What 118 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Honda Fit

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Fit. The contact stated that the right gauge on the instrument cluster intermittently went blank or became distorted. The contact also stated that the fuel gauge provided inaccurate readings. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

NHTSA ODI 11517793

The steering wheel locks when I park the car and turn the ignition off. The steering wheel stays locked (warning light) when I turn the key in the ignition and the car does not start. Now it stays locked about 90% of the time. The solution (found online, from other drivers) is to take the key out of the ignition, gently turn the steering wheel to the right, then to the left several times; put the key in the ignition & start the car. I sometimes have to repeat the process several times before the car starts. It makes me feel unsafe when I can't start the car and leave an area quickly. I have not reported the problem to the dealer, and it has not been inspected. But I will report it because it happens so frequently.

NHTSA ODI 11517744

When it is cold outside the gauge cluster fails due to a loose solder connection on the instrument panel circuit board. This is a common and know issue with 2015/2016 Honda Fits.

NHTSA ODI 11512785

Smart Power Control Unit stopped working and had to pay out of pocket over $1200 due to no warranties applicable. Have heard from online forums that this is a very common part malfunction in the 2016 models from Honda and due to the high amount of incidents and for how expensive of a repair this turns out to be the part should be covered by Honda as they already cover the actual on and off switch button.

NHTSA ODI 11511392

I start the vehicle when it's cold and the VCT actuator rattles terrible for 1-2 seconds. Honda knows about this problem but will not issue a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11509038

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Fit. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the LED display was inoperable. The contact stated that the speedometer, tachometer, and fuel gauge were also inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the contact was informed that the instrument panel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the cause of the failure was not under recall, and that the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The failure mileage was 51,000.

NHTSA ODI 11507200

The dashboard computer screen has been flickering in temps under 40°F, but it usually comes back on after driving for awhile. However, today is is 70°F and the screen is completely blank so I am unable to see how much gas I have in my tank or any of the other items displayed on that screen.

NHTSA ODI 11499795

Right-side of Instrument display cluster failure upon start up (no data appears). After warm up and a few miles driven, display appeared garbled information. After a few more miles, the display did seem to correct, but this should not be happening. I believe this should be considered a safety issue.

NHTSA ODI 11499478

Major leak in drivers side, causing pool of water near gas and brake pedals. Occurs when it rains and could be coming from door panel where electrical components are.

NHTSA ODI 11497886

When I start the car in cool/colder weather (<60 F), I notice that the fuel gauge/mileage indicator in the dashboard does not turn on. It remains blank. Sometimes, after a little while, the indicator does turn on, but displays a bunch of gibberish. Only after the car has been driven for ~20 minutes or so does the indicator turn back to normal. Originally, this occurred and would be fixed almost immediately (within a couple minutes). However, it has steadily gotten worse over time the point where I cannot tell how much fuel is left, the oil life, and other important indicators.

NHTSA ODI 11492689

Screen issues for right-side instrument panel that displays instant mpg, total mileage, fuel levels, and oil life. Upon starting the car, the screen displays incorrectly (partial words, extra letters in incorrect places) and the different display information can not be clicked through. The display will come back after a few minutes.

NHTSA ODI 11491299

Same as dozens of others have reported, the entire instrument panel to the right of the steering column often is totally blank. Of particular concern, the fuel gauge is blank. Sometimes, after a little while, the indicator does turn on, but displays a bunch of gibberish. Only after the car has been driven for ~20 minutes or so does the indicator sometimes turn back to normal. This issue has steadily gotten worse over recent years such that in cooler weather the gauge now does not come on at all. This is a safety issue, and with the number of reports I see on this website and elsewhere, there should be an investigation for recall.

NHTSA ODI 11490248

Dashboard display does is not visible upon startup.It will come on after a few miles.This started happening on Oct 17,2022.

NHTSA ODI 11490263

When I start the car in cool/colder weather (<60 F), I notice that the fuel gauge/mileage indicator in the dashboard does not turn on. It remains blank. Sometimes, after a little while, the indicator does turn on, but displays a bunch of gibberish. Only after the car has been driven for ~20 minutes or so does the indicator turn back to normal. Originally, this occurred and would be fixed almost immediately (within a couple minutes). However, it has steadily gotten worse over time the point where I cannot tell how much fuel is left, the oil life, and other important indicators.

NHTSA ODI 11486669

I'm reporting a common problem with the 2016 Honda Fit which hasn't yet been listed as a recall issue. On the right side of the dashboard next to the steering column there is small digital circular gauge. This gauge includes the fuel gauge, oil life indicator and odometer. Upon starting the vehicle and/or when the vehicle is in motion, this gauge will intermittently fail. This gauge does not turn on or displays random symbols every time I start the car and intermittently does not work while the car is in operation. While this first stated happening only in cold weather, it now happens every day I drive the car in all weather conditions. The fuel gauge and odometer are not visible due to an electrical issue. Nothing has happened to the car that would cause this issue to occur other than a manufacturer defect. The odometer/fuel gauge of the instrument panel has display issues and intermittently blanks out with no info on it. The gauge display is either totally blank, flashes a few times, or displays gibberish, and then intermittently comes back on. This is a safety issue because this display contains the fuel gauge so I cannot see how much fuel is remaining fuel I have left. This gauge also contains the odometer which cannot be seen. Odometers and fuel gauges are legally required to work in vehicles, and these are not working in my 2016 Honda Fit. This should be a recall safety issue if the driver is unable to identify the remaining fuel and miles accrued since last refuel. This can leave the driver and passengers stranded and exposed to danger. This is not an isolated incident with this specific vehicle, and thousands of similar Honda Fit complaints can easily be found in online forums. Per thousands of online posts, the issue appears to be caused by a soldering manufacturing defect. This appears to be a common problem with the Honda Fit. Honda should address and correct this safety issue via a NHTSA safety recall.

