Constant noise over 20mph

[brook011]

Hi guys, I hate to come on here and just up and ask a troubleshooting question, but I just got a 2001 2.0L New Beetle recently, and it has a problem. I haven't had it looked at yet, but over 20mph, it almost sounds like the engine is over-revving, or louder than it should be, but RPM wise, the transmission isn't over-revving it or anything weird. Any ideas where this noise might be coming from? 2001 VW New Beetle 2.0l 170k

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by brook011

Hi guys, I hate to come on here and just up and ask a troubleshooting question, but I just got a 2001 2.0L New Beetle recently, and it has a problem. I haven't had it looked at yet, but over 20mph, it almost sounds like the engine is over-revving, or louder than it should be, but RPM wise, the transmission isn't over-revving it or anything weird. Any ideas where this noise might be coming from? 2001 VW New Beetle 2.0l 170k

I am 99.99% sure it is the wheel bearings.

[brook011]

Yeah its fairly loud, nothing thats affected by accelerating "ie gets louder when i hit the gas". I didn't think it was an expensive repair. Is it better to go to a VW dealer for this or third party?

[brook011]

Okay so here's what the place I went to told me. He said he couldn't audibly figure out which side was making the noise, but his educated guess was the right side. Costs to replace both sides was -

300 - labor
200 - parts

He also said the lower ball joints were fairly worn and needed replacement. The costs were -

300 - Labor
300 - Inner Tie Rods
200 - Both Ball Joints
70 - Alignment

Does this sound fair? I couldve sworn for the bearings, I've seen them online for 10-30$ apiece, 200$ for two sounds ridiculous. Maybe I'm wrong?

[Tesla]

Hi there!
I had the same thing going on, and instead of taking my bug to the dealer I ordered parts here , and independant mechanic shop installed it for me. You can find OEM or upgrade parts as well as cheap aftermarket stuff there. My advice is to work on both sides when dealing with steering and suspension. See if you can combine multiple jobs to save money and if you buy a kit you will save a lot. Refresh the bushings to stop clonking and rattling. I replaced ball joints, wheel bearings and hubs at the front and back, rear bushings on control arms ( I used audi TT part as an upgrade - it's great ), strut bushings and bearings and sway bar bushings.
On the other hand, if you have winter tires, they might be the source of the noise. After replacing all the stuff on my bug I drove for couple of days and it was amazing, but then I replaced my all seasons with snow tires and noise came back.

Good luck