My Sonata 2022 has some vibration in the steering wheel. It’s obvious at +50 MPH and even at low speed, you know it’s there. I can also feel the vibration through the floor and the seat (both driver and passenger side). It really feels like an out of balance tire or a flat spot. But I have 2 set of tires and rims (original 19" rims with Pirelli Zero tires and a set of 17" metal rims with Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack). Both set of rims and tires exhibit vibration. Balancing the tires or alignment doesn’t change anything. My Hyundai dealer wants to charge me for a test drive but in the past, they often ignore problems and I have to go 2 or 3 times before they acknowledge it. So I’m not paying for a test drive and I’m a bit out of option unless I go to an independent workshop.
Any suggestion of what could cause the vibration (if we exclude rims and tires)?
Thank you in advance!
Was a road force balance done? Sometimes that’s needed to address a stubborn vibration problem, so I wouldn’t completely rule out a balance issue until you’ve done that.
19" alloy wheels + Pirelli Zero are factory origin. 17" after market steel rims for winter tires (I’m from Canada). I’ve put all seasons tire on the 17" rims. Vehicle has 10500 miles. The vibration was there from the beginning (when I bought the vehicle brand new).
The vibration feels exaclty like a tire not balanced or when a tire has a flat spot. At low speed, the vibration is not strong enough to be annoying but you can hear it. As the speed increase (>50MPH), the vibration can be felt in the steering wheel, seat and floor. The vibration peaks at 70MPH and will not get worst if I go faster. Breaking doesn’t affect the vibration. I’m writing this and I’m thinking, well that looks like a bad tire! But both set of rims+tires were new and the problem was present. Can the rim not be centered on the hub bore? Both set of wheels are Hundai specs and don’t require hubcentric rings. I hope it make sence; I’m not an expert with those terms!
If it has done this from completely new (1st owner) then it sounds like a drive train issue such as a transaxle or CV axle issue…
Different vehicle, but new a guy that had the same issue and the dealer put 4 sets of tires on it as well as we put 1 set on it and it wound up being a bad transaxle… Car had less then 2000 miles on it…
I would put it on a lift or on jack stands and put the vehicle in drive and watch the axles to see if they are spinning smoothly or if bent a little, also if you can feel the vibration while on the rack…you will need to turn off your trac control if possible lol… shouldn’t take long to inspect… Also look for any kind of marks like something hit them or something…
I was going to mention the centric rings but you covered that…
Is there any change to the vibration, accelerating in gear vs constant speed in gear vs coasting in neutral?
You could ask your shop to assess the amount of up/down and side to side run-out on each tire. It’s something a diy’er could conceivably do themselves by hand-rotating the wheel while watching the distance between the tire surface and something held in place almost touching the surface.
…answering Eddo: they want to charge me for a test drive and I’m not optimistic on the result because of past experiences with them… The car is working so if they don’t want to make an effort, they will just say “nah, it’s not vibrating that much”, or “it must be the tire brand”. But I know it’s not normal and 2 more peoples (including a retired mechanic) have test drive my car and said it was not normal. At one point, I will have to insist they do a free test drive and that I should be present for this.
If they agree to perform the test drive for free but you must pay for the diagnosis if this is not a warranty repair, you are in the same position. Nothing has changed.
Last time I balanced the tires for the vibration problem, I asked to check the bearings.
Vibration is always there weither I’m breaking or accelerating… Didn’t try to put in on neutral at high speed. I will try this.
Thank you to all for the help! I will check if more people have other ideas but right now my best option is probably to convince the dealership to do a test drive with me (and I’m not paying for this!). My other option is to go to an indepandant workshop and pay them to assess the problem, do some basic tests like mentioned in the thread.
Suggest to come up w/a game plan before issuing this demand. You want the dealership staff to feel they want to provide this service for you gratis, b/c after all it’s just a test drive, it won’t take much staff time & they believe providing this favor for you will benefit them, b/c you’ll probably grant a favor to them in return, e.g. you’ll give them a chance to sell you a new car at some point in the future. Some salesmanship is required in other words.
I had a drivetrain problem on a new Hyundai I owned a few years back. Hyundai tried and could not fix it.
They tried twice and their work was covered by warranty. Then, while the car was still under warranty, they tried a 3rd time, but this time said I had to pay for it, and if they found a problem, they would reimburse me.
They didn’t find the problem, so I pursued the Lemon Law. The answer from the Lemon Law hearing was:
“You need 3 warranty repair attempts for the Lemon Law to be valid. You only have 2, because you paid for the 3rd one. That doesn’t count as a 3rd warranty repair attempt.”
I’ve since learned that’s the game that some manufactures use to keep themselves out of Lemon Law hearings.
Years and years ago my friend bought a new vehicle with bad brakes (they went bad soon after), he kept taking it in and they kept saying it was ok, so he then said OK, this car should be able to stop within X amount of feet from a given MPH, they agreed that was the manufactures claim, so he then told them that he was going to get that said distance from the showroom window with all the pretty nice new cars and give it that same test, he said if he doesn’t hit the window then he would be happy with the results and not mention the braking issue again, but if it doesn’t stop in the claimed stopping distance that they would have a big mess on there hand’s… They repaired the issue right away… lol
I am NOT suggesting this in anyway shape form or fasion, but he was tired of them BSing him… And yes he is just crazy enough to have done it, got to love a war vet, yes he is my longest and best friend…
You might considered elevating the problem up the corporate change, instructions should be in your owners manual. Just state the facts about the vibration and what has and has not been done to correct it.
If there is another Hyundai dealership in your area, you could try their service department.
Thank you very much for sharing that tidbit, I have stored that away for future reference!
I wouldn’t discount anything including bearings. We hear about cars being damaged during the delivery process. If it was dropped from some height, there may be no noticeable damage but some things could be bent or damaged; bearings, struts, driveline etc.
At this point, OP may be better off just going elsewhere to get it fixed. Then, depending on what was found, pursue compensation from the manufacturer.
If this was mine, I do my own work and would slap the mechanics ears on the steering knuckles, rear suspension and go for a ride. The problem may be able to be isolated to a wheel/corner using that approach. Also having someone ride behind and in front of the problem vehicle looking at the front and rear tires going down the road might help.
