2016 Forester Steering Wheel Vibration - ADVICE PLEASE

[Maia]

I purchased an April 2016 registered XE Premium Lineartronic Forester (mileage less than 150) from a Subaru dealer on the 1st September. The first time I drove the car for more than a few minutes I noticed that vibration in the steering wheel was causing an uncomfortable pins and needles sensation in my hands. I contacted the Subaru dealer and the technician who came to test the car confirmed that there was an unexpectedly high level of vibration in the steering wheel, although no problem with steering. The garage swapped the tyres around but couldn't resolve the problem. I was informed that a Forester of similar age and mileage to my car was showing the same issue. The response from Subaru UK was to monitor whilst covering additional miles and review the situation at 5000 miles as the new tyres needed to 'bed in'.

I have never encountered this problem with previous new cars and having only covered less than 400 miles so far I am not looking forward to driving the next 4600 miles in the hope that there will be an improvement.

Has anybody else encountered this problem with the recent Forester models and please can anyone offer a more helpful suggestion than that provided by Subaru UK?

 

[Jay762]

never heard of 'bedding tyres in' - had something similar before but it was an unbalanced tyre / wheel combination through a new but faulty tyre. That was some time ago and not had anything similar since, assumed modern tyres were no prone to the issue

 

oh and welcome 

[Linx]

Are there any balancing weights on the wheels? I'm just thinking perhaps none of the tyres have been balanced.

[Maia]

Thanks for the replies.

I believe the Subaru dealer has checked the tyres and balancing and there is no steering/handling problem so it seems unlikely that these are contributing to the constant vibration when driving.

I have been told by Subaru UK that the power steering is now electric motor driven as opposed to the old hydraulic pump type so maybe the motor is causing vibration the steering column?

I worry that in order to save weight and reduce fuel costs it may be that some vibration damping material has been omitted from the new models, in which case I won't see an improvement with time.

[Linx]

Have they got another one you can try?

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[Maia]

The dealer told me that a Forester of similar age and mileage to my car was showing the same behavior but I haven't driven it myself.

[Phillip1993]

never heard of 'bedding tyres in' - had something similar before but it was an unbalanced tyre / wheel combination through a new but faulty tyre. That was some time ago and not had anything similar since, assumed modern tyres were no prone to the issue

 

oh and welcome 

I have also never heard of bedding in tyres Just sounds like a way of getting rid of you for a bit

[dgarside]

Sounds more like a tyre, tread, balancing problem than anything. What speed does it occur at and does it get worse the faster you drive?

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[Maia]

The vibration is much the same at all speeds so I don't think there is a balancing issue and I would have expected the dealer (Dorset Sports Cars) to check this when I complained. Because Subaru UK have been quite dismissive and unhelpful I have a suspicion that the latest Foresters are of inferior build quality to the old models and they won't admit it.

[Linx]

Maybe even though it had only done 150 miles, it's been down a pot hole and buckled the inner rim of a wheel. A tyre fitter could spin them up on a balancing machine to check for straightness.

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