What you DONT like about your Fit

[bobbyc]

I've owned an '08 Fit Sport for two years. Soon after I bought it I wrote to Honda Motors listing all the things that I thought could improve the Fit. I wasn't looking for any kind of payment for my thoughts but that's apparently what Honda my intent was. I soon received a letter from their legal department stating that Honda Motor Corp. will not accept or act on any non-employee suggestions. I was disappointed. I always felt that Honda had real concern for customer satisfaction. Well, so much for that thought! None the less I still basically like the Fit. However, my next economy vehicle purchase will likely be a Toyota Prius because of its much better mileage and I believe better engineering. Sorry, Honda, you USED to be my favorite car company!

Anyway, now here are my Fit dislikes. Perhaps Honda has addressed some of them, I don't know - I haven't examined either the '09 or '10 models:

1. No center armrests
2. No window tint
3. Cheap carpet
4. Vision obstructing rear seat headrests
5. Low front seats - no height adjustment
6. Little ground clearance - Fit Sport
7. No map-lights
8. Non-locking/latching gas filler door
9. No remote rear hatch release
10. Hard to reach/access transmission dipstick - just need a longer stick!
11. Transmission does not stay in current gear when shifted from "D" (Drive) to "S" (Sport/Standard/Stick). It always downshifts one gear.
12. Safety issue! - Dash lights always ON; do not go off with headlights. Can result in failing to turn on headlights at night. Other vehicles give reminder that headlights are OFF if dash lights are off.
13. Suspension is just a tad too stiff.
14. No manual ON/OFF switch to override rear hatch area light whenever hatch is left open for an extended period of time.
15. Offer car in metallic tan/beige/light gold color.
16. Black interior - would prefer light gray or tan.
17. Tire Pressure Monitor System - my "bootkicks" and a tire gage always worked just fine, thank you very much!
18. No roof-rack option.

[Digimer]

Originally Posted by bobbyc

I've owned an '08 Fit Sport for two years. Soon after I bought it I wrote to Honda Motors listing all the things that I thought could improve the Fit. I wasn't looking for any kind of payment for my thoughts but that's apparently what Honda my intent was. I soon received a letter from their legal department stating that Honda Motor Corp. will not accept or act on any non-employee suggestions. I was disappointed. I always felt that Honda had real concern for customer satisfaction. Well, so much for that thought! None the less I still basically like the Fit. However, my next economy vehicle purchase will likely be a Toyota Prius because of its much better mileage and I believe better engineering. Sorry, Honda, you USED to be my favorite car company!

Think about how litigious people have become in the US. Can you really blame them? Let's say they followed your suggestions and then you sued them for not getting paid for your input? Lets say they didn't, then something happened and you sued claiming they knew better because "you told them".

It's hard to blame Honda, or any company, for firewalling the outside world. Look at the lawsuit against apple for the iPod by the guy who said he sent them the specs for a prototype in the 80s? There's just too much risk for companies these days.

Digi

[jzerocsk]

A couple updates to your list...

Originally Posted by bobbyc

9. No remote rear hatch release

I think that's a safety issue....the hatch swings out when it opens and can hit things...like people and other cars!

12. Safety issue! - Dash lights always ON; do not go off with headlights. Can result in failing to turn on headlights at night. Other vehicles give reminder that headlights are OFF if dash lights are off.

Not fixed, though I've at least gotten used to it. Ironically I was always a "Headlights on 24x7" driver but I stopped doing this b/c of the DRLs! If there were no DRLs I'd have never noticed this.

14. No manual ON/OFF switch to override rear hatch area light whenever hatch is left open for an extended period of time.

Not fixed.

17. Tire Pressure Monitor System - my "bootkicks" and a tire gage always worked just fine, thank you very much!

Required by federal law in the US - will never be fixed.

