I bought my honda fit used 2 years ago, since then I have had nothing but problems with it. First off it has this light on the dash that tells me when it's warmed up sufficiently to drive, however; it takes a good 15-20 minutes for me to go in the summer or winter, and after a half hour of resting it is back to needing 10-15 to warm up. This is frustrating because while I'm warming it up in the morning for work it will randomly shut off on me. It's a little ridiculous.. I have never driven any other car that takes that long to warm up to drive. If I don't wait for the light to shut off before driving it will stall out on me. Incredibly frustrating when you're in a rush and have 15 minutes to get to work on time, and you only work 5 minutes from home. After owning my fit for maybe 6-8 months i had to have the ignition completely replaced because the shifter would get stuck in park and I couldn't even get the key out of the ignition. I had to have it towed to the dealership i bought it 2 weeks after I brought it home. Then in the middle of February last year i stopped and couldn't start it back up, the key was stuck in the ignition, finally after trying a ton of times to get it out and restart my car I got the key out, and couldn't get it back in to even attempt to restart my car. And the last and final problem I've had with my car is that regardless of what's happening, me idling in traffic or on the high way the engine will jump, like it's going to die on me. I've taken it to the dealership to be looked at and they have told me every single time that there is nothing wrong with my car. They were wrong once and they can't seem to find anything wrong with it currently. I'm incredibly frustrated, I will never buy a honda fit again. I have a friend who also owns a honda fit, a year younger than mine, and hasn't even had one issue with his, he hasn't even heard of waiting 15-20 minutes to start driving it. Is mine a dud? I've had it with mine and am trading it in as soon as possible.

 

Not to be a wise guy but if I worked 5min. form home I'd walk.

 

Sorry to hear about your woes but I'd keep placing my bet on Honda's for their reliabilty. Buying used also leaves you wondering how the previous owner drove it and treated it and part of the troubles could be more related to the previous owner?

As for the temperature light I was told by my dealership one doesn't need to wait for the light to go out before it's safe to drive.

Sorry about your predicament though and I know it must suck to be dealing with the issues you've had.

 

It does sound like there is something else going on that is affecting the car. And yes it is possible to get a "lemon" in any brand/model hopefully that's not the case. I may start by taking it to a different dealer just to rule that out.

On the light to warm up, that shouldn't matter. I regularly start and go no matter what the temp is and you should be able to as well.

 

Just based on your write-up, a lot of your problems will go away once you get rid of your Fit. (1) You won't have to deal with your Honda dealer who sounded like no help at all. (2) You'll get rid of all the issues you've had with your Fit.

But...
(1) Yes, your car could have been a dud!
(2) You will still be 5 min. from work. The short distance you drive is really not good for your car regardless of make. Perhaps shifting to a plug-in electric might be your answer - Prius, Volt, Leaf, etc.

Just my take... Good luck!

 

Living 5 min from work is why I only have 4k on my Fit after owning it for a year. I agree it really doesn't make sense to be driving it everyday for such a short drive unless it's pouring rain. Another plus side is that I can actually get to work quicker on my bicycle than my car.

 

Hope this helps:

Normal:
1. It's normal for any car to take a while to reach "operating temperature." Honda just happens to have a light that tells you when that hasn't happened yet. You can drive it before that light goes off. All those 15 minutes of waiting, for two years? Mmm ... probably wasted. Your friend who "hasn't even heard of" waiting 20 minutes to start driving is correct - he just starts the car and goes, I'm guessing. :P
2. If you are leaving the heater blasting while it warms up, this sucks heat away from the engine and prolongs how long it takes to reach operating temperature. I am guessing you do this for part of the year, from your VT location. Car would likely warm up in 5 minutes if you don't.
3. With an aluminum, 1.5L engine, it's no surprise it sheds its heat a lot faster than (for example) a 3L iron-block V6. So, normal to have cooled down after 20 minutes of not running, especially in cold weather.
4. If you have a remote starter, it's programmed to not run the car for too long until you go put the key in it. This is in case you forget about it. So again, if you have a remote starter .. normal.
5. Your transmission has a torque converter which often locks/unlocks while at a constant speed (it does this instead of shifting, which it would have to do very frequently if it didn't unlock the converter). On the highway this is normal behavior. You will experience a the revs rise for a few seconds, or really as long as you're under load (possibly going uphill?), and then the revs will fall again.

