2007 Honda Fit

Overall most people would be pleased with the car itself as evidenced by the passion expressed in FitFreaks.com Forum and elsewwhere. The seats are uncomfortable after an hour and the fuel under front seat design leaves nowhere to pull your feet back on a long trip. I love the rear seat arrangement and spacious rear accomodations. The fly in the ointment has been service from dealerships and Honda Canada. Our letter to them describes our experience


December 3rd 2008
Honda Canada

Dear sirs,
This Letter describes some of the problems that have arisen with Lise Hélie's 2007 Honda Fit and servicing this car.

1. When we received the car, the exhaust was amazingly clear of foul odour. Lise remarked to me that it was almost impossible for her to believe a car could be so clean or at least clear of detectable odours. I said it might be that the Honda Fit meets the new Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standards. I said she should be pleased to be driving a car so friendly to the environment. It was great to come out to the car in the morning, start it, let it warm up and notice how clean the exhaust was, with no detectable odour. That was for a few weeks. Then the exhaust started to smell badly, the engine light came on and the dealer was never able to find the cause. Each time we brought the car in, The techs would clear the engine light and the odour would clear, but then slowly return and eventually the light would come on again. Five times in a period of a little more than a year, we lost our time to visit the dealer for this problem. Finally the light was turned off at the dealership but the odour remained and the smell continues to this day. I believe it is reasonable to suspect there might be something wrong with a car when the engine light comes on repeatedly, the exhaust smell has changed, the techs cannot find anything and do not have access to emission testing equipment. That's right! No emission testing equipment or access to such! They connect their computer to the car's computer and guess what? That's right. A car's computer can only give information from sensors built into its system. An oxygen sensor won't measure unburned hydrocarbons, nitric acid, NO3, etc. In other words, if the engine is no longer working properly and no longer meets the emission standards it once did when new, the dealer has no way of knowing there is a problem or diagnosing the cause. The dealer says there is no reason we should think our new fit would smell different from a ten-year-old car. "Your Fit is not blowing blue or black smoke. I don't see there is a problem. All cars smell bad." When we say that the car smelled clean when we received it, He says he doesn't know what we are talking about and doesn't want to spend further time on that issue. Lise phoned Honda Canada six times from December 13, 2006 to January 10, 2008 regarding this problem. Honda representatives she spoke to were Tina then Daniel then Kareem then Tina again a couple times. Lise then called Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan CAMVAP) regarding the ongoing problem. Every time we approached the dealer, to diagnose why the engine light was on, we were warned that there would be a substantial fee charged to us if the computer showed the problem was caused by a momentarily loose fuel cap. Perhaps we should consider driving the car for a few weeks and perhaps the light would clear itself after two refills at the gasoline station. I expect the staff were saying this out of kindness. Nevertheless, this was a strong financial deterrent against trying to diagnose the problem. Once again we were left with the impression the dealer did not want to work with us in solving the problem.

2. At Alberta Honda, on May 16th 2006, sales representative Brian Dykeman took a deposit of $500 to secure delivery of a Honda Fit DX with Manual transmission. After four months of waiting, and calling once a month, Lise cancelled the contract on September 11th 2006 and purchased a Fit from Val D'Or Honda, Québec. It was evident Mr Dykeman was doing no research other than looking at his dealers delivery list. Each month he would say, "There isn't one on the delivery list". When Lise met him after several visits to the service department regarding the engine light and foul odour, he said, "Maybe you have bought a lemon in Québec". No, that is not a problem with the car but a reflection of staff that doesn't mind to rub salt in the customer's wounds.

3. Our other concerns have included a radio that gave poor reception throughout the city of Edmonton and within a 10 mile radius. The dealer said the radio sounded OK when they tested it and a diagnostic system showed adequate radio signal strength. He acknowledged they did not check if the noise was from a loose connection and refused to take the time to do this when I asked them to. We documented the bad reception with respect to which stations, where and when the problem existed, popping sounds etc. After a week, Lise said she did not want to imperil her life or safety by being distracted, and stopping to write in a book every time she had radio problems. We presented the documentation to the dealer and he now said scratchy reception is normal. He said all Honda Fit radios sound like that. Lise said to him "So if all the Honda Fits are defective, then that is OK!" He told us "Everybody listens to the CD player today. Nobody listens to the AM or FM functions" implying we should join the crowd, stop listening to the radio, stop complaining and listen to the CD player. We distinctly got the message that AM and FM functions are archaic and should not be expected to work well. After a lot of research, (five nights of my time on the Internet plus visits to three stereo shops) I installed an antenna from a different manufacturer. Every report of solving the problem has been to install a Toyota Matrix antenna.

