The replacement plastic cover is about $9. It's a 15 minutes DIY. I have replaced mine twice. Those plastic polishers never worked for me.

Honda Fit METER COMPONENTS (NS) Parts & Honda Body Parts Catalog Online @ myHondaPartsStore

Price has gone up since the last time I ordered them.

 

Thanks--that's good to know. Would you give us a brief primer on how to replace the part? Just pointing to the location of the screws/clips to be removed would be enough to get us started. Thanks again.

 

Yeah, mine are scratched pretty bad as well which bugs me to. I may just have to order a new one myself and tell any dealer or full service carwash specifically, do NOT touch my gauge cove please lol!!

 

Perhaps we now know where Apple's iPod Nano screen plastic supplier turned when they got dumped.

 

There used to be a link to an interactive manual on how to take the cluster apart, but it no longer works.

If I have the time this weekend. I'll post some pics on how to access the cluster lens. There are no screws, just clips to holding it in place.

 

So it seems that no one here has actually cleaned their gauge cluster with a plastic cleaner nor found out if this is a "warranty item"

Mine shows many fine scratches; I've never touched it and I'm the original owner. I don't even have 1000 miles yet. Small issue, but a very annoying one, since the gauge cluster is something you look at every time you drive, and every time you see those scratches you will be reminded of what seems to be an inexplicable, penny-wise, pound-foolish cost-cutting move by Honda.

 

Don't forget this is Honda's entry-level car. If they didn't cut costs, it wouldn't be entry-level nor cheap.

 

Somehow though they managed not to have such magically scuffed plastic covering the gauges in my 2008 Fit or my 1988 Civic DX, both entry-level and inexpensive cars.

 

I don't know about that, Honda use to make cars that you'd never see this happen to.

 

Agreed. Quite surprised to hear about this actually..

 

Are you guys saying that based on your own experiences with Hondas in the past?

In my experiences, many older Hondas have had their little quirks too: poor-fitting interior/exterior panels, door locks that feel sloppy and flimsy, finish on interior door handles that peels, and there are many more.

If you look up any car, there will be common complaints by owners. But these are usually nothing really major, like the scratches on our gauge clusters.

 

Mine's an 07 and I have scratches on mine too. I only carelessly wiped them down once and that was enough to do it. So if you've never cleaned yours but you do have scratches, it could have been from the dealership wiping them just that once.

 

Ein, thanks, that would be a huge help.

I recall my father’s ‘78 Accord, which had the plastic angled downwards so that dust never landed on it and so that reflections never interfered with your view of the gauges behind. Years after the car had been bought it was still so transparent that a friend got into the car and accused Honda of being cheap because they “didn’t place plastic in front of the gauges.” Got a good laugh out of that one.

 

Is this a common problem with all Fit or just the older models? I am planning to get a 2012. Fine scratches like these will bug me a lot.

 

It's happening on my '09 and I don't think that they've changed the dash configuration on the '12s

 

Having built motorcycle and scooter windshields from scratch, I have found that polycarbonate while very strong and almost impossible to break. It is very easy to scratch even with a very soft microfiber rag. I now make my windshields out of Plexiglass which is breakable but can be cleaned with most any plastic window cleaner or polish.

I have never had this cluster apart. I wonder how difficult it would be to manufacture a new plastic piece out of plexiglass?

 

Yeah this is based on my experience with other Honda's. Before I drove a 94 Accord (obviously going to be built better regardless) but besides the point. Most of those things are age, I haven't even had this car for 6 months and let me tell you, I would much rather deal with the silver paint peeling off my Accord door handles then seeing billions of scratches when the sun is out, some so bad you can't even see your information screen very well. Like I tell my friends, this car is a delicate flower.

 

And yes it is problem with all Fits....not sure about the first gen but to my knowledge, yes. All I can say is learn to deal with dust because of you clean them you'll get a nasty surprise. If you can be careful with this car, go for it. Other than that they're still overall good cars.

 

My car has the same scratches. I used a paper towel drenched in windex and its still scratched it a little bit.

 

Thanks! I'm going to order a couple as spares.

The part# I found for my 2012 Fit Sport Auto is 78156-TF0-J11. Not sure what other years/models it would fit.