Just bought an '07 Outlander FWD. 100k.

Very happy with the rig so far, but....

Noticed on a 20 mi highway trip last night that the front end is very noisy.
Not really a vibration - because I don't feel it in the steering wheel - more of a deep humming. 50-80 mph. I know road noise is a given with these guys, just wondering if it's normal or something else. Tires, maybe? They are wider than standard - P235 Goodyear Fortera. Look somewhere else? My other chariots (including pickup) are much quieter than this guy.

Also, my key remote stopped working. Know it worked when I bought it. Battery is good. Could I have sat on it and inadvertently pressed some button sequence so it lost its handshake. Any hints on quick solve for this? Thanks a bunch.

 

The only time I've had a really loud humming noise was due to a set of tires that had a slipped belt. It was on a set of Bridgestone Destination LEs.

From a past Grand Am, I had some bad humming noise when the tires were not rotated as soon as they should have. The tires developed some really bad wear patterns that never did wear out when rotated. Since yours is a FWD, you'll have to pay attention to how your fronts and rears are wearing.

IMO, have a tire shop look at them and do an alignment. That would also make them ensure the bearings and tie rod ends are in good shape...since you cannot align a vehicle with bad bearings/hubs or tie rod ends. I have no ties to firestone, but IMO, they have the best offerings for long term tire care...and the tires are decent. Lifetime alignments have allowed me to have them aligned every oil change. This ensures the tires last as long as possible as well as rudimentary checks on hubs/ends/control arms. If another shop has a similar offering...go for it. I've had the deal since my OEM tires wore out at 45k miles....