I am retiring my unreliable 2015 Fit
New Member
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 17
From: Loma Linda, CA
My 2015 EX manual now has 87k miles on it. In that time it has had two battery replacements (which I'm a bit surprised about, given that my driving is 90% freeway cruising), one new set of front brake pads and one new set of tires, in addition to the recommended planned maintenance. Apart from the batteries dying, there have been no mechanical or electronic failures.
Its major plus for me is fuel economy. The two big drawbacks are that it is pretty uncomfortable for drives of around 1h30 plus (which, to be fair, the car wasn't really designed for), and that the front jacking point is so far back as to make DIY oil and filter changes extremely difficult.
I'm aiming to run it to six years / 200k miles, assuming no unplanned reason for replacement (e.g. a major accident). When the time comes, I'll be looking seriously at the HR-V, and also seeing what the pricing is like for hybrid and electric offerings. Given the way the market is going, I don't think my next car will be a hybrid or pure electric, but the one after that may well be, especially if California gas prices continue to rise at their present rate.
Its major plus for me is fuel economy. The two big drawbacks are that it is pretty uncomfortable for drives of around 1h30 plus (which, to be fair, the car wasn't really designed for), and that the front jacking point is so far back as to make DIY oil and filter changes extremely difficult.
I'm aiming to run it to six years / 200k miles, assuming no unplanned reason for replacement (e.g. a major accident). When the time comes, I'll be looking seriously at the HR-V, and also seeing what the pricing is like for hybrid and electric offerings. Given the way the market is going, I don't think my next car will be a hybrid or pure electric, but the one after that may well be, especially if California gas prices continue to rise at their present rate.
Member
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,523
From: Manitoba CANADA
Out of curiosity, when the battery replacements were done were the new batteries put in just the direct replacement size 151R or did you get the oversized size 51R with the higher capacity?
New Member
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 17
From: Loma Linda, CA
Both were 151Rs. The first replacement was by the dealership and under warranty. Even though the second happened less than a year later, the car itself was out of warranty by that time. It also happened while I was 300 miles away from home, so I had to buy whatever I could get my hands on - in this case, an aftermarket one from Autozone.
The guy at Autozone opined that battery failures at 1-2 years are becoming more common, because all the electronic stuff in a modern car drains enough current to prevent the alternator from having much left over to charge the battery, even during long freeway runs. Given that I use my cellphone as a GPS and have it hooked to the USB outlet almost all the time I'm in the car, that makes sense. After the second failure, I've taken to giving the battery a booster charge on the first weekend of every month, disconnecting it from the car completely and hooking it to a charger, trickling on 2a overnight. The charger usually says that the battery is around 80 to 85% charged when this process starts, so he's right in that the alternator is not capable of maintaining it at a full charge, even in a car that is used mainly for long haul freeway runs.
The guy at Autozone opined that battery failures at 1-2 years are becoming more common, because all the electronic stuff in a modern car drains enough current to prevent the alternator from having much left over to charge the battery, even during long freeway runs. Given that I use my cellphone as a GPS and have it hooked to the USB outlet almost all the time I'm in the car, that makes sense. After the second failure, I've taken to giving the battery a booster charge on the first weekend of every month, disconnecting it from the car completely and hooking it to a charger, trickling on 2a overnight. The charger usually says that the battery is around 80 to 85% charged when this process starts, so he's right in that the alternator is not capable of maintaining it at a full charge, even in a car that is used mainly for long haul freeway runs.
Last edited by SoCalPurpleFit; May 3, 2018 at 02:41 PM. Reason: Correcting typo
Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,074
From: Oregon
I've had more than one person, in casual conversation, when I mentioned I owned and drove a Honda Fit...look at me and ask "What's a Honda Fit?".
They literally didn't know Honda made something called a "Fit".
Even though, yes I see quite a few on the road.
I had one young kid, help me load a purchase into my Fit, who thought it was as Hybrid.
So, overall, I don't think there is much exposure "about" The Fit being promoted by Honda.
They literally didn't know Honda made something called a "Fit".
Even though, yes I see quite a few on the road.
I had one young kid, help me load a purchase into my Fit, who thought it was as Hybrid.
So, overall, I don't think there is much exposure "about" The Fit being promoted by Honda.
Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,074
From: Oregon
Same with saying I drive a Camry, Corolla, Tacoma...Toyota.
