I had a pretty good experience at Waterloo Honda, too. I had my timing belt replaced at Dow Honda in Ottawa. Sadly, Dow Honda botched the job, and on the next weekend when I drove to Waterloo, about 30 mins out on the 401 my timing belt slipped a tooth, and suddenly my car sounded like someone was pouring gravel through the exhaust whenever I tried to accelerate.

The front-line service guy at Waterloo was very good. He actually knew quite a bit about cars and mechanics, which is far better than I can say for Dow Honda.

When I brought the car back to Dow Honda and told them the timing belt had slipped and Waterloo Honda had moved it back to the correct timing, they first told me Waterloo Honda was lying, and that something else was wrong with my car, that had magically fixed itself. They said there was no way Waterloo Honda could have fixed the timing belt issue in 30 mins, since it takes 4 hours to do it (to undo four bolts, slip the timing belt off the cam pully, rotate the cam pully one turn, and put it back on). Every time I called them, I talked to the service manager, and every time I got a completely different story from him. He'd directly contradict himself. Once they even claimed Waterloo Honda had put the valve cover on backwards (!!!! How did they get the spark plug wires back in?), and damaged the gasket, and it needed to be replaced.

Eventually they saidthey'd have to charge me if I wanted them to do any work on the car. Naturally I said "No, I'll come get the car and fix it myself". I went in on the weekend to get my car, and the guy at the desk told me there were charges on the car and I couldn't take it. I said "There shouldn't be any charges. Is the service manager in?" "No." "What will it take to get my car? I need to fix this this weekend, before I have to go to work on Monday." He said "If you take the car, I'll call the cops and report it stolen," and then outright refused to talk to me further. Nothing like threatening your customers to ensure their loyalty.

On Monday, when the service manager was in, I went in to pick up the car only to find that all this work they told me "we'll have to charge you for if you want us to do this" had, in fact, already been done. They were trying to get me to authorize work they had already completed without my consent (and, after talking to the mechanic, I found out he re-tightened the timing belt tensioner too). This was where these mysterious "charges" had come from.

But Waterloo Honda gets a big thumbs up. I wish I could find a dealer as good here in Ottawa.

 

I am so glad that somone has finally decided to try this out, since I asked about it a week and a half ago. I just figured everyone thought I was stupid.

 

You're not stupid, that's for sure! This solution seems to make the most sense, and someone said Honda also was going to do this for them I think?

I put in a single 3/16" steel flat washer inbetween the spot I described in my pic before, and it's just enough to leave a teeny gap between both sections to prevent rubbing. It still allows it to be stiff though, so it won't wobble.

Also, it isn't visible unless you're a the perfect angle to see between the pieces, and even then you can barely see it. I'll try to take pics tomorrow. I easily added the washers for the back, but the front may be harder since the plastic the bumper attaches to wraps around both sides of the bumper hole, so we'll see if there is a way to space that one out or not.

 

TIP from iismileyll, use plastic washers to prevent rusting, etc.

I've now installed the 3/16" washers on the front bumper as well. It was a bit harder, since the plastic that holds the top and bottomr piece together is wrapped around both of them. This made the space tighter, and more difficult to get the washer in.

All the pics were taken after pushing in the washer.

First, I removed the black plastic locking pin. It's above the bumper screw, and you can see the hole it came from in the top of the first pic. Just use a flathead screw driver to pop it out.

Then I pulled the rubber back, to give me room to work with. I unscrewed the bumper, and then was able to insert the washer. I started inserting it by pulling the bumper down with my hand and sliding the washer in part way, then pusing it the rest of the way with needle-nose. Slide it in from the wheel well, not from the outside of the panel.. you might scratch the paint that way.

Hope this helps prevent the issue for some folks!! We'll see how it works for me


rubber jacked pulled back



washer installed



side-view of bumper - you can barely see the washer



normal view of bumper - can't see the washer

 

sounds like a great fix. Why not try to find some nylon or plasticy type washer? I'm going to try to find some later and install them. (won't the metal one rust?)

 

if they are galvanized, no.

 

Good idea about the plastic washers

The ones I used are galvanized, so I'll see how they do. If the eventally start to break down I'll pop some plastic washers in there.

 

wow. thats really discouraging. seriously buying a new car that will have paint issues that fast would piss me off. i didnt have time to read every post in here are they taking care of the problem?

 

OH DANG....I just saw this.
Ran outside as fast as I could, grabbing a flashlight on my was out the door, I prayed I would be spared the horror....BUT LO I WAS NOT SPARED. I'm gonna give honda a call. passenger side rear...bugger. What should I say on the phone?

 

where are you having the problem? just tell them the truth. tell them what you see and that you want it fixed. they will send you to the dealer. but its good to have that record with honda anyway.

 

Mine, from what I can tell. Is just peeling where the passenger side of the rear bumper meets the fender. Its rubbed and wrinkled a dime size portion off.
I'm going to give Sterling McCall a buzz this afternoon.

 

on my passenger side front bumper, the gap rub off about 1/2" of paint, but only 1/8" thick.. so it's just at the gap area

i will bring it back to my dealer to have it looked at

-joe

 

Alas, I got a call from American Honda. They WILL NOT repaint my bumper. I guess I will have to wait til an official service bulletin comes out or more paint peels off.

 

I had a service station tell me something quite similar a number of years ago. I pulled out my keys and drove it out, then call the cops on them for trying to steal it from *me*. That station was out of business not long after; not from my issue alone, I'm sure.

bob

 

just got my car back from honda today. they didnt do the entire bumper but tuched up the scratces in the corners, i cant really complain yet because they did my roof and hood and blended it into the fenders. in the rain it looks great. better then when i bought it. but i really need to see it in the sun.

now the catch. honda is protecting themselves here - they did this not under warrenty but as "a one time good will gesture" that is what it says on my reciept. so i dont think they are admiting their paint has a problem.

if your paint gets any worse or scratches for no apparent reason example: i put my radio antena (magnet) on the hood and then moved it and there were scratches where ever i moved it to no matter how careful i was. this didnt happen on my other cars i had. so i new this wasnt right. placing a paper bag on the hood left a scratch. shouldnt happen.

 

First time I washed the car I realized how easily the Fit paint scratches.
We'll see. If the panel wasn't rubbing on the paint it would really be a problem but..it is.

 

Whats up GoFits, I also noticed after waxing my car how easily the paint tends to swirl up a bit. I am about to clay, de swirl and re-seal with some of this dealer grade paint sealant as soon as the wax breaks down. It will probably take a couple hours do you want to get together one weekend and do some detail work.

 

I used 3/16 rubber from home depot. Will that prevent the rubbing or will it allow the same thing to occur without the washers?

 

Ding, i just checked my VBP fit out and it has the same problem. but mine is not that worse, should i go to dealer to discuss with them?
Also, do i have to go back to the dealer where i bought the car or can i bring it to any dealer for the problems? It sucks becoz i bought it at a dealership where its 50 miles away from me.
Please help.

 

I brought mine to a different dealer, as I am around 70 miles away from where I bought mine. In fact the dealer I went to was quite helpful and even provided me with a loaner car while the bumpers were being repainted.