NHTSA ODI 11484207

VTC Actuator is defective

NHTSA ODI 11481925

While driving on highway, my car started to lose power. My attempts to maintain speed resulted in my car stalling and lurching forward, intermittently. I had to pull over on the side. Someone with a diagnostic tool checked and the tool read out indicated "Fuel rail pressure too low" and ABS indicated as abnormal.

NHTSA ODI 11478562

Water leak problem at passengers side . Including passenger side airbags area get wet , and sunroof area too . My car is 2016, never been in accident and well maintained, I couldn’t think of any reason to cost water leak . At 5/22/2022 evening time heavy rain, 3 hours parking car outside, passenger side floor almost 2-3inches water . That’s a lot of water.

NHTSA ODI 11465734

Fuel injectors are defective. Honda recognizes that this a design flaw. Honda changed to new design in later model 2016's. Because of injector failure, un-combusted fuel will enter the catalytic converter and will contaminate the converter and fuel system causing multiple problems.

NHTSA ODI 11465855

The breather tube for the CVT transmission becomes clogged, causing the rubber fill plug to pop out and spill CVT fluid and allow water, dirt, rocks, and other debris to enter directly into the transmission. This has caused a slipping of the transmission at low speed when accelerating from a stop. Several times, when pulling out on a main road, it will stutter and not apply power to accelerate properly. I am genuinely concerned that it's going to cause me to get hit by an oncoming vehicle. There is no warning as to when the plug will pop out again and it's in a difficult to locate area underneath the engine air intake, which must be removed to access the plug. It's not easily visible to see when it has popped out. There were no warning lights or signs of the plug being popped out of place until the transmission began having issues with acceleration. This is currently a known issue to the NHTSA reported here at this link (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10165374-0001.pdf) however, I am elevating the concern that putting the plug back in place is not an adequate solution, and noting that the known issue is causing transmission issues. I would like to emphasize that this is a wide spread issue amongst these Honda CVT transmissions as shown in the NHTSA link above. I am trying to stick to the facts that I know, and based on my research into the failure rate of these CVT transmissions, I am recommending that a closer look be taken into this issue, as I am finding many testimonies of people having the same issues I am encountering. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11454639

Display on the right of the dashboard not turning on when temperature is lower than 45 degrees f. It is impossible to know fuel availability before start driving causing me to risk getting stranded with no gas

NHTSA ODI 11445939

Right side gauge in dashboard keeps shutting down, displaying random symbols, etc. It is the guage that shows fuel usage, levels, etc. 1000's of reports of this online validate it is not a problem with just my Fit. It does this almost everyday now. After the interior of the vehicle gets warm and the guage gets to a certain temperature, it works normally.

NHTSA ODI 11445561

Fuel gage display (including ODOMETER, time and temperature) has disappeared. Backlight on, but no information displayed. This is unsafe when 40+ miles away from a gas station and cannot see the neither the fuel gage or the odometer! First occurred in 2019, with around 40,000 miles, as the years pass it goes out for longer periods of time and more frequently, almost daily, sometimes for a few days.

NHTSA ODI 11445261

The odometer/fuel gauge of the instrument panel has display issues. Intermittently blanks out with no info on it, especially when I first start the car on cold days. Takes like 20 mins of driving on the highway before it warms up enough for the display to flash a few times, display gibberish, and then suddenly come back on. Does not affect other functionalities of the car fortunately. However I have no clue how much fuel I have left and in worst case scenario would need to wait for the low fuel warning light to come on and hope I can make it to a gas station.

NHTSA ODI 11443053

About a year or two after purchasing the car new in 2016, we noticed that the instrument panel right side which has fuel gauge, odometer, trip information and other key operating vehicle information would go blank or the digital readout would go haywire and turn into gibberish. This generally happened on cold mornings and the display would revert to normal within 10 minutes to one hour. We took it to dealer where vehicle purchased in Phoenix, who was unable to recreate the problem and therefore they did nothing. The problem has persisted since then but recently has worsened to the point where the display is blank almost all of the time and not working in hot weather as well. The only time I can see the gauges is when first starting car in morning, and then it often doesn't work to get to different functions one accesses by pushing a knob/button next to that display -- and stops working completely a short time later. I feel this is a dangerous problem because we can't tell how much gas we have in the car, can't determine mileage via odometer there and lack other key vehicle information that the manufacturer decided to put in a digital panel that is blank or goes blank most of the time. On my listing below of when this incident occurred, that is to indicate when the problem started happening, more or less. The incident has been ongoing since then. The problem started when vehicle had around 20-25K miles and we are now at 58K -- though it's hard for me to tell mileage because I can so rarely see the odometer. I believe odometers and probably fuel gauges are legally required to work in vehicles and mine has been faulty for years and during the warranty period. A recall is needed. Honda is charging more than $1,000 to replace these faulty displays on Honda Fits that are no longer under warranty, like mine, I am told.

NHTSA ODI 11442520