Hey guys, I've been a member for quite some time but it's my first time posting.

So I bought my fit in march last year. It's a 2013 model and it was brand new. Never had a problem until this spring and it is now at 25k kilometers.

About a month ago, I noticed a lot of paint chips on the hood. I was pissed but could accept it was my fault since I don't have a plastic nor a deflector and I do a lot of highway so I assumed that it happened once in the spring that I was following a truck and received lots of rock and the chips came from there.

I tried fixing them with touch up paint but the result was very bad. In the end I just stopped using the paint and just applied paint sealers on the chip. After about 2 weeks, the paint sealer changed color (now looks like grey dirt) so I made hood is looking very bad. But well, I still accepted it since it was my fault.

Yesterday I noticed 2 scratches on my rear bumper. They are real scratches and the bumper is off. I think it was hit by bike.

So I inspected the whole car and....there are micro rust spots everywhere on the body. And on the hood, I also noticed micro chips (which I think are just getting bigger over time...).

After googling it... I found out that Canadian FITs were actually made in China and not in Japan. There I was pissed. The dealer pitch against Nissan's Versa basically is that the car is made in Japan. As the stickers on the car are written in English, French and Japanese, I never even questioned it... but yeah the serial number starts with LUC... so it's Chinese made.

I'm kinda pissed now and I'll have to see a dealer with this this week. I could understand that they don't take responsibility for the chips, but the rust spots!!? There's a 3 year warranty on body rust, hope it won't be difficult to get it.

I'm going to post some pictures tomorrow, but now I needed to rant to lol. I'm really sad because I love that car but the paint thing is really hell.

 

Sorry to hear about your paint troubles. Do you have any kind of wax/sealant on your car paint? I usually clay bar then apply a sealant, and about a week later, apply a wax. I do this about 2-3 times a year to keep the paint from oxidizing, chipping, or scratching easily. I live in Socal, where we don't see much rain or snow. In Canada, you probably need more protection than we do due to the snow and salt.

Let us know how it goes with the dealer.

 

The rust spots are called Rail Rust. I had them all over my 09 Japan made Fit. It was terrible after the first winter. Get to Crappy Tire and get a clay bar kit. It will remove them and then wax it. You will still get a few next winter but much less. I had none last year.

I have a hood deflector for sale with new mounting hardware. Really don't want to ship it though.

 

micro rust spots sound exactly like black3sr said.. clay bar will fix that..

I had a bunch after my first winter with the fit.. and on the wifes civic gets a lot of that too.. especially both are white so it really is noticeable

would like to see pics if its what we think.. i drive all highway too and had my 2014 for just a year and have noticed a lot of rock chips too... especially on the front bumper area... have a cracked fog light too .. going to cover it with vinyl for now.. hood has some chips but not too bad so far

my old integra after years of highway look like someone blasted the front with a shot gun full of rocks lol

 

I have a 2014 Fit and yes, the paint is really cheap.

Got about 1000 stone chips on my hood and front fenders during the first winter. There are too many to try to fix them with touch-up paint.

My original paint is still better on my 2000 Civic after 15 years of driving...

 

Yep paint is thin and chips or scratches easily. Honda paint is junk these days. Oh well. Must be the eco friendly water based paint.

 

Yep my Japanese made 2010 Fit has a cracked foglight and all kinds of big to little chips on the hood and front bumper. Like others have said I believe the paint is extremely thin/cheap as well. By far the worst of any car I've ever owned.

 

Fewer hood chips if you stop tailgating

 

Or just get paint protection film on the whole hood, bumper, partial fenders and mirrors. LOL.

 

Paint protection film is a good idea. 3m, suntek and Xpel are the popular choices.

 

I have so many chips and rust all over door edge and front hood...

Options
1, get paint again $$$$
2, go to detail shop and spend $$$ 2k...
3. Wrap $$$$
4. Dip it
5. Clearbra....too late

I will soon do the #4

 

Got my 2009 about four months ago and have largely the same issue-lots of small rock chips primarily on the front hood area. Filled in with touch up paint at first and recently bought the hood deflector from dealership for $115. Took me about an hour to install. Looks cool and hopefully will reduce future chips as well as hide existing ones. May be an option for you. I also became fairly diligent about waxing, about once a month to hopefully help. Cheers, it is a funny area Honda decided to skimp on quality...

 

hood deflectors are more for bugs not to hit the windshield. u need to get clearbra if you want actual paint protection.

also i see people cry about their paints often, but it's not just the quality of the paint. it's 50% the user at fault with their driving style.
my '12 has barely any chips as it has clearbra and i dont tail gate.

 

I don't know if its available in the US, but Chipex Car Touch Up Paint - 100% colour match guaranteed! do a colour matched touch up kit that takes a while to repair wide/deep chips, but gives a good result.

Cheap it is not, but you get what you pay for.

 

yah, dr.colorchip maybe?

 

Dr. Colorchip is the only system I used and it works great. The rust spots you see in the rock chips is corrosion, but as long as you treat it, they shouldn't be an issue.

If you are up to it, and have the time, you can tackle a lot of this yourself.
If not, a qualified detailer can help. There are a few very good ones in your area who post on AGO quite a bit. Swing over to Autogeek Online, join the forum and review the Auto Detailing How To Section.

1. Debug & De tar vehicle - wash affected areas first (this is usually aggressive). Bumper cover, behind wheels (rocker panels) etc. Then apply stoners tarminator to remove road tar and gunk. Follow the instructions.

2.) For rail-dust and industrial fall out, clay alone will not remove these types of contaminates which have bonded to the clear-coat. For this you should decon the car with CarPro Iron-X or Allied Iron Debugger. (Follow the instructions).

3.) Fully wash the car with a car soap (not Dawn) with high lubricity.

4.) Clay. Clay will remove over-spray and other contaminants that have bonded to the clear. Clay will make the surface smooth. Smoothness allows the compounds, polishes to work effectively on the surface.

5.) Compound - This will remove light to moderate scratches and defects in the clear

6.) Polish - Micro abrasives to smooth out the surface from the larger abrasives of the compound

7.) (optional depending on next step) Removal of oils from polishes. Generally used if you are going to do a Semi Permanent Nano-Ceramic Glass coating. (i.e. CQuartz or Opti-coat, etc.. many on the market).

8.) Seal and protect. Either a high quality carinuba or polymer sealant.

9.) Maintenance - No Rinse washes are great for maintenance.

Dr. Colorchip works great, it does take a bit of practice, but you can't screw it up. If you make a mistake you can always use the seal-act to remove and retry.

Here is a good slideshow where the entire process is documented.

Also, here is a slideshow of good example where if you're daring you can do some of you're own repairs with decent results. This is a repair I did on my Fit.

Good luck and pm if you have questions. Photo's of what you are seeing are always helpful.

 

i dont live in the snow but I do notice my fit paint chips easily

 

paul_g,
I looked at your slide show and wanted to know what you used to glean the engine? I cleaned my engine on my previous other car 1x a year at the self serve car wash using their engine cleaner and it sparkled but I've heard since then it could cause issues if water gets where it shouldn't so I haven't cleaned my engine on my 2013 Fit.

My problem is some parts under the hood are rusty already and this is a leasesd car. I wanted to purchase the 2016 but if it is going to rust also I may just stick with the lease.
Thanks in advance