general problems of the 2011 Honda FIT

The contact owns a 2011 Honda Fit. The contact stated while driving uphill at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The maintenance warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil and fuel. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle fully, the fuel gauge displayed a half tank. The vehicle was taken to several independent mechanics, the dealer, and a second dealer, the auto connection (10910 midlothian tpke, richmond, va 23235), where it was determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,691.

Spark plug blowout, threads ripped on cylinder 3. Car lost power and ejected spark plug on highway.

Check engine.

Engine misfiring in cylinder #2 while in motion and stationary on at least city streets. Excess fuel in catalytic converter causes engine to reduce power output. Car becomes extremely difficult to accelerate, potentially causing accidents when crossing through intersections. Upon engine inspection the #2 spark plug unthreaded itself at least three turns before destroying remaining 9 threads and dislodging from the head catching into the coil pack. Car has approximately 60k miles, spark plugs never touched outside of Honda factory, and service interval calls for spark plug replacement in the 100k region.

Upon realizing declining fuel economy and an engine misfire warning I replaced my plugs noting that cylinder 2 plug required almost no removal torque and was very fouled (pictures available). Less than a 4 months later, engine light came on, diagnosed within minutes as misfire, before I could return home, engine ejected plug and started a fire in the engine compartment. I was able to extinguish the fire with snow (and 2 cans of diet soda) before the car was consumed but I suffered burns on the hands from dripping melted plastic.

Today 06/08/2015 I got my car back from my local mechanic after major service @93000 miles. He told me 3 out of 4 spark plugs in the engine were loose(they were only hand-tight): one was secured, one was almost out of the engine and blacked out, and two of them were half way in. That correlated an incidence August 2014 when I was driving on the freeway. My Honda Fit suddenly lost power to no more than 20mph. I got it towed to dealer and they told me one of the spark plug was completely blown out of the engine, along with the ignition coil. The mileage back then was about 80,000 and I never had any major service nor even opening up the engine block by anyone. Spark plug service is 100,000 mile interval and I did only oil change in last 3 years before the incidence. Dealer (diamond Honda, city of industry, CA) had the engine head re-threaded and agreed to pay 70% of the total cost. However I found out today that apparently all spark plugs were loose even when the car left the factory! the dealer did not take a close look when they serviced it last year. That is why one plug is still intacted and secured in the head while other 3 were only hand-tighten. Please investigate or inform other Fit owner that this year or probably other year Fits have hand-tighten spark plugs that can lead to sudden loss of power. My incidence last year almost got me into serious accident while I was on California crazy highway.

The a/c condenser is extremely exposed to damage from road debris. There are "vents" which lie below the license plate holder near the road, wide enough to Fit a fist and the length of the front bumper. This allows all kinds of road debris to enter and hit the a/c condenser only inches behind the opening. This damage has been reported on a number of websites from model year 2008 to 2011. A similar issue has also been reported in a number of other Honda car models, including the cr-v and the odyssey, which resulted in a successful class action lawsuit. Honda, however, still does not provide a grill or other form of protection despite the reported problem and does not cover the repairs with their bumper to bumper or Honda care warranties.

I purchased my second Honda automobile three months ago: a brand new 2011 Honda Fit with less than 10 miles on it. Just drove to dallas to see my grandkids and coming back, the air conditioning went out. I took it into don carlton Honda this morning - and they are telling me that a "rock must have gone through the grill" and punctured a hole in the compressor - the cost? $780!!! now, after researching on the internet, I find that this has been a complaint since 2009. I hesitate to call this a "racket" but hello???? I even discovered that some people have to rig a screen to prevent the rocks from coming into the engine. This is a defect in the design that needs to be fixed. I would like to know how many technical service bulletins have been issued regarding this defect. To have a 3 month old 2011 automobile have to have air conditioning replacement is outrageous. I purchased a brand new Honda so that I would not have repair bills on my limited income.