[sajego]

One of my skirts came unfastened at the front end over the weekend and was dragging along by just the rear bolt for a long time (I'm Deaf, I didn't realize it happen!). I still have the skirt, I'm missing the front bolt, but the corner that was dragging is worn down almost an inch on the upper back corner where it meets the body of the car. Leaves a nice gap. Uhg.

I just got off the phone with the dealership and made an appointment for my oil change on Saturday morning. I asked about the skirt being covered under warranty and was basically told that if I'd ever taken the skirt off or anyone else had taken the skirt off then it was no longer covered by the warranty. They'll check for defects that might have caused it to come off on Saturday.

It's ironic because I saw my first Insight "in the wild" only a few hours before. A yellow one going South on Rte 9 near Freehold, NJ... and it was missing a skirt.

I like the skirts, but why couldn't Honda have made the car look a little less silly without them?

 

[sajego]

Well, I've heard they add 3 to 5 mpg just by further reducing wind drag on the car. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have to get a new one they are pretty expensive.

Yeah, I noticed the drop in MPG. Much harder to keep it in lean burn than it was. Price from http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com says $221 list and $165 "Our Price". So yeah, expensive.

 

[sajego]

They are "Quarter-turn fastners"
http://www.southco.com/pdf/7-3.pdf is the documentation.
I'm not sure mine has the spring in them! I'll have to check the back one, but I know you can just keep turning it and it doesn't come out until you pull the two pieces away from each other...


I think I might just replace them with washers and normal bolts... We'll see.

I did like the idea of a dab of silicon to keep it from coming out though.

The fastener itself was remarkably expensive, being a specialized screw (~$16). It seemed to be carbon-fiber instead of metal and had a weird, zig-zag thread on it. Basically, to tighten, you push in, turn 1/4 turn and then let it spring back out some. If it doesn't spring back out, it doesn't lock, hence the lost screw.

Don't expect it to act like a normal screw. Just turn it 1/4 turn and let it lock and test to make sure it won't pull out.

 

[sajego]

Good news! The dealership ordered me a new skirt under warranty. They didn't ask me too many questions. I told them I felt bad about not hearing it scraping and one woman replied that when she hears a noise she just turns the radio up! At least I have an excuse... I really didn't hear it until it started thumping.

I'm going to be working on some tethers that will keep them off the ground if they slip out again.