The replacement of Honda Fit bumpers shall be conducted free at any U.S. Honda dealership office. Chuck Thomas, the chief safety engineer of Honda, said that the repair should only take a mere 30 minutes.
Honda's decision to come up with a free replacement program came soon after its redesigned 2015 Fit earned an "acceptable" mark in an overlap test done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). It is a simulated wreck test which tries to find out what happens when the car would have a head-on collision with another vehicle or when it hits a solid object at a driving speed of 40 mph.
Seven months ago, Honda's 2013 Fit model was one of the poorest performers in a crash test where it competed against 10 other subcompact cars. The IIHS gave the car a poor rating which leaves Honda a long way to go before it achieves the "Top Safety Pick" status.
Earning the "Top Safety Pick" status by the IIHS gives an automaker a sense of pride and honor which it immediately displays in its marketing strategy. To achieve this status, a vehicle must at least earn an "acceptable" rating in small front overlap tests and a "good" rating in four other types of tests. There are four types of rating that is given by the IIHS. These are good, acceptable, marginal, and poor.
Honda asked to take the "small overlap protection" test again once its 2015 Fit model arrives in the market. From the earned "poor" rating, Honda had predicted that the car could accelerate to the "good" rating.
In an IIHS test in March, Honda failed to reach the "good" rating and had to settle with "marginal" which is only a notch higher than what it has earned earlier. However, this didn't stop the automaker from achieving its target to gain the top safety award.
Honda had prepared for the test by working on their production line in Mexico. They added more robust welds to the car's steel beam located just behind the front bumper. This time, the company finally achieved the "acceptable" rating which means that they're now one of the IIHS' "Top Safety Pick" recognized vehicles.
"This is not a small undertaking, but the action underscores Honda's long-term commitment to safety," said Thomas.
Honda will contact Fit owners and instruct them to take their vehicles to their respective dealers in order to get the free overhaul. The service will involve three steps which include removing the car's plastic covering, unbolting the old beam, and replacing it with an improved bumper. Fit owners are encouraged by the insurance institute to take advantage of the replacement program of Honda.