4. The car is cold at anything below minus 20 Celsius. We asked the dealer if there could be a problem with our car or if this was normal for a Honda Fit. The technician at the Alberta Honda dealership tested the car and noted "No Problem" on the work order. Asked about how he tested it, he said he put his hand at the heater outlet and felt the air was warmer coming out than going in (while in the garage). When I said that we already knew that, and our complaint was not that there was NO HEAT but LITTLE HEAT, he said "I don't think there is a problem. All small cars have poor heaters. Don't you know that?". I would accept the explanation that the aluminum 1500cc engine cannot give enough heat to the cabin except that our 1983 Toyota tercel (1500cc also) roasted us out at minus 30C. I proceeded to run an experiment on the Honda Fit heater system. I attached four thermal sensors to our Honda Fit's heating system to monitor coolant temperature, ambient air temperature, heater duct airflow temperature, and cabin temperature simultaneously through various conditions and connected these to a laptop computer with data acquisition. The motor came up to normal operating temperature (98C) and remained relatively constant, throughout the test drive until the engine was turned off. Maximum heater setting while the engine was at an extended idle could not reduce the coolant temperature while the interior still did not rise to an acceptable temperature. This indicates the radiator and thermostat were maintaining temperature regulation and the heater could not draw enough heat from the coolant to lower the motor temperature below that established by the thermostat and radiator. This is expected if the car has an undersized heater core or inadequate coolant flow to the heater. Having performed this experiment on only our Honda Fit I cannot say if this is a design problem for all Fits or a defect in this one car. Honda has shown little interest in our discomfort at the dealership level or through customer relations. I am sure this is not a problem in Vancouver or south of Wyoming but from Edmonton to Winnipeg or anywhere on the American north-west prairies, it is quite inadequate. Wearing a winter parka in our Honda Fit is not a big problem. We can get used to that. However, there isn't room in the footwell for my big Sorel winter boots and my feet are always cold. What aggravates me most is Honda ignoring customer input with respect to product quality and performance. The dealer level is one thing, but it seems Honda Canada is not passing on automotive design problems to Honda Mfg. That an automotive manufacturer should be so indifferent to serious product deficiencies is baffling beyond measure and almost unforgivable.

5. The windshield wipers have given trouble from the start. It seems the arms do not apply enough pressure to work well. The passenger side front arm chattered over the glass from the first time we used it. The rear wiper passed ineffectively over the glass as if the arm hinge were sticking and the return spring were not pulling it down. A visit to the dealership provided temporary relief for the rear wiper. At the time, we were more concerned about a completely ineffectual rear wiper than a front wiper that chattered and only complained about the rear wiper. The tech pulled the spring off and bent it shorter. This worked fine for a year. It is passing ineffectively again so I suppose they can bend the spring again. If only it were that easy for the front wipers. Now the driver side is chattering also. Using RainX windshield treatment alleviates the problem but attendant with that solution is an oily appearance to the glass during wiper operation in the rain and the work of repeated applications and buffing the glass. It is a lot easier to have windshield wiper arms and blades that work normally. We are not the only Honda Fit owners with this problem with the front wipers. There have been so many complaints made to the NHTSA on this problem that they have issued a notification (number 10021972 "Windshield wipers chatter when used"). American Honda has responded by issuing a bulletin (Service Bulletin Number 07018) to all American dealers that the problem exists and recommends replacing the front wiper arm assemblies to solve the problem. Honda Canada refuses to acknowledge the existence of a problem or discuss what American Honda has recommended.

