A group of car owners were so rattled by the noise coming from their vehicles they have formed a support group.

Honda Fit drivers rallied together to demand action from their supplier after discovering they all had the same problem.

Group founder, Shawnette Somner, says she was fed up of taking her car to the garage, only to be told the mechanics could not find anything wrong.

Ms Somner, 44, bought her Honda Fit from HWP for $23,000 in February 2003.

She said: "I've been having problems with it rattling and shimmying ever since a few weeks after I bought it.

"I took it into HWP shortly after I purchased it and reported the problem and they said they could not find anything wrong. I've been back twice since. It's very frustrating."

She said: "Because of the labour costs you end up with this big bill. I'm probably close to having spent $1,000 on it now just trying to fix this problem.

"But I've heard from other people in the same boat who have spent thousands of dollars."

Ms Somner, a Home School teacher from Flatts, realised she wasn't alone when she began talking to another woman at a football match.

She said: "We got talking and realised we not only had the same model but also the same colour. We started talking about mechanical issues and she said she'd also experienced the shimmying."

Ms Somner then spoke to a friend who has the same car.

She said: "I asked him if he'd had problems and he said he had, so I decided to try and pull everyone together, to contact other Honda Fit owners."

She drew up a flyer to arrange a meeting in which "to discuss concerns" and stuck it on the windshields of all the Honda Fit cars she could find on the Island's parking lots.

The meeting, at City Hall car park on Sunday, had a larger than expected response. From the 50 flyers handed out, eight drivers turned up, and another ten e-mailed Ms Somner — all complaining of the same problem. The rattling sounds were heard when moving off or driving up hill.

"Some people described it as rattling, some as a knocking sound, and some as shimmying. One man who e-mailed described it as 'kangarooing' as his car kept jumping," said Ms Somner.

"We then knew it was a much bigger problem."

Andrew Rollins, a 40-year-old police officer from Smith's, told The Royal Gazette: "We've had the car for a year-and-a-half and the rattling noise seems to be coming from the left front wheel.

"We've taken it in but the mechanics say they can't hear anything. You have to pay $300 deposit before they even start work on your car so it's outrageous that nothing then gets fixed.

"We are disappointed with the customer service. It's a ridiculous situation."

Ms Somner addressed the group's concerns in an e-mail to Alan Brooks, chief operations officer at HWP Group.

Mr. Brooks said he had spoken to Honda and had been advised to change the transmission fluid on the cars, without any charge to customers.

He told The Royal Gazett>: "The cars we've done this to, the owners then haven't returned to us, so this seems to have solved the shimmying sound.

"I would ask other owners to please bring your vehicles in so we can look at them properly. I'll have my chief technician on hand. If you've got a problem we want to address it."