pulloff

I just got back from a 1500 mile road trip and I am sick of listening to the wind noise in our car. We have had it over a year and it has had wind noise since new. We took it to the dealer 7 months ago and complained and got some run around. We went back to the dealer yesterday and they said it was because we had our windshield replaced and it wasn’t sealed correctly. They resealed the windshield and said everything was fine. I pulled out of the dealership and as soon as it got up to 30 mph the noise started again. I turned around and went right back to the service department. They gave me a run around about the roof rack, cold weather… One of the managers from the service department decided to go for a ride around the block with me. She immediately noticed the noise from the windows. It’s a constant wind (I know it’s a terrible description to just say wind, but that’s what it sounds like) leaking sound around both the drivers and passengers side windows. She could plainly hear the drivers side from the passenger seat (Drivers side is slightly worse and more constant). She didn't feel an air leak around the windows and neither do I but it’s hard to tell. She explained that all cars with factory roof racks are loud some are just louder than others. I explained that we have a 99 obw with a factory roof rack and it is quiet. My brother-in-law has a 99 with factory rack and it is quiet, My father and mother-in-law both have 00 obw, and my uncle has an 04 h6 bean edition and they have factory roof racks and are all quiet. My uncle had a similar wind problem on his 01 and he finally traded it for the 04 because they could only fix it temporarily. She had no response other than saying it might not be anything they can fix. For the money we paid for the car that isn’t a reasonable response, and we aren’t trading in any time soon. I’m not very picky and we have lived with it for a year, but my father (00 obw) mentioned on the road trip how loud our car was compared to his, and it’s one of those things we have just gotten used to until he pointed it out, now it seems to be all I listen to. We scheduled an appointment for service and a loaner car early in March. I’ve heard about: Roof Rack (I will remove bars tomorrow and see if it helps) New door gaskets Mirrors Windshield (has been replaced but still made noise before and after replacement) Speaker area, door handle area of the doors Is there anything else I can look at, try, or have them try when I get the car serviced? Has anyone else solved their wind noise permanently? Thanks

I'm looking at the contis, yokohama, and the kuhmos as an alternative to the michelins. Price will probably one of the biggest factors (but not the only one). I'll be getting a set of steel rims when I get the money, and I'll throw some snow tires on them. I'll agree with 99obw all season can't compare to a good set of snow tires, and here in WNY snow tires are well worth the money.

My Bridgestone Potenzas on my 03 OBW have worn out their welcome after only 40,000 miles and I was wondering what tires anyone else has had good luck with? I drive snow packed roads for half the year and lots of seasonal/dirt roads in the warmer months so traction and mud/snow shedding is pretty important. I’ve never been happy with the Potenzas, they didn’t last and they don’t get a hold of much in the winter (they are quiet but that’s about it). I’ve gotten 80,000 miles out of the original set of Michelins that came on my 99 OBW and have gotten an additional 80,000+ on the replacement set of Michelins for that car. So I’m leaning that direction but would love to hear other opinions.

I currently have both a 1999, and a 2003 Outback. The 1999 has 4 snow tires on 15” rims and that car will go through almost anything a Western NY winter can throw at it. The 2003 is a different story allltogether. The stock Potenza tires are not the best on snow packed roads. I would like to by an extra set of 15” rims for the 2003 and put 4 snow tires on it. Unfortunately I was told that they would not fit. The dealer didn’t seem to know why. They thought it was either because of the dish/backspacing of the rims. But they didn’t know for sure, one mechanic thought the caliper was too tall and it would hit on the smaller diameter rim. My question is: Is the caliper too tall for the smaller diameter, or is the caliper to wide and the back spacing won’t work? Has anyone out there successfully put 15 inch rims on a 2000-2004 outback? I know I could go out tomorrow and buy a set of 16” rims and tires for the car but I would like to have the ability to interchange tires between cars. I would give my wife the 4 best tires next winter and put them on her car. I plan on pulling the tires off when the weather breaks to do some experimenting on my own but it’s only going to be 2 degrees here and I don’t have a garage yet. Thanks in advance.