The point isn't about your personal indifference to the KIA line-up,
We are talking about Honda, and their support of their entry level sub-compact.
I would agree to the point that all automakers, don't promote their least expensive and smallest vehicles.
I don't see a lot of ads for Kia Rios, Hyundai Accents, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa...
At least KIA does promote the KIA Soul.
They do it with singing and dancing Hamsters...but they do at least promote the vehicle.
Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,329
From: Cleveland, GA
The Fit commercial with the "it can even off-road" commentary was one of the worst commercials I've ever seen.
To be fair, all Honda commercials are borderline terrible. I have a degree in marketing and I just cringe when I see them.
Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 948
From: Foothills of the Smokies, east Tennessee
I kinda liked the "The Fit is go!!!" short ads years back ....sparked my interest in Fits, have always thought them to be interesting lil hatches....took quite a while for the stars to align and me actually buy one, though 
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 88
From: Bloomfield, NJ
I figure I'll update you guys that the dealer has sold my traded in Fit already for $14500 (listed price on their used car site) after only giving me $10500 when I traded it in for the 2018 Accord EX. I will be very happy when the new driver comes to them with the A/C problems that I directly blame Honda service for not wanting to fix after 4 times I came in to them for that problem. By the way, the Accord has been great the 3 weeks I had it. I am now over 1200 miles (just got to Mississauga Ontario last night from NJ) and the 1.5 turbo is plenty for me. It's good enough for sudden passing power that I may need on the highways. I am not looking for a race car, I want efficiency and reliability and this car does this well do far.
Last edited by Soon2015FitWillBeMine; May 14, 2018 at 09:30 AM.
Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 75
From: New York, NY
I figure I'll update you guys that the dealer has sold my traded in Fit already for $14500 (listed price on their used car site) after only giving me $10500 when I traded it in for the 2018 Accord EX. I will be very happy when the new driver comes to them with the A/C problems that I directly blame Honda service for not wanting to fix after 4 times I came in to them for that problem. By the way, the Accord has been great the 3 weeks I had it. I am now over 1200 miles (just got to Mississauga Ontario last night from NJ) and the 1.5 turbo is plenty for me. It's good enough for sudden passing power that I may need on the highways. I am not looking for a race car, I want efficiency and reliability and this car does this well do far.
But good to know that a 2015 can still fetch for $14500.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 88
From: Bloomfield, NJ
I agree with you that it is unfair to the next buyer but I wasted a lot of time trying to get this resolved. Honda as a corporation which is represented by their dealers failed me and I did not want to put in more of my time and frustration contacting them directly again as from my previous experience when I called them about the many problems I had when I first got the car they did not give a crap. Same thing happened when I called them after I got my car back from a recall service for the galvanized handle replacement that when I got the car back the key less entry did not work and the black crap from the inside of the door was all over the inside of the windows on both front doors. They do not care. No "We are sorry for all your troubles you are having with one of our new vehicles" kind of letter or follow up calls or anything that would make me thing that they actually care. They only send recall notices because they are required to do so by law. Otherwise they could care less. They are up to the point in their corporate success from previous great cars they made that many people go to Honda and buy cars based on reputation and previous excellent quality. Why would they give a crap when there will be plenty of other people that will come in and buy cars just like I did based on reputation and overall great products they make. The new owner will go into service and complain the the car is not getting cold A/C, they will look it up the vin and see that the car was in for that problem 4 previous times and then maybe they will get to work as they don't want the new owner to return the car. I don't know what will happen for sure but I'm sure I won't have to deal with it.
meh, used cars are buying someone else’s problem and people know this when they spend the money. hell with the GK, buying new is like buying a used car.
u did fine, enjoy ur accord.
u did fine, enjoy ur accord.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 88
From: Bloomfield, NJ
I recently popped back on this forum to reply to a thread I posted about the 2015 Fit I had. So I figured I'll post here about the past 6 years with the 2018 Accord as some of you asked to check back in after I had the car for a while. Well it’s been a while and the Accord has been great! Honestly! Great for the first model year of a new redesign! I was pleasantly surprised! I now have 94K miles on it and it has been 100% reliable and most everything in the car works as it should.
