helpless fixation is all i see.

 

Not sure I can argue with that statement, lol.

 

Every manufacturer uses their own terminology. If you research different Honda models and trim levels you'll notice that some wipers are listed as intermittent and others as variable intermittent. If you failed to notice this, that doesn't mean that Honda is being disingenuous.

My 2008 Civic LX Coupe has the intermittent wipers while my previous car, a 1998 Accord LX Coupe, had variable intermittent wipers. I knew this because I had researched the Civic line fairly thoroughly. I knew I could have gotten the variable version if I had moved up to the EX but I decided it wasn't worth the extra cost - especially since most of the other things that came with the EX package were things I didn't want. It is a nice feature and I missed it at first but I got used to it. If it was offered as an option I'd consider it, depending on the price.

 

I think perhaps you are right sneefy. According to the american heritage dictionary, intermittent means "Stopping and starting at intervals" The wiper function labeled "int" does just that. Acc to AHD nothing is said in the definition about whether the intervals are regular or irregular.

According to fitchet's quote of google's definition, intemittant means "Occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous or steady." I was going by that definition, which doesn't agree with the AHD definition. I tend to think the AHD is a more authoritative source. So much of what I said that was based on google's definition, was in error. I'm gonna go look for more definitions though. That is one of my favorite pastimes.

 

Both Merrium Webster and my favorite, etymonline.com, agree with AHD, and with sneefy, and not with google. From etymonline.com:By this definition, moving the wiper lever to the "int" position makes the wiper function intermittently. You can also make the wiper function intermittently by intermittently pushing the lever counterclockwise (and letting it spring back).

 

On the Fit you can even make the wipers function variably intermittently – by varying how frequently you push the lever counterclockwise. In the case the wipers may not be automatically variably intermittent, but they are variably intermittent.

 

Yes we are arguing semantics.

LOL...it's pretty simple.
That Sweep, pause, Sweep Pause...is SLOW..but regular and steady. It doesn't change and is NOT random.
Therefore if the definiton of intermittent IS.."Occurring at IRREGULAR intervals; NOT continuous or steady "
Then IMO INT on a Honda Fit wiper is not really Intermittent...it's really....just very, very slow.

 

People still rely on car salesmen to tell them the features? I had spent at least a month researching the features and knew what I was getting into when I signed the paperwork on a nearly $20k purchase.

Non variable intermittent wipers were so low on my list for a commuter car purchase. Top 3 was cheap, good mileage and low maintenance. Everything else was going to be a bonus.

 

right, i didnt really care about all the details either when i bought the GK since i bought it for the wife. she can care less whether it has variable intermittent or not. i always note how i hate the car's wipers when i drive it in the rain and yet she said its fine.

more to ya if you dont care.

 

Reread my explanation a few posts ago and you may get it.

That definition you are quoting, btw, is not a single definition. It is two possible definitions separated by a semicolon. Treat the semicolon as saying 'or'. Randomness is not a requirement for intermittence.

 

Yeah, my mistake wasn't not asking, my mistake was assuming intermittent, meant "variable" or adjustable intermittent wipers.

And I don't know. 16K-20K+, is imo a lot of money. I don't default to "The Fit is Entry Level, therefore my expectations should be lower". I'm thinking the circuitry needed to make wipers truly variable wouldn't make a difference in cost that most people would even register.

All cars improve. Standards raise. The Fit in it's current incarnation would eclipse Hatchbacks of just 10-15 years ago in terms of extra's and luxuries available

I don't think it's asking too much for Honda to upgrade the carpet, perhaps include a cargo cover standard, and provide true, variable intermittent wipers. I don't think it would bump the cost of The Fit out of desirability.

The lack of these things are obviously not a deal breaker to me.

As far as research? Asking your salesman? Well I owned a 2010 Honda Fit, so I had some idea as to what the whole product would reflect, and the 2016 Honda EX, has come quite a ways as far as refinement and extra features.
If I remember right my 2010 didn't even have a locking releasable gas filler cover.

I do my research, quite a bit actually. Everything from this website, Honda's website to youtube video reviews...of which there are many.
I know the stereotype is to NOT trust a car salesman, and it is our responsibility as purchasers to know what we are purchasing. But in this case, I didn't even think about "variable" intermittent wipers until I was purchasing, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be able to ask that question and get an answer.
As pointed out...the salesman wasn't exactly lying. Evidently we can call...nonadjustable and very, very slow as being intermittent.
Had I taken the 5 seconds extra to actually try it myself...I would of known that intermittent meant...super slow..but not variable or adjustable.
It wouldn't of nixed the deal.

None of the things I mention are IMO reasons I would NOT buy a Fit.
The Carpet?
Well I would like better...but I have mats...
Cargo Cover?
I really think this should be standard...but I did buy it afterwards.
VARIABLE intermittent wipers...
I like them, in environments when you have lots of rain, which is where I live. The problem I have with the non-adjustable, is finding a setting that actually matches the precipitation. That is often intermittent is too slow...and the next two setting can be too fast. There is no "Goldilocks" just right setting. If too fast, the wipers drag across the window and chatter, Not good for the wiper blades or the window.

My guess, is these things DO improve in future years.

 

That's just a nice feature where Honda allows YOU to make the wipers take a wipe.
But that's US as operators doing a single one time action...repeatedly.

I kinda want "Automatic" variable intermittent possibility.
I do use the feature you are talking about. But I don't count that as a replacement for the lack of a true adjustable variable setting.

 

I did.

You: "The intermittance follows a predictable and regular pattern."

Reality: "occurring at IRREGULAR intervals; not continuous or steady."

