What 113 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Honda Fit

When driving about 60 mph on a highway that was curving to the left, the steering wheel jerked to the left. I thought it was a flat tire but the tires were fine. Now every time I turn left, the steering wheel jerks to the right in middle of the turn.

NHTSA ODI 11746927

The air bag light flashing saying airbag is off. The electrical system shut off, radio flashed on and off. The steering lost its power and the head lights shut off then everything would come back on. This happened multiple times, I could not control the steering, very unsafe and scary. Car is available for inspection upon request.

NHTSA ODI 11516817

ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (EPS) CUTS OUT AND BACK IN AT UNPREDICTABLE TIMES CAUSING STEERING TO BECOME STIFF AND UNSAFE. THE EPS INDICATOR COMES MOMENTARILY WHEN ASSISTED STEERING IS NOT AVAILABLE AND TURNS OFF WHEN POWER STEERING IS RESTORED. IT HAPPENS PERIODICALLY UNDER ALL DIFFERENT DRIVING CONDITIONS. THIS LOOSING AND REGAINING ASSISTED POWER STEERING HAPPENS WITH IN SECONDS. IF CORNERING WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE LOSS OF POWERING STEERING CAUSES SEVERE UNDERSTEERING FOLLOWED BY SEVERE OVERSTEERING WHEN POWER STEERING IS RETURNED (ALL WITHIN THE SAME CORNERING MANEUVER). FIRST NOTICED JUST PRIOR TO GETTING THE TAKATA RECALL PERFORMED; HONDA DEALER STATED THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE STEERING BECAUSE THEY "COULD NOT FIND ANY CODES". DID NOT NOTICE THIS PROBLEM TOO MUCH AGAIN TILL RECENTLY WHEN IT STARTED OCCURRING SO FREQUENTLY THE CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE OWNER'S MANUAL STATES THERE IS ONLY A PROBLEM WITH EPS IF THE WARNING LIGHT STAYS ON. HONDA DEALERS ARE 'UNAWARE OF ANY ISSUES' ALTHOUGH HONDA HAS HAD EPS ISSUES WITH THE FIT AS DOCUMENTED IN NHTSA COMPLAINTS AS WELL AS HONDA SERVICE BULLETIN 14-058 (DEALING WITH EARLIER MODEL FITS). WHEN I RECENTLY CONTACTED HONDA AND ASKED ABOUT THE PROBLEM THEY STATED THEY HAVE NO INFO ON DEFECTS AND BASICALLY IT SUCKS TO BE ME. BECAUSE THERE ARE SUPPOSEDLY NO STORED DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTC) WITH THIS KNOWN ISSUE IT CANNOT BE RULED OUT AS A CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS. IT SEEMS ANY AND ALL HONDA FIT ACCIDENTS (ESPECIALLY INVOLVING FATALITIES OR SEVER INJURIES) IT WOULD BE CIRCUMSPECT TO CONSIDER THE UNPREDICTABLE LOSS OF POWER STEERING, WHICH CAUSES OVER AND UNDER CORRECTION IN CORNERING.

NHTSA ODI 11205736

POWER STEERING FAILED MULTIPLE TIMES WHILE DRIVING, AND THE RADIO CUT OUT MANY TIMES AS WELL. WHEN THE POWER STEERING FAILED I VEERED INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND WAS UNABLE TO TURN THE WHEEL UNTIL IT RESTORED. FORTUNATELY I WAS GOING LESS THAN 30MPH, AND AVOIDED AN ACCIDENT. UPON RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM I SEE THAT MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. I AM TOO AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR AS I LIVE IN A BUSY DOWNTOWN AREA. THIS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING IN THE CITY WHILE TRAVELING STRAIGHT AS WELL AS TURNING.

