Owners have filed 1,977 complaints on the Honda Fit, covering 2007–2020. The system named most often is Air Bags (475 reports). Worst years by volume: 2007, 2015, 2009; cleanest: 2020, 2017, 2012. 135 reports describe a crash, 18 a fire. On average the car was 5.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Honda Fit
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,977 Fit complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 475 Read
A Nissan pickup towing a trailer ran a red light and crashed into the front middle driver’s side area of my 2020 Honda Fit. The driver who ran the red light was traveling at an approximate speed between 40-50 mph. At the moment of impact the left side of my head hit the driver’s side window. The entire left side of my…
The vehicle started to bounce and accelerated on its own while making a left turn and was not responding to brakes to slow down and kept going faster and faster. The vehicle was only responding to steering. The car went up a curb into a yard, heading to a house , which was avoided by steering to the driveway and hit a…
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Fit. The contact stated that while pulling into an intersection at approximately 10-15 MPH, a vehicle from the passenger’s side crashed into his vehicle while in the intersection. The contact stated that his vehicle was pushed into another lane causing him to crash into another vehicle…
Electrical System 335 Read
My company vehicle has fluid leaking on the floor, the check engine light constantly coming on, the rear camera is intermittently inoperable and it smells like something has died in it (mold/mildew). Since I have owned the vehicle, I have reported these issues to Honda dealerships and they have claimed to fix the…
My new 2013 honda fit caught fire while parked. I bought a new 2013 honda fit on august 10, 2013. On august 23rd the car would not start, needing a jump start from a mechanic. I drove the car to dch honda in oxnard. The mileage on the odometer at the service center was 491 miles. The car was tested and no problem was…
Tl- the contact owns a 2013 honda fit. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. The failure occurred three times. The diagnosis of the vehicle was that the battery was discharged. The vehicle was repaired. The failure recurred. There was not a second diagnosis…
Steering 181 Read
I was on fm529 in the left hand turn lane heading towards the solid green light, as I was approaching the light I started slowing down and noticed in my left peripheral vision a black car waiting to pull out. I slowed down to 20 mph where I proceeded to head to the traffic light. Then all of a sudden, this black car…
It was raining. I was on the highway, cruise control set at 65 mph. At this point, the road curves to the right. I had just gone through a dip in the road and I think I may have been hydroplaning. The vsa light came on and the ride became very choppy. I started pumping the brakes and I tried to steer my car to stay in…
My 2013 honda fit has only 76,000 on it. While driving the radio shut off, head lights dimmed, dash board lights flickered and I lost power steering. Took it to the honda service station in jasper alabama and they could not find the problem. The engine light and steering wheel with exclamation point showed up on the…
Power Train 176 Read
The vehicle was damaged by collision with a road ladden female of standard north american side with relevant existent damage as superficial to.driver side hood panel; the resulting damage from oblong front passenger side impact crimped and indented the hood such that oblique drivers side impact would have punctured…
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Fit. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The first time, the contact stated that while driving at a low rate of speed, the vehicle independently lurched forward without warning before the vehicle corrected itself and resumed…
The cvt transmission will disengage if left in drive and vehicle is shutoff. You can turn off vehicle while it is in drive and the vehicle will roll back and forth, as if it was in neutral. Forgot to put vehicle in park, pressed the push to start and vehicle shut off. 3 short beeps is the only warning, exited the…
Structure 140 Read
I was doing a parallel parking on a quiet city street. I was doing 3 or less miles per hour when suddenly my brakes failed and my car continued to go! It ran into the sidewalk and some bushes. I was horrified not being in control anymore. I turned off the engine with my key. The front of my car has been damaged a lot.…
Took 2013 fit to dealer due to car noise underneath and car wanting to stall at stops, or while waiting for lights to change. Mechanic found debris/part of a feather on map sensor of which he kept. I was told that this rarely ever happens to honda cars and warned that my extensive warranty that I purchased does not…
My 2013 honda fit caught fire on 14jun2016. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but it should be noted that there have been recalls having to do with fires with this vehicle. I was driving on the nj turnpike, and while I was in the car, the vehicle's engine began smoking, there was a fire on the passenger side as…
Engine 105 Read
The contact owned a 2010 honda fit. While driving approximately 55 mph the driver crashed into a pole and proceeded to crash into a tree located behind the pole. The vehicle rolled over and exploded into flames. The engine detached from the vehicle. The fire and police department reported to the scene and filed a…
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Fit. The contact stated that while entering the driveway while idling, the accelerator pedal was not depressed when the vehicle accelerated inadvertently. The brake pedal was then depressed but failed to respond. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a building, a hose, and a palm tree…
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…
Fuel/propulsion System 85 Read
I was pulling into a parking spot with my foot on the brake, slowing a stop, when the car suddenly lurched forward. It felt like a sudden jolt which propelled the car over the parking spot curb and into a poll. This caused me to slam my foot even harder on the brake to stop the car. The whole experience was so odd…
I was very slowly turning into a parking spot with my foot on the brake, nearly stopped, when the car suddenly lunged forward propelling the car into a cement foundation with such force as to deploy the airbag and severely damage the car (it was later declared a total loss by the insurance company). I felt like the…
Vehicle caught fire while driving
Exterior Lighting 59 Read
The contact owns a 2008 Honda Fit. The contact stated that while driving, the low-beam headlight and fog lamps became inoperable without warning. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed with a defective connector switch that needed to be replaced. Additionally, the connector was melted. The vehicle was…
The contact owns a 2007 honda fit. The contact stated the low beam headlights were failing and would intermittently fail to illuminate when engaged. He checked the steering column and found that the headlight harness connector switch had melted. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The…
The contact owns a 2007 honda fit. The contact stated that the headlights on the vehicle shut off. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the wires on the wiring harness were melting. The manufacturer told the contact that the mileage was outside of the warranty and would not cover the wiring…
Fit years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 9 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 12 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 11 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 17 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 20 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 23 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 19 | 6 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 613 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.2 |
| Worst single series | 21 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.3 years |
A model average of 3.2 hides a worst series at 21. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Fit?
By complaint volume, 2007, 2015, 2009 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Fit years are the cleanest?
2020, 2017, 2012 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Honda Fit have?
1,977 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2007–2020. Of those, 135 describe a crash and 18 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.