First I will speak about cars you drive. Wind noise is that noise you hear and may describe as a whistle noise or if you’re at high speed and a cross wind come by you may hear a loud groan or a loud boom box noise, on some vehicle (it is said to be a characteristic, not true).

I have found these problems with several new cars and on some new trucks but they can’t seem to get that problem fixed on some of them.

The cause of wind noise around the windows or windshield is the seals are not as tight as they should be but only tight enough to stop noise at low speed.   Most of the time the wind noise seem to be coming from the front doors at the top corner at the windshield and on some cars at the sun roof, a wind noise may be heard as well.

If any of you have ever owned or driven a 1964 Plymouth Fury made by Chrysler you will hear nothing even if a big truck goes by without a muffler, this car was the quietest car ever made in my opinion, funny the new cars and trucks are suppose to be better than the old cars and trucks, makes you wonder what happened?

I have seen service writer place a dollar bill in the door and try to pull it out and if it does not pull out they tell the customer there is nothing wrong with the seal. That may be right as far as the looks of it when you see it but when the door is closed and the seal is suppose to be pressed tight against both sides of the door so it does not leak air at high speeds. The excessive wind noise and loud booming noise is not normal for any vehicle.

At the front windshield when a cross wind is heard and you hear that loud growling sound, a sound that you cannot ignore because of the loudness and the sound it makes.  That wind noise seeming to come at the windshield is caused by a defective seal or the under hood opening at the hinges, this is where the wind travels up the A-Pillar and causes the noise with a cross wind.

I have proven this theory several times by plugging those holes with rags and running the same speed at the same area with cross wind (speeds above 65mph).

The problem is you are told by service they cannot drive over 65mph so we cannot hear anything wrong and your car or truck and it is released without a repair, there are some who has had the service writer or service manager go for a ride with them. When you can prove a problem and they could hear for themselves, then they do seem to get fixed.  Wind noise is not normal and when you purchased the new vehicle you were not told you will get wind noise at high speed because if you were told that you would have likely walked away from the deal.  After several repair attempts are made you may hear from the service writer that the door seals and windshield seals may have been replaced already and that is it, no more repairs because they cannot verify a problem.  The sun roof will also cause a loud whirling sound at high speeds as well and is likely cause by defective seals or improperly installation, I have seen both and water leaked in as well when it rains.   That noise, can’t be fixed unless a Technician is willing to get serious and find the spot causing the problem and then properly fix it.

Now let me speak on the trucks with 4 doors or rear windows in them.  The noise I am speaking about is called a Boom Box Noise. This loud noise only happens when driving your truck at high speed with the two rear windows is ¼ way down.  This is another problem I have witnessed when testing vehicles and the owners had no idea what caused it.   I had an older gentleman with me on a road test and he told me his A/C went out when he and his wife were crossing the Ca desert and it was around 95 degrees.  He told his wife he was going to roll down the windows and did so but the air was so hot is wife complained about it and he rolled up the two front windows and rolled down the two rear windows about ¼ of the way.   The sound heard was ear piercing and he had to roll all the windows back up.  The noise created by the two rear windows rolled down ¼ way is caused by the top of the truck flexing like someone flopping a piece of flat metal on the ground.  This can be fixed but the repair needed is unlikely going to happen.   The reason given to most of my customers is you are suppose to run with the windows up and the A/C on when it is hot, no advice if the A/C goes out if you got to drive.

Weak seals and gaskets make the wind easy for it to come inside and cause the noise you hear.  A bad seal will also let water leak inside as well when it rains hard, water can cause electrical shorts and stop parts from working as well as unseen rusted seams that will rot out.

So what should you do if you got loud wind noise, complain about it to your dealership and demand a fix.  If your dealership says they won’t do anything or cannot do anything about it. They may tell you it is a characteristic of the vehicle and you are left hanging as if it’s your problem and not theirs, and then you need to call an attorney for help.  This wind noise is not normal for any car or truck excluding some convertibles.  I have inspected over 3,500 cars and trucks and have witnessed this problem on several over the years that have had to get attorney help in order to get it solved. Help is available if you need it and the advice is free.

Written by Jackie Winters of lemonprotection.com, I also have several attorneys listed on my web site that my customers have used with great success. Good luck and God bless you.