Rumbling/hum noise on test drive??

[Turborat]

Hi,

I went for a test drive this morning in a 1 owner 2017 184 diesel with 50k(80% motorway) miles on the clock with full dealer history.

The car is perfect except for at low speeds, say 40mph or below, I heard a noticeable rumbling/hum noise from what sounded like the front of the car. Once you picked up speed the noise seemed to go.

The front tyres are pretty low (around 1mm legal tread left) so I wondered if it could be down to those or could it be a wheel bearing? Or anything else?

I want the car but need to work out what this could be and how much it could potentially cost to fix?

Any advice would be appreciated because I need to make a decision pretty quick.

Thanks

TR

 

[Lozzy15]

Can't say I've ever noticed excess noise from tyres with low tread, I have however has noise from knackered bearing. They usually rumble/whine more so at certain speeds, so from what you've written it could be a wheel bearing on it's way out. It could be something else too, I've had wipers make humming noises in the past, usually at faster speeds but it's worth mentioning.

If you want the car and the price is good, may be worth getting a quote for having the work done and haggling that off the asking price.

 

[Turborat]

Thanks Lozzy,

don't suppose you have any idea how much a front wheel bearing change is??

TR

 

[Lozzy15]

On a relatively newish car like that it shouldn't take long for a garage to swap out the bearing for a new one, plus the cost of the part, I'd expect to be paying no more than 150 in my area.

If you do buy it, and it is a wheel bearing make sure to replace it with a genuine part though. No point using a pattern part for it to fail again in 6 months time. Again, experience speaks here !

 

[Turborat]

Ok cool.

I've already managed to get a nice discount on the car which will more than cover this and a couple of new tyres. I plan to go back tomorrow to put deposit down so thanks for the advice

I'll post up some pics when I finally get it home.

Thanks

TR

 

[thecalstanley]

Had this problem on my Leon, was a wheel bearing on the way out. Sorted under warranty

 

[Turborat]

Ok cool. Was that manufactures warranty?

How much warranty do they come with anyway and is it transferable to different owners like myself?

Thanks

TR

 

[Lozzy15]

Ok cool. Was that manufactures warranty?

How much warranty do they come with anyway and is it transferable to different owners like myself?

Thanks

TR

Pretty sure the warrenty is for 3 years, and it doesn't matter who the owner is, it stays with the car. They may want to know that the cars been maintained and serviced/inspected as per seat's service schedule however to honour any warranty work.

That being said my dealer looked at my car under warranty and never asked about the servicing, and mines a write off repaired.

 

[Rooster]

You can get get a humming tyre noise, but mainly from the rears, the camber and toe in tend to create feathered wear on the tread blocks. Lots of garages change the wheel bearings only to find the noise still exists. My local VW dealer found out the hard way on Mrs Roosters Golf!

 

[BigJase88]

Crappy tyres make a dreadful noise probably due to high rolling resistance