1st issue I have seen on the 2008's. Kid that entered it at 1st read looks like he made a mistake and is a Gold digger. Never said one word about the surface he jacked the car on. Notice he claims to of been injured by checking the box but never described an injury in the verbiage.

Hard to say reading it if the jack is bad but figured I'd pass this along. I may get mine out and try it.

CONSUMER COMPLAINT: ODI Case Number: 10246846
Component: EQUIPMENT:MECHANICAL:JACKS
Details: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I TRIED TALKING TO HONDA WHERE I GOT THE CAR... AND THEY REFUSE TO PAY FOR ANY DAMAGES TO MY CAR CAUSED BY THEIR FAULTY JACK. WHAT HAPPENED: I HAD A FLAT TIRE. I WENT TO FIX IT USING THE JACK INCLUDED WITH THE CAR/SPARE TIRE. I USED THE SPECIFIED LIFT POINTS (EVEN CHECKED MY OWNERS MANUAL 3 TIMES). I'VE TAKEN AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING CLASSES AT COLLEGE AND EVEN A CAR CARE CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL- AS I'M NO STRANGER TO WORKING ON CARS. THE JACK BENT SIDEWAYS AND COMPLETELY COLLAPSED- WHILE I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF TAKING OFF THE TIRE. LUCKILY I ONLY GOT THE TIRE PART OF THE WAY OFF- AND THE CALIPER LANDED ON THE INSIDE OF THE RIM (OF MY FLAT TIRE) AND NOT MY FOOT. I ENDED UP BRUISED AND WAS THANKFUL THAT MY FOOT WASN'T INJURED. HOWEVER, I WAS FRUSTRATED THAT A JACK THAT IS SPECIFICALLY MADE BY HONDA FOR MY CAR WAS NOT SAFE TO USE AND THAT HONDA WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR FAULTY AND UNSAFE WORK. IN TALKING WITH HONDA- THEY SAID THAT I MUST HAVE LIFTED IT WRONG OR NOT ON THE RIGHT TYPE OF SURFACE. I TALKED WITH DOUG ROWLEY (SALES MANAGER AT SCHLOSSMANN'S HONDA CITY) AND HE TOLD ME HONDA IS UNWILLING TO FIX MY CAR NOR REPLACE THE DAMAGED RIM (LET ALONE EVEN CONSIDER THAT THEIR JACK IS FAULTY AND THIS MAY HAPPEN TO SOMEONE ELSE). HIS CONTACT INFO: (414) 328 3500; FAX: (414) 328 3532; EMAIL: 3DOUGR@SCHLOSSMANNAUTO.COM MY CAR IS A 2008 HONDA FIT. OVERALL I'M HAPPY WITH THE CAR- JUST NOT THE FAULTY AND DANGEROUS (EVEN LIFE THREATENING) CREATED BY THEIR INFERIOR JACK. I KNOW THAT MY CAR IS WIDELY POPULAR- ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN- I JUST DON'T WANT THIS HAPPENING TO ANYONE ELSE. PLEASE HELP SINCERELY, AMANDA HOFF *TR
Occurrences: 1Injuries: 1Fail Date: 08/01/2008Deaths: 0Date added to datbase: 10/27/2008

 

I saw an 09 jack kinda tweeked...which only confirms what we should already know; that scissor jacks aren't strong and really only work on level, sturdy/paved surfaces.
Havent had to use mine yet. *knocks on wood*

 

That sucks so bad. Honda should definitely pay for the damages caused by their faulty equipment. Bring it to court!

 

i use mine all the time ('07 jack) and one of the legs is beginning to bend... i'm going to replace this one with a spare toyota jack that i have lying around in my parent's garage - i've used the toyota jack for years and it shows no sign of damage or aging

 

Guys, if you jack up your car alot in the garage or at home. Get a real jack. Don't trust your life or limb to a crappy piece of metal.

 

i have a 3ton floor jack that won't fit underneath my Fit because it's lowered - it just barely fit at stock height too. i use the stock jack to clear the 3ton, then the 3ton to do the rest of the heavy lifting... repeated use of this method wore out the stock jack, which leads me to this forum topic: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...wered-fit.html

sorry, didn't mean to thread jack (no pun intended, srsly...)

