About a month ago, our son accidently went off the road coming home from a school concert. Essentially he swerved and overcorrected, and the car rotated almost 180 degrees. Although he didn’t “hit” anything, there was considerable damage to the car. Mainly this was due to the passenger door flying open, and then becoming hyper-extended as it caught some standing water in a drainage swell. Other than body damage and a splashed up interior, the car suffered no structural damage. No impacts, no injuries, no property damage…just a big fat insurance claim...all due to the fact that the passenger door didn’t stay latch. In addition, Honda was not the least bit interested in the door latch failure, nor were they helpful. The repair dealership installed a new door latch at their expense, since American Honda would do nothing. Below is my letter to Honda…be warned, the Fit certainly didn’t perform well in this situation. Other than a slight dip from the road surface, there really was no other reason for the door latch to release and come open. And if it wasn’t for the door, damage would have been quite limited. Thanks Honda for your non-help and a great door latch!

Subject: Door latch failure on Honda Fit 3/11/10
Dear Mr. Hxxxxxxx
The purpose of this letter is to document our conversation held March 10th, 2010 and to re-communicate my request to Honda.
On March 3rd, 2010, my son was involved in a single vehicle accident in his 2009 Honda Fit. Driving home in the evening from a school concert, traveling on a two lane road he lost control by overcorrecting during a right hand curve. This resulted in the vehicle sliding off the roadway toward the left since the road was curving to the right, along with the vehicle rotating clockwise approximately 180 degrees. As the vehicle left the payment and crossed the road shoulder, it entered a shallow drainage swell and came to a stop at the top section. During the accident the front passenger door swung open due to door latch release. As the vehicle traveled thru the drainage swell, the opened passenger door skimmed the drainage water and was hyper extended, bending the door, hinges and front fender. The resulting damage due to the door coming open was approximately $2,500.
The car did not impact anything solid that would cause high-g forces and it was apparent that the door had already swung open as it traversed the drainage swell due to the splash effect of the interior. The car did not impact the drainage ditch earth due to the low angle entry, the passenger door did not impact the earth, and there was no impact damage to the bumpers or undercarriage. There was no deployment of the airbags and my son suffered no injuries.
In talking with my son after the accident, he stated that there were no warning lights indicating that the passenger door was ajar. In addition, I validated that the warning light functioned properly, after I was able to close the damaged door to its fully closed position.
If this door had not opened during this mishap, the resulting damage to the car would have been significantly less. In my opinion the forces encountered during this mishap should not result in the release of the door latch. The door latch did not break and after the accident the door latch still functioned as normal. I can only assume that the “up and down” motion of the vehicle as it exited the roadway resulted in the release of the door latch. The rear passenger door did not open and no structural damage was incurred with this door. The car did not incur any mechanical damage and was immediately drivable from the scene. The car is now located at Xxx Xxxxx Buick/Honda dealership in Xxxxxxxx Florida (321 XXX-XXXX) for repairs.
As stated previously during our telephone conversation, I am requesting Honda do the following:
· Authorize the Xxx Xxxxxxx dealership to install a new door latch for the new front passenger door while the vehicle is being repaired.
I think it is only reasonable that Honda act on this request, especially while the passenger door is being replaced during the repair work. Door latch failure, either due to a weak or defective spring latch mechanism is a serious issue. The next occurrence of premature door latch release could be the result of making a left hand turn while encountering perhaps either road debris or a pothole.
As a customer of Honda products for over forty years, I expect Honda to act responsibly when safety issues are involved.
Thank you.

 

so if i "accidentally" rear-ended someone and the air bag blew up, should honda go good for that as well?

 

Did you decide to post prior to reading? What part of "no impact" did you misunderstand? No, the door latch should not have failed based on the situation. And yes, my son ran off the road, but read the entire post and read what happened, then reply.

And I didn't ask Honda to "fix the car" but to replace an $80 door latch that a small dealership did on their own concern. So, if you make a severe turn, you expect your door to come open?

 

i've been through some bad roads...but never spun out into a ditch.

but for a car door open like described above, is beyond my belief.

OP- do you have any clue or did you son tell you how fast he was traveling at?

your letter to honda seems too nonchalant for them to do anything.

 

A neighbor saw the incident..he was only a short distance from home. He was doing around 40 mph. Both a police offier and sheriff arrived at the same time, looked over the scene and left. The police office stated that she consided it to be an "incident" rather than an accident..no citation.

 

i love the fit, but if honda cant make a simple glove box latch that doesn't endlessly rattle, who's to say the door latch is well designed?

 

How is it possible to lose control and do a 180 with a Fit at 40 mph with only a swerve and over correction? I just don't get it.