May or may not be normal:
6. Revs going up and down while idling. This is normal IF you have the AC on. If you don't have the AC on and you are consistently experiencing this, I have a bunch of other advice, but I would guess you have just been particularly sensitive to noticing it because of (5) above, and in fact it's only happening when you run the AC.


Not normal:
1. Keys should not get stuck in ignition, nor should the transmission fail to shift; in either case it is probably a sticky interlock and a new key cylinder will solve the problem if the dealer is not willing or able to repair the interlock.


So from my count you have one actual problem. However I would also suggest, since most of your annoyance seems to come from the warmup behavior, that you have installed an engine-block heater (assuming of course you don't have a heated garage). That will keep the block warm overnight (not HOT of course, but it'll take a lot less time to go from 35-120 than it will to go from 10-120; and it'll reduce wear from cold starts.

How frequently have you changed the oil?

 

For the record, it's up 5 minutes up a busy highway, it would take me a half hour to cart my dog with me up to work and back. And when i drive my car with the light still on it will stall on me whenever the rpm drops below 1.. I think it's the rpm I don't know much about cars.

I change the oil when it tells me too, I check it before I drive more than an hour and need to fill up. So it's not like I'm neglecting that, and it's more than a rev, it'll do it for like 5 minutes straight. I feel like any second it could die. I expect do some of it when I do use the ac, but I rarely use the ac.

Thank you all for the reply's.

 

First the ignition switch/lock out whatever is faulty and should be replaced.

The light on dash is just telling you it is not up to normal operating temp. You can still drive it just don't drive the crap out of it til the light goes off.

Two years of letting it sit and idle til it is up to operating temp would or should gum up motor . Worse think you can do. Take it out and drive the crap out of it a few times ie hit the redline on the tach. I suspect performance will improve.

ANd stop letting it idle til it is warm.

Find another Honda dealer to replace the ignition.

 

If the only problem is the ignition once you get that fixed it does not seem like there really any issues. I never warm my car up unless the windows are iced over and never have had a problem once the car is running down the road it warms up quite fast.

I would find a different mechanic if you have only one local dealer. I had a similar problem with a Volvo I owned kept taking it to the dealer only ending up having things that did not needed to be replaced, replaced and still having the problem. Needless to say I dump the car and would never buy a Volvo or a Nissan from that dealer.

 

Get your valve lash adjusted and your problem will be solved. This is something that needs to be done with these engines regularly. My wife's car would run rough and it stalled once around the 50k mark. Fixed the lash and it's been good since.

There are many mantainence items on a car that need attention that "the car" won't tell you to do. This is a expensive complex bit of machinery it would be wise to learn at least the basics of how it operates and what needs to be looked after.

The ignition is a faulty part and an unfortunate failure but very minor compared to the problems most other makes have. The warming up light is pure user error and the rough idle is a lack of maintenance. My fit has gone 120k with not a single problem with just simple routine maintanence. These are fantastic cars.

 

Your fit could possibly be a dud, however do you have any previous records from the original owner? That would've helped out a lot.

Something sounds def off with your fit. Hope you find a fix, Im sorry yours is such a nuissance for you. They are definitely nice cars!

 

I think the key here is the first sentence.
You bought your Honda Fit "used".
You never know exactly what you might be getting with a used vehicle. But what you are experiencing is NOT normal.
I don't have to wait until the light goes off before I start driving, I just drive somewhat conservatively until it is warmed up....just as I would any vehicle. But the light is not a precise "don't drive it until it is out" parameter. If your vehicle is stalling out before the light is out, then something else is wrong.

Being a used vehicle and with all the problems you are exhibiting I suspect you have a Fit that was in a wreck and/or is simply a lemon.

When you say "dealership" is this a honda dealership? Did you buy it from a Honda dealer? Is it a certified used vehicle? Did you see a Carfax?

You shouldn't be having the problems you are having. How old is this used Fit?

My 2010 which I was lucky enough to be able to buy new, is my daily driver. I also live relatively close to my work...for now. The drive is probably less than 10 minutes, and I've never had a problem.

I start my vehicle, and unless it's a extremely cold day, I normally just start driving. I try to keep the RPM's low and drive conservatively until the warm up light goes out. This usually just takes a few miles or a few minutes and in the meantime my vehicle is NOT stalling out.

With your laundry list of problems....my fear is you just bought a "used" Fit with some secrets in it's past. But your experience is not the norm of ownership of a Honda Fit.