[F0NIX]

Originally Posted by bobbyc

1. No center armrests
2. No window tint
3. Cheap carpet
4. Vision obstructing rear seat headrests
5. Low front seats - no height adjustment
6. Little ground clearance - Fit Sport
7. No map-lights
8. Non-locking/latching gas filler door
9. No remote rear hatch release
10. Hard to reach/access transmission dipstick - just need a longer stick!
11. Transmission does not stay in current gear when shifted from "D" (Drive) to "S" (Sport/Standard/Stick). It always downshifts one gear.
12. Safety issue! - Dash lights always ON; do not go off with headlights. Can result in failing to turn on headlights at night. Other vehicles give reminder that headlights are OFF if dash lights are off.
13. Suspension is just a tad too stiff.
14. No manual ON/OFF switch to override rear hatch area light whenever hatch is left open for an extended period of time.
15. Offer car in metallic tan/beige/light gold color.
16. Black interior - would prefer light gray or tan.
17. Tire Pressure Monitor System - my "bootkicks" and a tire gage always worked just fine, thank you very much!
18. No roof-rack option.

1-3. This is a low budget car, dont espect lucury items in a low budget car.
4. Fixed in GE version.
5. Get a EU seat. I have height adjustment on the drivers seat.
6. I want it lower
7. I got two in mine as standard. You live in the wrong part of the world
8. Same as above; I have a locking gaslid. The lid is locked as long as car dors are locked. Standard in my car.
9. Hum? I actually has not thought of that. But I can's say I miss it. But then again I see this as a luxary item in a low budget car.
10. Without seat adjustment I can see the problem.
11. I got CVT, so no problem there...
12. This has also to be a region spesific thing. We HAVE to use near lights all the time, so only way to turn of headlights is to turn the switch to OFF and then parking lights turns on. Dashbord lights also turns off. When taking out key with the lightswith not in the 0 position (normal) a piping sound is heard.
13. We probably have diffrent suspension too, mine is fine. I like it a bit stiff. Feels more "connected to the road" while driving.
14. THAT is a thing I would agree on. There should have been a on/off/door switch on that light. And there should have been a light in the roof, this one is mounted too low.
15. I like my Black Amethyst Pearl color. It is the best off all avaiable colors so far
16. I have dark grey interior, but want black interior. Probably a region spesific thing again...
17. Tire pressure monitoring system is a luxury item, but I would like to have that too.
18. In my region there is a roof rack system avaiable from the Honda dealers, but it is a standard Thule rack. It probably works fine. I dont need one as the cargo space INSIDE the car is plenty enough for me. But I have seen a few other Jazz in my town with that Thule roof rack.

19. I would like to have more engine options. The GE08 version has a slightly larger engine than mine, but not big enough. I would like to have something around 110-120Hk. I know it is a bit high for a small car like this. But there are several other small cars that offers a good "sports edition" on their model with lots of power in the engine.

20. There should have been more styling options from Honda. And this is also a region spesific thing, since the front bumper in Sweden and some European countries has a diffrent front bumber than mine.

21. There should have been an option for motorized windows in the back.

22. There should have been an "Exclusive" and "Exlusive Sport" edition of the car that had all the above mentioned items as standard.


I'm actually glad that the GPS option that I wanted for my car could not be delivered. The system I has now is much better: Pioneer AVIC-HD3BT (AVIC-Z2 with BlueTooth adapter in the US)

[Megz88]

I can't stand my middle cup holders in the front!! Whenever I put a water bottle in there (I sometimes take 2 water bottle to work) it almost always falls out because it is too wide! When it falls out it rolls on the driver's side floor which does not work out very well! Does anyone know of a way you can make these cupholders hold smaller things better?? Maybe something that I could put in there to hold my water bottles more securely in place so it doesn't fall out?

[kenchan]

yah, you can go to your favorite walmart and get one of those foam rings for your bottles to not only keep them cool, but to keep them from specifically falling out of the Honda Fit center cup holders.

[Megz88]

haha thanks! That's a good and cheap idea I didn't think of that!

[dennyd]

Originally Posted by sorcerio

Didn't you get the recall notice about the hair on the seats problem? Go to your dealer and they will issue one of these to you. Problem solved.