 

Regardless of the specifics that went into this accident/incident, this is the very reason I always make sure to lock my doors right after clicking the seatbelt before every ride. After that, it's balls to the walls.

 

was the door completely closed to begin with? do the doors lock automatically like mine do over a certain speed? my doors don't tend to fly open when i lose control in corners because i don't have a habit of speeding into turns.

 

Believe me, I asked that question, more than once. I don’t think he would be driving with the door ajar, plus I tested that the dash warning light worked. But even if the door was ajar, the safety latch should still have held. Also, the rear door would have been subjected to more centrifugal forces than the front passenger door, but it didn’t open.

 

Well, I tried to wish it away too, but couldn't. This particular curve turns to the right, but the road is slanted toward the left side, the side with the drainage swell. Not exactly the best road design. I looked over this quite a bit during the day too. Just missed two large trees. Damage was mostly due to this door coming open. And yes, reactived the door locks. They were turned off.

 

Ah so it all comes down to a poor road design and a door latch fault. Riiight.

 

idk mabey u got a bad one i have done some stupid stuff in a safish maner in my fit and it never had any probs. i have powersled around a corner at 60 mph and hit a pot hole no probs but with alighnment. if this issue woulda happoned to me it woulda already done it thanks for the heads up i wonder if this has happoned to anyone else im glade everyone is ok thanks for the post

 

Your son crashed his car and the door opened. Unless you have video that is the best I can offer.

 

If you seriously believe your own story OP, you need a reality check. Your son is lying to you, I don't know exactly what happened but I know that much. BULLLLLLLSHIT.

 

Yeah, something just doesn't sound right about that story.

 

I read this before there were any replies and yup it smells. I can't wait to hear the son's real version of events. He was ing and I lost it. No effin way is a door going to pop open doing a 180 at 40 mph. How the heck do you do a 180 at that speed anyhow? He been to stunt school?

Solution: Sell the Fit and get him a bus pass.

 

I understand the skepticism here, for I certainly had the same feelings arriving at the scene. But our son is a responsible student, and we took the time to work with him as he worked to get his license. Nonetheless, an inexperienced driver can get himself into trouble quickly.

My point of posting all of this is as follows. There was absolutely no impact damage to the car, both front and back. And the pictures of the car were sent to Honda. No air bags were involved, and no other doors opened. There really was no reason for this latch to “let go”. Sure, you are not supposed to run off the road. But a door should not fly open either. If you take your Fit to an empty parking lot, go 40 mph and abruptly turn the wheel, the car will slide. Do you think one of the doors should pop open? What if you hit some bumps while doing that…should any doors pop open?

After the accident the door latch still worked, which implies that the spring mechanism that keeps the door latched may be weak. Also, I’m disappointed with the response from Honda. They had an opportunity to look at the car. Sad when a small dealership will pay for a door latch to ensure customer safety, but the company that built the car won’t.

 

Listen, I used to live in Florida. I went around an on-ramp at only 30-35 mph on slightly damp (nowhere near approaching wet) pavement and ended up doing a 180. Florida roads get so hot, and accumulate so much oil it is entirely possible to spin out at very low speeds, given the proper conditions. I can't tell you how many times I fishtailed at low speeds on Florida roads.

In Canada, or up north in the U.S., given the OPs described conditions? Most likely not. But in Florida... almost anything is possible as far as screwy road conditions.

Considering the OPs location (Titusville, FL -- across from Cape Canaveral), which is on the Indian River, I would say the conditions can be right for spinning out at 40 mph... even less.

I was born in the great white north. The first several times I drove in Florida on a hot summer day, after a little bit of rain in a busy traffic area, nearly scared the crap out of me.

I've heard of cases where vehicles flexed so much during either collision impact or simply spinning around violently that doors opened, heavy objects were tossed around, and seats even broke lose.

The Fit isn't exactly a tank when it comes to solidity... it's extremely light and flexible.

Personally? I can totally believe a spin-out at 40 mph in Florida.

Although, given the circumstances, it would be extremely hard to prove Honda's need for responsibility for this situation.

Yet, given possible road conditions in Florida, the kid could very well be telling the truth. Kids exaggerate... especially when they perceive trouble. But in this instance, I'm just saying...

 

Pure speculation, but you stated that he landed in, or traversed a drainage swale at speed. Perhaps the car body got flexed enough to pop the door. It would not necessarily show as damage, and could even have been a momentary thing, as opposed to actually creasing the unibody. The body could have twisted axially, or flexed along the wheelbase.

From the areas that I've been to in Florida, the roads tend to be pretty flat except for the crown of the road, and the drainage gullies are pretty deep to deal with the runoff from sudden and frequent showers.