I bought a 2003 TL type-S with ~80k last night.

In short, I love this car. That said, this is the first vehicle I've financed and by far the nicest car I've owned, so I'm a little nervous about a few things that I've noticed so far.

1) When I initially start the car, I hear within the first minute, two very short sounds of what sounds almost like a compressor running. This noise lasts <2 seconds and does not sound like it's a problem, but I don't know what it is and that scares me.

2) This is the scariest one, because it seems to be completely intermittent. It happens completely irregularly, I cannot reproduce this noise even when I try. Anyway, it sounds like something is actually dragging underneath the car, like a scratching noise. It usually lasts about two seconds, but it's louder than the compressor like noise and sounds borderline "nasty". There are no performance problems associated with this (yet, knock on wood) noise. It's just a noise at this point, but it sounds like it's coming from the engine bay.

That's all for now, I love this car and I expect that you guys will see quite a bit of me around here.

Thanks,

Adam

 

its the ABS self check

 

Both noises are the ABS self-check? Or the initial noise when I start the vehicle?

 

the dragging noise for a second when you move the car is the ABS self check

 

does the noise happen right when the car starts to roll, then again at around 15mph?

 

Yes, the first noise is definitely the ABS self-check. I just read a bit more and I'm sure that's what's causing issue #1 in my original post.

Issue #2 is what I'm more concerned with. I'm pretty sure it happened today while at a stop light, which I thought was weird. It's completely irregular and I've been unable to make it happen on my own.

I will listen closer on my way home from work, but I'm 90% sure the noises are different.