Our 2007 toyota prius just had both front wheel bearings replaced. The vehicle has 39000 miles on it and yes it was a free replacement under the warranty but , I’ve never had a wheel bearing replacement done in my 60 years on the planet. If you except the 6 replacements done on a 1999 subaru forester and the one in the differential ( immersed in oil) on a 2000 S10.
It looks like bearing manufacturers are making a lot of junk or are car makers always going to the lowest bidder and we are getting what they pay for??
Never had a wheel bearing replaced (except the six on the Forester), but you’re complaining about the bearings on the Prius. Does this make sense, even to you?
I can’t see a reason to complain. The bearings in your Prius were replaced free. Be happy.
Were the bearings on the Forester free? How about the S10?
What was the sympton that led to the Prius bearing replacement?
I have seen (usually when it gets by some form of management) work done at the Dealership when it really did not need tp be done. What I am getting at is they just possibly replaced your bearings just to create both customer goodwill and some work for the mechanic. The service department is not above sticking it to the manufacture if they think they can get away with it. The downside is the Reps. are not dumb and service may present enough questionable warranty claims trigger a audit and then the fur flies.
Only time I had a wheel bearing problem was in the 53 chevy that was my first car, in 1964. Don’t understand - maybe there’s a need for curb feelers?
I’m complaining about bearings in general. Subaru paid dearly for all the bearing replacement. but… so did we with all the breakdowns… three times during one three week vacation. The bearing was beginning to fail after the vehicle was out of warranty and so we sold the thing. If you think I should be “happy” then I think you just don’t get it. I’ve read the rules an so I’d better just shut up!!!
The vehicle was starting to sound as if it had studded winter tires on the front wheels. It was getting hard to hear the radio. After the repair, things got very quiet. Who knows, maybe there were baloons stuck in the wheel wells.
There are no curbs where we live but we do have paved roads
The mileage is a bit low for a bearing failure on the Prius but there could be conditions behind the failure that are not related to vehicle quality.
Buy the car new or used? Living near salt water, a lot of driving in wintertime road salt slush, driving in somewhat deep (defined as 4 or 5 inches) of rain water runoff, etc.
As to the Subaru, are you saying the same bearings were replaced repeatedly or was this a musical chairs version? Subaru corporate (SOA) does not pay for repeated warranty repairs on the same item without dropping the axe on somebody.
You dont mention any change of the bearing noise when the side loading is changed (by steering input),this is a common way to check bearings. Anyone grab the wheel (while the car was off the ground and check for play?)this is another typical bearing check.
I never noticed any more or less noise during right or left turns. I did not jack up the vehicle and spin the wheels. The noise got alarmingly louder over the course of one week so I sent it to the dealer.
Anyone know if these tests are valid tests for bearing failure on a Pirus?