No Semicolon or anything.....

YES...I missed the "Variable" addition.....I should of asked...it is a variable intermittent wiper....
BUT..
IMO INT on a Honda Fit Wiper is not truly intermittent.
Turn it on and watch that sweep, pause, sweep...
what INT is on a Honda Wiper...is nothing but a very slow setting. Not by definition a TRUE intermittent setting.

IMO Intermittent, by definition should automatically mean it's variable. Without it being variable...changeable...it's not really intermittent.

 

Umm, do you know what a semicolon is? See it in your definition quoted above?

It doesn't matter what you think it should be. The truth doesn't gel with your chosen meaning.

Intermittent does not automatically mean variable or changeable. It just means 'not constant' in this context.

E.g.: sweep-pause-sweep. The pause, in this context is everything.

Sorry if you fail to grasp of the nuances of language here, but your chosen definition is simply incorrect.

BTW, I'm not trying to attack here or belittle. Just trying to educate anyone who stumbles across this thread.

 

This thread about intermittent wipers has been running no stop. LOL!

We all should be happy we have electric wipers. My 60 Falcon had vacuum wipers constantly variable depending on throttle position.

 

I was well aware of the wiper issue, it was mentioned in one of the many many reviews on the Fit that I saw/read. I was also aware of the rear drum brakes, cheap floor carpeting, general lack of LED lighting, and a bunch of other small things, none of them individually or collectively deal killers. Every car has these kinds of issues, no car is perfect in providing everything you want, how you wanted it. I don't think there was any real issue which surprised me other than maybe the lack of an ashtray (which I used for storing keys, coins and small knick knacks on previous cars I've owned).

And yeah, Honda could have and should have given fully functional variable wipers on all models of this car. It would have cost them almost nothing and it's almost a safety feature.

 

You were suggesting there was some additional definition beyond what I was showing. Some semi-colon and another defintion.
There is not.

Also, YES...intermittent means NOT CONSTANT...I agree.

So...when you choose INT as the Wiper Setting....seems to me it is nearly exactly CONSTANT.
It's just a very, very slow setting.

I don't think it needs defense that NO AUTOMAKER would provide a truly RANDOM intermittent wiper...that is a wiper INT setting that changed itself automatically.

But why I provide the Pizza shop analogy in my first post, is what Honda has provided is really a Lo-Med-Hi setting.

Because IMO in the auto making world INT...should automatically mean adjustable and variable.

 

i think honda means intermittent as in intermittent rain, not intermittent wiper cycle time.. thus proving they were always right.
*shakes head at honda for being cheap*

 

per honda dictionary "Fit Sport" means the car parked next to you now looks sporty compared to your car. honda did not promise any sporty performance from your fit.. you just read the badge wrong.

 

Yes, well, marketing terminology has always been vague or obfuscatory rather than elucidating. Not sure why. Stop anywhere to pick up coffee-to-go and I have my choice of medium, large, or very large.

With an artsy-fartsy product or service, the terminology gets downright nonsensical, even contradictory. Grand piano is fine to describe a really really big piano. But baby grand is nonsensical, contradictory. It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry. The sun so hot I froze to death, Susanna don't you cry. It makes sense to call a vertical piano an upright piano, but short vertical pianos are never described by marketers as upright, even though they are just as upright as tall ones. They get funny names like console, or spinet. Are you in the market for a piano? Good luck remembering what size those names refer to. And there is no uniform marketing term for horizontal pianos that is sensible. Grand as a substitute for horizontal is not sensible. That's why piano technicians don't use marketing terms when we are talking amongst ourselves. We speak about horizontal pianos and vertical pianos. As for as horizontal pianos go, there are 4 3/4 foot horizontal pianos, 5 foot, 6 foot, 7 foot, and 9 foot horizontal pianos, etcetera. Vertical pianos get the same terminology, except with regard to those that are so short that with the keyboard at a standard height, a normal action won't fit inside, so in addition to noting their height, we make note of whether they have a normal action or a "drop-action."

I would think that windshield wiper engineers, when talking amongst themselves, refer to wiper speeds by their numerical frequency. 0.25 wipes per second, 1 wipe per second, 2 wipes per second. OK marketing people: try to sell the car with that on the wiper lever! They might not sell a lot of them. They would sell a few, intermittently.

I just remembered that piano is one of the most confusing marketing terms in existence. Piano is Italian for soft, quiet, not particularly loud. But the clavichord commonly referred to as a piano, is capable of being sounded both piano and forté. Piano is an ill-considered abbreviation for piano-forté and an abominable term for that newly refined type of clavichord that can be played both piano and forté. But what the hell, let's confuse prospective buyers. The abbreviation might better be reserved for a cheap, poorly constructed clavichord that can play only piano - as opposed to a better quality clavichord that can be heard at the back of the room, because it can play only mezzo-piano.

Anyway, we are fortunate that the wiper lever is labeled int, lo, hi. It might have been labeled med, hi, and super. Or slow, very slow, and intermittent. But somehow, it got labeled just right. Int, lo, and hi. Don't forget that the blades actually move across the windshield slower when you switch from hi to low. And at both these settings the blades repeat each complete back-and-forth motion without pausing. Only at the int settings is there a pause between each back-and-forth motion. So intermittent is exactly the right word there.

And don't forget you can have wipers that are variably intermittent, by pushing the lever counterclockwise, at a variable frequency. Just make a note to yourself that they are manually variably intermittant, rather than automatically variably intermittent.

Some people prefer a manually variably intermittent wiper to an automatic. They say it provides a more engaging wiping experience.