general problems of the 2009 Honda FIT

On several occasions the brakes on my car have locked and I have had to use the parking break to stop. Both instances have occurred in very cold weather, early in the morning, so fortunately no injuries occurred. In both cases the break was pressed, and the car was reversed. In the first case the break was then used to stop the car, the car was placed in drive, and then the break became locked in an upright position and the car was not able to be stopped with the break after accelerating in drive. The car was driven out of a driveway and onto a main road. The parking break was employed to stop the car from hitting a fence. On the second occasion the car was put in reverse and the break then became locked in the upright position. The parking break was again employed to prevent backing into other cars. In both cases the breaks then functioned normally thereafter. The car was taken to a repair shop for this problem and when no abnormality could be detected (in warmer weather) Honda was contacted. Honda advised of a defect in the valve of the power boost for the automatic breaks in which it becomes stuck in an open position in cold weather. The valve is being replaced at the shop, as Honda will not cover the repair since there is no recall for this problem! I was very lucky in that both instances occurred at hours when there are not many cars on the road. I hope that no one becomes injured from this defect.

A veihicle stopped suddenly ahead of me on the bay bridge near sf, and even though I hit the brakes hard, the car did not stop as fast as I felt it should have. I did not think any more about it after the car was repaired, then last Wednesday, 10/05/11 I needed to make an emergency stop on the freeway. After hitting the brake with both feet, I watched helplessly as the car slowed but did not stop until I hit another vehicle. These are the only two 'rear end' collisions I have had in over 30 years of driving. I know that either of my previous two cars could have effectively stopped in the distance given. I am not sure the car will be repaired again, but if it is repaired I will never drive it again.

Brake pedal is spongy. Brake pedal depresses almost to the floor before brakes engage. Pedal will pump up. 2009 Fit with only 8000 miles on it.

My 2009 Honda Fit sport model will occasionally not stop when brakes are applied, but jump forward ten feet or so. On 4/4/09 this caused me to hit another car, resulting in $2400 body damage. Honda says nothing is wrong with the car--no computer codes--and will not try to repair it. I can no longer drive it safely, but cannot get Honda America to acknowledge problem or help me.