I'm new to Yaris. Noisy hwy ride. Is it normal?

[jack black]

I just got 2007 red Yaris hatchback base AT under 66,000 miles with clean title and overall good condition (as far as I can determine). I didn't notice anything abnormal on test drive, normal/fresh looking fluids, and no engine/tranny codes, etc. However, the hwy ride is too noisy for my comfort at speeds 60-70 mph. Much noisier than lets say Corolla, although noise in Corolla was mostly engine and Yaris is not exactly engine, but rather a rumbling drivetrain or tire noise. I guess it could be tires.

Other than rotating tires, anything else I need to worry about?

One more thing. The engine idling noise is normal except for faint knocking on hot engine immediately after a 150 mile hwy trip. I did not hear it on a test drive when car was not fully warmed up.

Am I paranoid (again) or is this the typical buyer remorse kicking in?

[CTScott]

That's all normal for the Yaris. I have a few sets of tires/wheels for my fleet and each has a different sound at highway speed. As an economy car Toyota did not do much as far as sound insulating the car, so adding sound absorbing material to the firewall and front floor area helps quite a bit.

[UberSilver]

When I bought my 08 hb, the PO had some really crappy Chinese tires. They were loud as heck! I think the second day I had it, I got new Michelin's, and they are quiet

A short time later I installed 70 sq-ft of DynaMat extreme. That helped a bunch.

[junorico24]

When I bought my 08 hb, the PO had some really crappy Chinese tires. They were loud as heck! I think the second day I had it, I got new Michelin's, and they are quiet

A short time later I installed 70 sq-ft of DynaMat extreme. That helped a bunch.

Dunlop sp 3020 ftw. It's a really nice tire then I had to go to toyo again lovely tires.

Kumho are all right i have them at the back now and Hankooks at the front.:thumbdown:

[jack black]

That's all normal for the Yaris. I have a few sets of tires/wheels for my fleet and each has a different sound at highway speed. As an economy car Toyota did not do much as far as sound insulating the car, so adding sound absorbing material to the firewall and front floor area helps quite a bit.

Thanks for reassurance. I did some more driving today at city streets and I'm surprised that the road noise mostly covers engine noise over 30 MPH and totally over 40 MPH. This is much louder than I would have expected, but if normal, I have to live with that.

[428CobraJet]

I've 100k on my 09 3dr. The engine is as quite as a church mouse but the tire and road noise is brutal. Yokohamas are no better than the originals.

Otoh the Mighty Yaris does everything it supposed to and more. All the while beating its EPA ratings.

[jack black]

I've 100k on my 09 3dr. The engine is as quite as a church mouse but the tire and road noise is brutal.


You're right, the engine isn't that noisy at all.
This is funny as I rented 07 Yaris HB for a few days way back in 2007 and one of the things I remembered was noisy buzzy engine noise. Maybe it was brand new and quiet tires?
Another annoying thing I remembered was that center instrument panel.
Now, after driving Prius for a few years, the center cluster seems to be in the best possible location.

[JPC]

I have a 2007 Yaris Hatchback 5 door.

When these cars are new they are pretty quiet overall for a small car.
In my experience, when my car gets noisy it is always either a worn rear wheel bearing or there is a leak somewhere in the exhaust. A lot of drivers have no idea they have these problems, they just think the car is naturally noisy.

If wheel bearing or exhaust is problem and I get it fixed the noise goes down by 70%, even more if it's a wheel bearing wearing out.

If you need a new wheel bearing only get quality ones from Timken, Moog, SKF or Toyota Dealer ones. The cheap generic ones in my experience are very bad and wear out after only 18 months or so.

[RedRide]

I would strongly suspect tire noise It could be a bad tire or just less than good tires

[JPC]

My Yaris had a problem with the left front wheel bearing.
My main mechanic said it was in good condition and no need to replace it.
I took it to a second mechanic after 2 months of constant noise and he said the left front wheel bearing needed to be replaced with a new one.

When lifted there was no play at all when from 3 9 clock position and neither from the 6 and 12 clock positions. And when you spun the wheel by hand there was little noise.

However, when he lifted it on a dynamometer or whatever you call those spinning wheels, the wheel bearing was making a screaming noise when you put a stethoscope to it.
Thank god he had this advanced equipment that most mechanics don't have.

Once a new pressed in bearing was put in place, the car became peaceful and beautiful quiet again.

I think the biggest problem is that most mechanics are unable to diagnose front wheel bearing problems in the Yaris because when these are roaring the noise is just unreal and the mechanics don't have proper equipment to discover the problem.

In my experience when there are no exhaust issues and the bearings are all good, the noise levels in the car are very good. It's a very peaceful quiet car to drive in.