Posted on 08/29/2016 12:07:38 PM PDT by Olog-hai
That’s a sweet ride.
Yep, I have a Fit also. Apart from this issue, the one that really bugs me is the automatic door locks are always malfunctioning. I’ve had to replace two at the cost of $1200. Now another door and the back tailgate locks don’t work, the door is intermittent and the tailgate is stuck in the locked position.
Honda made the mistake of sending me an owner satisfaction survey a few months ago and I blasted them and said I wouldn’t be buying another Honda. Sad, because this was my third Honda (two Civics before then, going back to the Eighties).
We haven’t really had any problems; it’s our first Japanese car, and we’ve been pretty happy with it. And the gas mileage is great. Not happy with the delay in the recall, though. And there’s kind of a blind spot where the windshield meets the driver’s side window - have you noticed that?
I wish you could still buy cars with roll-up windows ;-)
This car has more electronic stuff than any car we’ve had, and to me it’s just more things to go wrong...
But then, I’m kind of a Luddite in some ways.
-JT
And there’s kind of a blind spot where the windshield meets the driver’s side window - have you noticed that?
Ahh, blessings upon you.
You are the first one has come out and said what has been a major concern of mine with this car—it has a horrible blind spot right to the driver’s immediate left. The problems that are caused: (1) you can’t see a pedestrian crossing from your left—if crossing just the right speed and angle, you may hit them before you see them. (I nearly did that in a supermarket parking lot—that was the incident that really made me aware of the blind spot). (2) You can’t see cars making a left turn from a side street into your street if they turn at a certain speed. (3) You can’t see when you are making a left turn, or are going through a left-hand bend.
You can try to compensate by moving your head back and forth to see around the pillar obstruction, but it is still dangerous.
Yes, my husband complains about it constantly.
As much as we like the car otherwise - including the great hauling space in such a small car - that would deter us from another one. Ours is a 2013 - I wonder if they’ve adjusted this in newer ones?
-JT
Your airbags do not deploy in a rear end collision unless your front end strikes something after the initial crash. Airbag impact sensors are in the front and on later cars the sides, not the rear.
The car is equipped with fender mount mirrors in Japan because of this. It is caused by Federal rollover regulations that require the pillars to support certain amounts of weight in an accident. Thick A pillars like this are not going away any time soon and will be getting worse.
Thanks much for this information. Federal requirements or not, it is a dangerous design; I am surprised there haven’t been accidents/fatalities and resultant negligence lawsuits. You can kind of tell they know it’s a problem because of the little window they put at the bottom of the A pillar, but it’s not enough to address the problem.
This is all caused by making the car seem bigger than it is by mounting the engine transversely, and then extending the front of the driver’s compartment into what used to be the engine compartment space. Sure it gives more room but also creates this major blind spot problem.
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