Community Chat

[Goodie2shoes]

Been stressed out about my car and what to do about it. I have a 2013 Equinox LT, bought new and it has served me well, only 97,000 miles on it and never driven out of state.  I took it to Valvoline about a week ago had the oil changed and they checked my tires and replaced my cabin filter.  Later on that day while driving my steering wheel started  vibrating very roughly and eased up but didn't completely stop. I took it back to Valvoline the next day ( the vibration had stopped) and they checked the tires and found no problem but they didn't check if any oil issues like overfill ( I read that as a possible cause online)

So after it happened again I took it to Firestone, they drove it, no problems with vibration and charged me $21.

Coming home from my daughter's home on Mother's day the violent heavy vibration started again at 65 mph and I had to slow to 55mph move to the right lane, very scary situation.

I called Firestone, they didn't have any idea what to do and no one to ride along to see the problem happening. Very disappointing. I stopped driving it afraid I might have a accident.

I made an appointment with Dobbs auto, took it in this morning and they checked my tires and found 3 out of alignment and one had lost the weight (part of the tire when it's first made) I was so happy that they took the time to discover the actual problem and fixed it !!  It only costs $39. I was so afraid of major major problems or a accident with having that violent shaking in my steering wheel !   Dobbs will be my new auto service  shop !   I hope my adventure helps someone else who may come across this problem or something similar in the future.  

[We rescue cats]

OMiGosh, that had to be frightening. I would have been terrified. Glad they found the cause of it, and that it was a reasonable cost to fix it.

[Kachina624]

When my car has a mechanical problem, I always start with a real certified mechanic, not the hacks at oil change stores who can do more harm than good.

Last time I had my oil changed they put air in the tires.  Next day I had a flat and coincidently a stem was broken off a tire.  Cost me a brand new tire.  Luckily I only had to drive about a mile on it.

[Desertdi]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

When my car has a mechanical problem, I always start with a real certified mechanic, not the hacks at oil change stores who can do more harm than good.

Last time I had my oil changed they put air in the tires.  Next day I had a flat and coincidently a stem was broken off a tire.  Cost me a brand new tire.  Luckily I only had to drive about a mile on it.

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@Kachina624 

I found out that those "quick oil change / while you wait" places also use RECYCLED OIL...that's been filtered and put back in a new container.    di

[ciao_bella]

@Goodie2shoes  Had you not found out what was causing the problem, I was going to suggest it's probably a need for proper tire alignment.  I had that happen to the car I had before this new one I bought 2 years ago.  I would be driving and anything over 55 miles an hour it would make the car vibrate and the steering wheel would shake.  Once the alignment was done, all was good. 

[PA Mom-mom]

Tire alignment is definitely a problem for vibrations. I was on my way to my daughter's house (4 hour drive) several years ago when I felt the vibrations. I turned around and came home, only to find DH knew about it and had scheduled the car to go in to the garage when I brought the car home. What??? Thanks for telling me! Made me late to my daughter's house. 

[Still Raining]

Two thoughts -

A 4 tire alignment for $39?  Really?

Since thIs a low mileage situation it should be less than 1 year since they were aligned, right?  So how did they get so bad?  When was the last time the suspension was checked?  There may be others reasons with an older car.

Please have a more extensive checkup.

[GeorgeBad]

Glad it wasn’t something major, and props to Dobbs for actually doing the work.

[jlkz]

@Desertdi 

A few years back we took a relatively new car in for a thorough check up as we were going to drive down to FL (2-day drive).

They turned the car over to us at the dealership and we drove a short distance to a diner and then got on the road.

Within minutes going the 55 mph speed, we felt the weirdest sensation:  all 4 tires went flat.  Turns out the new tech didn't thoroughly tighten the stems....

We dodged a bullet for sure !!!

[ciao_bella]

@Goodie2shoes  Not sure what state you live in, but two weeks ago I bought 4 new tires for my car at Costco.  Costco balances the tires but they do not do alignments, so I had to take it to a tire service place that does do alignments.  I was charged $99 for the alignment and that was a good deal here in New Jersey.  Honda dealership (which is what my car is Honda CRV) wanted to charge me $149 for an alignment.