How would you approach an auto body shop to reduce the noise on your car without being taken for a ride?
A 4-hour drive on I-35 yesterday convinced me the road noise on our otherwise perfect 2011 Toyota Venza couldn’t be tolerated any longer. Most of my driving is short distances, 5 miles or less, where road noise isn’t important.
The Venza’s tires are 3-year-old Michelin Latitude HPs, supposed to be more quiet than most.
In my mind I see myself giving an auto shop from $500 to $1000 (sounds right?), and they do so little I can’t hear a difference. It’s not like how we can see other repairs, where the problem is clearly fixed or not. But how do you measure an improvement in noise?
I’ve watched some YouTube videos, making me an expert of course, but at 77 am not limber enough to do the work myself. Which is what I bet we all were thinking.
Nor am I competent enough, either. I’d get the door panel off but break tabs or lose screws and be making my call on the auto body shop anyway.
So if it was you pulling into the auto body shop’s parking lot, what would be on your mind to say to the mechanic asking you what the problem is?
Has this issue always existed? If it’s gotten worse lately, I’d be checking the tires for uneven wear, checking for loose components and trim pieces that are interrupting the normal airflow around the car, checking for a worn wheel bearing, and checking for a differential that’s on the way out.
Testor is on the right track. But I don’t know if I would do that on a 13 year old car.
Decibel meter can be purchased for under $20 if you want a reading. Do a before and after drive on the same section of road, have your ‘copilot’ make note of sound levels.
I’d treat this the same as any other contractor service. Visit the business and have a short discussion regarding your concerns and if they have resolved similar issues. Explain your expectations and budget- what do they recommend? How often do they do this kind of work? How do they measure improvement? etc. References would be nice but for a grand or less might be expecting too much. Because you have done your homework and understand the fundamentals, you’ll easily spot someone that knows what they are talking about.
Without knowing the source of the noise you’re just throwing money at the problem with little chance of improvement. Additionally, potentially you’re simply “papering over” a real problem that if ignored can eventually cost you big bucks.
On a 13 year old car I’d start with a mechanic’s vehicle inspection, including the exhaust system with particular attention to the “flex pipe” between the manifold and the rest of the exhaust system.
Exactly what type of noise are we discussing? A roar? A sizzle? A low pitch drone? Steady noise or cyclic? Where exactly does it occur?.. Concrete highway? New asphalt? Old asphalt?
How long have you owned the car? How long has the noise been a problem?
You say you have 3 year old Michelins, with how many miles? And have you rotated them regularly?
Have the strut mounts ever been replaced? ALL these questions are designed to narrow down the source and path of the noise. Paying for insulation may do nothing if that is not the path into the car.
Odds are you aren’t the first person to complain about Venza road noise. Check online Toyota and Venza forums to see if there are any threads dedicated to this issue. I’ve noticed excessive road noise in my Tesla Model 3 and the Tesla forum has a few threads discussing it. If you know what has to be done, you might consider DIY or at least compare what the pros you talk to say against the forum recommendations.
“Has this issue always existed?” It started after getting the car back from a body shop to repair the driver side doors after sideswiping a concrete post. This was six years ago, but it’s been that long, what with Covid and all, that we’ve been on the highway more than ten minutes.
I suspect the body shop left out some soundproofing steps, but how can you prove that.
In the city, the car’s fine. With 99K miles, it drives like new, has no leaks, is a keeper except for this. And is a keeper even with this. Except that now I’m getting thoughts I’ve never had before, to buy, for once in my life, a new car. At our age, 77, it would be the last car we’d ever buy … but that’s a discussion for another topic.
“Exactly what type of noise are we discussing? A roar? A sizzle? A low pitch drone? Steady noise or cyclic? Where exactly does it occur?.. Concrete highway? New asphalt? Old asphalt?”
Good questions. It’s a steady roar. The road surface is definitely a factor. Concrete is much louder than new asphalt.
We’ve owned the car eight years. The noise started a few years ago, after a body shop repaired the driver side doors after a sideswiping of concrete pillars.
The Michelins have only 6K miles, and yes, have been rotated once.
Yes, the Venza was never a really quiet car. From Consumer Reports: “But road noise is noticeable, particularly on coarse pavement, and the gasoline engine gets loud when it kicks on.”
My car’s engine is a V6 and not loud to me. When I bought the expensive Michelins, it was because reviews said they were quieter than competing tires.
That is your source. The door seals are not seating properly from a poor repair. Likely need a new set of door seals, possibly around the window, maybe the internal plastic sheeting.
Tell the bodyshop exactly this. They will pull the door apart and determine what the previous shop did wrong or parts omitted.
First, I’d ask my repair/maintenance shop to do a test drive to determine what’s causing the noise. It might be something an auto body shop can’t fix, like noisy wheel bearings. When you and your repair shop concur what needs to be done, then go to the auto body shop. The first step at the auto body shop is ask them if they agree that method will actually work. If not, what do they suggest?
Better results in general if you focus on communicating what it is the car is doing you don’t want, or what it isn’t doing you do want. The best way to find a shop that will treat you well & not give you a fleecing is a personal recommendation from another of their customers. They’ll know if you come away with a bad feeling from the experience , you’ll tell that to their other customer, and they’ll likely loose their business too. You want any shop you hire to have a clear business incentive to treat you well.
+1
The problem could be as simple as a missing seal at the bottom of the door. In addition to preventing water intrusion, door seals are used to reduce wind and road noise.
After six years, I rather doubt that the original body shop will cover the cost of any mistakes that they made, so if the problem proves to be something related to that body work, it will be on the OP’s dime. I think that the lesson here is to not ignore any new noises (or other new automotive problems) for six years.
First thing I’d do is compare the seals on the repaired door to the opposite door. Then I’d do the ‘dollar test’, close the repaired door on a dollar many times, moving it around to see if there are any places the seals aren’t contacting the doorframe.
“Then I’d do the ‘dollar test’, close the repaired door on a dollar many times, moving it around to see if there are any places the seals aren’t contacting the doorframe.”