Greetings,

I've been a lurker for a few years now and found the info helpful and sometimes amazing. This post brings to an end of my experience with a brand new 2008 Honda Fit.

My story:

I'm a big Honda fan, from an early age, bikes and cars. I've purchased my Fit and Civic brand new with cash. I say that because I worked hard to save the money to buy them and I take serious care of them. I bought the Fit for my wife to drive the kids around and save gas money. I purposely bought the manual transmission for longevity. My wife hated it. From the second day of owning it, I noticed an ever so slight pulse as the car slowed to a stop. I bought it on a Friday night and took it back to the dealer Monday morning. They said they couldn't find anything other than the battery went dead on them and they replaced it.

The pulse got worse and the noise started. I called Honda service at 33,000 and asked about recalls or extended warranties. I mentioned the info I found on Fit Freaks with the Jazz in Europe. They said they weren't doing anything for this. I had the dealer listen and they said it was a normal noise. I figured I was on the hook for a transmission at some point, so I let it go. I really, really wanted to see it break to show them they had a problem. The noise became so bad, it could be heard down the street and around the corner. I figured this was good advertising for people not to buy a Fit, so I let it go even more. I finally just couldn't take it, and neither could the neighbors. Neighbors asked me not to drive it through the neighborhood at night. It was that loud.

Two weekends ago, a salvage Fit with a manual transmission popped up on Craigslist. I got it for $200. I figured it couldn't be any worse than what I had, and figured it was becoming dangerous to drive with the one I had. I swapped the transmission and bam, no more noise. I tore down the old one and just like Fit Freaks said, a bearing was bad. It was the one closest to the the clutch on the main shaft. The furthest one one the lay shaft is shot too. There are two large spalled spots on the inner race of the one on the main shaft.

I am totally disappointed with Honda. Because of my involvement with cars and bikes, many of my friends ask what type of car to buy. I have helped four people buy Hondas (Pilot, Accord LX, CRV, another Accord), plus I bought two. I also feel I'm the one that convinced my father to buy his first Civic DX, then his Accord and finally his Odessy. I can no longer recommend Honda and I am more than happy to tell them my story with my Fit. I also have the bearing race and pictures to show the true Honda quality and customer support. Though they have made money off my friends, family and myself, they will make no more.

Pretty sad after I've been a supporter since they late '70's.

If info on the tranmission is needed I'd be glad to answer what I can.

Thanks for letting me vent, and of course, the info that helped me work this out.

Cheers
Slaghead

 

Wow, Slag, really sorry to hear that. Did your Euro research show the problem to be defective bearings, installation issue or both?

My '08 Sport w/MT is just under 85K and the clutch is still fine. I've owned it since 10K and drive it carefully. I'm curious if others are running into the MT bearing issues.

 

Wow, I am REALLY sorry to hear that you went through that.

I think at around 30K I noticed a similar odd trans noise at idle in neutral in my 2008 Mt Sport.

I took it to my dealer, and told them it was the transmission. They took it apart, and confirmed ALL of the trans main bearings were out of alignment. They corrected it for me under warranty...

It really sounds to me like your Honda dealer that refused to listen to you is the problem. Now that you have waited, you can attempt to take it back through escalations to Honda Service USA, but that is an unfortunate and up hill battle I am afraid.

 

Greetings,

I do blame myself for not going after the dealer more for this, but it was soooo slight of a bumping feel, that there was no way they were going to admit anything. I went through other channels as well. I know three people in Honda (HR, Service and Racing). Nothing.

The noise really didn't show itself until 60k miles, which was well outside the warranty, and then it really got bad around 80k. I pulled it at 85k. This is consistent with the Jazz in Europe. Fortunately, it was a cheap fix ($200) and an afternoon's work to swap. I have a lift in my garage and I've pulled engines and transmissions, so it just wasn't a big deal.

Still, no more Honda's for me, and I won't recommend them anymore. I'll still work on them though.

Cheers