NHTSA ODI 11113154

THE POWER STEERING CUTS OUT INTERMITTENTLY FOR SECONDS AT A TIME BEFORE COMING BACK ON WHILE DRIVING. NO SPECIFIC MIX OF SPEED OR TEMP SEEMS TO CAUSE IT, IT IS RANDOM. THE RADIO CUTS OUT EACH TIME AS WELL. I'M TOLD THIS IS A FAULTY EPS UNIT OR SENSOR AND IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH HONDA FITS. WHEN DRIVING STRAIGHT IT HAS NOT BEEN AN ISSUE BUT I'VE HEARD STORIES OF PEOPLES STEERING WHEELS LOCKING IN A TURNED POSITION AND THIS COULD OBVIOUSLY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT.

NHTSA ODI 11071805

I WAS TRYING TO PARK THE HONDA TRYING TO ALIGIN THE CAR WITH THE CURB THE WHEEL LOCK UP ON ME TWO DIFFERENT TIME DOING THIS ALSO WHEN I WAS MAKING A SHARP TURN TO BACK UP AND TURN AROUND IT LOCK UP ON ME THE COMPUTER RADIO OF CAR ALSO WENT OUT SAID AN ERROR HAD OCCUR.

NHTSA ODI 10949629

LOST POWER STEERING WHILE DRIVING ON THE HWY IN MY 2011 HONDA FIT WITH ABOUT 58,500 MILES DRIVEN.. HAD CAR PARKED IN THE SUN FOR SEVERAL HOURS WITH AMBIENT TEMPERATURE OF 92F, GOT IN AND DROVE HOME, HAD RADIO ON, A/C ON, GAS LEVEL CLOSE TO THE EMPTY INDICATOR ("E")., AND WITHIN 5 MINUTES OF DRIVING, WAS ON THE FREEWAY AT THAT TIME, THE ELECTRIC POWER ASSISTED STEERING FUNCTIONALITY FAILED. I ALMOST LOST CONTROL OF VEHICLE, STEERING WAS HEAVY AND DIFFICULT, NO LIGHTS ILLUMINATED TO INDICATE A PROBLEM, WAS ABLE TO STAY IN # 1 LANE TILL I REACHED HOME. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR THE FOLLOWING DAY, AND POWER ASSIST FUNCTIONALITY WAS MAGICALLY RESTORED. I VISITED THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE CLAIMED THAT HE HAS NOT HEARD OF SUCH PROBLEMS WITH THE HONDA FIT, EVEN FOR EARLIER YEARS WHEN I ASKED SPECIFICALLY. SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE WAS NOT EVEN INTERESTED IN HOOKING UP ANY DEVICES TO SEE IF INFORMATION CAN BE RETRIEVED FROM THE COMPUTER IN THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI 10889062

RECENTLY MY 2011 HONDA FIT HAS BEEN HAVING INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING FAILURES. IT HAS HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN ONE WEEK TO DATE WHERE I HAVE STARTED THE CAR TO DRIVE TO WORK IN THE MORNING AND THE STEERING IS VERY HEAVY FOR A FEW SECONDS LIKE AN OLD MANUAL STEERING CAR. THE POWER STEERING KICKED BACK IN ONCE AFTER CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE CAR AND ON THE OTHER TWO OCCASIONS AFTER STOPPING THE CAR AND RESTARTING IT.

NHTSA ODI 10806600

THE STEERING BECOMES REALLY HEAVY OVER SPEEDS OF 50 AND THERE IS NO INDICATOR SHOWING ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10546005

AFTER DRIVING 20 MILES THROUGH TRAFFIC WITH 1/2 TANK GAS AND RADIATOR TEMPERATURE OK, NO WARNING LIGHTS SHOWING: TURNED RIGHT AT INTERSECTION AND LOST ALL ENGINE POWER (NO THROTTLE RESPONSE), THEN ALL LIGHTS (HEADLIGHTS AND DASH). STEERING BECAME STIFF. WE THINK CD PLAYER STAYED ON. LUCKILY NO NEARBY TRAFFIC AND ENOUGH MOMENTUM TO PULL INTO NEARBY PARKING LOT. PUT CAR IN PARK, TURNED KEY OFF AND REMOVED IT. REPLACED KEY AND CAR STARTED WITH LIGHTS OK. WE'VE HAD THIS CAR FOR 1500 MILES AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IT'S DONE THIS. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10484800