HUH?.. sounds a bit like you are pulling some legs here no?

[seonadancing]

i dont like how the seat belt always get stuck between the door frame and the seat.

[dakine]

on the sport:
1. not enough original size replacement tires to choose from, poor oem tires.
2. dislike the auto rear wiper.
3. wish the interior could be something other than black

pretty minor complaints I'd say.

[Jennnyy]

Passenger side does not have a lock/unlock button.

Anyone else as pissed off about that as I am? It's a hassle. You put the car in park and ONLY the driver side gets auto unlocked so I aaaaaaaaaaaalways forget about the other people in my car, until I look back and they're looking at me all pissed off because they're locked inside, still. :|

[Steve244]

Originally Posted by Jennnyy

Passenger side does not have a lock/unlock button.

Anyone else as pissed off about that as I am? It's a hassle. You put the car in park and ONLY the driver side gets auto unlocked so I aaaaaaaaaaaalways forget about the other people in my car, until I look back and they're looking at me all pissed off because they're locked inside, still. :|

No actually. Everyone else has defeated the auto lock or made it so all 4 doors unlock.

You can change the locks to all unlock when you put it in park (auto) or remove the key (MT). Check your manual or this thread.

[buttersandpaper]

1. No engine temp gauge
2. Wish it would've been a 6 speed, almost bought a versa
3. Carpet already has holes in it.
4. Weak paint
5. Wheel weights have already been ripped off
6. already had to replace the ac switch
7. instrumentation lights always stays on even when you have the lights off, afraid it might drain some power from the battery

Well some of these can be modified though

[JeffChap]

1. No covered change drawer in console or dash
2. No Homelink
3. No Bluetooth
4. 6th gear for manual tranny would be nice
5. Cutting up carpet for floor mat install was cheesy

I'm having to dig pretty deep to come up with much -- I love this car!

[1coolride]

1. the fact that its hassle to change the headlight bulbs.
2. now since i have manual i want to have automatic lol.
3. i don't like the monthly payments hehe

[jdmfit88]

i have a 07 fit and going on my 3rd year with it and the only thing i dont like is

1. the power in the motor wish it was more powerful (like a B motor or even a K motor)
2. height adjusted seats (seats to high) i like to sit low in my seat when i drive, im about 6 foot and feel taller when i driving.))

[Nancy08]

Earlier today I noticed that I had a flat tire, so I filled the tire with two cans of Puncture Seal. A few minutes later I drove the car to a mechanic who repaired the tire for me (there was a nail in the tire).

[vamfire_33]

- head rest blocking the center mirror
- mileage 12.1 l/100km (recently tested)bumper to bumper freakin traffic (takes 1 hour for normal 15mins drive)
- ugly stock mugs (14") im using 2006 jazz
- crumpy cornering esp. if you make a U turn

But... positive side are far more than the negative ones. I still Love my Jazz comparatively with the other cars.

[nofitus]

After just 5k miles my wife & I dumped out Fit. We were both in physical therapy for severe back pain. Okay, so no car is right for everyone, but Honda has the record for worse customer relations in the USA--various calls to the man who claims to process all customer queries for Honda USA and he had *nothing* he could tell us about which seats we could switch for ours, whether the seats had been changed from previous models, what kind of rails we had, etc. He didn't have ANY info. What is this? Caveat emptor? Do we went back to Toyota. A superior car in every aspect except the cuteness factor. We couldn't be more disappointed--poor customer relations means we'll never buy another Honda.

[Occam]

Things I don't like are few:

1. Limited front seat travel - if I could slide the seat back another 1-2", I could place the seatback more upright, and the rear legroom would be no different.
2. Thin padding over the seat frame in the front seat. I can feel the rails inside the seat cushion against my right thigh.
3. Crummy armrest-thing on seat. More like a vestigal stub of an armrest than a real one. (can be fixed with a real armrest)
4. Awful cup-holders in the console - they need the little rubber flappies to hold drinks in place.