I have read related comments on battery problems from Honda Fit owners. I own a 2008 Fit and have had one battery replaced after it had died after being parked for five days in the train station parking lot,and the replacement just died yesterday in one of the rainiest days in Southern California. Triple A jump started the battery but advised me to get a new battery. Took it in to Honda who ran a check on electrical system and said everything checked out, and of course charged me $55.00. I personally do a walk around to see if the headlights are off and have turned off the dome light to avoid any problems. I bought the Fit to have a car with good gas mileage and that would start everytime. Now these battery problems I am not sure of the dependability of this car.
I do admit to listening to the radio for half an hour during my lunch hour at work, but turn the key to the position just before turning the key to start the car. I never had a problem with this before.I realize the Fit battery is a small battery, could this radio listening gradually deplete the battery.
Thanks.
Listen to your NPR weekend show and say hello to Frau Blucher
Could 1/2 hour of radio listening (without the engine running) deplete the battery?
I think that in order to answer that question properly, we need to know the typical daily usage of this car.
If it is driven for at least 20 minutes on the highway each day, then 1/2 hour of radio listening should not be a problem.
On the other hand, if this car is typically subjected to short trip (3 miles or less) drives, then the battery could be in a perpetual state of low charge, and any accessory usage without the engine running could deplete the battery sufficiently to cause the type of problems described.
One thing that mostly holds true about batteries is size matters when it comes to capacity. The Fits battery is a itsy bitsy tinniy winnie one. So running the radio a 1/2 hour every day could constantly deplete the charge enough to shorten the battery’s life.
Im running with the itsy bitsy theory and yes …what is your commute time daily…
Keep in mind that you are not required to keep the tiny battery. My CRX came with one of those tiny little batteries, but it’s got room for a nice big beefy one, which is what it has now.
You might want to read your owners manual. The key switch should be turned to the “accessory” or ACC position to listen to the radio. I believe the key position just before the “start” position will allow all electrical devices in your vehicle to energize including your dash icons. If this is the case then the tiny little battery is getting quite the workout for 30 minutes while you play the radio. That would definitely kill the battery in short order.
Thank you for your replies, they are very helpful
GHatley
I have a 2008 Honda Fit and replaced the battery after approx a yr and a half and approx 45,000 miles. And here we are another yr and a half and ready to replace it yet again. It’s still under warranty for 3 yrs but not from the dealer where i purchased it. They claim this is not done after one yr. They are Spreen Honda in Loma Linda,Calif. However Penske Honda in Ontario,Calif was kind enough to replace it-yet again. FYI-Spreen has charged me for tire rotations repeatedly and then admitted to not doing them! Penske informed me it is a small battery and radio,heater being left on while the car is off is not helping it. I guess they mean business so now I have to constantly remind myself not to listen for even 5 mins. That’s how long it took for it to kill the battery the other day. Great car otherwise. BTW-if they refuse to honor the warranty that comes w/the battery then you can threaten them w/a lawsuit in federal court for fraud. Certainly they won’t want that to even be tried,and your displeasure may motivate them to change their answer. Or tell them you are going to another dealer and giving them your business-your repair costs as well as your new Honda purchase. They don’t like to hear that,in fact they even called me to honor it but I declined and went to Penske,I trust them.
It Is Unconscionable That A Company, Any Company Would Sell Cars With A Flaw Like This. I’ve Never Seen A Fit, But The “Vehicle” Seems To Be Aptly Named Named Because Owners Throw One.
Do they just keep on making these things with the same defects that draw so many battery complaints here or have they finally revised them in newer models ? Are they still building or importing these little clown cars ?
I guess if they fail to start that it keeps owners from becoming traffic fatalities. I’ve seen pictures and these cars are too little for American roads. Looks like passengers in the backseat (There is a backseat, right ?) would have their head and spine just about touching the rear window and tail lights. These things may be O.K. on the city streets, but not around here where we have mostly pick-ups, SUVs and large American cars.
