I may be replacing my starter today in my 2015 EX-L fit. It has 46k miles, so it's out of warranty. It initially started taking more than one push of the button to get the car started. No biggie. Then it would take 4-5 attempts. Then 15. Then half an hour of praying and cursing. I've already replaced the battery and checked cables, etc.

When I attempt to start it, I can hear a click under the hood. All lights/ displays come on in the car, and a "starter system" warning light comes on. No OBD codes are on.

1. This sounds like a starter problem, right?
2. Is the starter change process the same as previous generations? I found those helpful instructions already.

any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

Even with the vehicle out of warranty, you'll want to take it to a Honda dealer to get a diagnosis and contact Honda corporate once the diagnosis is made. Starters are supposed to last a lot longer than 46K unless you're using the vehicle for commercial purposes, which I assume you're not.

There have already been a few reports here of the GK5 starter dying prematurely. Sometimes Honda will foot the entire bill, sometimes you pay half, or as in a recent case here, the owner was reimbursed with credit toward Honda parts and service that covered the cost of repair.

And yes, it sounds like the starter.

 

has anyone reported any brake switch failures? it could be the switch too.. ive heard on other cars this failing on push-button start AT cars... clutch switch on MT cars. remedy is to clean the switch internal contacts if it's the sw. just putting it out there.

 

Update: I called Honda corporate, and they said no guarantees, but they could probably do something since it's just barely out of warranty (mile wise), but they needed an official diagnosis from the dealership. I managed to start the car, and drove it to the dealership. The service guy is convinced that it's the brand new battery, but after keeping the car for a day (and charging a $125 diagnostic fee), he calls back and says it's the starter like I suspected. I called Honda corporate, who contacted the dealership, who contacted me and said they can't help me out.

TL;DR: I should've gone with my instincts and just bought a replacement starter.

Side note: my local dealership wants around $600 bucks JUST FOR THE PART, while Majestic Honda (a random dealer in RI) is charging $300 for the same part. Very odd. I found a used one locally for less than 100 bucks, so I may go that route since they have a 6 month warranty and this really shouldn't happen again.

 

All of my lights/gadgets come on just fine, and I hear a click under the hood, so it shouldn't be that, right? This is my first Honda, my first CVT car, and really my first car with any decent options, so I have little repair experience with many categories.

 

Whoa....$125 diagnostic fee? For what? Keeping the car for a day, looking at it and saying yep, it's the starter? We did that for free here.

So Honda corporate said we'll possibly help you out, but then renegs once you get the dealer diagnosis?

If it were me, I'd arrange a sit-down with the Honda district manager, and tell him or her exactly how disappointed you are in 1. Starter blowing at 46K, 2. Dealer charging you $125 for telling you it's blown, and 3. Honda corporate's reneging once they got the dealer diagnosis. Ask him or her how they would feel if it were their car.

If that doesn't produce results, time for more drastic measures. If you're active on social media, post your experience exactly as you told it here, and encourage anyone who's shopping for a GK5 that Honda doesn't stand behind their product when a starter blows before 50K, that the dealer socked you with an enormous diagnostic fee for virtually no work, and Honda corporate said they might help once they got a diagnosis but then reneged. That might get some response from Honda other than we can't help you.

 

Thanks for the advice...I may go that route. It's a bit of time, but given the circumstances, it's probably worth it. Part of their reasoning for not cutting me a break (per the service manager) is that I have virtually no ties with them. I do all of my own maintenance, and other than buying the car from a Honda dealership a few hundred miles away, I haven't been back other than for recall fixes.

I'm hoping they can refund/mitigate that diagnostic fee at least. To be fair, the first Honda corporate guy did say they could "probably" help me out, but it's still a little surprising that they didn't offer to do anything.

 

if the switch is intermittent then it could still be the switch, but have the dealer check for you since you said you're not experienced with cars. i just threw that out there because it's a common issue with the switch going bad.

 

Better pricing for repeat customers? Yeah, I don't buy that for a minute. Ask the service manager how socking you with a $125 diagnostic fee is going to win your repeat business when you run into something you'd can't fix yourself. If this had happened 10K earlier, they'd be diagnosing for free, and the repair would be free as well.

I also wonder how much time they actually spent in diagnosis, and how that $125 fee fits with their hourly rate. Methinks that dealer and Honda corporate are trying to pull a fast one on you, in the hopes that you'll shut up. I hope you don't.

 

I've been giving this one some more thought, because I really don't like it when parts fail much earlier than they're supposed to, you get socked a pretty outrageous diagnostic fee, and Honda throws its hands in the air.

So if the sit-down with the district manager and the social media blitz don't work, one last thing to consider: Picket the dealership.

It's something we rarely consider these days, but it is quite effective when properly implemented. Best day to do this is Saturday, because that's when most people will be car shopping at the dealership.

Gotta check with your municipality rules first - if at all possible, talk to a police officer and get his/her name and badge # - and make sure you understand the rules before picketing there.

If at all possible, bring your family with you, because that will attract more attention. Stay off the dealership property, just see if you can take folks aside at the street in front. Explain your situation without vehemence and calmly ask them if they were in your situation, whether or not they think you were treated fairly, and if they concur, ask them if they would consider going somewhere else with their business.

That might - I repeat might - get dealership personnel out there in a hurry. Gotta stay cool and collected, you don't want to appear a hothead. Last thing the dealership wants is for you to turn away potentially thousands of dollars worth of business over a $125 diagnostic fee.

