We were waiting for our new 2012 Fit to come in from the holding yard and already had a deposit down. Salesman told us the Fit was made in Japan. So while I'm picking out accessories on the internet, I stumble upon the news article about Fit's being imported into Canada from China. I called the dealers sales manager, and after a few days of delay while he "checks with the regional manager", I finally just ask him for the 1st 3 digits of the VIN from their computer. Sure enough - Chinese.

So sitting in my driveway is a brand new 2012 Golf TDI (my second choice).

Funny how Honda won't dare import these into the U.S. but it's OK to dump them into Canada, which is a miniscule market compared to the U.S. I wonder how many others are going to find this a deal breaker...

 

The US is getting Mexican made Fits in a year or two... I think that's worse.

 

I have seen Mexican built CR-Vs. The quality is on par with the CR-V assembled at East Liberty. My other car is a first gen Ford Focus made in Mexico. I have no issues with the assembly quality. So I don't see why Mexican made Fits would be inferior.
Chinese made Fits.... hmmm... I'll pass on that. I have been to China and I have seen the Fits there. The Chinese one has body gaps that aren't as even as the Japan or Thailand made Fits. Who know what the rest of the car is like.

 

So, my american made toyota has flaws in build quality that I don't like and notice until after purchased.
So QA problems are universal, it just depends on the management to maintain the QA.

Your fancy trendy apple products are all made in china and no one seems to complain about the build quality of those.

 

I could be wrong, but isn't your new Golf made in Mexico?

That's a deal breaker for some people too...

I don't think people should be too worried if their Fit was made in China. It still has to meet all the same Honda requirements/standards. Until issues with Chinese made Fits start popping up, we should give Honda the benefit of the doubt.

That said, I'm glad my 2011 was made in Japan

 

not sure about you guys but My fit was made in Heaven.
I can scan a copy of the window sticker to prove it.

 

@raymond : I don't know what would be a problem with a chinese fit ??

have you really seen one chinese made fit with your very own eyes ??

It will pass the same QA tests as the Japanese ones or ones from anywhere the world will do, I don't think just by inspection or driving one would find difference..

you mean to say American made fits have no problems ??

Seriously man, seriously...

But on the other hand spreading things like these would keep many away from Fitting away..

Also I know its your monies and you want to spend on something worthwile, so something worthwile for you might not be for another.. So Congrats and Enjoy your new polo (germanTank) money well spent (your way offcourse)..

atleast don't b.s. about chinese fits.. Go buy something else (yes,you already did)

edit : @raytseng is absolutely right

 

Do you know which pick-up made in America has the most American made parts:

 

Nice one BK!

Close to 2 months since I purchased my Fit and feel the same way still.

I don't think being made in China would have been a deal breaker for me. A test drive and thorough examination would have been adequate.

A VW Golf TDI certainly wasn't within my budget when I was considering a new car. No question it's a great car but I don't think it has the same reliability record as Honda.

I had entertained getting a Chevy Sonic but felt the Honda was a better value with a proven track record.

 

I don't see the issues here.

My previous car, a mk3 Volkswagen Golf was built in mexico and it was one of the sturdier mk3's in the local vw community.

I doubt any automaker would risk a name with a bad quality build. It happens but I doubt it would.

Also, you have to consider the China of 2011/2012 is WAY ahead of the game compared to 10 or even 5 years ago. They've stepped up their game and have caught up with north american autobuilders.

I think your choice to look at buying a fit then changing your mind based on where it was made was a poor one. Especially considering you bought a 2012 TDI golf.

Hopefully your car see's the highway so your DPF doesnt plug up. Oh I should mention I worked for vw as a tech, it was funny to see a ton of TDI's come back with clogged DPFs due to a ton of stop and go city use. Not to mention TDI's are very needy bitches when it comes to servicing.

And dont get me started on the interior.


Well good purchase I guess. Just make sure you let it stretch its legs every now and then on the highway to clean out the DPF and use EXACTLY what VW says to use for oil. I'd also use oil filters from VW.


Enjoy!

