We picked up a 2011 Fit with 30k miles a few months ago. We still have another month warranty to make any issues known, so i'm wondering if anyone can help me with the following:

1. The car didn't come with a locking wheel nut in the little tool kit. It just had this stuff. Is the odd one out with the concave centre bit a security nut?

2. There's an empty bit of hose to the air intake. Is that normal? Also: missing clamp on the filter housing. Gonna pick up a replacement clip online.

3. It's a 10 year old car with surprisingly low mileage. Is there anything worthwhile to check/get checked out? Old car was a diesel, and i know they get unhappy without being run around enough. No idea with a petrol car though.

Thanks.

 

My 2011 has bout 130,000 miles on it and is working fine. That looks like a regular hex nut to me, it just looks a little different. Good luck with your new car, well almost new. Clay

 

You might want to check for rust. Do cars rust a great deal in the UK?

 

I didn't see a missing clamp on the air box. The circle drawn was pretty big, but it looked like you were circling the intake air boot. That's normal
The lug nut yuh showed there is actually the same as the rest, it just lost its aesthetic squished on cover. You'll notice when trying to put a socket over the other prettier ones that it'll fit poorly in metric and imperial sizes. To preserve them as best as possible, make sure the socket you use to take them on and off is fully seated on the nut. If it isn't, eventually the rest will wind up looking like the one.

Lastly, modern gasoline powered cars don't like to sit.

 

We barely get snow or ice, so no salted roads, and so less corrosion + rust. But it is always rainy and humid, and it is in a bit of a rusty state (even the clips under the bonnet are rusted beyond recognition...). I'll look over it. Hopefully just superficial.

Yeah the circle was pretty haphazard, but that is the thing i meant: the air intake boot. Seemed like something was maybe meant to fit into it, so glad to hear it's normal.

As for the wheel bolts: that'd make sense that it's just a standard nut where the nice bit has fallen off, only it's odd that every wheel has 1 ugly bolt and 3 shiny ones. Hmmm.

Bonus question: i've noticed the air conditioning smells dirty on the heat setting (anything red on the temperature dial, really). I've replaced the cabin filter, but no luck. The best way i can describe it is like a dirty engine. Not like burning plastic, but definitely like lifting the hood on a dirty car. Any tips on what needs cleaning? Could it be leaves trapped in the radiator fan or something?

 

I can't speak to the A/C scent. I mean, maybe the heater core is dirty and could benefit from coil cleaner..

As for the air intake boot, yeah it does look funky, huh? It doesn't directly hook up to anything, but there is a duct on the hood that directs air over to it. Maybe that'll give you some comfort regarding the design?



​​​​​​As for the lug nuts, it is odd that there'd be one goofed nut on each wheel. Maybe the previous owner had wheel locks put on, then taken off before resale. Maybe those aren't merely damaged OEM lugs, but actually some extras? You can ditch all of the OEM ones for some chrome acorn shaped nuts though. Personally not much of a wheel lock fan, as they're from my perspective more inconvenience to the owner and servicer than they are deterrent to a would-be thief.

 

Googling coil cleaner turns up a load of videos showing how to use it to clean out the aircon system, which is great as i wasn't sure where to really start before.

I actually hadn't considered looking literally underneath the bonnet. There's a couple of missing plastic bolts on the cooling duct (and the thing to the left: looks like a sound dampener), but these forums turned up an official part number (91512-R21-013) and advice to just buy some "fir tree clips" or "christmas tree fasteners" on the cheap.
I appreciate the picture for peace of mind. Can i ask what the little filler reservoirs are next to the arrow on your picture? Conspicuously missing on mine, with mounting holes. Is it maybe for automatic transmission?

 

I'm so happy to hear that I've helped! In regards to coil cleaners, I've used this one for our home air conditioning unit.

I cleaned the bulk off with a fresh-filtered shop vac and a careful hand, then did a final cleaning with the coil cleaner. I can't speak to how the cleaner itself handles a large bulk of packed dust.


"Christmas/fir tree fasteners" would be fine for that application since there's really no need to remove that rubber duct, save in the event of collision repair.
The original design fasteners are quite nice when paired with the appropriate KTC tool which I'll link you to here.
I will say that frankstools has let me down once in the past, so if you should choose to purchase these pliers you might want to first attempt to look elsewhere. KTC AP202A. Alternatively, a slotted screwdriver will do.

In regards to the reservoirs you see in my image, they are clutch and brake fluid! I see you're located overseas.