That's because this isn't technically a recall. The car meets federal standards so the retrofit to meet IIHS standards doesn't count as a recall. In fact, it looks like Honda engineered the car to just squeak by the test, encountered bad luck and failed. They put a few more spot welds on the part that failed and paid for a second test which they sort of passed, with an "acceptable."

From the sound of it, the additional welds are on the inner bumper structure that sits behind the plastic and bolts to the front of the car. I don't think that Honda is going to do unibody mods on 10K+ cars!

That's for sure. A VIN and build date check is definitely on my buying checklist.

Except that, after the '13 offset tests came out, Honda promised that they would have a "top rating" (that should be "Good", not "Acceptable") on the '15 Fit. They didn't deliver on that promise.

Umm, on the same test, the Chevy Spark scores as well as the '15 Fit and the current model has been around for four years. As far as "looking out for the consumer," on this issue GM trumps Honda! There's some irony for you!

 

But GM has been killing people for 10 years over a fricking ignition switch that could have been switched out for probably $5 and didn't even care. Honda attempted to improve on the rating and they failed, therefore they immediately went back to the drawing board and corrected it. I don't see how you consider that irony.

 

Your in the clear. Looks like your in the 15k built.

 

In The USA, your chance of dying in a car crash are 1 in 98, killed by lightning 1 in 304,906, hitting the lottery 1 in several millions.


http://www.nsc.org/NSC%20Picture%20L...y_Facts_37.pdf

 

I knew badself was incorrect, but didn't realize they were as high as 1 in 88!

 

The media frenzy over the switches has been amazing. The ignition switches were a part that worked acceptably, but the designers didn't go far enough on their "worst case" of people hanging junk from their ignition key while the car was in operation. Hang a pound of keys from the switch, let them swing back and forth for 5000 hours and things will wear out.

The "watchdog media" was unaware of the issue for most of those 10 years because the rate of switch malfunctions was in line with expected rate for any manufactured product. Of course, once the durability problem was identified and a few lawsuits filed, they piled on, the better to sell papers. I'm not excusing GM, but the fault lies with their bean-counters, not their engineers.

OTOH, Honda made specific promises for "top ratings" and apparently actually aimed at the second tier rating. Even that was missed and they had to add a few more welds to achieve that rating. Sounds like "just good enough to pass" engineering, not what I expect from a supposedly engineering-driven company like Honda.

Honda Worldwide | January 13, 2014 "Honda Introduces All-New 2015 Fit at North American International Auto Show"

 

The New York Times' article today on the tweaks to the bumper suggested calling American Honda at 1-800-999-1009 (choose option 4). So I called and they said they still don't have the exact VINs that'll be affected.

As an aside, I was disappointed to learn that my car was in the batch that had the A-pillar/air bag issue, so I'll need to take it in have them inspect. Only disappointed because I picked up the car last week, and I would've thought that the dealer would've been aware that they should inspect it prior to leasing it to me. But, what can you expect from a dealer, amirite?

Based on my VIN, I'm pretty sure I'm in the "poor rating" batch of Fits, so I'll probably wait until the end of September to have everything checked.

 

hey sam Sneed what month was your car built and the last 5 digits of your vin?

 

I still need to check the door for manufacture month, but the last digits of VIN are 05844. This is pretty early in production, correct?

 

Yes it is. You will probably need the update.

 

I would be surprised if your car is included in the airbag recall. I think it was discovered the Mexico cars were not part of that. Have you been told something else by Honda?
Check out this thread https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...it-recall.html
I went to the highway safety sight, and no recalls are listed.

 

I just called and was told this as well. How is this possible? How is it possible for a company to have a VIN and be unable to determine immediately whether or not it has the new bumper or not? Either all information is transmitted via carrier pigeon, or they are simply telling the reps to not release the information yet as they plan the PR and logistical strategy.

My VIN ends in 14721 but says it was built in June.

 

They said approx 12,000 cars so you are probably safe, they will post as soon as they have the final answer.

 

Many cars of all different makes and models, including mid-size SUVs, fail the small frontal offset test. It's a new test and car makers don't necessarily design and engineer just to make that test. Also, the Fit is a subcompact and these cars are smaller, lighter, and have completely different design goals than larger, presumably safer cars as they primarily appeal to budget conscious customers who look for fuel economy and shorter commutes with more urban/city driving more than having a huge unwieldy vehicle that eats more gas.

There are actually a lot of safety features in the Fit to assist drivers from side curtain airbags to multiple external view cameras, etc but the bottom line is, most car accidents are driver error. Driving sober, driving defensively and within speed limits etc etc are the best ways to help keep you safe. There's always the risk of serious or deadly accidents but it's not like we can all drive around in armored cars.

As for the bumper recall, while it's good to try and be proactive, the best bet is just to wait for a recall notice if you can't find out now. It's a voluntary recall, and not one that will affect everyone.

 

Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for US persons aged 5-24.
They are they second leading cause of death for persons aged 1-4, and 25+

Auto fatalities had been decreasing for nearly 8 years before 2012, and then jumped a smidge.

 

Even this statistic is a gross misrepresentation of one's odds of dying in a car crash. They are taking data gross car crash fatality numbers from ten years ago and then extrapolating a lifetime risk by dividing it by the average lifespan. Not very statistically accurate.

For example:
Total automobile deathes in 2012 in the US: 33,561
Fatality Facts
Population of the US in 2012: 315 million
One year gross chance of dying in a car crash in the US: 1 in 9385

But then consider of those 33,561 automobile fatalities only 21,795 were occupants of passenger vehicles. The rest were either pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists or in big rig trucks. This lowered the annual risk for passenger car occupants to 1 in 14,453.

And then consider that is the annual risk of dying in any passenger vehicle, so it includes many older cars without the safety features of new cars, overloaded vehicles, where multiple fatalities occur, un-seatbelted occupants (if you are wearing your seat belt your chances of dying are cut in half). And your actual risk driving a modern car like a Fit is much much lower.

Then consider that every year, cars get safer and safer, therefore the risk goes down throughout your lifetime, so you cannot simply divide this risk by average lifespan to calculate a lifetime risk.

Therefore the lifetime risk of dying in a car crash is much less than 1 in 98.

 

I expect that, while the production line change was made on June 6, Honda probably started retrofitting cars, that had already been manufactured but not yet shipped to dealers, prior to that. So it is probably not just a matter of all cars before this VIN number must be retrofitted and all cars after this VIN are fine, since some early build cars have probably already been retrofitted. And that kind of data will take some time to clearly communicate.

 

Not sure if this was posted, but here it is for your entertainment:


Them side mirrors fly forward, you know it's a hard hit..

 

After I gave my VIN to the person at Honda America, she told me about the crash test info (i.e. they won't have the affected VINs until late september), then said noticed that the car was also part of the airbag "recall". She couldn't give me any information about it, other than that I should call my dealer and take it in. I have a feeling Honda didn't want her to refer to it as a "recall" as I too can't find any info on an actual recall.

I figure I'll just take it in once for everything and be done with it.

 

Honda's press release says to call that number in late September. That's why they don't have the info yet. All-New 2015 Honda Fit Earns a 2014 TOP SAFETY PICK Rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - Honda.com