A design flaw in the infotainment system of certain Honda Fits and HR-Vs could cause the backup camera in those vehicles to fail to boot up. Now, the automaker will have to recall 114,686 of the vehicles in the U.S. to fix them.
The issue affects model year 2018-2020 Honda Fits and 2019-2022 HR-Vs with an improperly designed power circuit in the infotainment system. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automaker first became aware of the issue in October 2020.
At that time, it learned of a “potential trend of malfunctioning” infotainment units, and began investigating. By August 2021, it had determined that the issue occurred when the vehicles’ engines were started.
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By May 2022, Honda found that the problem only occurred when drivers used the actual ignition key to start the vehicle and, in January 2023, it determined that the defect meant that the Fit and HR-V failed to meet American regulations requiring a backup camera.
Honda’s defect team discovered, in the end, that the cranking of the engine can cause the battery’s charge to drop, which can prevent the infotainment display from booting up. While that’s annoying, it has a safety implication, because it means that he back up camera cannot display. That, says NHTSA, increases the odds of an injury or crash occurring while these vehicles are backing up.
Honda says that, as of January 27, 2023, it has received 205 warranty claims related to the issue. It has not, however, found any reports of death or injury related to the failing backup camera.
To remedy the issue, Honda plans to start reaching out to customers on March 13. They will be asked to return their Fit or HR-V to an authorized Honda dealer, where the infotainment system will be reprogrammed and updated with software that contains a proper boot up procedure. The repairs will be made at not cost to the vehicles’ owners.
