Day 1: Bye Bye Fit

March 7 at 7:30 am, I drove to the Honda dealer to get my 2012 Honda Fit's Takata airbag inflator replaced. I made the appointment online on February 15th after finding out that my Fit was part of the infamous Takata recall that so many manufacturers, especially Honda, are dealing with. I scheduled the appointment for first thing in the morning and said I would wait for the repair to take place. What could go wrong?

I arrived at the dealer on time, and saw a service advisor (SA) immediately. He checked me in and said "the repair will take 2 or 3 months to complete." Stop. Wait a minute. Hold on. Did he just say 2 or 3 months? Yes. Yes he did. It seems Honda has just announced the recall and doesn't actually have any remanufactured non-shrapnelating parts for the recall. "Would you like to surrender your vehicle?" says SA. "Ummm, can I have a loaner car?" says I. "No loaners are available, but you can have a rental car from Enterprise" says SA. "Does Honda pay for the rental?" says I. "Yes" says SA. "Sure" says I.

So SA gets on the phone and scheduled me a rentacar. Then calls for a shuttle to bring me to Enterprise. I collect some stuff from my Fit, and off we go to Enterprise. At the rentacar counter the agent is very enthusiastic about selling me supplemental insurance for the car, all declined by me, because my insurance will cover the rentacar as my own. I'm eventually sitting in a 2015 Hyundai Elantra sedan. It's about 18 inches longer than my Fit. It has a trunk. It has no back up camera. The thought of 2 or 3 months with this car almost sends me back to the Honda dealer to claim my Fit, but the thought of a face and torso full of shrapnel keeps me in my rentacar seat.

I got home and made some room at the nose end of the garage and wedgied the Hyundai into the Fit's normal place. Does Honda really not have any newly engineered airbag inflators for Honda Fits? Does Honda really want me to test drive a Hyundai for 3 months? We'll find out over the course or what may be days or months.

Enjoy the ride,
Mark