 

same story here. Was initially going for the Chevy Sonic LTZ but in the end got scared off by a 1st year model Chevy, then saw the brake recall and got really scared off. Decided to go with the HOnda reputation and reliability. Liked the Golf a lot too but never really gave it a look as it was also out of my budget. I've had the Fit 2 days and am extremly pleased with the handling and pleasantly surprised by the Horsepower which was my main concern.

 

Agreed with all the posts that it is the quality control that matters, not where it is assembled. Like all companies, Honda has quality control inspectors who will approve or reject the assembled products. If you trust Honda, you should trust that they aren't going to allow their quality to slip just because the car is assembled in a certain country, whether it is china, Mexico, or Japan. Since there is quality control in place, what is important is who designed the car. If you don't trust Honda, by all means, go with a company you do trust.

Checking the True Delta car reliability website shows the VW Golf as having 2-3 times more owner-reported issues than the Fit. I sincerely hope you have a good experience with your car, but it's a big purchase decision and I believe Honda has the edge over VW for car reliability. I'm in the market for a new car this Spring and the Fit is in the lead for my choices.

It's gotten popular to bash China, as even the NY Times has joined in this past time, but their latest gambit backfired on them:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._in_china.html

 

Yamaha and Honda have been making motorcycles and scooters in China for several years now. When manufactured under their factory specifications, they are just as good quality. I would assume the same with Honda's cars, too. Just because a car is assembled in Japan doesn't guarantee perfection. Remember Toyota & the runaway Prius?

 

Damnit, I thought the ridgeline was going to be first... Actually a good portion of it was made in Canada. If I remember the window sticker right, 80% of the Ridgeline was sourced from North America, and it is assembled in the US & Canada.

I don't understand the OP accepting a vehicle with more inherent problems over one which is made someplace where the "STEREOTYPE" is cheapness.

It's almost like lowering your standards so you won't be disappointed when something does go wrong.
I can't wait until the first person has a Lemon (that came from china)... It'll be no holds barred bashing on where it was made... not the fact that it could be a lemon.

The other thing is that the standards of quality aren't set by "china", but by the manufacturer. Honda makes high quality cars, does it really matter where the parts come from if they all meet the same standard and build quality? remember when American cars were Shitboxes that broke down regularly? The quality standards of the manufacturers were to blame, not the location where they were made. The quality standards of US manufacturers was basically "good enough". If it wasn't the case, (By logic of location built), 15 years ago when the escort & civic were both made in the US by American Workers, the escort should have been as good as the Civic because they were both made in the US. It wasn't the case because Honda has Higher standards than Ford.

Also, remember that honda is largely into Automation and that technology will be the same from location to location.

~SB

 

Well that sucks you didnt get a Fit, I would not care where my Honda is built due to that fact its still a Honda (but i can said my is JDM as Fu K). As for your TDI I hope VW is using better metal for there Cams, unlike the MKV TDI. my friend had a jetta tdi and the cams lobes just wore down like a pencil eraser,do to cheap metal and VW didn't do a thing about it and they knew of the problem. So have fun with your new tdi.

 

Apple products are assembled in China and they are very high quality with good QC. Hmm.

 

Just read on wikipedia that the Honda Fit/Jazz has been manufactured in China since 2004 and that the Fit EV pre-production demo models were also built in China in November 2011. Honda trusted their Chinese production facilities for such a high-profile project, it should be good enough for us.

 

Good point, mis-information will run rampant when that happens.

LOL, no one blamed the Japanese factories when the Fit's power window controls had to be recalled because of the possibility they would catch fire.

 

'cept for the explosions, human abuse, and such.

I don't think we should be playing with China, but that cat's long out of the bag. Whose at fault? We are. Consumerism/Capitalism and their quest for lower costs without consideration of externalities.

Would I buy a car made in China? Sure. I'm part of the problem. I buy their Dell's made by the same company that makes Apple products. Almost everything I buy is made there. Except for my clothes which come from some other 3rd world sweatshop, and my burgers that come from feedlots here.

I'm very conflicted.

 

Wow, if this is the OP's sentiments, better check that Ipad, Iphone, flat panel, etc... and your clothes, shoes... in the closet...