We own a 03 Maxima SE with approximately 115k miles. The car has an automatic transmission as well. My son drives the car and is away at college, 4.5 hours from home. The last time he visited he told me there was a noise coming from the wheels. My initial thought was brake squeelers. I checked the car out and the brake pads were okay. I drove the car in a vacant lot and was only able to hear the noise when turning the wheel sharp either direction and at very low speed. I checked the transmission and power steering fluids and both were clean and at appropriate levels. I drove the car on a 3 hour interstate trip and the transmission shifted fine, was smooth and no performance issues at all. Now, my son is stating the noise is constant and the loudness varies. The noise is still only present when the car is moving and can always be heard when turning off all interior noises. I consider myself mechanically inclined, but this has me puzzled. He is coming home this week and I will be taking another look at this issue. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

 

I had a similar issue and the noise was coming from the front tire rubbing the splash guard in the wheel well.

 

does it get louder as the car goes faster? probably bad wheel bearing

 

Thank you for the comments. He is coming home in the morning and I will look at the wheel liners for rub.

The noise loudness, according to my son, is random. When I test drove it a couple of months ago, the tone was low and consistent. I could only hear it when turning off all interior noises.