DEAR CAR TALK: I’ve a 2017 Lincoln MKZ with a 2.0 Hybrid Engine (72,000 miles). I really like this automobile! I don’t love the whining noise the automobile makes when the fuel engine kicks in. It’s loud. It’s annoying. It appears to cool down when the engine reaches the next rpm.
Once I inquired about it on the dealership, I received the “yeah, we heard it, and there have been two extra in right here at this time that have been louder than yours” response.
That is purported to be a luxurious sedan. This whining noise is so loud, I actually should yell after I’m at a drive- via window. And after I remote-start the automobile at residence, I can hear the whining all the best way at the back of the home. Please assist! — Scott
DEAR SCOTT: Have you ever thought of changing into a fan of Van Halen? That might drown it out.
With out listening to it and with the ability to slim down its location, I can not let you know if it is a belt noise or one thing worse.
You’d suppose that if it was a squealing serpentine belt, they’d simply exchange it for you and eliminate you. Identical goes for a foul energy steering pump. So, it have to be one thing far tougher — and costly — for them to repair.
My worry is that it is a bearing that is sporting out deep contained in the transmission or engine someplace.
When you have an excellent, non-dealer mechanic, ask her or him to check out it for you. On the very least, they’ll use a size of tubing as a stethoscope and transfer it round till they discover the exact origin of the noise. It should not be arduous to slim it down to at least one part.
In the event that they let you know it is coming from the transmission, as an example, then at the very least you understand what to start out lobbying the dealership for — after you purchase the prolonged guarantee. Good luck, Scott.
DEAR CAR TALK: I used to be lately in a foul automobile accident when our rental automobile collided with a bison on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We have been very lucky to stroll away from a totaled automobile with all of the air luggage deployed.
This received me fascinated by my automobile, which is an outdated 2005 Toyota Camry SE. Are older vehicles much less protected in an accident than newer vehicles? How do the crash assessments from 2005 examine with the crash assessments in 2023? Are the outcomes comparable?
My Camry comes up with higher crash assessments than the Nissan Kicks we totaled, however I ponder if this implies it’s really safer in an accident. Any perception you will have could be enormously appreciated. Thanks. — Beth
DEAR BETH: Did you run right into a 2005 bison or a 2023 bison?
It is a sophisticated query. We have discovered that the majority automobile makers construct their vehicles particularly to cross the crash assessments. So how protected a automobile is relies upon instantly on how the automobile was being examined in that period.
Within the years since 2005, the assessments have developed. The first variations are that, in 2005, the facet influence and rear influence assessments had only in the near past been launched. So, corporations in all probability labored to enhance their facet and rear influence scores within the years after that.
And in reality, you may see that the brand new Camry has a a lot better facet influence rating than your Camry.
The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration additionally added a roof-strength take a look at in 2009, and in 2012 added a “entrance offset” take a look at. That measures how a automobile does when the entrance nook of the automobile hits an object, like a phone pole. Or a bison.
Such crashes are literally fairly frequent — you are heading towards one thing and attempt to veer away, however you may’t, and also you hit it with the entrance nook of your automobile. It offered a brand new problem to automakers, as a result of that kind of crash jolts passengers each ahead and to the facet on the similar time. So safer vehicles definitely resulted from that.
In the event you resolve to purchase a brand new automobile at this time, have a look at NHTSA (NHTSA.gov) and Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (iihs.org) outcomes; they are going to mirror how the automobile did on all of these newer assessments.
A brand new automobile can even have extra trendy, digital security options, like automated emergency bison braking, which helps forestall some crashes and reduces the velocity at which others occur.
So, I do not suppose your Camry is “unsafe.” However I feel it is honest to say a more recent automobile that achieves a “high security choose plus” award, and has all the present digital security choices (low- and high-speed automated emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, and many others.) could be safer.
Now let’s finish this reply with a second of silence for each the Nissan Kicks and the bison. I am glad you got here by way of it properly, Beth. Subsequent time, attempt to hit one thing much less dense.
Ray Magliozzi dispenses recommendation about vehicles in Automobile Speak each Saturday. E-mail him by visiting cartalk.com