 

The key word, in Post #2, is "paved" surface. Any scissors jack will skew sideways in the dirt or mud. This happened on my '06 Scion. I knew in advance that it might, so I was ready for it and suffered no damage. If you are worried about jack safety, get a AAA membership and let them handle the flat, or carry a 15" square piece of 1/2" thick plywood to use as a base in the dirt if the need arises.

 

ive used scissors jacks many times and never encountered this problem... but
who's to say the metal was not weak on his particular jack.

harbor freight's racing jacks are low profile enough that it fits under my
lowered MINI and G35C and have about 1" to spare. i have 2 of their
jacks.

www.harborfreight.com

 

scissor jacks shouldnt be used on uneven pavement or on a hill

 

Yo Ken, I agree with your info. on low profile "racing" jacks. At home, they can't be beat. But no one is going to carry one in their car to use for the rare flat tire. Anyone on the forums who intends to do any under car work should invest the low price of a low profile floor jack. Scissors jacks are safe in perfect conditions, not so safe in less than perfect conditions. Guess what conditions your flat will always present. But supplying a safe jack in the car would greatly reduce fuel economy and interior space. You'll see that when you carry your floor jack home from Costco, or Harbor freight if you live near one.

 

I think its the SAME jack used in ALL HONDAS for OVER TWENTY YEARS....

time tested and proven

must of jacked it wrong

 

go ahead and bring it to court..and while you're there why don't u sue the sun for my sunburn i had 20 years ago when i fell asleep on the beach?

go ahead and bring it to court..and while you're there why don't u sue the sun for my sunburn i had 20 years ago when i fell asleep on the beach?

the sun brings life to the planet...if abused, may cancer bring a slow painful death

my point = if used properly, it can save your life, if not it can take it

....could also be a defective jack!!!!!!!

prepare to spend a fortune in legal fees if u do plan on suing (if u want to even have a remote chance of winning) (what kind of lawyers do u think a multinational multi billion dollar company like honda has?]

 

DUDE make 1 post with what you want to say... not 5!

 

He said the jack twisted and the car dropped on the caliper....

I would bet money he jacked up the front and didn't put the parking brake on, just a little bit of momentum and nothign to resist rolling a car will fold a scissor jack without a problem.

I've personally seen it happen, my friend was using his spare tire jack on his Grand Prix and he forgot the parking brake and the car went over from the force of loosening the caliper bolts.

 

you can also try driving your wheels onto something like a block of wood that will give you clearance to get your floor jack under the car.

 

the jack on my friends 07' Si I THINK is easier to lift a car than mine... It sucks because i cant use gorilla ramps on my car... I have some sitting at home but my car is WAYY too low and i heard some nasty stories about FWD cars spitting them across the floor :O not for me

 

Good pass. Considering the number of others who complained the jack 'bent'.
That 'bent' is the key.
Does that meant the jack leaned over or some metal actually bent. If the jack merely leaned over, and in over 60 years I have seen that happen, the car was not stable enough to jack no matter the ground or frame lift point. Just sloped ground readily causes a jacked vehicle to fall over and it doesn't take much.
If however, a metal part of the jack bent from the force of lifting then the jack was defective and damages due.
I suspect the former based on my examination of the jack in my Fit. We have a dozen scissors jacks from cars that we use in performance of several maintenance functions and not one ever failed from a metal part bending. (we have screwed up the lifting rings/slots from overenthusiastic 'winding' but even then the jack didn't fail).
PS thats why any time you jack a vehicle always back up the jack, including nice hydraulic floor jacks, with car stands. Always.
PS if your car is lowered try removing the cup cake on the lift end and see if you can get the jack end under the frame. We do it here.

 

it won't "spit" the ramps across the floor unless you dump the clutch or launch the car when going up or down the ramp. as long as you do it smoothly it'll be fine. remember there's all the weight of the front of our cars pressing down on the ramp to hold it down instead too, which is pretty much the whole weight of our cars since they're so unbalanced.

 

DD is right. This situation is impossible. Before the ramps could get away from the car, the rocker panels (body strip under the doors) would be holding the car off the ground, would be bent to hell, and you would have to lever yourself out the window to get out because the doors would never open.

 

Ps: I just used my '09 Fit jack today to get the front end high enough for my big floor jack to go under the front end. This is definitely not the same jack that came with my '07 GD3. It is smaller and flimsier. This is intended as an emergency use only jack, to be used with the utmost caution, and never on dirt, mud, or uneven terrain. Watch out if you need to use this thing.