Assuming it's a USDM car, it should say "Side Curtain Airbag", not "SRS".

2015 Honda Fit Recall

 

Xfm715476 is the last of my vin

 

That sounds a tad bit dramatic. This small overlap test never even existed till 2012 so I would almost guarantee by your terms that a very LARGE majority of cars were by your definition "death Traps"

 

8strungs is #12550 and built on 6/14 I bet yours has been modified already.

 

being facetious here-- are all 1st & 2nd Gen fits- death traps?

 

Look inside drivers door for manufacture date

 

Have you checked the Honda recall website to see if your vin pops up with that info? I input mine and it didn't have the recall, but our vins are close and you have the correct emblem on your a pillar.

 

Recall site link: Honda Recalls | Honda Safety | Honda Owners Site

 

My VIN is showing no recalls. Not sure why she said it had the A pillar one. Weird. I'll just have my local dealership check on it next time I'm up there.

 

It does say side curtain airbag. I was just too lazy to walk the 20 feet to my garage to see exactly what it said.

 

This is indeed a very good news story for both Honda and the IIHS. It shows that the independent testing of the IIHS helps manufacturers make safety improvements to their cars. It also explains the 2 month delay in the initial release of the Fit.

What is too bad is that it is not information that some consumers can rationally process or fully understand. The work of the IIHS over the past 20 plus years has progressively made cars safer. And today's cars, with antilock brakes, traction control systems and a host of airbags are all, significantly safer than older cars, lacking these safety features.

But a test like this is not an absolute differentiator between a safe and an unsafe car. It is just one test of a certain specific set of crash parameters. It cannot, and does not, predict the absolute crash performance of a car in all, or even most, real world crashes. But it has been proven through the past years, that cars are always getting safer and safer and that is a good thing.

Should this performance dictate whether someone should purchase one car or another is not an absolute answer. The chance of such a crash in most cases is very very low. 99.9% of all cars never see a crash such as this. And even then, in the very unlikely event of such a crash, the difference between the likelihood of a death or serious injury is not guaranteed by these crash test results. Nevertheless, the consumer's irrational response to the results of these test does make manufacturers take the test results seriously and ultimately make changes that ultimately do make cars safer.

So this is all good for consumers and for Honda, but no one with an early build car should have any fear of its safety. Your new Fit is way way safer than most cars built just 5 years ago.

 

I agree. I'm just saddened that my new car, having already baked out in the sun and dust for three months, now has to have the front bumper clip removed (and probably scratched). I'm not certain the repair hasn't already been done, but my car is #9549, so seems unlikely.

 

Hopefully you dodged the bullet. Yes, it's good that Honda will be making good on the weak bumper support welds (essentially a portion of the "ACE" body structure, and on some of Honda's larger offerings they call it the "ACE 2" body structure). I'm not sure if they will be reinforcing the existing support with additional mig welds, or if they'll be cutting it out and welding on a new support. This is essentially unibody work, and not all Honda service departments have in-house body and frame facilities, so I guess they'll have to sublet the work to a Honda approved body shop. Just like replacing a rad support or repairing unibody damage resulting from a collision, one hopes that a qualified technician will be doing the work and all will be good. As long as they do not damage the bumper cover during teardown or re-install, there will be no need for a new cover or paint work.

I'm sure there will be isolated instances where a careless dealer or tech might cause incidental damage or misalignments, but the fix is too important to ignore or decline the work. The life of a driver and their family is more important than the small chance of issues that they will have to make good on in either event.

I certainly would not buy a unit with a VIN lower than 14,000 with full knowledge of the sitiuation. Some consumers have already purchased because the information was essentially hidden from them, and I suspect many would have bought even if they knew about the problem. So, yeah, Honda is making good, but they also chose to hide information that would have materially changed the decision of some consumers who bought one of these affected units. There should be financial compensation for essentially selling defective cars with non-disclosure at the time of purchase. If Honda had real integrity, they would have scrapped the units and recycled parts when appropriate. Legally, any repairs undertaken at the factory (for any reason) do not have to be disclosed. Dealer repaired physical damage beyond a certain dollar value must be disclosed (the dollar amount varies by state) at the time of sale, but I'm sure Honda would argue that even if repaired at the dealership, the work qualifies as warranty repairs to correct a defect or failure (so physical damage disclosure does not apply in this instance).

Either way, this situation doesn't reflect well on Honda's transparency regarding a material safety issue (as GM is learning), on Honda engineers, or the new Mexico plant (though I wouldn't say those workers are to blame for this particular issue).

 

This post represents exactly the irrational misunderstanding of this test and the results that I am referring to. There is NO defect in early manufactured cars.

Honda chose to make a change to obtain a better rating from the IIHS. But in order for them to get such a rating for the whole model year, they must apply this change to early production cars. What are the chances that this change to the first 10,000 vehicles, will actually result in a saved life or reduced incident of injury...Very Very Very low. Perhaps not even statistically measurable. Yet we have people calling this some kind of a basic safety failure of the car.

It is a fine line, if this information was only shared by manufacturers, they might not make these types of changes at all. That ultimately, will have a better net effect on safety. But the public is not really prepared to digest this type of information and its real world impact on the safety of their particular car. If you fear that the proposed updates will damage your car, then don't have it done. You will still be driving a car that is better performing in this test and has more safety features than the GE Fits.

 

I'll repeat my opinion: Honda did not have any legal obligation to retrofit, and I think it speaks highly of them that they chose to do so.


Given the nature of this test, I would have been okay with a marginal rating, but not with the previous generation's poor. I will be entirely satisfied with acceptable post fix.

 

Considering my 2012 scored a "poor" rating, and it's the safest car I've ever owned, I wouldn't be too worried. Marginal is still quite good.

 

I agree with this 100%. They ARE looking after the consumer unlike GM who waited better than 10 years. I will be taking mine in for the fix and have no bad feelings about it.

 

All 1st & 2nd Gen Fit owners should be prepared to write their wills. Or they can hire a black market mechanic to make said welding repairs on their 1st & 2nd Gen Fits to bring them up to the same safety levels.

I wonder if I can have the same repairs done to my bicycle in case I'm hit on it at an angle.

 

LOL, don't forget getting ricochet crashed

 

The front offset crash test replicates the conditions that are pesent in 24% of fatal collisions according to the NHTSA. If you don't care, then it's all goodl. Once the objetive results of crashes that will likely result in fatality are made available, and people still choose to dismiss them as frivolous, then by all means don't worry about it. Your chances of dying in any car are probably much lower than your chances of hitting the lottery or getting hit by lightning.

12,000 Beta testers for the new Fit, and many who are obviously grateful to pay for the privilege. Honda should thank you, and buyers in the relatively near future buying Fits that are measurably safer should also thank you. I will thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

If not for blind fanboys, how could Honda continue to manufacture cars for the last 10+ years without a hint of soul and continue to thrive? Look no further.

Ciao suckers.