Uh, yeah, that's why I did this one myself. I can see why it would take dealership techs more than four hours to do the job (if it were their first time on this particular job). Took me nearly seven hours, but I was extremely patient and I do not have any time constraints. I could probably do the next one in about three. The black goo that holds the vapor barriers to the doors (which is an excellent product, by the way, because it apparently never hardens and thus provides a good seal) is always on your hands, arms, (and in my case, beard). I wore nitrile gloves and kept a can of brake cleaner and roll of paper towels nearby. Biggest difficulty is releasing the clips that hold the rods to the door handles on the rear doors; access is very tight.

But oddly enough, I do not have any grease or black goo on my windows or door panels, and nothing is scratched or damaged. I asked my wife (it's her car) to carefully examine the work to see if she could see where it had been touched. She could not.

The inside door brackets were VERY rusty (car is one year old). I would recommend NOT delaying having this job done (or doing it yourself).

 

pherank:

Sorry you had trouble with the recall like I did. I do feel your pain. Hope I can stay away from the dealer myself.

James

 

I got home and upon further inspection of my car, they forgot to put back on one of the little black rubber "bump stops" that hits up against the car frame on the rear driver side door. I went back to the dealer today to ask for a replacement. I simply wanted get one and put it back on myself (it literally takes like 2 seconds). But nope, they made me schedule a service appointment so that they can install it saying, "since we messed up, WE have to replace it to keep it under warranty." I'm like, really? So now I have to go back for my service appoint for something that will take seconds to replace. Ugh.

 

I am generally speaking not lucky. I make mistakes, am clumsy, fumble fingered, black thumbed, left handed, and clumsy.

So why was I so lucky to buy a Fit from what appears to be the best Honda dealer in Tennessee if not the nation? Crest Honda does not appear to be in the mold of most of the dealerships described here.

I'm not perfect, the Fit isn't perfect, Honda isn't perfect, but Crest Honda is damn close.

 

Hey, I like my dealership, too (always pleasant, good price on the car itself).

But how about this? Though I did the door handle (product) recall myself, I planned to take it to the dealer for the rear grab handle (safety) recall, simply because my wife wanted it done (I would skip it; who cares about the REAR grab handle/side airbag issues - no one sits in the back seat of this car). I stopped in and had a chat with the service writer, explaning to him that I understood what was involved with the recall, namely, taking down the headliner and that I needed the job to be done RIGHT. He assured me that they would take their time and do it right, and that he'd appreciate me leaving the car for the day and not for the estimated 90 minutes or whatever the recall notice said.

Scheduled the appointment and dropped the car off. My wife and I went out to breakfast. He called me an hour later to say that they (sorry!) didn't have the recall parts in stock. WTF??? He was very apologetic when we returned and said he'd call when the parts were in, which was supposed to be the next day or at most the following one.

It's been two weeks. What would you think about the dealer?

In my opinion, this is incompetence and lack of attention to detail. How could a service writer not make SURE parts were in stock when scheduling recall work? Isn't that his job? If someone scheduled a brake job would he not be responsible to make sure pads and maybe rotors were in stock? Or does he not want to do the job? Doubt it's even permissible for a Honda dealer to NOT do safety recall work.

I'll continue to do my own work in most cases, and to badmouth dealers in general when appropriate. They are fertilizer salesmen with mouthsful of samples when selling cars (though I LIKED this dealer for the sales part) and shops full of people who couldn't do anything else after graduating from high school but try to work on cars.

Yes, there ARE exceptions.

 

Apparently I spoke too soon on the results of the bracket recall. Today I was off work, so I spent the day detailing the Fit. Of course, I found paint chips and a dent in the rear door where it looked like they had used a screwdriver or similar to pry off the door panel.


Just another disappointment in the ownership saga of this car.


My Dad used to have a name for these people. He referred to them as "ham fisted hammer jockeys."

 

I rest my case.

Guess they never heard of PLASTIC trim tools? Bought mine at Harbor Freight (entire set) for around $8. No marks on my doors.

 

I know. Even I have a set I bought on Ebay for $8.

I also have an airbrush, and know how to fill dents and make chips disappear, but it annoys me when I have to fix other's screw ups.

 

Agreed, was the first set of tools from HF i bought when i did my stereo project. Bunch of hammer mechanic idiots!

 

I also have a set of plastic trim tools. Mine are blue. Whoever did this did not have the proper tool for this job or just too lazy to go get them. Maybe you can go to dealership and request a new replacement door. That would teach them.

James

 

It's been too long now, and they'll deny they did it. Besides, they'd have to replace the door, and who knows how much mayhem that would cause.

 

They also scratched the inside of my door jamb, and they put a small kink in the plastic door cover. Not to mention they got grease on the inside of the windows that they never cleaned off. Our types of experiences is why I have always hated taking my car to someone else for service. They probably figure that the average Joe will never notice, but I am not the average Joe! Now, I always expect/anticipate that there is something they will damage. Sucks! And it's why I will no longer buy an expensive car. Everything that I have experienced with my Fit, has reminded me that a car truly is one of the poorest "investments."

 

Thank you so much for sharing this! I will also be ordering the parts and doing it my self. Did you by chance take any pictures during the process?

 

No, I didn't take photos during the install (I was wearing nitrile gloves and frequently using brake cleaner to remove the black goo from my gloves that came from the vapor barriers on the doors).

But what I found most important was a video from YouTube:


The young man on the video shows how to properly remove the door panels without damage. I used plastic trim tools from Harbor Freight that cost about $8.

The MOST difficult part of the job was popping off the clips that secure the rods to the door handles (rods that actuate the latches). Easy on the front doors, PITA on the rear doors. You'll need patience and an assortment of long screwdrivers that you can fish through the couple of access holes. Note that you will want to remove a couple of plastic plugs you find on the doors to do this.

Assuming you are patient, you will be rewarded with rust-free brackets and doors that have no scratches or chips on them.

 

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ml#post1341243

 

Today, had the door handle recall done along with oil change #2 (@ 18K) and tire rotate. Thankfully no issues found with the recall work and only a few fingerprints on the windows that easily cleaned up.

I had to clean out the front seat for access. Haha! Thankfully not how I roll.



Thanks to James Butler for the handy checklist.

 

I've made my appointment for the end of this month. I didn't think much of the recall, not noticing any rust but not looking too hard either. I don't drive many miles, 6K in 10 months so far. I've not gone in for any service yet and thought I'd combine this with my first oil change. The dealer told me that the recall is handled by the body shop and it's a 2 hour job. I made the appointment and will have the oil and tire rotation done at my local independent shop next week. Hopefully there's no rust that I can't see. They said that if you don't address it early, Honda will not be responsible for any rust.

 

I had mine done today along with an oil and oil filter change, tire rotation, multi-point inspection, and a complimentary wash. The whole thing was only two hours, and you'd never know the doors were touched. I've been very happy with Courtesy Palm Harbor.

 

Anybody knows if they are still doing this repair free of charge?

 

Recalls typically have a very long lifespan so I would say yes. Call your dealership to schedule an appointment since the parts need to be available first.