My only suggestion is that Honda should work on the radio as it sometimes freezes playing my music off the USB sticks where the easiest way to solve this problem is to pull the radio fuse under the hood to have it boot up fresh. It is annoying but not a huge problem but it occurs more than I would like. The radio runs Android 7 and maybe that's why. Or maybe it’s because of the gamma or cosmic rays? LOL. I'm still on the original serpentine belt and spark plugs which I will change at 100K or if the car tells me sooner. The car tells me about all scheduled maintenance and I do it all myself. I changed CVT fluid 2 times so far and do regular oil changes about every 7K miles. I also rotate the tires every 2 oil changes or so. Currently on a second set of tires and no mechanical problems whatsoever. The original Honda brake rotors were crap and only lasted 40K miles before they would pulse the brake pedal. Since then I purchased Cryo treated rotors and they have been excellent! Also no major problems with anything else. I did top off the R-1234YF gas in the A/C system last week as it wasn't able to cool when we had the mini heatwave and outside temps hit 95F on the highway. The YF stands for you're f***ed and it's true! The R-134 was colder and lasted a long time, actually 12 years+ on my 2003 Mazda Protege with 165K miles and was still blowing cold when I sold that car right before getting the Fit.
So as I said the Accord has 94K miles now and last year I put it through hell. From July 15 to September 11 I drove the car for 18593 miles! Out of that distance, approximately 1200 miles were driven on dirt/gravel roads. I decided to drive to the Arctic Ocean and that adventure trip took 7 weeks. I visited and swam in the Arctic Ocean on the Canadian side in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. The Alaskan Arctic Ocean that is accessible by car belonged to petroleum companies so I decided to drive the dirty, dusty and rocky Dempster Highway in the Canadian North. The car was heavy so during my trip in South Dakota I pulled into a truck weigh station that was closed but the scale was on and it showed 4140 pounds before I got all the mountain spring water in Colorado, so with the water and other stuff I bought before entering Canada the car gained another 100 pounds easily. In the car I was carrying my fat ass (230 pounds), Craftsman mechanics tool set, impact driver for emergency tire removal and rotations, 12V 30 quart refrigerator, various survival gear + blankets, tent, clothes, laptop, Mac mini, 17 inch LCD screen, external hard drives, Nikon camera, drone + extra batteries, food + snacks, 10 gallons of water, two metal 5.3 gallon (20 liter each) Jerry cans with fuel, 6 small propane cylinders for the Coleman portable grill, additional 100Ah lithium battery to run the 1500W inverter and 200W solar panels mounted on the Thule roof rack to charge battery when camping. Oh, also I attached a 52 inch long LED light bar to the roof rack so I won’t hit any wildlife on dark roads like I encountered in 2022 when I drove to Mexico just south of San Diego and sadly, I killed a bunny that was sitting on the road during that trip.
Because of the weight of the car the tires wore out on the inside although about half way through the trip I rotated them. I also did 2 oil changes, one in Washington state at Valvoline Oil change place and the other myself at my cousin's place in the Toronto area. BTW it did not take me 7 weeks to drive to the Arctic Ocean, I also stopped in the following places for more than a few hours and to rest or camp (Alaska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho). And in Canada (British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta, Ontario).
So the car is solid! Maybe I will get another Honda when I run this one to the ground! If you guys are interested in some video from the trip that also shows how dirty the car got I posted on YouTube here is a link to the playlist. I don’t make money from YouTube, I just document my travels once in a while.
My only suggestion is that Honda should work on the radio as it sometimes freezes playing my music off the USB sticks where the easiest way to solve this problem is to pull the radio fuse under the hood to have it boot up fresh. It is annoying but not a huge problem but it occurs more than I would like. The radio runs Android 7 and maybe that's why. Or maybe it’s because of the gamma or cosmic rays? LOL. I'm still on the original serpentine belt and spark plugs which I will change at 100K or if the car tells me sooner. The car tells me about all scheduled maintenance and I do it all myself. I changed CVT fluid 2 times so far and do regular oil changes about every 7K miles. I also rotate the tires every 2 oil changes or so. Currently on a second set of tires and no mechanical problems whatsoever. The original Honda brake rotors were crap and only lasted 40K miles before they would pulse the brake pedal. Since then I purchased Cryo treated rotors and they have been excellent! Also no major problems with anything else. I did top off the R-1234YF gas in the A/C system last week as it wasn't able to cool when we had the mini heatwave and outside temps hit 95F on the highway. The YF stands for you're f***ed and it's true! The R-134 was colder and lasted a long time, actually 12 years+ on my 2003 Mazda Protege with 165K miles and was still blowing cold when I sold that car right before getting the Fit.
