Yesterday, Paul Seredynski, Executive Editor of Edmunds.com tosses me a key, and, while walking away quickly, mumbles something about something being dead and that a Honda was involved. Odd behavior, really, considering his jovial and talkative nature. I read the tag on the key, thought about what he said and then re-read the tag on the key. Surely he had killed someone with the Honda FIt and was fleeing the country. I put the key in my desk, figured I'd wait for the scene to calm down.
Later, upon closer inspection and a dab of rational thought, it turned out to be little more than a dead battery. A quick jump got it started, and that's really where the interesting part begins.
After the jump I let the car idle for about 15 minutes and then went for a ride around town. 45 minutes later I was back in the office where I parked the 2009 Fit, turned off the ignition and then, just to be safe, tried to turn it back on.
*click*click*click*click*click* went the car
*Grawrrrrrr* went the vehicle testing assistant.
It was late by then and I gave up. The next day (today) I'd jump it and send it off to the Honda shop.
Today rolled around and I grabbed an assistant to help with the errand. He jumped in the Fit and, while I was pulling up the helper vehicle, started the stupid thing without issue. I swore it didn't do that yesterday; he called me a liar; I made the clicking noise while waving my hands frantically; he asked if he could go back up to the office.
The Fit is in fine working order now and has started and stopped many times with no fault or hint of decreased cranking power.
Oh, the cause of the dead battery? The hatch was left not-quite-shut which left the small light on back there. Combine that with three-or-four days of disuse, and you've got a very dead battery.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 8,096 miles
louiswei says:
02:16 PM, 06/26/09
Is that a Honda Insight?
cx7lover says:
02:41 PM, 06/26/09
Absolutely not, it's just a Honda Insight.
slickersdrip says:
03:13 PM, 06/26/09
Is that Insight hitting the Long Term fleet?
dougtheeng says:
03:16 PM, 06/26/09
is charging from a hybrid any different?
carguy622 says:
03:30 PM, 06/26/09
dougtheeng: I don't know about the Prius, becuase it's hybrid system is more complex, but Honda hybrids have a regular battery under the hood.
bimmerjay says:
04:25 PM, 06/26/09
Lack of a battery saver, FTL.
esoterica says:
05:23 PM, 06/26/09
Agree with bimmerjay. Didn't even the horrid Chevy Cavalier have battery rundown protection way back in the '90's?
samjpatrick says:
08:59 PM, 06/26/09
Second gen. Prius' have two jump starting points. One near the battery pack in the rear cargo area and another under the hood. Toyota only recommends using one (can't remember which) because the other is close to some pretty high voltage lines.
billt9 says:
10:56 PM, 06/26/09
You didn't close the hatch and the car locked without complaining?
Don't most cars beep at you that your doors aren't all closed and you try to lock it?
cx7lover says:
12:05 AM, 06/27/09
My cars won't even lock with a door, or hatch/trunk lid open.
ocramida says:
08:11 AM, 06/28/09
Battery save circuitry should be standard in overpriced cars like the Honda. Our Mazda 5 has this feature and has saved us when our less than attentive 4 and 9 year old forget to close the sliding doors more than a few times. The only time it doesn't save us is if the light switch is accidentally set to "ON" instead of "Door".
the_big_al says:
10:21 AM, 06/28/09
chalk one up to GM here. They have battery run-down protection for situations like this (at least on mid 00's cars. If I leave the trunk or a door or a map light on in my car (or my truck), the car shuts off those lights after 20 minutes. There have been times where my daughter has played with the buttons and left a map light on and I'll get back in a day or so later and upon opening the door, they all come back on. But no dead battery.
boxermike says:
11:20 AM, 06/28/09
"Don't most cars beep at you that your doors aren't all closed and you try to lock it?"
Surprisingly, no. And I'm, frankly, thankful for this. My strategy is: Open hatch, lock door, put key in pocket, rummage around hatch, close hatch, walk away.
I'm not a fan of the ones that don't let me do this.
As for battery run-down protection: that would've been nice.
-mm
robs249 says:
12:36 PM, 07/ 3/09
Most new cars won't beep if a door is left open and you press the lock button on the key fob. Once the doors are closed it will beep the second time you press the lock button on the key fob. It's like that on my parents Tahoe anyway, but not my Jeep.
leonardo10 says:
03:05 PM, 07/ 4/09
Did the 2009 Honda Fit have issues with the battery again? I have heard many people are having problems with the battery failing even though they just bought the cars.