I’ve contacted many owners (Quebec, Canada) and Honda dealers insist Fit are all made in Mexico, I have yet to find one with a VIN code starting with J. Even the 2017 model starts with a 3 ...

Thanks

 

Honda started Fit manufacture at the Celaya, Mexico plant in 2015. It didn't work out so well.

Going from memory here - you can search this forum for complete details - QC at the Celaya plant was horrible. Teething pains as Honda struggled to build a new plant, establish infrastructure and train the workers.

Major problems. One of the biggest was brake rotors. Apparently they weren't annealed properly, and they all started to warp within record time - as little as 5K miles.

Another problem: Honda had to put armed guards on its rail cars out of Celaya, as entire trains were hijacked / stolen / etc. Not good. Parts were in short supply, so cars that were shipped and then stripped by thieves had to be shipped back to Celaya to be retrofitted with new parts, which of course weren't in stock (not like they have extras of everything in the plant, that would defeat the "just-in-time" stocking strategy many auto manufacturers use), so this delayed the delivery of new Fits to a huge degree.

There were other problems: Sagging front bumper, rear trim issues, etc., etc. It was so bad, Honda demoted senior staff and moved production back to Japan temporarily until they could sort things out.

All that having been said, yes, I have a 2016 LX with a J VIN. So do lots of other folks here.

 

Wow thanks for the reply bargain, I'll keep looking then, and ignore people telling me otherwise!

I've seen a 2015 Mexico Fit yesterday and the paint seemed really fragile, at the edge of all the doors, paint was gone; at the bottom of the doors paint was taken off by the friction with the rubber, around the bumper and hood, paint's clear was peeling... the guy seemed to take good care of it, too.... made me want a J one badly

 

Before you go lusting after a J VIN, a few things to keep in mind.

Problem areas on all GK5s, including the ones made in Japan, include the fuel injector / rail assembly, starters & starter switch on pushbutton models, VTC actuator, and on more recent models, fuel pump recall and door leaks in the midcycle redesign.

Of all these, the injector / rail assembly is the most expensive to repair. All the 2015s and some early 2016s have a TSB issued. If they failed under warranty, they were replaced free, but after warranty, you're on your own. You can only purchase injectors in quad-matched sets, so it's not like you can replace just one. $2-3K estimate.

Starters are a problem area esp on the pushbutton start models. The circuit doesn't seem robust enough to handle the current surge, and consequently, the starter and/or starter switch burn out. $6-700 for the starter alone.

VTC actuator makes a horrible grinding noise at cold startup - my '16 LX does this - but it doesn't hurt the engine. Lots of folks here are having theirs replaced, tho.

Door leaks on the 2018+ models haven't been sorted out yet. Looks like Honda messed up the drainage points such that the doors just don't drain, and attempts to fix are mostly band-aids.

Maybe the J VINs aren't all they're cracked up to be....

 

Actually production was moved back to Japan for one production year only so that Honda could use the Mexico factory for the start up of the new HRV. It made sense to temporarily move the Fit to Japan because there was already a factory there manufacturing it for the Japanese market under the Jazz name with established supply lines and the like. After a year the Fit was moved back and shared the Mexico factory with the HRV. I guess now that the HRV has that factory all to itself. There's also a second factory somewhere in Mexico which makes HRVs.

 

My 2017 LX CVT was made in Suzuka, Japan. Mfg late 2016.. Both engine and trans made in Japan. Count me in 100% good at 62K miles.

 

Is there anyone in Canada with one?

I've contacted the sellers of all those that are available online 2015-2017 in the Quebec / Ontario areas, all Mexico... :'(

 

Survey study of one: 2015 Fit from Mexico about 4600th made, and still impeccably perfect.

 

I have a 2016 J VIN. I sought after it because Japan supposedly uses more robotics (figured it would be built better). I had my injectors replaced under warranty. I'm at 57K now and other than the injectors, it's been solid.