So as I said the Accord has 94K miles now and last year I put it through hell. From July 15 to September 11 I drove the car for 18593 miles! Out of that distance, approximately 1200 miles were driven on dirt/gravel roads. I decided to drive to the Arctic Ocean and that adventure trip took 7 weeks. I visited and swam in the Arctic Ocean on the Canadian side in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. The Alaskan Arctic Ocean that is accessible by car belonged to petroleum companies so I decided to drive the dirty, dusty and rocky Dempster Highway in the Canadian North. The car was heavy so during my trip in South Dakota I pulled into a truck weigh station that was closed but the scale was on and it showed 4140 pounds before I got all the mountain spring water in Colorado, so with the water and other stuff I bought before entering Canada the car gained another 100 pounds easily. In the car I was carrying my fat ass (230 pounds), Craftsman mechanics tool set, impact driver for emergency tire removal and rotations, 12V 30 quart refrigerator, various survival gear + blankets, tent, clothes, laptop, Mac mini, 17 inch LCD screen, external hard drives, Nikon camera, drone + extra batteries, food + snacks, 10 gallons of water, two metal 5.3 gallon (20 liter each) Jerry cans with fuel, 6 small propane cylinders for the Coleman portable grill, additional 100Ah lithium battery to run the 1500W inverter and 200W solar panels mounted on the Thule roof rack to charge battery when camping. Oh, also I attached a 52 inch long LED light bar to the roof rack so I won’t hit any wildlife on dark roads like I encountered in 2022 when I drove to Mexico just south of San Diego and sadly, I killed a bunny that was sitting on the road during that trip.
Because of the weight of the car the tires wore out on the inside although about half way through the trip I rotated them. I also did 2 oil changes, one in Washington state at Valvoline Oil change place and the other myself at my cousin's place in the Toronto area. BTW it did not take me 7 weeks to drive to the Arctic Ocean, I also stopped in the following places for more than a few hours and to rest or camp (Alaska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho). And in Canada (British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta, Ontario).
So the car is solid! Maybe I will get another Honda when I run this one to the ground! If you guys are interested in some video from the trip that also shows how dirty the car got I posted on YouTube here is a link to the playlist. I don’t make money from YouTube, I just document my travels once in a while.
Last edited by Soon2015FitWillBeMine; May 13, 2024 at 10:25 PM.
Lol. I've also had a 2003 Protege5, '16 Fit and now a '15 Accord. My Fit had some constant battery drain that I couldn't trace even with upgraded battery (I did find out one of my relays was constantly energized so that part was my fault), otherwise it was reliable until it was totalled.
Last edited by Action Jackson; May 18, 2024 at 09:51 AM.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 88
From: Bloomfield, NJ
Protege 5 was my favorite car purely because the time of my life I had it. It was my worst car for economy but it was cool. When I had the Fit I almost gave up on Honda. My current car has been mostly good for me. I also do not abuse it much like driving like a complete jerkoff. I drive calmly and don’t rush.
Lol. I've also had a 2003 Protege5, '16 Fit and now a '15 Accord. My Fit had some constant battery drain that I couldn't trace even with upgraded battery (I did find out one of my relays was constantly energized so that part was my fault), otherwise it was reliable until it was totalled.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 88
From: Bloomfield, NJ
I wished my Fit didn't have the problems when I traded it in to get the Accord. I did like it although I could not stretch my legs in it like I can in the Accord. I like the Fit's practicality with the folding back seats, economy and smaller footprint which helped in getting into more parking spots.
Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,255
From: Shokan, NY
After 3 short years I am forced to retire my 2015 Fit. I just bought the 2018 Accord EX and traded in the fit as a down payment. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, I do not feel confident that the car will be problem free considering the many hours wasted with the car at Honda service for issues that should have been taken care of before the car was sold to me. Also, the car is a little bit small for my long legs and although I learned to deal with this somewhat I still get some cramping in my legs when I am stuck in traffic. This was my first Honda and it did not make me feel that the car was built with care. Below is my partial maintenance/service of the car. I bought the car in Paramus NJ from DCH Honda. This was the only dealer within 100 miles at the time that had a fully loaded Fit in White color. In the below partial maintenance log I try to list the date and mileage on all entries but many times I forgot to write down the miles. I removed regular maintenance like oil changes, tire rotations and other required stuff. What I did not enter into the log below was the 4 times in the past year that I went to the Planet Honda dealer in Union NJ to fix the temperature setting knob for the AC/heat in the car. It all started in November 2017 where the knob got jammed and was stuck in hot position and I was not able to change the temperature. This same thing happened 2 more times and last time they kept the car for2 days and gave me a loaner. After last time I got the car back it was working with noticeable resistance when I turn the knob to the hot side. They told me that this is "normal operation for this car with this many miles and age". THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!! I had many cars in my life and never had such problems and they refused to fix it to like original condition. Very recently I also noticed that the AC operation has suffered greatly from this knob issue. I no longer have a fairly cool air blowing out of the vents. It is cool but not cold like it used to be. I suspect a poorly adjusted heat control flap that sends hot air from the heater core into the vents. I have told them this several times and they refuse to fix it. I am in the process of writing a letter to Honda corporate about this and other problems. I may also make a video and post it on YouTube but I have not decided on this yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGfzQhDvOB4
******* 2015 White Orchid Pearl Honda Fit EX-L w/Navi *******
June 9 2015
65 miles (67 miles after dealer tops off tank)
pickup car from Paramus Honda, leave the dealership with 67 miles on odometer.
June 16 2015
Go to Paramus service to get dent above driver side door handle fixed. Dent Wizard fixes it.
June 23 2015
Go to Paramus service to align rear hatch.
July 14 2015
1527 miles
Go to Planet Honda service to fix front passenger front side airbag molding as it does not want to stay in place. Also, tell service consultant about bottom of trunk door not closing properly and front bumper cover not properly attached to body panels where there is a large gap on the upper portion of it and very small one on the bottom on both sides. They told me to contact dch paramus honda about tailgate and front bumper cover issues.
July 21 2015
Go to DCH Paramus Honda to fix back door and bumper cover. Told to come back next week to take car into body shop to fix bumper.
July 28 2015
2200 miles
Go to DCH Paramus Honda to fix bumper cover and rear driver side door as it is a bit too tight when opening.
October 10 2015
Noticed that rear defroster does not work. Side mirror heat works.
October 13 2015
Go to Planet Honda to tell them about rear defroster not working. Rear door panel had to be removed and defroster wire reconnected.
November 2017
Heat control knob gets jammed in hot position.
January 2018
Front rotors appear to be warped after 32K on car.
*****************************
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGfzQhDvOB4
******* 2015 White Orchid Pearl Honda Fit EX-L w/Navi *******
June 9 2015
65 miles (67 miles after dealer tops off tank)
pickup car from Paramus Honda, leave the dealership with 67 miles on odometer.
June 16 2015
Go to Paramus service to get dent above driver side door handle fixed. Dent Wizard fixes it.
June 23 2015
Go to Paramus service to align rear hatch.
July 14 2015
1527 miles
Go to Planet Honda service to fix front passenger front side airbag molding as it does not want to stay in place. Also, tell service consultant about bottom of trunk door not closing properly and front bumper cover not properly attached to body panels where there is a large gap on the upper portion of it and very small one on the bottom on both sides. They told me to contact dch paramus honda about tailgate and front bumper cover issues.
July 21 2015
Go to DCH Paramus Honda to fix back door and bumper cover. Told to come back next week to take car into body shop to fix bumper.
July 28 2015
2200 miles
Go to DCH Paramus Honda to fix bumper cover and rear driver side door as it is a bit too tight when opening.
October 10 2015
Noticed that rear defroster does not work. Side mirror heat works.
October 13 2015
Go to Planet Honda to tell them about rear defroster not working. Rear door panel had to be removed and defroster wire reconnected.
November 2017
Heat control knob gets jammed in hot position.
January 2018
Front rotors appear to be warped after 32K on car.
*****************************
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Ogrelode
3rd Generation (2015+)
10
Jan 18, 2019 11:05 PM
SilverEX15
3rd Generation GK Specific DIY: Repair & Maintenance Sub-Forum
37
May 21, 2018 01:12 PM
glhboy
3rd Generation (2015+)
24
Nov 15, 2015 01:31 PM