can replicate the NHTSA front offset crash test with exactness. The actual result is known after the test is done, and also recorded. All a manufacturer can do is design and build the car well enough, in their estimation, to pass the test. They can test crash their cars to get an idea of how well the car performs. Generally, they use "pilot" jobs (cars) built months prior to the beginning of the model year in question for crash test data. It's cost equitable because these pilot jobs cannot be sold to the public. They belong to the manufacturer and are used for testing and training only. My knowledge of these matters stems from working in a vehicle assembly plant for quite a few years and thus knowing their processes and procedures.

I believe you stated previously the car you bought was for your own daughter. It strikes me as interesting that your views of this car's official safety rating across different VIN's is so skewed towards the manufacturer's reputation and not the consumer's safety, considering your own child owns one of the affected units.

Whatever. At least get your facts straight so you can stop putting out false information.

As stated earlier, you can rebut, but I will not respond any further to you.

 

Actually, the test specs are public record, so any manufacturer can replicate the test exactly. Honda cut their engineering margin a bit too thin and lost on the gamble. They then spent a few more pennies on welds and bought themselves a do-over on the test and still only achieved an "acceptable" rating, not the "good" rating they promised for the 2015.

 

This is incorrect. The test was conducted by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) not the NHTSA

This is incorrect. The cars built before the change DO IN FACT have the acceptable rating if Honda's product update gets installed.

"The evaluation of the Fit is based on the second test and also applies to earlier cars repaired under Honda's product update. This modification will significantly improve protection in small overlap crashes. Only cars with the replacement bumper beam earn the Acceptable rating in the small overlap test and qualify for the TOP SAFETY PICK designation."

Also note that Honda is not rewelding bumper beams on cars in their product update. They are replacing the inferior beams with new ones that were built with the improved weld design:

"As a result, Honda improved the strength of the bumper beam welds for all Fits built after June 2014 and has announced a "product update" to replace the beams free of charge on cars built before the change was made on the assembly line"

Source: Vehicle details (click the sidebar heading "small overlap front")

The Honda fit is one of only two models in the IIHS's minicar category to win its "Top Safety Pick". If you are going to drive a minicar, the 2015 Honda Fit is as safe as it gets for crashes. The only way you can get a safer car in 2014 is to buy a bigger car.

Source: 2014 IIHS TOP SAFETY PICKs

 

My car that I purchased last week happens to be one of the earlier production models that is part of the bumper recall. I'm not sure if this falls on me, the buyer or not? Iffeel like it is the dealers responsibility to let a potential buyer know about this type of safety recall prior to purchase rather than after. Am I wrong?

I am wondering what recourse, if any I have? I will definitely discuss this "deception" with Honda either directlyor through their survey. In the meantime, I'm going to contact the dealer and sales rep to make sure this update is done asap and is as painless as possible.

 

I think you need to admit to yourself (since you won't be responding to me on this forum), that your just still upset about my post to your rant, about Honda replacing the defective head units with remanufactured units...

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...head-unit.html

Posted by Badself (post 37):

Isn't that generous of Honda to used a "REMAN"ufactured DA system for a new car.

Hail the new world order where Honda saves a few dollar over installing a NEW unit, and the customer is conditioned from the jump not to expect integrity from the manufacturer.

The icing on the cake: it's a temporary fix, meaning you lose your new DA unit and the problem is not permanently corrected, as the root cause is obviously unknown at this time.

Gotta love that south-of-the border Honda quality.

Hail Celeya, where the new Fit will become a profitable product, above and beyond the devaluation of the dollar against the yen, even when the product is produced half a continent away from Japan.

Enjoy your new Fit, folks.

My Response (post 38)

I have no problem with refurbished products, as long as they carry the original warranty. Refurbished means a "hands on" review, as opposed to playing the "anticipate a % of defect coming straight off the manufacturer line", game.

As for Integrity, it was Honda that monitored a "Fit forum" and contacted me (and others), directly for a fix. Now, if that is not integrity.....

If your worried about cars made in Mexico, you will want to avoid future Audi, BMW and Mercedes as well, as they are all planning facilities in Mexico within the next two years.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/07/25/k...-plant-mexico/

Finally, thanks! My daughter is enjoying her new Fit!

 

Are the dealerships currently doing the update for earlier cars that did not have the enhanced weld? If so, will they offer this up when taking the car in for routine service or do we need to bring it up and then press them on it? I happen to have a car whose serial number is only 3 digits (I had one of the first 1,000 made -- I think something like #600 or so) and absolutely want this enhancement as I drive an 8 year old around all over the place in Atlanta where the freeways are actually much like racetracks.

 

I was not under the impression that the bumper repair requires any welding. It sounded more like there is a beam bolted to the front of the car that will be replaced by a beam with reinforced welds from the factory. In other words, the techs will bolt off the weak beam and bolt on the new one in "about 30 minutes." Admittedly I don't know this for sure, but NOBODY knows ANYTHING for sure (and don't let them tell you otherwise). We've all read the same articles/forum posts and then got on the internet to speculate.

Once people start actually having bumpers replaced, then we can all feel free to critique the quality and integrity of the repair process. Until then though, why get on the internet and write thousands of words about a car that you don't own and seemingly have no intention of owning?

If somebody has information regarding the welding process describing above, I'd ask them to post the source. This forum has great information about the 2015 Fit and there is no reason to clutter it with negative opinions based only on speculation.

 

I have the same recollection, m_x. The letters have not yet gone out, so we still don't know what VINs are affected for sure. The job is supposed to take 30 minutes.

 

Nothing at a dealer is done in "about 30 minutes" except for coffee breaks.

This fix will require, at a minimum, removal of the front bumper cover with the associated electricals. That's going to take a lot longer than 30 minutes and carries with it the danger that things like interlocking tabs will be broken. A lot of these parts are really designed to be assembled only once and any disassembly will degrade the quality of the vehicle.

 

Sounds like 100% speculation based on absolutely nothing, but let's set that aside.

Do I think if my car is recalled that I would take it to the dealer and leave 30 minutes later with a new bumper? No, that's silly and you shouldn't expect that.

Do I think in the press release published by Honda that they would estimate a process to take 30 minutes when they are in fact describing a complicated welding process that badself and you have alluded to in this thread? No, that's silly and you shouldn't expect that, which was my point in quoting the 30 minutes.

Obviously it will probably take longer than that. I just SPECULATE that if the process was very complicated, they wouldn't have set that 30 minute expectation.

But I don't know anything about it and neither do you.

 

Fbones there should be no deception on the dealers behalf. Honda has stated they will inform owners of affected cars to bring in for REPLACEMENT of the beam when parts are available. Honda will mail you a recall letter if yours falls in the replacement range.
As far as the above posts please take tome to call or speak to someone from Honda who knows the facts vs letting someone who knows little to nothing tell you whats going on/what to do....

 

Nowhere in this thread did I "allude" to a dealer welding process. The part that is deficient is the bolt-on structural bumper that lives under the plastic bumper cover. This is a known fact.

Removing the cover and replacing the bumper will require more than 30 minutes. If it takes less than that I'd recommend the crew of mechanics to NASCAR for pit stops.

No dealer schedules their mechanics precisely. They'll need the car to be there all day and the mechanic will get to it when they get to it.

So, at a minimum, the car will be in the dealer for several hours, and more likely a full day or two. That could be called speculation, but it's actually a pretty solid bet.