Last week I bought a 2008 tidewater blue Fit, sport model. Was thrilled. On Day 5 my teenage son drove it through a barely visible pothole while exiting a parking lot at very low speed and the entire air dam on the bottom of the front bumper went CRUNCH--is now twisted, scraped up and dangling. It will have to be replaced. The bumper itself has one small dent from the twisting.

I live in a city with wavy streets and frequent potholes caused by Yazoo clay that shifts as water saturation changes. So I am worried that this type of freak accident will happen again and again. I wish I had bought the basic model that does not have all the low-hung trim. Or am I over reacting and this was just one of those unlucky things?

yoda.m.i

 

Five minutes after I picked mine up I pulled to far into one of those parking blocks and scratched mine. I am very careful with mine now and have since figured out where my bumper is.

I have gone "off roading" at DTE Theater in the grass parking lots they have. I am always woried about leaving something behind. This is the only reason I haven't lowered.

 

I hope it's a freak thing. What a bummer to have it happen after one week! I have hit some axle-busting potholes here in Houston - we have clay soil too, and the road surface just disappears somehow. The ones I hate are the sharp and deep ones that you really don't see until you are already into it. I'm going to have to drive like a grandma so I don't scrape up my lip.

 

I feel ya. I'm so paranoid that my wife is going to scrape it. She's notorious for parking oh so close to the parking blocks and curbs. She won't hardly drive with me in the car.

And our driveway sucks (alley) and you have to go really slow at an angle to get in .

When I drive I don't worry how far away from the block I park.. car is short anyways!

 

I've scraped the **** out of the bottom of my front bumper. Road builders in California are sadistic a#%holes when it comes to building driveways. Nothing for it, I suppose... seriously, I wonder why anyone in THIS state would lower their car, the bottom would be completely destroyed in a week with the speed bumps and horrible driveways.

 

I cemented a gentler slope on my driveway for my cars.

 

What about places you have no control over? Like pulling into the local McDonald's or something? There's always that one unknown.. and there's little worse than hearing that heart-dropping *SCRRRAAAAPE*..

 

Everywhere else I take it extra slow and at an angle. I rather get honked at then scrape my car

 

Seems more like it was a one time deal. The front lip doesn't really add that much, maybe an inch or inch and a half at most. And it's only attached by a couple clips and tape, so if you get enough force coming up from underneath onto the bumper it's gonna push and warp it to the point were the weakest thing is gonna snap before the entire bumper. I haven't hit my front bumper or lip at all in the past year and a half or so. Worst that I hit was my megan axle-back scraped going down a big driveway.

 

Same here. I'm just glad the damage isn't visible unless you're really looking for it. Others have driven my car into the parking blocks as well. There's a lot of gouged up plastic underneath my front bumper. Not much to be done about it unless I want to replace the trim.

The damage I'm most upset about is a big scratch in one of my rims. That came when the boyfriend was trying to park next to the curb. He drove the wheel into the curb at an angle and then scraped the rim against a bump in the curb when he straightened out. I heard a nasty noise and went, "Oh no, that was the rim!" He assured me it was just the tire against the curb. We got out and... it was the rim.

I don't bother getting super close to curbs because the car's so narrow, but it's a habit for him because he drives a bigger car. Sigh.

 

[quote=Sibyl;402800] the boyfriend was trying to park next to the curb. He drove the wheel into the curb at an angle and then scraped the rim against a bump in the curb when he straightened out. I heard a nasty noise and went, "Oh no, that was the rim!" He assured me it was just the tire against the curb. We got out and... it was the rim.
quote]

I've killed men for less.

Actually I have done that to my own rim. And OH, how it sucks.

 

Thanks for the laugh... sorry it's happened to you, too.

Seems like there's nowhere safe to park a Fit! You either grind the front down on the parking bumpers by mistake, or you grind your rims against the curb. Grr.

 

You're right, these cars are easy to curb. I pulled up over a curb once, late at night in an unfamiliar place, and when I backed out, the left side of my lower lip and bumper cover just kinda peeled back, trying to stay with the curb instead of going with the car. I actually stuck them both back into place pretty well, enough to make it to a safe place and wait until daylight and fiddle with it some more. And it still has two bent clips under the lip, waiting for me to do that again so it can REALLY do some ripping. But I was lucky. No paint damage, no damage of any kind that anyone will likely ever notice.
The lip's paint underneath is scraped, but honestly, who the hell is gonna be pokin' around under there? And it's plastic, so it won't rust. In a few years, every FitFreaker (with a Sport model) will have scrapes under their front lips.
[The ones who speak up now and say, "This could never happen to me, I would never let such a thing happen to MY car" will be the first.]
Most of us already have 'em. Everybody else will, too eventually. It's a mathematical eventuality.
I said all that to say this: Shit happens. Enjoy your car! Oh, and welcome.

 

ive never scraped anything visibly on my fit...the underneath of my front lip is scratched up, but nothing can be seen unless youre under the car. all i do is pay attention to everything around me, always look at the road to avoid potholes or anything. take steep ramps at angles...havent had any issues. i would get it fixed and really tell your son to pay attention to everything around...i live in DC, ive took me car through NYC...really bad roads in both places, no problems so far. goodluck with getting it fixed.

 

I have to go one tire at a time up and down my driveway at home. Found this out when I heard the first scraping sound in 2006 going up the driveway too quickly.

Only minor scatching underneath. More worried about parking lot dings. Only one so far but without bump strips I will likely get more. No matter how far out you park some piece of junk will park next to you and will likely have 2 large doors.

Chris

 

It's why I removed my lip kit when mine got scratched up...

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...lots-pics.html

My car is the first one (red emblem, projector headlights)

 

it's been a few years since you posted this, but how did you remove the lip kit?

 

It's crazy.. that I still get updates on this thread... Take the front bumper off. 4 clips on top, and if you raise the bottom of the car, take the clips off the bottom. It has been a while, but you have to wing it a bit. Nothing hard, except pulling the front bumper off.

 

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...lots-pics.html