Here is what I got from a local dealer today, I also tried calling honda corporate, they were of no help and told me to go to automobiles.honda.com.:-(

"The 2015 Fit still hasn't been released on our lot yet. There were some issues with paint quality nationwide, so Honda brought back any Fit to the production plants to have the paint issues corrected before they'd release them. We do not have a date set in stone on when they will arrive, but should see some arrive by the end of June."

 

General blanket statement sounds about right.

 

This is the first indication of just what the actual quality issue has been. A paint problem is going to be hard to address for cars that have been already produced. Repainting an already assembled car is very costly. Remember, that one of the efficiencies that was touted about the new factory was a new 3 stage 2 bake paint process that replaced the traditional 4 stage 3 bake method.

"A new 3-coat/2-bake, water-based painting process (replacing the traditional 4-coat/3-bake process) to reduce energy consumption during the painting process by approximately 40%, while enhancing paint finish quality."

How could less coats, and less baking be a good thing except for cutting costs.

Of all the various excuses for the delay, this one really makes the most sense.

 

Interesting that whatever paint issues arose were not caught at the factory, but at the dealers? QC an issue at the new plant?

Costs of shipping vehicles have gone way up in some areas because of lack of rail transportation. It can't be cheap to ship the cars back to the factory, paint them again and then send them back to the US. But on the other hand, maybe Honda is trying to avoid major PR snafus like some other automakers have done recently.