Curbed 10mph parking new Corolla - mild vibration after
Hi all
So long story short i have had the past 2 weeks from hell with regard to cars. I'm at wits end. I will spare all the details except the ones pertinent to the problem.
Thursday I purchased a brand new corolla 2017 SE. I was super happy with it, loved the ride, i've owned corolla for years and am very accustomed to it. Felt like my old corolla, but better basically.
On friday, probably due to stress and bad sleep, pulling in to a parking space i hit my front right tire on the curb. I would assume it was about 10mph hit, enough to make a jolt and a friction feeling, and "uh oh did i just trash my new tire" worry. I didnt get a flat, however my hub cap is mildly scratched, my tire has a small chunk missing. Otherwise everything looks okay. It appears i hit the curb at an angle, on the side of my R wheel
When i pulled out of the space immediately i noticed a very subtle "vibration". You can feel it in the floorboard and the steering wheel. I only had 40 miles on this car at the time, and obviously i was freaking out. I bumped my old corolla like this quite a few times and never noticed any performance change.
I drove the car for the next 3 days to accumulate another 150 miles. I drove it in city and highway traffic. The "vibration" is felt in the floorboard and steering wheel as stated, and seems worse on highway traffic. The wheel jolts to the side very slightly on highway speeds. Otherwise, breaks are tight, turns are tight, as a new car should be. To give you an idea of the problem, after a 30 minute drive,when i get out of the car, my hands and feet are vibrating as if i was holding on to a drill. That's not normal.
I made an appointment with the service center from the dealer and was honest what happened. I asked them to check the balance, alignment, the whole wheel system, and specifically to inspect the R front tire which is where i curbed it when the problem started. From the outset, the service assistant seemed not to take my claim seriously, as it looks like a perfect new car and i am describing something trivial. He looked at the hubcap and said "thats a scratch" when i asked for the tire to be inspected.
I spoke to the mechanic working on my car. I didnt test drive it with her, but she said she did not notice any vibration but she only tested it at city speeds. She said "corolla suspensions are bouncy, thats why i dont like them". I've owned a corolla for 7 years, i know the ride, and i like it. I liked this car before i curbed it. The whole conversation with her was like "there's nothing wrong that's how its supposed to sound".
Long story short, they balanced car, it was fine. They checked alignment and it WAS out of alignment , which they corrected. They found nothing else wrong.
However, driving home, the car has this course vibration in the floorboard and steering wheel, and then i get back in my house my entire hands and feet have aftershocks of vibration as if i were holding on to a drill for 30 minutes. That's NOT normal for corolla, and it wasnt normal before i curbed it.
I dont know what to do at this point. Does any one have any opinions?
My mom knows a collision shop in town with an honest mechanic. I'm thinking of taking my brand new car there in desperation for an opinion.
Right now, I dont even enjoy driving the car. The vibration is annoying. Sucks to feel so bad about a brand new car i was so happy about.
@tennisshoes - i'm not even sure if they inspected the affected wheel at all in spiteof the fact i owned up to curbing the car. I feel like everyone at the dealer either doesnt take it seriously or is afraid i will flip out and demand a new car. LOL. I just want it fixed and i'll pay for it. Tomorrow i'll try my mom's guy, he is highly rated online and specializes in collision stuff.
@tennisshoes - thats a good idea. I dont have spare as its a new car, but i could buy one. Worst case scenario, it doesnt help, and now i have a backup tire in cas ei get flat. Best case scenario, it fixes the problem. Being not car savvy, i was wondering if a good idea might be to rotate the R front wheel to the back, the entire wheel, and see if that reduces the vibration. I would assume the reason i am feeling this vibration is if the wheel or the tire is mildly damaged, its creating a subtle vibration only a sensitive new car owner would be in tune to (meanwhile the mechanic wouldnt because it seems grossly normal especially at city speeds). This also seems pretty low cost to do so no risk of wasting money something that wont help. What do you think?
Just take it to someone who can fix it- probably a new tire and wheel, but also could be a bent tie rod or control arm etc. the dealer is obviously useless- and stop hitting curbs!
It's pretty simple, either the tire is bad or the wheel is bent. A good tire shop can find out which in short order. Probably changing your driving style would help avoid future problems.
HI everyone, Just an update, took it to collision shop in town with good word of mouth ratings + my mom used him for years. Great guy. He took my complaint seriously, rotated my front tires to back (as i thought would be good idea) and also retested balance + alignment. Per this mechanic, the alignment was OK (Shop didnt mess that up) but he said the balance was off, and they never actually checked it. Bonding material still on the tires from factor + weights were wrong. With these two changes, vibration in steering wheel MUCH improved. I am still feeling some course vibration in the floorboard but doesnt have the concerning/alarming and annoying steering vibration anymore. Not sure if this residual vibration is because there is a problem in the wheel , or if i'm just hypersensitive at this point. Either way i feel satisfied that he took it seriously, inspected the tire, and actually rebalanced my car properly. I'm not sure if he did the full wheel diagnostics on it to see if bent, but the vibration is now far less annoying to me and i enjoy driving the car again. PS here is a photo of it so you can see, its pretty small. However the mechanic at second shop didnt dismiss it and thought it was the result of more than just a "scratch".
Seems to me it would be pretty easy for someone to put a dial indicator on the wheel and measure the roundness of the wheel at the tire bead area. The fact that moving the affected tire and wheel to the rear and it changed the vibration causes me to still believe the wheel is bent very slightly.
Hi guys I'm having another issue , lol. Since the rebalance and rotation, steering wheel vibration is much improved. Floor vibration, as stated, also improved but not sure if residually still there from back. However as far as i'm concerned, the vibration is ok. I'm having new issue now where on R turns the steering wheel jerks slightly. This was the affected side, which is now rotated to back. I just drove like 30 minutes practicing L and R turns and there is definitely observed the L side is tight+smooth and the R is a little bit looser and floppy on turns. In a straight line, the car doesnt waver. I read tire pressure can cause this so i inflated the tire in back (these were the old front tires, and the pressure was lower than the fronts, which was the old rear). After inflating the back tires a little, the wheel is no longer overtly jerking on turns (it was doing that), but its still a little "loose and floppy" not quite as tight and precise as it is on the left. I never noticed anything like this until my tires were rotated, and i drove the car 150 miles. Is it possiblethe pressure is still off a little bit? As stated the L side turns are tight its only the R that feels kinda wobbly and not so tight, which was the affected side. But i never noticed it b4 service at second mechanic to rebalance + rotate. Also noticing if i hit an irregular road or pothole the steering wheel will jerk both ways slightly, car wont move though. I dont know if that's normal. What do you think?
Can tire rotation cause this issue - a wheel jerk or floppiness when turning? I never noticed anything like this until serviced with rotation and rebalance.
@tennisshoes - at the second shop, all he did was rotate the wheels and rebalance and check alignment. No inspection of suspension. The dealer supposedly checked suspension, which they said was fine. I never noticed this until the rotation. Its like on turns, the wheel kinda jerks. Driving straight is solid. Its not a huge issue,as stated drove it 30 minutes and it didnt jerk, but i did notice a slight looseness vs the L which was more tight and precise.Not sure if this can be from a damaged tire/wheel or pressure.
Could be it was there before and i never noticed it. I'll drive the car some more and see what i think monday.
