New Passat (2 days old) - wind noise issues. Not happy!

[Westy]

Hi all, purchased my first VW on Monday - a Passat 118TSI - but was very disappointed on the drive home to hear really obvious wind noise while on the highway. It seems to be coming from the windscreen, maybe the side mirrors as well, and is loud enough that I have to have the radio turned up or it would drive my crazy. Is this normal? I do a lot of highway driving, so this is a real deal breaker for me.

There is also a very loud hum that kicks in at 120km/hr (yes, yes, I know the limit is 110 but I was checking it out). That too was pretty disturbing - it was loud, fairly high pitched and went through the whole car. Tried it a few times and happened every time. Any ideas?

[team_v]

Windows open or closed?

[Westy]

Windows open or closed?

Windows closed, locked, doors locked - all possibilities thought of!

[Westy]

Should add that the car I traded in was a Peugeot 308CC - always in the workshop and cost me a fortune, BUT - no wind noise or road noise ....

[tigger73]

Do you have a wagon or sedan? Also is this car brand new/demo/second-hand?

I know some of the Tiguans had issues with noise coming from the roof rails which sounded like blowing across the top of a bottle. In particular the rails had holes drilled into them and covering these fixed the noise issues. Not sure if this is the same case with the Passat wagon rails having holes or not.

Road noise could be tyre related... or could be lots of things. I would look at getting the wheels balanced and get a wheel alignment done and check tyre pressures as a start . Don't assume that this is "perfect" out of the factory as it's often not. Also you could check/rotate the tyres if there's feathering on the tyres this can cause humming at some road speeds.

Did you take a demo for a test drive? Did you notice the same noise issues/vibration on the test drive?

If the car is brand new and you're not too far away from the dealer you could take it back for them to look at.

Good luck!

[brad]

120kph on the speedo is probabley only 114 actual anyway & if you lived in the NT then 120 isn't an issue anyway.

[Westy]

Brand new car - sedan. I had a loan car last week - Subaru 4WD - that had a lot of wind noise from the roof racks. This car is slightly worse. It's definitely wind, not tyre noise. First time I kept checking to see if all the windows were wound up properly. Didn't notice on the test drive, because it is only noticeable at highway speed, 100km/hr +. At lower speeds it is very quiet.

The second issue - that loud hum at 122 is like a vibration that runs through the whole chassis, but has a "pitch" - like I could hum it. It is only at an exact speed, ease off or speed up by 2km/hr and it goes away. That one isn't such an issue because I don't drive at 120km/hr (much ...) but it says to me there is something not quite right. I will have the tyres checked at the 1000km checkup.

Thanks for the quick response

[Hillbilly]

My wagon has always had wind noise from about 80Kph up I have monsoon shields and thought it maybe from them. Dont know if its on both sides as I always drive. Mine sounds like it is sucking air through a door seal but it isnt.

Like a stone in your shoe you get used to it. Once I concentrate on driving I dont hear it.
Never heard a hum.

[Cossor]

Hum and wind noise could be related if a body panel is incorrectly fitted, and at a certain speed vibrates (At resonance)
In which case said body panel causing wind noise also.
Another possibility is incorrectly fitted exhaust system, again hitting a resonant spot

By the way, did you consider the adaptive suspension option?

[BFPO40]

My brand new Golf also has excessive wind noise from the driver door, it sounds like the window is open by a few mm. This is my forth Mk7 Golf over the last year and the previous three were amazingly quiet, the low cabin noise is one of the features I liked about the Mk7 and why my Mk7 GTI had a soundaktor to compensate.

My previous experience of the Mk7 tells me that it is not caused by the side mirrors or external design features and it is definitely a fault. - I've traced it to the outer door seals not making an effective seal, air is passing through but not penetrating the inner door seal - it does however let outside noise in including wind.

Visually the seals look perfect, the door may need adjusting to close tighter or seals replaced - yet to be determined pending a dealership visit.

Hope this helps.