CSA
I would agree about the battery size. HOnda has the habit of installing really thin small capacity batteries sometimes…My girls 98’ Civic is an example of this. She does NOT drive it far enough to work each day…so that little batt is constantly in a state of low charge. How long do you run the car each day? If you have the room to fit a bigger batt in there I would do that…ALSO check the state of your batt terminals…they need to be clean and greased to ensure proper charging of your battery.
If you do opt for a bigger batt buy a Dry cell battery like an Optima battery…you can mount an optima upside down over your head without worry of leaking. I have done many custom battery relocations in vehicles…usually locating them to the trunk…at that time we can put any size batt in the car… But I know you dont want to do that…if you have the room for a bigger bat under the hood in or near its stock location look into that because it is a very logical idea.
Make sure your batt terminals are not corroded and if your commute time is very short then you will ALWAYS hae this problem with a stock size battery and even the bigger battery will struggle because you dont allow it to charge long enough.
Huh? You would try to go to federal court over a $150 battery with a $500 an hour lawyer? The remedy for someone not standing behind their warranty would be to not do business there again or changing brands.
“HOnda has the habit of installing really thin small capacity batteries. . .”
If this is the case, then Honda should either equip their cars with emergency cranks like the 1939 Chevrolet my Dad owned or post the answer to the CarTalk puzzler about the missionaries who were stranded with a dead battery on the back of the sunvisor and equip their cars with 30 feet of rope as well as the jack.
As a new owner of a 2011 Honda Fit I did a lot of research into their safety and they actually did quite well in the crash tests and have some really nice safety features i’d never seen before (the new active head restraints for reducing whiplash injuries). So far in -20 degree Minnesota temperatures the battery has always worked just fine for me, but time will tell. It is a really tiny looking battery (a little larger than an ATV battery).
The back seat is actually farther from the back tailgate than would appear from the outside, my Uncle was surprised when I opened the back as from the outside it looks like the rear passengers are right up against the windows when there is in fact several feet of space.
I have yet to personally meet a Honda Fit owner who didn’t like the car, only on the internet (where you can find someone who hates any model of car). As a result, I feel that the Honda Fit’s issues so far are no worse than the average car on the road.
I will definitely post if I begin to have any problems with this battery.
I’ll bite. How Did The Missionaries Get Stranded On The Back Of A Sunvisor ?
CSA
Pretty lame. They just jacked up one rear tire, got the tire spinning a little and popped the clutch to start it. Used the rope around the tire to help get it spinning.
Missionaries do amazing things, especially when the poster leaves out some commas.
I think CSA lives in a difference place in the United States were domestic branded likely older vehicles run around. Interestingly Ford introduced an great alternative to the FIT with their Fiesta that is built in Mexico and thankfully little engineering from US Ford.
Unfortunately our domestic US engineers cannot figure out how to build a decent competitive small car. This is evidenced by the “new” Ford Focus, Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze all running around Europe and abroad for few years and selling well.
After driving all the small cars especially renting European variants arriving you would be making a large mistake not trying the Chevy,Ford and Hyundai offerings.
We have a 2008 Fit, and just had to replace the battery at 45k miles. It was working, but not holding a full charge, so bound to fail some day and I didn’t want my wife to be stranded. My nephew has the same model year Fit, feels similarly, and they have more miles on theirs than we do on ours.
Outside of this, and tire issues due to a nail, this car has only needed routine maintenance. Overall we are very happy with it, though the carpeting could be more robust - the carpeting in my 1993 Ford Escort seems stronger and like it will last longer than that in the Fit. If it is offered when we need another gas miser down the road, it would be first on my list to check out.
It gets really good MPG, and has much more power than I thought a 1.5l motor could get from an automatic transmission.
In battery slow drain issues many times it is a glove compartment light, ot trunk or hood light that is not switching off when it should. Worth checking out. Reminds me of vern, Is the light on with the door closed? Opens door and light is on, Yep sure is!
For those who drive only short distances, a small battery is an advantage. It will charge up faster.
What might be contributing to the short life of the battery could be the vehicles ride. I have never been in one, but if it has a choppy or harsh ride and many smaller vehicles do, then the vibration would shorten the batteries life.