Vanguard yes all those option are available but my point is the cars orginal beam is painted. I paid over 21,000 dollars for a car thats repaired by the dealer less than 5 month old with a primed beam. Why should I pay to get the car back to orginal factory condition?

 

Who says that the general service manager knew what kind of paint was on the beam? I mean, in an ideal world he would, but this isn't an ideal world and he could have been plain wrong. There's also the possibility he misinterpreted your question and thought you were asking him if it was painted the same color as the exterior; and rather then explain that it is actually powder coated/fully finished in black/whatever, he just said "no, it's just primer" and the situation escalated from there. He's probably well versed in vaguely explaining things to customers; it's not unreasonable to think he just didn't try and understand your question.

This thread is based on several assumptions. Given, previous experience has taught you that they are founded, but they are assumptions none the less. You assume the information you were given is accurate, and if it is, you are assuming that there will be problems down the line. The first could very well be false and if it is, the second disappears.

There's also the 100% possibility that you are right and Honda did a shoddy "upgrade." As somebody else pointed out though, there me be 100 different corner-cutting measures in these cars that you would worry about if you only knew. This primer issue is just the one that you know about.

 

Well the problem is no one has disputed the primed beam from honda corp. I've talked to at least 4 different people form honda corp. None of them disputed what the general service manager stated. If the general service manager was wrong someone would have pointed that out but after lengthy talks no one did.

 

And, of course the reason we're having this conversation at all is because Honda decided to save money by not making a few spot-welds. They cut the margin it too close and Murphy bit them with the IIHS test.

 

For the same reason people pay for all those options I mentioned, to preserve the car as well as possible, for as long as possible. You're the one that said it is important to you. Is it not worth a few dollars for a can of spray paint, to allow you to rest easier?

 

First off this is not a "repair". It is an upgrade, and a free one at that. Honda is under no obligation to do it. The small overlap impact test is not a government standard and does not have to be met. Many car makers are largely ignoring it. Toyota finally upgraded the Camry in mid year but I don't believe they're doing anything whatsoever for the cars already on the road. I don't even think they've upgraded the RAV4 yet. It is a big plus that Honda is doing this but this is not a 'repair" and it is not something that you are in any way "entitled" to as you seem to think. If you don't like the finish on the replacement beam then keep the old one. There, problem solved.

 

I’ll have you know bumper supports/ crash beams have always rusted on hondas in salt states. They aren’t coated with the same amount of paint as the exterior. would rather have the safer beam if i were you.

 

No they are not, but if they didn't offer the fix and strongly suggest that early adopters apply the fix they would open themselves up to lawsuits. Every time a low-serial-number car has a fatal head-on the ambulance chasers would have a field day and if the media jumped in it would be very harmful to Honda.

 

The bumper beam is black anadized / powered coated (see exterior forum thread)
It's not raw metal.
Even thou its coated or even if you get it painted it will still corrode in harsh condition.

 

Really? A coat of paint is going to make a difference?

My 09 has all kinds of rust at the spot welds. No Honda will not do anything. So rather than rag on them forever I use a can of Rustolium and sprayed them myself. Took maybe 5 minutes.

 

If it's anything like my '97 Civic, removing the bumper is relatively easy. I did that several times for various reason, and plan to remove my Fit bumper to cover it with 3M plastic and install FIAMM horns. I'll paint that beam while I have it apart.

Here's a link to a PDF showing how to install a block heater. It includes front bumper removal.

http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...u/AII51184.pdf

 

Glad I live in Arizona

 

You don't need bumpers there?

I bought my first Civic in San Francisco in 1980, and I asked the salesman about rustproofing. He didn't know what I was talking about. Rust protection has gotten better over the years. When my son traded his 17 year old Civic with 302,524 miles for a Fit, it had almost no rust.

 

What I am gathering from only the first post, is a honda customer is not knowing he can go to another dealership.

Seriously, some dealers are awful little f$#ksticks when it comes to spending money.

 

Just a FYI for anyone wanting to see beams off 15 Fits they are far from being painted like the car. I would call this overspray.

 

Next Tuesday, I'm bringing both Fits to the dealer where we got the second one. He said it will take 60-90 minutes to do each.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there any indication of where the extra welds are?

 

I don't have a updated one here right now. When I get one I will update this thread with a pic.

 

Honda pretty much offered the free upgrade because they don't want the negative press and lawsuits, and they don't want to have to market the vehicle as "IIHS top safety pick* *except early 2015 models"