New here & question about road noise: 2012 G.Caravan SXT
 

Good day gents,
Just picked up our new van yesterday and have a quick question I'm hoping you can help me with. Seems like when we have our mid-windows down, we are experiencing a debilitating vibration noise. Come to find out this is called Wind Buffeting. We were thinking it was the position of the seat belts, but that doesn't seem to be it. We do not have rain deflectors on the front windows if that matters.

We purchased this after our 2005 Grand Caravan SXT developed serious body cancer around the wheel wells and eventually rotted through the frames. Kinda disappointing honestly for such a young vehicle. O'well i guess.

ok, thanks again and I look forward to your response!

A lot of cars do that. Is it mostly on the highway?

Hi Shade and thanks for the quick reply!
It seems to even do it during city driving. We do not have the roof rack setup nor do we have the window rain guards like I said. With all the windows either cracked or down, it doesn't seem to that bad, but using them individually is deafening! Just wondering if that is in fact normal. If it is, thats a pretty poor engineering design especially considering its been, what 4 years now, since they redesigned the body on this series. thanks again!

It is not uncommon for cars to have this sort of noise with the back windows rolled down and the fronts rolled all the way up. My '08 van has it too, and so did my last sedan, a Saturn S-Series, and a few other sedans and SUVs I've rented. I'm sure there is some aerodynamic explanation for it; I'm just not sure what that is.

We get around it by either making sure at least one front window is open when the rears are, or locking out window control so the kids can't open the rear windows.

Here what the 2012 owner's manual has to say:
George

All of our cars over the years have done it too. We just use A/C most of the time, especially on the highway.

thanks guys. The issue is it seems to be happening even during city driving... stop and go type driving. I'll keep you posted on experimenting with opening the different windows. All the best!