Integral cross section experiments involving rotationally hot CH3OH projectiles and noble gas (Ng = Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) targets are reported for the first time. Measured data have been exploited to characterize the phenomenological radial interaction in the CH3OH-Ng weakly bound complexes. Potential energy surfaces for all the systems have been formulated on the basis of a pairwise additive multicenter model. The comparison of model predictions with the most relevant experimental findings suggests that in CH3OH-Ng complexes, at variance with the behavior of the analogous complexes involving water or ammonia, the interaction is mainly due to van der Waals and induction components. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.