[Bill P.]

While driving down the road recently at 70 MPH in my still under warranty 01 Insight, I heard a sort of "bump" in the right rear. I immediately pulled to the side of the road. I found that the front skirt fastener had come out, the skirt had dropped to the pavement and then been twisted back underneath, hanging on by the rear fastener. Both the skirt and the bracket/stay were damaged. My local dealer was pretty unsympathetic, and I asked them to contact someone higher up the food chain. Two days later I was told that the district service manager had suggested that I contact my insurance company. I won't offend anyone with what I think of that response. From the forum, I know that many of you have also lost a fastener, and I previously lost one with no resulting damage. The dealer is now checking the Honda tech line for similar instances, but I am concerned with how diligently dealers have entered this info.

If you have had a fastener come out, please post a response with your VIN. Also, please note if any damage resulted. I plan to use this as ammunition to get Honda to cover this problem. This is really a matter of principle as new parts for repair can be had for less than $200. I am otherwise very happy with my Insight and have had no other issues.

Thanks in Advance,
Bill

 

[Outsight]

Just a bunch of *** holes at the dealers.

 

[Guest]

The only time I had the fasteners and skirt come off was when I had a tire plugged and I didn't get the fasteners back in tight enough. 'twas my fault. If the last time it was removed was by the dealer, they should cover it, but good luck confincing them of this. Losing the fasteners and skirt is easy to do.

 

[Bill P.]

Actually, that is one of the issues for me. The skirts have never been off the car except at this dealer for service.

 

[Sparky5501]

I had a front fastner rattle loose on the passenger side once. Luckly I noticed it before anything fell off. Close call! It was loose mainly due to the fastner not being seated all the way in the recieving clip. When puting it back on I noticed it wouldn't seat properly. Turns out that road dirt on the clip and fastner was preventing it from seating fully. After spraying the clip and fastner off with water they went together nicely. Where as before I could hear crunchy noise like dirt or sand on the metal. Maybe add this info for your tech report to your dealer. "Clean fastner and clip prior to replacing on car. Dirty fastner can work loose from clip."

You may want to think about modifying the fastner so it doesn't fall out of the skirt. I used a 1/4 inch round flat speed nut on the fastner to keep it on. The fastner has a grooved shoulder on the pointy end which makes it perfect for pushing the speed nut onto and traping it in place. I purchased the round speed nuts at my local auto store. Only drawback is that it makes putting the skirt on the car more difficult, cos the fastners get in the way at the bottom.

Hope you get this worked out with your dealership. Good luck.

 

[cakley]

Purchased my 00 insight in 01 at Ed Volyes Honda after the first trip home I was waxing the car. I noticed a missing bolt.... Unsure if it was on when purchased or not. But what I do no is I went and complained. We drove a golf cart to the back lot and the dealer just took one of a new unsold Insight..

 

[Guest]

Hi Bill_P.:

___ I don’t have an Insight in my possession just yet but I purchased a 2000 5-speed today. The maintenance history has two write-ups in regards to loose or failed skirt attachments that might help you as well.

___The VIN is JHMZE1371YT000203 and the 2 documented maintenance requests are as follows:

12/20/2000 (7,107 miles) - LR Fender skirt is hanging down - Reattached.

10/25/2001 (13,840 miles) - LR Fender skirt not attached properly - Reattached properly.

___I was speaking with a woman from the Boston area just last week and she mentioned she had one fall off her 02 Insight as well. She no longer owns this Insight and I don’t know if she had it fixed at the dealer or not but her VIN was as follows: JHMZE13702T001902

___Given how many times this has been reported here in the Insight forums; I can’t fathom how Honda could not see this in their own Insight global maintenance history list(s) …

___I hope to come up with a more durable permanent solution myself. Sparky5501’s speed nut idea sounds like a great permanent solution, doesn’t it? From the many mentions, the skirts are not only expensive, but have fallen off more Insight’s then I care to imagine.

___Good Luck and I hope this helps.

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:3lb1xejr][email protected][/email:3lb1xejr]

 

[Guillermo]

I had some problems with my OEM clips comming loose,
so I replaced them with 6 mm "clip nuts" and bolts.
Problem solved.

 

[dflach]

When I bought my new '02 I found that one of the cam-lock fasteners was missing. The dealership replaced it at no cost. Since I had read about this problem I removed all four fasteners and put a small dab of clear silicone caulk on them and reinstalled them. The caulk prevents them from vibrating loose. The caulk does not harden, so removing the fasteners for service is still easy. But, the caulk mus be re-applied each time. - However, when I had the dealership do the 10k service, including tire rotation, the technician neglected to re-install one of the skirts correctly. He/she had not engaged the "hooks" on the body into the "slots" in the skirt, so the skirt was flapping. I had to remove the skirt and install it correctly. - The technician had also adjusted all four tire pressures to ~30 psi even though I specifically told the service manager that I wanted 40 psi F and 38 psi R. - My advice? Become as familiar with the car as possible and check their work afterward. I finally got them to put the correct amount of 0-20W oil (2.6 qts) in during an oil change, but they still insist on lowering the tire pressures. Good luck!

 

[SeanW]

I've never had a problem with my fasteners or skirts but, just to make sure I never lose one, I used an idea I found here or on Yahoo! (can't remember where :? ).

I put the fastener through the skirt and then pressed on a 1/4" internal star lock washer (looks like this) to hold the fastener in place. It does make the skirt a little harder to install (and hopefully less like to come off). I figure it's cheap insurance against losing one.

 

[Will M]

I think the issue is simple:

If you were the person who took the fasteners loose and put them back in place before this happened, you should eat the cost of replacing them and be more careful in the future. They don't come loose unless you don't get them in right.

If the dealer was the last one who took the fasteners loose and put them back in place before this happened, then they should eat the cost of replacing them and be more careful in the future. They don't come loose unless they don't get them in right.