Hello,

I wanted to find out if anyone has come across this issue or might know the cause of it.

I recently purchased a CPO 15 Fit LX with the CVT and I'm noticing that when I'm braking and coming to a full stop, the closer I get to stopping I notice the car kind of shudders or shakes before coming to a complete stop. My initial thoughts were warped rotors, but it doesn't shake when I brake hard at freeway/highway speeds, nor do I feel any shaking/vibration in the steering wheel. I've never owned a CVT before, so I'm not all that familiar with how they feel when they're about to go out, but I have this bad feeling it might be the transmission.

So being a CVT, I know it doesn't really "downshift" but it almost feels like a traditional auto when it automatically downshifts, but the trans is older and more worn so it's not as smooth when doing so. To describe it further, it feels like the trans is slowing down or so, but somehow that "shift" in speed is causing the car to shudder or even bounce like it's on a rougher patch of road.

Since the car is a CPO, it apparently went through a pretty extensive inspection where they did inspect the trans, and it got a pass. Granted, it seems like you can't (or shouldn't?) actually trust those things, but who knows? The trans fluid was also changed at approx 33,300 miles and it's sitting at 34,700 now, so I don't think it's the fluid (unless they under filled it?).

Hopefully somebody can provide some clarity on this issue.

Thanks!

 

check lug nuts, and then report back

 

Many of the 2015 models have brake rotors that were not properly annealed. They often warped to the point where they had to be replaced before 10K. Search this subforum for details.

I'd take it back to the place that sold you the CPO, tell them about what you're experiencing and ask them to check the rotors.

 

I noticed that my brand new 2019 is silky smooth except for abrupt starts and stops - I attribute that to the soul-robbing CVT and the Wizard of Slush that lives inside the CVT's brain.

 

Thanks for pointing out one of those obvious, but commonly overlooked items. To be honest, I've experienced loose lug nuts before and this doesn't feel/sound like that, but I went ahead and checked it out after work, with a torque wrench as well. The lugs were fine and the wheels seemed to be seated fine on the hub.

Any other ideas?

 

Although I have no previous experience with CVTs, what you're describing is exactly what I was expecting. I've heard of the "rubber-band" effect or so that a lot of people complain about, which tbh I'm not sure what exactly that is, but it just seems off beyond any of those aforementioned traits of a CVT. It's almost like when you downshift but don't rev-match, the RPMs don't jump or anything like that and it's not super jerky like botching a downshift, but the car just kind of bounces and shudders when coming to that complete stop.


I am considering taking it back to the dealer to ask them to check on this, but one, it makes me wonder how reliable/trustworthy they can be, especially when it seems like they missed a few things with this car, even after the inspection (the wipers were items that they checked off as good, but when I looked at them, they were falling apart and needed replacement).


Thanks for the responses everyone!

 

Got a few days to devote to reading time? Search this subforum for all the problems on the 2015s coming out of the Celaya, Mexico plant. There were so many QC issues, it's hard to know where to start. It's safe to say that Honda had massive problems with QC at the new facility, and moved production to Japan just to sort everything out.

With 2015s and early 2016s, there is a TSB for the entire fuel injector/rail assembly. If they failed before warranty expired, they were replaced, but if out of warranty, again, Honda didn't always goodwill toward repairs. So now we're talking $1500-2000 repair because the injectors have to be purchased in flow-matched quads, not a few hundred for a starter. That kind of thing. So yeah, we hear you, and have been documenting this all along.

 

Not sure if I would dedicate a few days lol, and I didn't go thread by thread, but I did do some searching before I posted this thread. Also tried to do other online searches using Google, etc. Unless I overlooked something, I wasn't able to find someone who was experiencing the same issue. On the other hand, I am aware of and read quite a bit about the fuel injector/rail issue. I actually attempted to have the dealer/service center replace the injector/fuel rail with the updated parts, but they pushed back saying that they were aware of the TSB, but hadn't had anyone come in for those issues. I actually meant to start another thread to see if anyone had any ideas/suggestions on getting the fix done. I do have the CPO warranty, so (fingers crossed/knock on wood) if the problem arose within this next year or so, they would have to fix it, but I'd rather not leave it to chance. Especially since it seems like Honda knew about this and just tried to sweep it under the rug.

 

warped brake rotors?

any suspension components loose? (ie, the camber bolts, the nuts at top of strut)

 

Have you taken it in anywhere yet for evaluation, or is this all conjecture?

We can sit here and guess all day as to what your vehicle's problem is.

If you have CPO status, by all means, lean on that dealer to stand behind their work and evaluate the problem. Once that happens, let us know.

 

I talked about this a little bit in my initial post, I initially thought brake rotors, but I guess it's worth taking a deeper look at it since another member mentioned the rotors on early 3rd-gen fits being an issue.

I hear you, I'm all for having the dealer take care of this. I'm also about making sure I do my due diligence and rule out any obvious or easy fixes that I can do myself. Also, I want to make sure I give the dealer a decent direction to head into. Thanks for the suggestions and help though. I'll more than likely be taking it into the dealer here sometime soon.

 

The Fit production move back to Japan had nothing to do with quality issues but was to provide a production line for the start up of the new HR-V. It made more sense to temporarily move the Fit back to Japan because there were already production lines there making the Fit for the Japanese and other markets and parts supply lines were in place. Once the Mexican plant had been expanded it was possible to move the Fit back to Mexico and manufacture both the Fit and the HR-V in the same plant. A second plant was later built for the HR-V so that it's now manufactured at two locations in Mexico.

I don't believe that Honda ever goodwilled injector repairs once the warranty was over. They did cover most/all of the cost once the warranty was over IF you could show that you had reported a fuel injector related problem to the dealership while still under warranty. Typically the dealership failed to properly diagnose the problem originally and replaced something else other than the injectors. eg a failed catalytic converter was replaced under warranty but the mechanics didn't realize that the cat failed because defective fuel injectors pumped excessive gas into the engine which the engine couldn't burn and the excess raw gas then got dumped into the cat where of course it caught fire in the high cat temperatures and burned out the cat. As a result when fuel injector problems were later diagnosed after the warranty was over Honda then covered most of the cost because the problem had existed while under warranty and wasn't fixed back then.