I'm looking to purchase a used fit and one popped up on my radar, but it seems to have some odd circumstances attached to it. It's a 2019 EX-L with less than 2k miles on it. According to the Carfax report it was purchased in April of 2019 and just traded in. The really weird thing is the service history report says it had the torque converter flushed and transmission fluid changed just 30 miles before it was offered for sale. It seems really weird that the dealer would do this on a new car if something wasn't terribly wrong with it, also weird it got traded in so quickly with barely any use. I've searched high and low and can't find any reports of people having issues with the CVT or torque converter right off the assembly line. Has anyone heard of anything, or can someone offer up some wisdom that might help ease my paranoia? The car is 2.5 hours away so I haven't test driven it yet, but I'm planning to in a couple days. I'm hoping someone can give me some tips for when I do look at it. Any advice? Or maybe I shouldn't consider this one. It is a CPO though...

P.S. This is my first post/thread, my apologies if I posted in the wrong section.

 

Welcome. The CVT is not a known problem area on the GK5. The known problem areas are:

1. Fuel injector and rail assembly.

2. Starters, esp. on pushbutton models.

3. VTC actuator.

4. For the 2017 mid-cycle refresh on, door leaks.

You can scan this forum for details. The injector / rail assembly is the most expensive and problematic. $2-3K in repairs if out of warranty is not unheard of.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! After searching those specific topics, it seems like commenters have suggested that the 2 most troubling issues (VTC and fuel injectors) have been remedied by updated parts (which I assume should be installed on a '19 model year car?). I've also read that the CVT has been very reliable. So can you think of any reason why someone (I assume it was the dealers decision since it was done 30 miles before listing the cars) would elect to flush the CVT and torque converter so soon? Do new CVTs sometimes make a noise or something that can be remedied by new fluid?

Also, regarding the 4 issues you listed, do you know if Honda's CPO (7 year, 100k) program has covered any of those issues? I don't have any experience with a CPO car, in fact, I've never owned anything under warranty before. I've always owned cars way too old for that.

 

Flushing the CVT fluids on a new Fit is simply unheard of and implies a factory defective CVT probably producing some noise which the dealer tried to fix with new fluid (cheaper than replacing the transmission). My guess would be that the problem is still there and will show up again real soon. Dealer records should show what the problem was and if they are not willing to share that information with you I'd just walk away.

 

I think the two worst issues are the injectors and the starter. The VTC actuator makes a horrible noise on startup, but doesn't seem to otherwise affect function. Many folks are letting that one go.

Keep in mind that any remedy is on your dime if out of warranty, so the fuel injectors/rail are not exactly "remedied" unless you think $2-3K out of pocket is a good idea.

 

Thanks for the advice woof. Since they are closed today I'm going to call them tomorrow morning and try to get some information out of them. Do you think I should still consider the car if they come clean about why they did the service? Or should I just try to forget about the car and keep looking if they don't replace the CVT? It is under warranty and Honda certified, I'd think the risk of any potential issue coming back after 7 years would be minimal, right? Of course, I'd have to deal with the hassle of dealing with a dealer to try to get it replaced...

When I first saw the vehicle listed online and looked at the attached carfax my thinking was:
1. The fit is an inherently loud vehicle and the first owner didn't realized how loud (or maybe their first car with a CVT),
2. They complained about it and the dealer tried to placate them by doing a fluid change,
3. When it didn't magically make it quieter they decided to get rid of it...

Of course, this is probably just my brain trying to justify getting a good deal on a Fit. I's practically a new car that's $2,500 off MSRP, essentially the same price of an EX.

 

Thanks bargainguy, I guess I was thinking monetarily those were the biggest of the 4. A starter is annoying, but at the end of the day a simple bolt on part that almost anyone could probably replace (of course I have no idea where it is on the fit, but I've heard it's a relatively easy car to work on), even if it fails way earlier than it should.

So do we know if the new parts that Honda came out with to address the VTC and fuel rail issues are standard equipment on '19 fits, or did they not make it to the assembly line?

 

As an owner I don't consider the Fit to be an unusually noisy vehicle.
They may have drained the fluids to see if any metal particles come out with the fluid indicating that the CVT is in the process of self destructing but that's just speculation. You need to get more information to make you feel comfortable with whatever happened. Otherwise walk away.

 

It may be a certified car so the Honda(?) dealer automatically changed out the fluids as part of the re-conditioning..
I have a 2017 LX with CVT at about 46K miles. I have not had any problems with the car. I use the cheapest 87 octane gas. Only maintenance so far, changed the oil/filter at around 20% life with Mobil 1 0-20 wt, and changed out the coolant with Prestone Extended Life Antifreeze..