6. When a road hazard caused the destruction of one tire near Thunderbay Ontario, we went to the dealer there to purchase a new tire. They did not have a tire in stock to fit our 2007 Fit and said they could not obtain one. They told us "It is too expensive for us to stock tires for every model of new Honda we sell. Even one tire for each model would be an unreasonable expense to the dealership. We sell and service cars but we can not help you if your new car has a tire failure. That is what Tire shops are for. Two or three years from now we will bring in tires to replace tires that wear out, but we see no need to carry inventory to replace tires for new cars that encounter road hazards." I could not believe my ears when he said that. The service manager then gave us directions to a Kal Tire store and a Wal-Mart. No one had a replacement for this model of Dunlop tire. The man at Kal Tire said "It is too new a tire for us. We haven't received it yet. You should go to the Honda dealer".

7. Our odometer is registering about 4% more kilometres travelled than actual. We have established this by travelling a government posted test distance and comparing this with the odometer and trip odometer. Three sample runs gave the same result. We also compared the measurements given by the Honda Fit odometer to measurements from an auxiliary odometer attached to the drive-shaft and reached the same conclusion regarding error in the Honda Fit odometer. Research reveals Honda lost a class action lawsuit [Karen Vaughn vs American Honda Company et al] for knowingly selling cars with odometers registering excess milage. They lost the case not because some odometers were accidentally in error. They lost the case because they knowingly produced odometers with an error tolerance of -1% to +3.75% fully knowing they would cumulatively profit and customers would suffer financial harm through excess lease charges, and disallowed warrantee repairs. Honda America must now extend warranties of affected cars by 5% on the mileage. A similar case is before The Supreme Court of British Columbia, in the matter of JOANNA TREMBLAY vs HONDA CANADA INC. November 14, 2006 handled by Poyner Baxter, brought under the Class Proceedings Act. With this letter, I am notifying Honda Canada and other interested parties that the Honda Fit, VIN JHMGD37287S807973 belonging to Lise Hélie has a similar problem and Lise Hélie expects similar consideration with respect to extension of her warrantee.

Is it worthwhile taking time to deal courteously and empathetically with a customer who paid $18000 for a new car and has a few problems? Every time I wait at the dealer to have a problem addressed and am treated in a dismissive manner, I am irritated. I now talk to any potential customers and anyone else who will listen about our experience with Honda Canada, The Honda Fit, and especially Alberta Honda. Once at Alberta Honda I spoke to a couple looking at buying a Honda Odyssey about my experiences. The Husband said to his wife as they turned and left "We aren't buying a new vehicle to give us misery. Let's go look elsewhere". Years ago I bought a shiny new 1979 Honda accord to replace my 1976 Honda Civic (purchased new) because Honda built a better car than what the American industry offered, that in spite of my patriotic sentiments. Today I would not buy another Honda. It is not that the car is that bad, but the service is beyond deplorable. It is a cause for anger, high blood pressure and resentment carried out the door and blown off at others. It is not unreasonable to say that I would not want to buy another Honda. In Canada, Honda dealers and Honda Customer relations evade discussing Service bulletins, NHTSA notices or anything else happening south of the border as if there was no mechanical similarity between Hondas sold in the US and Hondas sold in Canada. It seems that Honda Canada deals with a problem by pretending there is no problem. Eventually the customer will be so exhausted and frustrated they will go away and the problem will disappear with the customer.

When Lise is upset and miserating about the cold car, the bad radio reception, the faulty windshield wipers, the foul smell of the exhaust, and dealers who could not or would not fix any of these things after she thought she paid good money for security and reliability in a new car.... my heart ties up in a painful knot in my chest as I find myself helpless to obtain relief in spite of all our fruitless efforts.

Sincerely and truthfully,
Kurt Littlewood

c.c. LemonAidCars.com Canadian Driver, AutomobileMag.com, AutomobileReviews.com, ConsumerReports.org, Auto123.com, TheCarMagazine.com, Honda Fit Freaks forum, Consumers Guide, Consumers Union, J.D.Power and Associates, Car and Driver, CAMVAP
Edmonston.com,

Meilleur choix pour l'économie d'essence et les commodités de chargement. Vraiment un véhicule polyvalent pour les petites familles . Un véhicule presque sans faille si n'est les points jaune et rouge cités plus haut