are the tires directional? switching the tire to the other side of the car wont make the noise go away since you essentially flipped a good tire to the wrong side and the bad tire to the correct side. so the sound following a tire wont work.
Check the tire tread direction. most sidewalls will have a marking on which way the tire should be rotating.
If it is a tire that is mounted the wrong way, then it will not handle as well in the rain (which is dangerous) and it will wear out quicker.

 

I got this coming Friday off work and I set appointments with other dealerships. On the phone I got one dealer who thinks it might be OK and another who thinks it might not be OK.

I'll spend my vacation day driving to dealerships in Northern Indiana seeing what they can tell me. It'd be nice if one of them had a MT on the lot to compare. However, I tried to purchase from these same dealers who did not have a MT just 3 weeks ago.

 

So I took my new Fit to Elkhart, South Bend and Michigan City (Honda dealerships). The answer that I got from everyone is that the wheel bearing is bad. They said that I'm not causing harm or in danger but that I need to get it repaired soon.

This tells me two things:
1) I was right, I do have a problem.
2) My local service manager is a lier.

I don't mean that he looked and got it wrong. That would be different. While we test drove he said that there was no noise. Then when I didn't say anything, he finally consented that there is a noise but added that it's normal. He then had a "woman" who does not work for Honda nor is a Honda certified mechanic ride in my car and diagnose it for him. He tells me this in front of my sales guy. Her only qualification is that she owns a Fit and was in for an oil change.

It's a good thing that I got home after the local dealership closed. I can cool my heals a little. I'm calling the general manager come Monday.

 

Took my Fit to another dealership today to have them look at it. They found that both front wheel bearings are bad. I have to take time off because this dealership is not local to me but at least they are willing to look before they tell me nothing is wrong. They are ordering the parts and I will get them put on.

 

Stay away from that shady dealer. Man, what an ass! I could tell it was the bearing just based on your text description of the problem as I had it before on my Z!

 

Here is the final result of my efforts.

I had another dealership replace not one but both front wheel bearings. The noise is gone. The car sounds as it should. I can actually hear the tires on the road and I'm OK with that. It only took a month of fighting with my local dealership to get it done. Dang.

 

It's probably the tires. I drive a 2008 MT Sport and use the stock tires in the summer (Dunlop SP31 195/55R15) and Dunlop SP60 175/70R14 in the winter. The difference in road noise is huge and immediate as soon as the tires are changed, and I'm on my fourth cycle of tire rotations with these same tires.

I wouldn't have believed it myself had I not had two sets of tires to compare.

 

brand new fit with a pair of bad front wheel bearings??? that sounds not too new to me

 

I replaced the nasty Dunlop's with Kumho ASX at 4k miles! 195/50-16 FIT PERFECT AND CREATED A SILENT PORSCHE LIKE HANDLING BEAST. OH YEAH, GAS MILEAGE WENT UP 4MPG'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LESS ROLLING RESISTANCE. Now I'm done screaming. Do it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've driven my 2010 Fit Sport 5spd all over and used to blame the tires for the high noise level.

Yes the 5spd turns a few rev's more than the AT but with a recent long distance drive (almost 4K), I confirmed, at least to my ears, that it is the road surface. Subtract the engine purring and you have a little bit of wind noise and a lot of tire noise that almost goes away on those newly resurfaced sections on the interstates.

I've rotated my tires 4 times and have had no appreciable noise changes, but as soon as I hit a patch of grooved concrete, pass me the ear plugs. When I need tires, maybe 25-30K miles from now, I hope that there is a larger choice of tires. If not I may change size a bit and give up some of the low rolling resistant qualities in the stock tires.

Let me know how your rotation effort turn out.

2010 Sport
Taffeta White, 5spd

 

Folks, the OP (AirborneRATT) has given the final verdict:

- shady dealership, lying service manager
- bad bearings in both front wheels

Not the tires, not the body plugs, not the natural sound of a small car, not nothing but bad bearings in the front wheels.

 

Most Honda's have "pronounced" road noise, from the bottom of the line all the way to the top. Honda does a poor job squelching road surface noise transmitted to the cabin.

 

I'm glad to see you have the final verdict.

 

Wow. Well Im glad for you that it finally got fixed. Your ordeal has helped some others that did not post im sure.

What year and model do you have? Are those wheels easy to find? Cost?
Are the 175/65R15 dunlops really crappy???

 

Yep, just want to second the appreciation for the OP's willingness to document the entire ordeal for us.

And sorry if I sounded like a smart aleck (reading back, I'm sure I did) - it just seemed that the thread was repaving a road heading in the wrong direction. The OP made it super clear that a conclusion had been reached. Back to lurking.

 

I bought my 2012 Fit off the lot, and had noticed the same low RrrrRrrrRrrr from the test drive on. Upon me pointing out that they sounded like my 99 B5 Passat's bearings about to give out, the salesperson ( and subsequent technicians I dealt with) claimed it was the tires being broken in. So the years wore on, and still suspicious, I began to take it to some random mechanic near my house; sure enough after a quick parking lot test one day after adjusting the drums, he said "Did you know your front wheel bearings are noisy? Probably in the next year you should get them looked at." Sure enough, bearings.

I thought I was alone but looks like others on forums have been having the same issue. Should this be class action material? Do any of you still have your FIT (realizing the thread is 9 years old!)

 

LOL....You ressurected a 9 year old post.

 

Now I'm resurrecting this thread 2 years after the last resurrection.

Yes- The Honda Fit is loud in the cabin. That said, I've owned older cars that were much louder. Let's just say that I'm pleased that I don't have to yell in order to speak to the person in the other seat.
No- The "Sound proof" that was installed for $200 was actually 2 coats of undercoat sealant. It really didn't help and now I have rust where it held water on the steel. It was a waste of money.
Yes- Replacing the front wheel bearings did fix the problem. I had asked if I could keep one of the old bearings just to inspect myself. They were set to be sent to the factory so I was not able to keep one.
Bottom line is that there was a problem in that... The Car Did Not Behave In The Way In Which It Was Designed. As a result, it was louder than intended. Above tire noise, above wind noise or engine noise. There was a wheel bearing(s) that was adding to the sound level. Once replaced, that EXTRA noise was gone.

Thank you to everyone who posted and hopefully someone did or will find this of use.