 

You'd think a starter would be an easy fix, right? Search this subforum for all the horror stories about how the starters are actually failing. The fail begins intermittently and is often ascribed to other factors first. On top of that, the pushbutton start models seem most affected, so there's the runaround with replacing the start switch - which might be a bad design too. I believe the circuit in the pushbutton start models is not robust enough to carry the load, unlike the key start, where a mechanical switch completes the circuit.

In one case, a dealer charged a $125 diagnostic fee just to say yep, it's a bad starter. The owner was just out of warranty and Honda didn't goodwill anything toward the deal, and the dealer got an extra $125 on top of the ~$700 starter replacement. Right.

The injector / rail issue has not been fixed since the 2016 redesign IMO. We are still getting reports of injector failure in the newest models. That alone is a huge red flag to me.

 

The only CVT issues known were on some of the very early first year models which required a reprogramming to fix.

 

Wow, that is all very disconcerting. I just saw the latest posts on the fuel injection thread. Earlier, when I looked, I didn't see the '19 ex that was affected. Also, I never would have thought that much trouble could be caused by a starter motor, or what should just be an "on-off" button... Has me thinking maybe I shouldn't buy a fit. Any guess what percentage of Fits are affected by these issues?

 

Not a clue. We can only go by reports here about how many starters are failing. It's enough to recognize it as a problem area, esp. when starters begin failing well before the standard 3/36 warranty expires.

 

My 2019 Fit LX with the CVT is fine. I can't image why they'd flush the CVT unless the previous owner complained about the shift quality. If you're in a state with Inspections, you might be able to locate the previous owner through the Inspections Office. The dealer - if they want to sell you the car - will also show you all of the service records.

 

Well, the hard decision was made for me. I called the Honda dealer this morning to try to get some answers and make an appointment to look at it and it sold Saturday evening. I guess now I just need to decide whether or not I still want to look at Fits after reading about some of the issues. I guess all makes and models have their issues though. I assume most folks on here have had good luck with the GK5 so far. My main attraction to it is cost, efficiency, reliability (in question now) and overall utility. It has more cargo space than any of the compact cars I've looked at, let alone sub-compacts. I have been looking for an '18 or '19 model year car for the minor improvements to cabin noise reduction they claim to have made over previous years and the remainder of a warranty. Now I think I might consider biting the bullet and going for a brand new Fit (I was trying to save a couple grand), just so I have the full warranty and pray that I don't have any problems.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I appreciate it.

 

Yup. All cars have problems and the more time you spend digging into the details the more problems you find. Some cars/brands of course are worse then others. The Fit is actually one of the best cars for quality in the subcompact category.

 

Every car has its share of problems. Mine certainly had recalls (including CVT reprogramming) done and warranty repairs completed. The one thing it's been is very reliable. It starts every time and gets me to where I'm going. I bought the fit for pretty much what you're stating and it's loved up to those expectations. Would I buy again? Probably not with the Civic hatchback as an option.

The Civic hatchback while larger gets you about the same mpg, better performance, better aftermarket support, almost as much utility and as much reliability. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought the Civic but the option didn't exist in 2015.

No regrets for me and I continue driving my fit that had 85k miles and counting. I'm getting mid 40s in mpg, with the best at 47.8 mpg. Insurance and maintenance is cheap and it's a great commuter car.

 

Thanks 2rismo. I'm actually going to look at another '19 fit EX right now, but they are selling it used and not certified pre-owned. The reason why they won't sell it certified is because it has aftermarket heated seats installed. Has anyone heard of a manufacturer not certifying a car because of this? it's my understanding that the certified warranty is only an extension of the powertrain limited warranty. How would a heated seat affect the cars powertrain?

 

I ended up buying a new '19 Fit EX today. I found evidence that the used Fit I went to look at had the rear bumper removed and likely repainted while the carfax was clean and they wouldn't negotiate with me. I convinced them to give me another $2k for my trade if I bought a new car (they wouldn't put it towards the used car) which made the brand new car about the same price. I'll probably have many more questions in the future after perusing the mods section some more. There are a few minor things I'd like to eventually address (especially the arm rest), but right now I need to price out some snow tires and weathertech mats (another thing they refused to throw in). Hopefully I made the right choice...

 

I have the weather tech mats and they fit very nicely. Its kinda utilitarian since they are just plastic or rubber or whatever, unlike a carpeted mat. But to me that kinda fits with the fit, in a way. And I got used to the arm rest after initially being troubled by it. Neat little car, congrats!