Hi Scotty:
I'm a big fan of your YouTube channel.
I have a 2015 Volkswagen Passat TDI SE with 56,000 miles. It is still under VW's 2-year bumper to bumper warranty, yet my local VW dealership is having trouble diagnosing the problem with my vehicle.
They have replaced the driver side and passenger side axles, rotated and balanced all four tires and even swapped out wheels and tires from another Passat, for testing purposes, to rule out an issue with my wheels / tires.
However, when I accelerate to 70+ mph, there is still a significant shaking in the front end of the vehicle and vibration in the steering wheel. Please help. Thanks!
Alexander (San Diego, CA)
When was the last time the car was aligned? If it was done by the dealership, take it to a reputed front end shop & have them align the vehicle.
Did you have any curb hits or minor front end collision, recently, prior to the shaking?
My local VW dealership did an alignment three weeks ago prior to replacing the driver side axle and an additional alignment last week prior to replacing the passenger side axle. I have had no curb hits or front end collisions since I purchased the vehicle nearly 2 years ago.
Did they share the alignment report with you? Are all the values within acceptable limits? I don’t trust dealership alignment & balancing myself, and usually go to a specialist shop who has employees that know how to fix front end issues. Your dealer is obviously clueless & throwing parts at your car, praying something fixes it. I would take the car to a specialist front end shop, pay them for their diagnosis, and then get the dealer to replace those parts under warranty.
Thanks for the feedback. I will try to find a good specialist front end shop in San Diego. If the alignment checks out, and the problem persists, could a transmission problem cause similar symptoms? I took my vehicle to an independent mechanic last month, prior to the last two VW dealership repairs, and the mechanic thought that bad motor / transmission mounts could be causing the problem. I relayed this info to the VW dealership, but they went in a different direction.