Now that the weather is warming up, it will be very easy for this problem to go unnoticed. Twice it happened when it was snowing and the darned headlights got covered (quite quickly) with snow and road grime. It was so bad that I had to pull over to wipe them off. At first, I thought my lights were not working at all--it was that bad! I made it home by driving by the light of other cars. My own lights needed wiping every 15 minutes. My old 95 taurus never had that problem EVER under any circumstances. And I noticed the older models of Honda Fit have very differently shaped headlights. So, I'm thinking this is a major design flaw that NEEDS to be FIXED! What have your experiences been and is there anything I can do about this?

 

Waxing or rain-x-ing your headlights should help. It hasn't snowed where I live since getting my Fit so I can't comment on snow sticking to them.

 

i drove all winter in dozens of snow storms with no issue. letting the car warm up for a few minutes in the morning with the headlights on would melt any residual ice from the previous evening.

question for you: are you turning the headlights on completely? or leaving them in "auto" mode?

just a guess, but perhaps when left in auto they do not come on at full brightness, thus less heat/melting capability?

 

The headlights illuminate fully even in Auto mode.

Mshellt, you didn't by any chance replace your headlights with LEDs did you?

 

If it's dark enough... otherwise Auto mode runs the high beam at reduced power as DRL... just like when the switch is off. Going the final notch past Auto ensures they're on at full power, be they set for low or high beam.

I was wondering that myself.

 

I had 1996 grand Prix. It had those headlights that were sort of in the front end. So stuff that got in there covered the headlight. One day I was driving from WI back to the Chicago area in a blizzard. I had no where to go so I just kept driving. But every exit I stopped to dig the accumulated snow from the headlights. The drive normally takes 1.5 hours...it took 6 hours that night. I think it might have been Christmas Eve (not sure anymore).

No matter how annoying the Fit's headlights are I can't believe they'd be as bad as that car's was

 

Well, it IS possible they were in auto mode. Are you sure they don't go to full brightness? (They seemed bright when the snow was wiped off the lights. Both the headlights and the fog lights were on.) I should also clarify that it wasn't snow from the previous night causing problems, it was the snow that was falling while I was driving! Between that and the road grime from the highway, I found myself unable to see! I had to pull over frequently to wipe the headlights before proceeding. It was a very scary experience.

 

No! I just bought the car in December and have not made any alterations to it.

 

Your experience actually sounds VERY similar to what I went through. The indented fog lights filled up with snow and the main headlights of the fit got covered in a coat of grime and snow. It was a pretty bad storm, but I was able to see thanks the headlights of other vehicles on the road!

 

I know I didn't replace the headlights...but..just a thought..are the original lights more valuable than LEDs? Is it possible someone at the dealership might have swapped them? The car had a tire blow-out before I purchased it (so they said) from someone's test drive and they did not let me know before I purchased the car. The tire pressure light came on fortunately though and a guy at discount tires noticed that an alloy wheel was damaged. I called the company and it was eventually explained (after something of an investigation) that a test driver blew out the tire. I asked if I could have a new car since it had been in an unreported accident and they said it wasn't an accident.."just" a tire blow out. They put me in a loaner car and replaced the wheel, but I really don't trust the dealership at this point.

 

LED headlights are more expensive than ordinary halogen bulbs, and aftermarket ones are not DOT approved so are not technically legal to operate. Any dealer that put in aftermarket LED headlights would be in a world of hurt.

Road salt and snow collecting on headlights has always been somewhat of a problem with any car I've driven in winter time. I don't notice that it's any worse with my (GE8) Fit than it was with any of my previous cars. (I guess it goes without saying that none of my cars have been fancy enough to sport wipers or squirters for the headlights.) I would guess that conditions were just unusually bad on the night you had so much trouble.

 

I think the other fit models have completely different headlight shapes. the 2015 is angled more with a flat surface to it. It looks sporty, but the other models have a bubble shaped headlight which perhaps work better at repelling dirt and grime.

 

Drew's probably right, your issue was most likely due to poor conditions, I've never noticed any problems with the headlights.

 

Every car I've ever driven in winter has this issue to some extent. It's always been common practice for me to clean my headlights before starting out at night. I remember back in the day stopping along the road to rub snow on the headlights, so I could see, and that was with my old Buick.

 

Its the nature of the weather conditions. I've always been cognizant to clear my car completely and wipe the headlights and fogs before even getting on the road. Never noticed on any of my 3 FITS having this problem worse over another model year. I live in CT and it has the geographical weather patterns of HOTH. No offense my Canadian neighbors, they may get more cold weather, but both of us KNOW cold very intimately lol!

 

What's your address, I'll mail you an old T-shirt I have.

 

You mean me?

 

Sorry, but I haven't experienced this issue where I live.

 

Likewise, I've never had to clear a headlight on any of my cars. Maybe I'm missing something and just don't know it.