 

Then...

" I called Honda corporate, who contacted the dealership, who contacted me and said they can't help me out. "

That would be frustrating. Especially if Corporate gave you the impression they were going to be able to help you out.
I mean they got their "official diagnosis" from the dealership, and it was the Starter. If they ever were sincere about helping you out? What more would they need?

Who's making the "Non-Help" call here? The Dealership...which sounds inept. Or Corporate?
I'd call corporate one more time just for clarification. If they say no? It's no. But I would wonder if they sounded at first like they were going to help, why that changed.

 

Final update:
To clarify- Honda corporate called the dealership and told them that while they (corporate) weren't going to help me out, the dealership could, but it would be coming out of their pocket. The dealership said they could give me the starter at "half price," which would still be $300 bucks just for the part. It should be noted that some dealerships (I found one in RI) already offer the starter at around $300.00.

I found a used starter at a junkyard for around 75 bucks, and a local shop charged me $65 to put it in. They ended up breaking the starter while putting it in, which delayed it another two days. It's now fixed.

I likely won't bother dealing with Honda anymore. I work quite a bit, and (unfortunately) just don't have the patience to deal with it. I should've trusted my instincts and simply done this myself to begin with. Thanks for all of the suggestions/input, folks!

 

I don't blame you. In this day and age, did the dealer really think that you couldn't look up a starter price elsewhere, or that their "half-price" offer would make you forget their outrageous diagnostic fee? Shame on Honda, and shame on the dealership. Took a bad situation and made it worse.

 

I've been having the same problem for the past month. My '15 Fit is currently at 46,164 miles and just over the warranty. My local Honda mechanic suggested I call Honda customer service (1-800-999-1009) and ask what they can do since the car is so young. Told me to give them the info from my appointment I just had with him (I had a B1 service minus tire rotation done) and tell them it has been confirmed my starter is failing. I was lucky enough though that he did not charge me the diagnostic fee we originally agreed to. I'll update after my call to Honda Customer Service.

 

Considering all you have to do to test out a starter is bypass everything else - connect a known good battery directly to the starter and see if it runs - a $125 diagnostic fee sounds rather high. 10 minutes. At 120 per hour, $20.

If it doesn't run you know you need a new starter. If it runs, you know the problem is elsewhere. In that case the diagnostic fee gets higher. But if it doesn't run, there is no need to look any further because even if there is an additional problem, it still needs a new starter. If it still doesn't run after a new starter is installed then you know something else is wrong. If you want to be extra careful you can detach the jumper cable you were using for a direct test connection, get someone to use the key or button as if to start the car, and with a voltmeter you make sure that when they turn the key or press the button both the starter motor and the solenoid are getting the 12v they need to operate the starter. That way if there is something very expensive to fix that you can't afford, there is no reason to waste money on a new starter.

 

With how many of these we've seen reported, I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen a recall. Something as simple as a starter should not fail within the expected first or maybe even second ownership span of a modern vehicle.

 

*UPDATE*

I spoke with American Honda and here's how it went.

I spoke with a man who got my information to pass onto a case manager. That case manager got in touch with me within 48 hours and get more detailed info from me on my situation. She contacted the Honda dealership/ service center I took my Fit to and confirmed my starter problem. The case manager passed this info onto her superior and that superior granted that they would pay for 75% of my starter costs. The case manager spoke with the Honda mechanic again to work the price down and she called me back with the exact price. So I was looking at $700 without help, the price got worked down to $481 something, and in the end I paid $120.33.

All-in-all I'm surprised that American Honda did not pay for the full cost as young as my car is and with the diligence I took to ensure only Honda mechanics touched my car. But hey, I'll 75% over nothing! Glad to not have to fight with my car starting anymore!

 

In all fairness I can see that they don't want to open the floodgates and start encouraging everyone who's off warranty to come after Honda to fix for free every problem that pops up. And if you start giving away after warranty freebies for the Fit word will get around and every other Honda model owner will want the same. I guess they've made the decision that if there's some justification that the part shouldn't have failed they'll try to help out somewhat, depending on the situation, but that help will be limited.

 

I take the long term view. Starter fails at 46K, what do you think the chances are that the owner's next vehicle will be a new Honda if the owner has to pony up the full cost of the repair now? We're talking potentially tens of thousands of dollars in lost business for Honda over a single part failure because that owner doesn't want the situation repeated in the next vehicle. Doesn't make a lot of business sense, does it?

It's not just the starter here, it's Honda's inconsistency in dealing with each case, and the troubling question that if a starter goes at 46K, what's the next part to fail long before it should? A little goodwill goes a long way in this business. All companies make mistakes. It's how they respond to those mistakes that makes a difference, and whether they can win back a customer. For those folks whose starters gave out early and Honda didn't at least meet them halfway, I doubt they'll be back.

 

Honda doesn't have to win back any customers. On this issue all car companies pretty much behave the same. For every customer that Honda loses they will gain back from another company where the same thing is happening. It's a zero sum game. Honda doesn't have to do anything and they won't suffer any net loss of customers because of this issue.

I suppose that you could argue that Honda could make the effort to get a net gain of customers but for that to really really happen Honda would have to improve the quality of the cars that they build so that this issue doesn't really occur as often in the first place. No....I don't think that's going to happen. Honda like most other car companies is more interested in getting their costs down, relying on prices to bring more customers in, not quality.